WDAM-TV
Encyclopedia
WDAM-TV is the NBC
-affiliated television station
for the Pine Belt
area of Southeastern Mississippi
that is licensed to Laurel
. It broadcast a high definition
digital signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter at its studios on US 11
in Moselle
near the Jones
and Forrest
County line. The station can also be seen on Comcast
channel 4 and in high definition on digital channel 432. Syndicated
programming on WDAM includes: Wheel of Fortune
, Jeopardy!
, and Inside Edition
". In 2011, the station began broadcasting Raycom-produced programming in place of some syndicated shows.
. WDAM-DT3 and Comcast digital channel 243 is currently vacant.
and ABC
. During the late-1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
. In September 1959, it moved from channel 9 to channel 7 in order for WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
to move from UHF channel 28 to VHF channel 9 and to protect Tupelo
's WTWV (now WTVA
) that also broadcasted on channel 9. Several years later in 1962, WDAM dropped its secondary ABC affiliation to become a sole NBC affiliate which it remains today.
The station was acquired by current owner Raycom Media in 1997 when it bought out previous owner Federal Broadcasting. However, Raycom owned CBS
affiliate WHLT
at the time and had to sell it to Media General
in order to comply with Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) duopoly
rules. In 2008, the station added a new position, web manager, and updated its website to conform to modern standards. That same year, the station launched "wdamtogo.com", a site designed for internet-capable mobile devices. In 2010, the station launched smart phone apps. In 2011, the station launched a secondary set of websites for each community of over 20,000 people in the station's viewing area called WDAM Neighborhoods.
Bobby Smith worked at the station since a week after it signed-on until 2011. Weathercaster Jim Gibbon was a staple of WDAM's weekday morning and noon shows for 43 years until his retirement in March 2007. He died nearly two months later on April 25. Sports Director Mitchell Williams retired in 2011 after 27 years at the station. News Director Randy Swan has been with the station for approximately three decades leaving for only a brief period when he served in the same position with WABG-TV
in the Greenwood
/Greenville, Mississippi
market
. Swan's father, Jimmy Swan, was a well known radio personality and country
/bluegrass
singer/bandleader during the late-1950s and 1960s who also ran for Governor of Mississippi. Current Good Morning America
co-host Robin Roberts
was a sports anchor at WDAM in the early-1980s.
In 2001, it signed-on its digital signal on UHF channel 28. By federal mandate on June 12, 2009, the analog transmitter of WDAM was shut down and the station began broadcasting exclusively in digital. With the digital television transition
, the station added two new channels to its lineup on 7.2 and 7.3. The station had been producing original programming on 7.2 but this has since gone silent On January 28, 2010, WDAM moved from UHF channel 28 to the pre-digital allotment on VHF channel 7. An early field test showed a dramatically improved signal in areas that were lost after the original digital transition.
Weather team
Sports team
Reporters
Contributors
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for the Pine Belt
Pine Belt (Mississippi)
The Pine Belt, also known as the "Piney Woods", is a region in Southeast Mississippi. The region gets its name from the longleaf pine trees that are abundant in the region.- Geography :The Longleaf Pine belt covers 36 counties in Mississippi...
area of Southeastern Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
that is licensed to Laurel
Laurel, Mississippi
Laurel is a city located in Jones County in Mississippi, a state of the United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 18,393 although a significant population increase has been reported following Hurricane Katrina. Located in southeast Mississippi, southeast of...
. It broadcast a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter at its studios on US 11
U.S. Route 11 in Mississippi
The Mississippi section of US 11 is defined in Mississippi Code Annotated § 65-3-3.-Route description:Throughout the state of Mississippi, US 11 closely parallels Interstate 59.-Pearl River County:...
in Moselle
Moselle, Mississippi
Moselle is an unincorporated community in southern Jones County, Mississippi, United States. It is located along U.S. Highway 11, north of Eastabuchie and southwest of Laurel...
near the Jones
Jones County, Mississippi
-History:Jones County, formed out parts of Covington and Wayne counties, was established on January 24, 1826 and was named for John Paul Jones. There are other counties named Jones, but it appears that this is the only one named for John Paul Jones...
and Forrest
Forrest County, Mississippi
The median income for a household in the county was $27,420, and the median income for a family was $35,791. Males had a median income of $28,742 versus $20,500 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,160...
County line. The station can also be seen on Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
channel 4 and in high definition on digital channel 432. Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on WDAM includes: Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
, Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
, and Inside Edition
Inside Edition
Inside Edition is a thirty-minute American television syndicated news program, first aired on CBS on October 9, 1988. It was originally similar to the programs Hard Copy and A Current Affair, but now more closely resembles a condensed version of breakfast television, exclusively with pre-recorded...
". In 2011, the station began broadcasting Raycom-produced programming in place of some syndicated shows.
Digital programming
On WDAM-DT2 and Comcast digital channel 217 is This TVThis TV
This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....
. WDAM-DT3 and Comcast digital channel 243 is currently vacant.
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 7.1 | Main WDAM programming / NBC |
| 7.2 | This TV |
| 7.3 | Bounce TV Bounce TV Bounce TV is a United States television network airing on digital terrestrial television stations. Promoted as "the first 24/7 digital multicast broadcast network created exclusively for African Americans," Bounce TV launched on September 26, 2011 and features programming geared toward blacks in... |
History
WDAM-TV signed-on June 8, 1956 airing an analog signal on VHF channel 9 and was affiliated with both NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. During the late-1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
NTA Film Network
The NTA Film Network was an early American television network founded by Ely Landau in 1956. The network was not a full-time television network like CBS, NBC, or ABC. Rather, it operated on a part-time basis, broadcasting films and several first-run television programs from major Hollywood studios...
. In September 1959, it moved from channel 9 to channel 7 in order for WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
to move from UHF channel 28 to VHF channel 9 and to protect Tupelo
Tupelo, Mississippi
Tupelo is the largest city in and the county seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. It is the seventh largest city in the state of Mississippi, smaller than Meridian, and larger than Greenville. As of the 2000 United States Census, the city's population was 34,211...
's WTWV (now WTVA
WTVA
WTVA is the NBC-affiliated television station for Northern Mississippi and Northwestern Alabama licensed to Tupelo, Mississippi. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 from a transmitter on County Road 70 in Woodland, Mississippi. The station can also be seen on Cable One...
) that also broadcasted on channel 9. Several years later in 1962, WDAM dropped its secondary ABC affiliation to become a sole NBC affiliate which it remains today.
The station was acquired by current owner Raycom Media in 1997 when it bought out previous owner Federal Broadcasting. However, Raycom owned CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate WHLT
WHLT
WHLT is the CBS-affiliated television station for Southeastern Mississippi's Pine Belt. Licensed to Hattiesburg, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 22 from a transmitter in unincorporated Northeastern Forrest County. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 10 and...
at the time and had to sell it to Media General
Media General
Media General, Inc. is a media company based in the Southeastern United States. Its major properties include newspapers such as The Tampa Tribune, the Winston-Salem Journal, and the Richmond Times-Dispatch, as well as numerous television stations, such as flagship station WFLA-TV.The company was...
in order to comply with Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) duopoly
Duopoly (broadcasting)
In United States broadcast television and radio, duopoly is a term used to describe a single company which owns two or more stations in the same city or community....
rules. In 2008, the station added a new position, web manager, and updated its website to conform to modern standards. That same year, the station launched "wdamtogo.com", a site designed for internet-capable mobile devices. In 2010, the station launched smart phone apps. In 2011, the station launched a secondary set of websites for each community of over 20,000 people in the station's viewing area called WDAM Neighborhoods.
Bobby Smith worked at the station since a week after it signed-on until 2011. Weathercaster Jim Gibbon was a staple of WDAM's weekday morning and noon shows for 43 years until his retirement in March 2007. He died nearly two months later on April 25. Sports Director Mitchell Williams retired in 2011 after 27 years at the station. News Director Randy Swan has been with the station for approximately three decades leaving for only a brief period when he served in the same position with WABG-TV
WABG-TV
WABG-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Delta area of Northwestern Mississippi that is licensed to Greenwood. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 32 from a transmitter northeast of Inverness. The station can also be seen on Suddenlink channel 4 and in high...
in the Greenwood
Greenwood, Mississippi
Greenwood is a city in and the county seat of Leflore County, Mississippi, United States, located at the eastern edge of the Mississippi Delta approximately 96 miles north of Jackson, Mississippi, and 130 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee. The population was 15,205 at the 2010 census. It is the...
/Greenville, Mississippi
Greenville, Mississippi
Greenville is a city in Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 48,633 at the 2000 census, but according to the 2009 census bureau estimates, it has since declined to 42,764, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. It is the county seat of Washington...
market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
. Swan's father, Jimmy Swan, was a well known radio personality and country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
/bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
singer/bandleader during the late-1950s and 1960s who also ran for Governor of Mississippi. Current Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
co-host Robin Roberts
Robin Roberts (newscaster)
Robin René Roberts is an American television broadcaster. Roberts is the co-anchor of ABC's morning show Good Morning America-Early life:...
was a sports anchor at WDAM in the early-1980s.
In 2001, it signed-on its digital signal on UHF channel 28. By federal mandate on June 12, 2009, the analog transmitter of WDAM was shut down and the station began broadcasting exclusively in digital. With the digital television transition
Digital television transition
The digital television transition is the process in which analog television broadcasting is converted to and replaced by digital television. This primarily involves both TV stations and over-the-air viewers; however it also involves content providers like TV networks, and cable television...
, the station added two new channels to its lineup on 7.2 and 7.3. The station had been producing original programming on 7.2 but this has since gone silent On January 28, 2010, WDAM moved from UHF channel 28 to the pre-digital allotment on VHF channel 7. An early field test showed a dramatically improved signal in areas that were lost after the original digital transition.
Station slogans
- "You've Got 7 On Your Side" (1990s–present; general slogan)
- "The Pine Belt's Choice For News" (2000–present; news slogan)
News team
Current anchors- Miranda Beard - weekday mornings and noon; also assistant news director
- Colleen Donovan - weeknights at 5 p.m.; also reporter
- Sheri Falk - weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.; also Lamar CountyLamar County, Mississippi-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 39,070 people, 14,396 households, and 10,725 families residing in the county. The population density was 79 people per square mile . There were 15,433 housing units at an average density of 31 per square mile...
reporter - Dean Wade - weekday mornings
- Steven Williams - weeknights at 5 and 10 p.m.
Weather team
- Nick Ortego - chief weather anchor; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
- Robert Whitehurst - weather anchor; Saturdays at 6 and weekends at 10 p.m., also weekday reporter
- Rex Thompson - weather anchor; weekday mornings and noon
Sports team
- Nathan Epstein - sports anchor; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
- Austin Simmons - sports anchor; reporter
Reporters
- Elizabeth Googe - investigative reporter
- Karrie Leggett - PetalPetal, MississippiPetal is a city in Forrest County, Mississippi, United States, along the Leaf River. It is part of the Hattiesburg, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population is 10,617 per the US Census estimates performed in July 2007....
and Marion CountyMarion County, Mississippi-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 25,595 people, 9,336 households, and 6,880 families residing in the county. The population density was 47 people per square mile . There were 10,395 housing units at an average density of 19 per square mile...
reporter - Ontario Richardson - JonesJones County, Mississippi-History:Jones County, formed out parts of Covington and Wayne counties, was established on January 24, 1826 and was named for John Paul Jones. There are other counties named Jones, but it appears that this is the only one named for John Paul Jones...
and Jasper CountyJasper County, Mississippi-History:Jasper County was formed in 1833 from the middle section of what been Jones County. It was named for Sgt. William Jasper who first distinguished himself in the defense of Fort Moultrie in 1776. When a shell from a British warship shot away the flagstaff, he recovered the flag, raised it on...
, Laurel courts and political reporter
Contributors
- Gary Bachman - Southern Gardening Show host
- Daniel Barton - Business Break
- Art Ginsburg - Mr. FoodMr. FoodArt Ginsburg, commonly known as Mr. Food, is a television chef and best selling author of cookbooks who emphasizes simple recipes. He is the originator of "quick & easy cooking" who, for the past 30+ years, has paved the way for TV food personalities who have followed. With his enthusiastic style,...
- Walt Grayson - Mississippi Scene
- Mercer Morrison - Movie Madness critic