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WLXI
CityGreensboro, North Carolina
Channels
Programming
Affiliations43.1: TCT
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
March 5, 1984 (40 years ago) (1984-03-05)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 61 (UHF, 1984–2009)
  • Digital: 43 (UHF, until 2018), 25 (UHF, 2018–2019), 20 (UHF, 2019–2023)
Call sign meaning
"LXI" = Roman numeral 61 (former analog channel)
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID54452
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT500 m (1,640 ft)
Transmitter coordinates36°22′31.7″N 80°22′17.5″W / 36.375472°N 80.371528°W / 36.375472; -80.371528
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.tct.tv

WLXI (channel 43) is a television station licensed to Greensboro, North Carolina, United States, serving the Piedmont Triad area as an owned-and-operated station of Tri-State Christian Television (TCT). WLXI shares a transmitter on Sauratown Mountain with the Triad's PBS North Carolina satellite, WUNL-TV.[1] Programs are fed to the transmitter from the TCT studio center in Marion, Illinois; WLXI maintained studios on Patterson Street in Greensboro until TCT ended local operations nationally in June 2018.[3]

WLXI went on the air in 1984 and originally aired music videos. This lasted for under 18 months until a new owner who vehemently objected to the music video format converted the station to all-Christian programming in the summer of 1985. The station was sold to national Christian broadcaster Trinity Broadcasting Network soon afterward. Four years later, current owner TCT bought the station and retained it as a TBN affiliate for almost two decades before switching to its own religious programming.

History

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UHF channel 61 was first assigned to Greensboro in the 1960s, but no application was made for it until 1979, when Consolidated Broadcasting Corporation filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to build it. It originally proposed a low-power facility operating on the former tower of WFMY-TV. Consolidated's principals included Eugene Johnston, a Greensboro attorney, and two lawyers from Winston-Salem.[4] The FCC granted the construction permit on July 28, 1981, but before going on air, Johnston exited most of his share in the business as a result of having been elected to Congress in 1980.[5] At that time, it was hoped that WLXI would be in service by midyear from a tower used by WQMG and studios that a decade earlier had housed WUBC (channel 48), a short-lived UHF outlet.[5]

However, it would be another two years, as Consolidated opted instead to build studios near Kernersville. By February 1983, Consolidated had decided instead to format the station as an all-music video outlet.[6] Under this format, WLXI began broadcasting on March 5, 1984,[7] with an airstaff of local video jockeys (VJs); the first program manager left within a week of signing on.[8] Despite difficulties attracting advertisers to the format and turnover of the entire initial staff (including on-air and sales employees), ownership claimed to have found stable footing by November.[9] A stunt in which the station played "This is the Life" by "Weird Al" Yankovic for 18 straight hours attracted national press attention.[10]

This was not enough to save the station's format as Billy Satterfield of Winston-Salem bought controlling interest in Consolidated Broadcasters. On July 1, VJ Todd Yohn walked off the job after playing "Take This Job and Shove It" by Johnny Paycheck after hearing rumors that WLXI had been sold to a religious broadcaster.[11] Another VJ resigned the next day, with Jay Johnson telling viewers he was leaving "because I feel like the station won't exist very much longer".[12] WLXI experienced no further staff changes for the rest of July, but on August 1, another VJ, Erin Spencer, and a receptionist were fired by Satterfield. Spencer told the News & Record that when Satterfield fired her, he said to her, "You shouldn't be doing this. It's the devil's work. Think of those 7- and 8-year-olds who are watching and being influenced. Video music is the work of the devil." Spencer also said that Satterfield intended to turn channel 61 into a Christian station.[13]

The next day, Satterfield confirmed the station would gradually switch to an all-Christian format and that he had met with executives of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN).[14] TBN then bought WLXI from Satterfield for $300,000 and a $1.4 million loan to cover station debts.[15] The full conversion to TBN programming took place in September 1985 ahead of the network closing on the sale in February.[16][17]

In 1989, TBN put WLXI and KNAT-TV in Albuquerque, New Mexico, up for sale; one possible reason was that cable systems in the area had dropped WLXI in 1986 for not having a measurable audience.[18] Two years later, it sold WLXI to Tri-State Christian Television of Marion, Illinois, for $1.9 million, giving TCT its first station in the South.[19] In April 2007, TCT pulled TBN programming from its stations in favor of programming supplied by the company.

From 1993 to 2009, WLXI's signal was relayed on low-power translator station W18BG (channel 18, now WMDV-LD) in Danville, Virginia. In June 2009, that station was sold to the Star News Corporation (owners of WGSR-LD in that market) and stopped rebroadcasting WLXI's programming.

At the end of June 2018, TCT closed WLXI's local studio and ended its local programming with the FCC's repeal of the Main Studio Rule, and the station from then on would be programmed through TCT's default national schedule.[20]

Technical information

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Subchannel

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WLXI is broadcast as one subchannel on a shared multiplex with WUNL-TV.

Subchannels of WUNC-TV/WUNL-TV and WRAY-TV/WLXI[21]
License Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
WUNC-TV/WUNL-TV 4.1/26.1 1080i 16:9 PBS NC PBS
4.2/26.2 480i ROOTLE PBS Kids Channel
4.3/26.3 UNC-EX The Explorer Channel
4.4/26.4 NCCHL The North Carolina Channel
WRAY-TV/WLXI 30.1/43.1 1080i WRAY/WLXI TCT

Analog-to-digital conversion

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WLXI shut down its analog signal on June 12, 2009, as part of the FCC-mandated transition to digital television for full-power stations.[22] The station then adopted channel 43 as its virtual channel instead of 61.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Modification of a License for DTV Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. April 24, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  2. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WLXI". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^ "WNYB-TV ends local productions, station site is for sale". The Buffalo News. July 2, 2018. Archived from the original on July 2, 2018. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  4. ^ Kenion, Jerry (May 30, 1979). "Station Hopes For June". Greensboro Daily News. p. A12. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022 – via GenealogyBank.
  5. ^ a b Schlosser, Jim (February 2, 1982). "City's third TV station may be on air by summer". The Greensboro Record. p. B1. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022 – via GenealogyBank.
  6. ^ Robinson, Sue (February 23, 1983). "TV station plans unusual concept". The Greensboro Record. p. B1. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022 – via GenealogyBank.
  7. ^ Bessman, Jim (November 24, 1984). "Greensboro Station: We're Not MTV". Billboard. p. 32. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  8. ^ Robinson, Sue (March 16, 1984). "VJs: Channel 61's music videos beamed out by 'communicators' pioneering new trade". The Greensboro Record. pp. B1, B2. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  9. ^ Robinson, Sue (November 9, 1984). "Channel 61 hitting stride after having problems at start". Greensboro News & Record. p. B4. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022 – via GenealogyBank.
  10. ^ James, Sheryl (March 1, 1985). "Video gimmick puts 61 centerstage". Greensboro News & Record. pp. C1, C3. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022 – via GenealogyBank.
  11. ^ Robinson, Sue (July 2, 1985). "Channel 61 broadcaster walks off in a huff". Greensboro News & Record. p. B8. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022 – via GenealogyBank.
  12. ^ "Second TV employee quits on the air". Greensboro News & Record. July 3, 1985. p. C7. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  13. ^ Robinson, Sue (August 2, 1985). "Two more announcers leave Triad's music video station". Greensboro News & Record. p. D1. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  14. ^ Robinson, Sue (August 3, 1985). "WLXI-TV chief announces switch to religious programs". Greensboro News & Record. p. D2. Archived from the original on November 17, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  15. ^ Robinson, Sue (August 23, 1985). "Sandra Hughes leaving PM Magazine for management". Greensboro News & Record. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  16. ^ "On the flipside: trouble in music-video land" (PDF). Broadcasting. February 10, 1986. pp. 53, 56, 58. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  17. ^ "Public television supporters in N.C. first among states". Greensboro News & Record. March 27, 1986. p. B5. Archived from the original on November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022 – via GenealogyBank.
  18. ^ Brown, Nick (March 29, 1989). "Ch. 61, sister station are put up for sale". Greensboro News & Record. p. A11. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  19. ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 28, 1991. p. 76. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  20. ^ McLaughlin, Nancy (June 28, 2018). "WLXI, a longtime carrier of Christian programming, signs off". News & Record. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  21. ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for WUNC". RabbitEars.info. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  22. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. May 23, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
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