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| History | |
First air date | October 4, 1973 (51 years ago) (1973-10-04) |
Former call signs | WDTB (1973-1977) |
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| NBC (1973–1982) | |
Call sign meaning | "World's Most Beautiful Beaches" |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 66398 |
| ERP | 42kW |
| HAAT | 434 m (1,424 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 30°21′8″N85°23′28″W / 30.35222°N 85.39111°W /30.35222; -85.39111 |
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Public license information | |
| Website | www |
WMBB (channel 13) is atelevision station inPanama City, Florida, United States, affiliated withABC. Its seconddigital subchannel serves as anowned-and-operated station ofThe CW (viaThe CW Plus). Owned byNexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on Harrison Avenue/US 231 in downtown Panama City, and its transmitter is located inunincorporatedYoungstown along theBay–Calhoun county line.
Channel 13 first began broadcast operations on October 4, 1973, as WDTB. The station was started by Panhandle Broadcasting Corporation (run by attorney Denver T. Brannen, from where the original call letters were derived from), financed by local businessman/car dealer Tommy Thomas, and attorneys Julian Bennett and Dick Arnold. When it first took to the air, the station was originally anNBC affiliate. The station was a relatively late start for a VHF frequency; most of the allocations on that band elsewhere in the U.S. had been taken by that point. On April 18, 1977, WDTB was sold to Octagon Broadcasting, anAtlanta-based outfit. Upon the change, Octagon changed the station's call sign to the current WMBB (which stands for "The World's Most Beautiful Beaches").[2]
Originally, the station was positioned to be the NBC affiliate forTallahassee as well since themarket did not have one until April 21, 1983, whenWTWC-TV signed on. At the time, WMBB's transmitter was inFrink,Calhoun County, well over fifty miles (80 km) away from Tallahassee at approximately30°22′9″N85°12′29″W / 30.36917°N 85.20806°W /30.36917; -85.20806. In addition, many viewers in the capital city already received NBC fromAlbany, Georgia'sWALB which provided a better signal to the area.
On January 4, 1982, WMBB became an ABC affiliate, swapping affiliations with crosstown rivalWJHG, which had been the market's original NBC station prior to 1972. Then on December 5, 1986, Buford Television ofTyler, Texas, purchased the station and began investing in equipment and news talent in order to make the station more competitive, not only with WJHG, but also withDothan, Alabama'sWTVY, theCBS station serving the eastern part of the northwestern Florida Panhandle region. It was also around this time that this station moved from its location in Downtown Panama City to its current location on Harrison Avenue that formerly housed aBuick dealership. The new facilities offered three times the space of the previous location.
Unexpectedly at 2:03 p.m.Central Time on May 18, 1989, anAir ForceF-15fighter jet clipped a wire at WMBB's Frink tower. This caused the tower, antenna, and transmitter to be completely destroyed. Not long after this incident, channel 13 was sold once again. This time, it joinedSpartan Communications ofSpartanburg, South Carolina, as the construction of new transmission equipment got underway. The company completed the acquisition on April 12, 1990. On August 6 of that same year, WMBB began broadcasting from a new 1,500-foot (457 m) state-of-the-art antenna and transmitter tower now in Youngstown. This allowed for better viewing of the station in the western half of the market including the rapidly growing southernWalton County area andDestin.
In 1993, WMBB was one of several ABC affiliates that refused to clear thepolice procedural dramaNYPD Blue, carrying syndicated sitcoms instead under the orders of the station's general manager, Hugh Roche, over indecency concerns. It only picked up the program at the start of 1997, when theTV Parental Guidelines came into force, along with thev-chip. Other thanWLOX inBiloxi, Mississippi, which never carried the series, WMBB was the last ABC station to hold off on carrying the show.
In March 2000, WMBB became one of 13 stations in a package acquired byMedia General worth $605 million. Later that year, Media General purchased theJackson County Floridan newspaper. WMBB then established aJackson County Bureau and used the resources of theFloridan to cover Jackson County as well. This caught the eye of theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) because of the common ownership of a newspaper and television station in the same market. With the sale of WMBB toHoak Media, the issue became moot. By the time Media General sold the station, Media General was granted a permanent waiver by the FCC to operate both properties in the same market. Media General later divested all of their newspapers (with the exception of theTampa Tribune) toWarren Buffett's World Media Holdings in June 2012.
On March 14, 2008, it was announced that Media General would sell the station (and then-sisterKALB-TV inAlexandria, Louisiana) to Hoak Media.[3] The deal was closed on July 16.[4] At the time of the closing, WMBB was Hoak's only television station east of theMississippi River. In July 2010, the station replaced its second digital subchannel broadcast of weather radar with This TV. That network originally aired onWBIF after that channel stopped airing content from theRetro Television Network (RTV). Its replacement was supposed to beWPGX-DT2 but this never made it to air.
On November 20, 2013, Hoak announced the sale of most of its stations, including WMBB, toGray Television. Due to Gray's existing ownership of WJHG-TV andWECP-LD, Gray immediately placed the station, along withKREX-TV inGrand Junction, Colorado, up for sale to comply with FCC regulations.[5] On December 19, Gray announced that the overlap properties, including WMBB, would be sold toNexstar Broadcasting Group, for $37.5 million.[6] The sale was completed on June 13, 2014.[7] The deal made WMBB a sister station to Dothan's ABC affiliate,WDHN. On January 17, 2017, Nexstar completed its purchase of Media General, which reunited WMBB with most of its former Media General sister stations.
The station was knocked off the air on October 10, 2018, byHurricane Michael.[8]
WMBB made history duringHurricane Dennis in July 2005 when it became the first station in Panama City to broadcast live storm coverage over the internet. It was one of the first stations in the country to useWeather Services International's Titanforecasting tool (a3D forecasting system which showed the collapse of the storm just before it struckSanta Rosa Island).
On July 21, 2011, WMBB announced on itsFacebook page that it would add another newscast starting September 12,News 13 Midday, that runs from 11 a.m. until noon each weekday. This is actually a return to doing a news program during the midday time slot since the station used to produce a midday program until the late-1990s.
In February 2016, Tom Lewis returned to WMBB to become its news director. He was the primary anchor from the late 1980s until 2001, and left for rival station WJHG to become its primary anchor until 2014. He also served as its news director from 2005 to 2010.
On June 1, 2020, WMBB began producing an hour-long 9 p.m. weeknight newscast forFox affiliate WPGX.
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13.1 | 720p | 16:9 | WMBB-DT | ABC |
| 13.2 | 480i | CW Plus | The CW Plus[10] | |
| 13.3 | Laff | Laff | ||
| 13.4 | Escape | Ion Mystery |
WMBB shut down its analog signal, overVHF channel 13, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transitionUHF channel 19 to VHF channel 13.[11]
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