CBS affiliate in Memphis, Tennessee
WREG-TV
(channel 3) is a
television station
in
Memphis, Tennessee
, United States, affiliated with
CBS
and owned by
Nexstar Media Group
. The station's studios are located on Channel 3 Drive near the
Mississippi River
on the west side of Memphis, and its transmitter is located near
Bartlett, Tennessee
.
History
[
edit
]
The station first signed on the air on January 1, 1956, as WREC-TV, and began regular broadcasts the following day on January 2. It was originally owned by electrical engineer and radio dealer Hoyt Wooten (who had applied for one of the first television licenses in the country in 1928), along with WREC radio (
600 AM
and 102.7 FM, now
WEGR
). The call letters stood for Wooten's radio store, the Wooten Radio-Electric Company, where he had founded WREC radio in 1922. It took the CBS affiliation from
WHBQ-TV
(channel 13, which had been a CBS affiliate since it started in September 1953), as WREC-AM had been a CBS Radio affiliate since 1929. WREC-TV's original studios were located inside the
Peabody Hotel
, a noted tourist attraction, in downtown Memphis.
For its first six years, WREC-TV was the only locally owned station in Memphis (WHBQ-TV was owned by
General Tire
and
NBC
affiliate
WMC-TV
was owned by
Scripps-Howard
). However, in 1963, Wooten sold WREC-AM-FM-TV to
Cowles Communications
, earning a handsome return on his original investment of 40 years earlier. In turn, Cowles sold WREC-TV to
The New York Times Company
in 1971, marking their first foray into television broadcasting outside of its home city in
New York City
. Cowles later sold the radio stations to other interests.
[3]
With the new owners came a slightly modified call sign, WREG-TV.
Four years later, the Times Company built new studio facilities for WREG on one of the highest points on
Chickasaw Bluff
, overlooking the
Mississippi River
. The station had long since outgrown the Peabody Hotel, and management felt that building a new studio near the Mississippi would be appropriate since Memphis has long been identified with the river. On March 2, 1975, channel 3 signed off from the Peabody Hotel for the last time, and returned to the air 45 minutes later from the new studios on Channel 3 Drive.
[4]
Years later, the station also maintained studio space in the
Peabody Place
shopping center, adjacent to the Peabody Hotel, marking a partial return of sorts to the WREC-TV years. However, the studio was shut down in 2011 when Peabody Place closed.
On September 12, 2006, The New York Times Company announced its intention to sell its nine television stations. On January 4, 2007, the company entered into an agreement with
private equity group
Oak Hill Capital Partners
to sell the stations to the Oak Hill-operated holding company
Local TV
,
[5]
[6]
the sale was finalized on May 7.
[7]
On July 1, 2013, Local TV announced that it would sell its stations to
Tribune Broadcasting
(which formed a management company that operated both Tribune and Local TV's stations in 2008) for $2.75 billion.
[8]
The sale was completed on December 27.
[9]
Aborted sale to Sinclair; sale to Nexstar
[
edit
]
Sinclair Broadcast Group
entered into an agreement to acquire Tribune Media on May 8, 2017, for $3.9 billion, plus the assumption of $2.7 billion in Tribune debt.
[10]
[11]
The deal received significant scrutiny over Sinclair's forthrightness in its applications to sell certain conflict properties, prompting the FCC to designate it for hearing and leading Tribune to terminate the deal and sue Sinclair for
breach of contract
.
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
[20]
[21]
[22]
[23]
Following the Sinclair deal's collapse,
Nexstar Media Group
of
Irving, Texas
, announced its purchase of Tribune Media on December 3, 2018, for $6.4 billion in cash and debt.
[24]
As Nexstar already owned
ABC
affiliate
WATN-TV
(channel 24) and
CW
affiliate
WLMT
(channel 30), the company agreed on March 20, 2019, to divest the WATN/WLMT duopoly to
Tegna Inc.
as part of a series of transactions with multiple companies that totaled $1.32 billion.
[25]
[26]
The sale was completed on September 19, 2019.
[27]
Programming
[
edit
]
WREG is the only CBS affiliate that preempts
CBS Saturday Morning
since its September 1997 debut, airing a three-hour Saturday morning newscast in its place. The station also preempts the Sunday edition of the
CBS Weekend News
in order to air an hour-long 5 p.m. newscast. WREG is one of the few stations that preempts a big three network evening newscast (the hour-long early evening newscast inventories of
Norfolk
NBC affiliate
WAVY-TV
,
Grand Rapids
NBC affiliate
WOOD-TV
and
Scranton
ABC affiliate
WNEP-TV
are also limited in a similar fashion with the latter airing local programming in place of the network's evening newscast).
[
citation needed
]
Over the years, WREG has produced many local programs, such as
News Channel 3 Knowledge Bowl
and
Mid-South Outdoors
(later known as
News Channel 3 Outdoors
). The station also currently produces
Live at 9
, a weekday morning program that maintains a
talk show
-style format and the
public affairs
program
Informed Sources
, which airs on Saturday evenings and sometimes Sunday nights and discusses current local issues.
Throughout the early 1960s into the late 1980s, WREC/WREG claimed to possess the largest
feature film
library of any television station in the United States, which was evidenced in its daily (late afternoons and late nights) and weekend programming lineup at the time. The station used some of those features for theme weeks (such as "
Godzilla
Week" and "
John Wayne
Week"), which proved to be very popular with viewers. However, like most major network affiliates in the early 1980s, WREG-TV began cutting back on the large number of movies that occupied much of its off-network schedule, a move prompted by the presence of
cable
,
VCRs
, and the emergence of then-
independent
competitors WPTY (channel 24, now ABC affiliate WATN-TV) in 1978 and WMKW (channel 30, now CW affiliate WLMT) in 1983.
News operation
[
edit
]
The station presently broadcasts
40
+
1
⁄
2
hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with
6
+
1
⁄
2
hours each weekday,
4
+
1
⁄
2
hours on Saturdays and
3
+
1
⁄
2
hours on Sundays). For more than two decades, WREG has been in a
Nielsen ratings
war for first place with longtime powerhouse WMC-TV. WREG did not actually win a ratings period, however, until February 2006 after it paired former WHBQ anchor Claudia Barr and former WMC morning anchor Richard Ransom as its main evening anchors. Since that time, WREG has gradually built on its wins in the all-important 10 p.m. slot and now consistently dominates that time period. Since the February 2014 sweeps period, the station's newscasts have placed first in all time slots.
On June 13, 2011, beginning with the 10 p.m. newscast, WREG-TV became the third station in the Memphis market (behind WMC-TV and WHBQ-TV) to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in
high definition
. The switch came with a refresh of the newsroom set and new graphics, however major technical glitches occurred during the week following the conversion. In mid-2011, the WREG news studio received a major overhaul with the unveiling of a "newsplex" set (designed by FX Group) that occupies a large studio with loft areas and continues into a smaller newsroom area in the back and includes numerous live areas and a set for the
Live at 9
program.
Technical information
[
edit
]
Subchannels
[
edit
]
The station's signal is
multiplexed
:
The station became a charter affiliate of
Antenna TV
upon its launch on January 1, 2011, and is carried on digital subchannel 3.3.
[29]
Analog-to-digital conversion
[
edit
]
WREG-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over
VHF
channel 3, on June 12, 2009, as part of the
federally mandated transition from analog to digital television
.
[30]
The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 28, using
virtual channel
3.
Out-of-market coverage
[
edit
]
WREG-TV, along with Little Rock's KTHV, previously served as the default CBS affiliates for the
Jonesboro, Arkansas
, area. WREG's signal can reach at least the Jonesboro area, and it is available on
Suddenlink
cable,
[31]
as well as the cable system of Paragould Light Water and Cable in the
Paragould
area. This ended on August 1, 2015, when Jonesboro-based Fox affiliate
KJNB-LD
signed on the Jonesboro market's first locally based CBS affiliate on its second digital subchannel.
[32]
This has resulted in the displacement of KTHV from Suddenlink cable, and may also result in the removal of WREG-TV.
WREG-TV also previously served as the default CBS affiliate for the
Jackson, Tennessee
, media market, along with Nashville's
WTVF
. This ended on January 1, 2012, when ABC affiliate
WBBJ-TV
converted its third subchannel into a primary CBS affiliate and secondary MeTV affiliate for that area.
[33]
In spite of this, both WREG and WTVF remain on Jackson Energy Authority's E-Plus Broadband Cable system.
[34]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Call Letter Origins"
.
Radio History on the Web
.
- ^
"Facility Technical Data for WREG-TV"
.
Licensing and Management System
.
Federal Communications Commission
.
- ^
"
New York Times
buys first TV."
Broadcasting
, November 2, 1970, pg. 161.
[1]
- ^
"TV-3, Memphis builds on the banks of the Mississippi. RCA Broadcast News, Vol. 157, December 1975, pg. 19.
[2]
- ^
NY Times CO. Sell TV Group to Equity Firm for $530M; Second equity group to buy a media business in two weeks.
, [NewsInc.], January 8, 2007.
- ^
"New York Times Company : Investors : Press Release"
. Phx.corporate-ir.net
. Retrieved
March 24,
2011
.
- ^
"The New York Times Company Reports April Revenues"
(Press release).
Business Wire
. May 7, 2007. Archived from
the original
(The New York Times Company Financial Report)
on July 22, 2012
. Retrieved
August 23,
2008
.
- ^
Channick, Robert (July 1, 2013).
"Acquisition to make Tribune Co. largest U.S. TV station operator"
.
Chicago Tribune
. Retrieved
July 1,
2013
.
- ^
Company Completes Final Steps of Transaction Announced in July
Archived
December 28, 2013, at the
Wayback Machine
, Tribune Company, December 27, 2013
- ^
Battaglio, Stephen (May 8, 2017).
"Sinclair Broadcast Group to buy Tribune Media for $3.9 billion plus debt"
.
Los Angeles Times
.
Archived
from the original on June 6, 2017
. Retrieved
June 6,
2017
.
- ^
Littleton, Cynthia (May 8, 2017).
"Sinclair Broadcast Group Sets $3.9 Billion Deal to Acquire Tribune Media"
.
Variety
.
Archived
from the original on June 5, 2017
. Retrieved
June 6,
2017
.
- ^
Shields, Todd (July 16, 2018).
"Sinclair and Tribune Fall as FCC Slams TV Station Sale Plan"
.
Bloomberg News
. Retrieved
July 19,
2018
.
- ^
Neidig, Harper (July 16, 2018).
"FCC chair rejects Sinclair-Tribune merger"
.
The Hill
. Capitol Hill Publishing Corp
. Retrieved
August 9,
2018
.
- ^
Feder, Robert
(July 16, 2018).
"FCC throws Sinclair/Tribune deal in doubt"
.
RobertFeder.com
. Retrieved
August 9,
2018
.
- ^
Hart, Benjamin (July 16, 2018).
"FCC Throws Wrench into Sinclair Media Megadeal"
.
New York
. New York Media, LLC
. Retrieved
August 9,
2018
.
- ^
Lee, Edmund (July 18, 2018).
"Sinclair Tries to Appease F.C.C., but Its Tribune Bid Is Challenged"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
August 9,
2018
.
- ^
Mirabella, Lorraine (July 18, 2018).
"FCC orders hearing even as Sinclair changes plans to sell TV stations to address concerns about Tribune deal"
.
Baltimore Sun
. Tronc
. Retrieved
August 9,
2018
.
- ^
"Tribune Terminates $3.9 Billion Sinclair Merger, Sues Broadcast Rival"
.
The Wall Street Journal
.
News Corp.
August 9, 2018.
- ^
Miller, Mark K. (August 9, 2018).
"Tribune Kills Sinclair Merger, Files Suit"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media.
- ^
Dinsmore, Christopher (August 9, 2018).
"Tribune Media pulls out of Sinclair Broadcast merger"
.
Baltimore Sun
.
Tronc
.
- ^
Lee, Edmund; Tsang, Amie (August 9, 2018).
"Tribune Ends Deal With Sinclair, Dashing Plan for Conservative TV Behemoth"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
Lafayette, Jon (August 9, 2018).
"Tribune Ends Deal with Sinclair, Files Breach of Contract Suit"
.
Broadcasting & Cable
. NewBay Media.
- ^
Fung, Brian; Romm, Tony (August 9, 2018).
"Tribune withdraws from Sinclair merger, saying it will sue for 'breach of contract'
"
.
The Washington Post
. Nash Holdings LLC.
- ^
Lafayette, Jon (December 3, 2018).
"Nexstar Announces Deal to Buy Tribune for $6.4B"
.
Broadcasting & Cable
.
Archived
from the original on April 5, 2019
. Retrieved
December 6,
2018
.
- ^
"Nexstar Selling 19 TVs In 15 Markets For $1.32B"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheckMedia. March 20, 2019
. Retrieved
March 20,
2019
.
- ^
Ahmed, Nabila; Sakoui, Anousha (March 20, 2019).
"Nexstar to Sell Stations to Tegna, Scripps for $1.32 Billion"
.
Bloomberg News
.
Bloomberg, L.P.
- ^
Miller, Mark K. (September 19, 2019).
"Nexstar Closes On Tribune Merger"
.
TVNewsCheck
.
Archived
from the original on September 20, 2019
. Retrieved
July 20,
2021
.
- ^
RabbitEars TV Query for WREG
- ^
"Antenna TV Affiliates - AntennaTV"
. Archived from
the original
on November 27, 2010
. Retrieved
March 4,
2016
.
- ^
List of Digital Full-Power Stations
- ^
Suddenlink Cable Channel Lineup for Jonesboro, Arkansas
Archived
April 2, 2015, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"CBS makes debut in northeast Arkansas"
- ^
WBBJ to Add CBS to 7.3 in January 2012
Archived
April 3, 2012, at the
Wayback Machine
. WBBJ-TV (November 2011).
- ^
Jackson Energy Authority - E+ Broadband Cable Channel Lineup for Jackson, Tennessee
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with
cable television
|
Full power
|
- WREG-TV 3
(.1
CBS
, .2 NC3A, .3
ANT
)
- WMC-TV 5
(.1
NBC
, .2
Bounce
, .3 AN5+, .4
Grit
, .5
The365
, .6
This
)
- WKNO 10
(.1
PBS
, .2 WKNO2, .3
PBS Kids
)
- WHBQ-TV 13
(.1
Fox
, .2
H&I
, .3
Mystery
)
- WMAV-TV 18
(.1
PBS
/
MPB
, .2
PBS Kids
, .3
Create
, .4
NPR
/
MPB
, .5 MPB Classroom TV)
- WTWV 23
(.1
Ind.
,
.2
TCT
)
- WATN-TV 24
(.1
ABC
, .2
Laff
, .3
Cozi
, .4
Quest
, .5
Crime
, .6
Nest
, .7
Comet
, .8
Charge!
)
- WLMT 30
(.1
CW
/
MNTV
, .2
MeTV
, .3
Start
, .4
Get
, .5
LC
, .6
QVC
, .7
QVC2
, .8
REW
)
- WWTW 34
(.1
TCT
)
- WBUY-TV 40
(.1
TBN
, .2
Merit
, .3
Inspire
, .4
Smile
, .5
Positiv
)
- WPXX-TV 50
(.1
Ion
, .2
Court
, .3
Grit
, .4
Defy
, .5
Scripps
, .6
JTV
, .7
HSN
, .8
QVC
, .9
QVC2
)
|
---|
Low power
| |
---|
ATSC 3.0
| |
---|
Cable
| |
---|
Outlying areas
| West Tennessee
| |
---|
Northern Mississippi
| |
---|
|
---|
Defunct
|
- Fox Sports Tennessee
- W06AW 6
(
UBN
,
Selmer, TN
)
- WPGF-LD 17
(.1 Unknown)
- WDYR-CD 18
(
Ind.
/
Daystar
,
Dyersburg, TN
)
- WFBI-LD 33
(.1
Silent
)
- W42BY 42 (
3ABN
)
- WBXP-LP 44 (.1
SBN
)
- W46EF/WWWN-LD 46
(.1
Silent
)
- W50EA-D 42
(.1
3ABN
, .2 Proclaim, .3 D2D, .4 Latino, .5 3ABN Radio, .6 Radio Latino, .7
Radio 74
)
- W63BV 63 (
ValueVision
)
|
---|
|
|
---|
Reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with
cable television
|
Local stations
|
- KAIT
(8.1
ABC
, 8.2
NBC
, 8.3
CW+
)
- KTEJ
(19.1
PBS
/
AR PBS
, 19.2
Create
, 19.3
PBS Kids
, 19.4
World
)
- KIAT-LD
(25.1
TMD
, 25.2
The365
, 25.3
Cozi
, 25.4
Ion
, 25.5
Grit
, 25.6
Laff
, 25.7
Bounce
, 25.8
Mystery
)
- KPMF-LD
(26.1
BeIN Sports Xtra
, 26.2
Get
, 26.3
Ads
, 26.4
Buzzr
, 26.5
Sonlife
, 26.6
QVC
, 26.7 Ads)
- K27OY-D
(27.1
Silent
/Future Station)
- KJBW-LD
(35.1
Silent
, 35.2
Grit
, 35.3
Mystery
, 35.4
Laff
, 35.5
Bounce
, 35.7
Rel.
, 35.8 Blank)
- KJTB-LD
(36.1
TMD
, 36.2
Ion
, 36.3
Cozi
, 36.4
Buzzr
)
- KJNB-LD
(39.1
Fox
, 39.2
CBS
, 39.3
MeTV
/
MNTV
)
- KVTJ-DT
(48.1
Ind.
/
Rel.
)
|
---|
Broadcast relay stations
| |
---|
Defunct stations
| |
---|
|
CBS
network affiliates licensed to and serving the state of
Tennessee
|
---|
Primary*
| |
---|
Secondary**
| |
---|
(*) ? indicates station is in one of Tennessee's primary
TV markets
(**) ? indicates station is in an out-of-state TV market, but reaches a small portion of Tennessee
|
|
---|
ABC
| |
---|
CBS
| |
---|
Fox
| |
---|
NBC
| |
---|
The CW
| |
---|
MyNetworkTV
| |
---|
Ion Television
| |
---|
PBS
| |
---|
Other
|
- WPXS 13 / KUMO-LP 51
(
Daystar
,
St. Louis
/
Mount Vernon, IL
)
- KXVO 15
ATSC 3.0
(
TBD
,
Omaha, NE
)
- KTAJ-TV 16
(
TBN
,
Kansas City
/
St. Joseph
)
- WTJR 16
(
CTN
,
Quincy, IL
)
- WQWQ-LD 18
(
TMD
,
Paducah, KY/Cape Girardeau
)
- KUKC-LD 20
(
UNI
,
Kansas City
)
- KNPG-LD 21.3
(
TMD
,
St. Joseph
)
- WTWV 23
(
Rel.
Ind.
,
Memphis, TN
)
- KNLC 24
(
MeTV
,
St. Louis
)
- KFDR 25
(
CTN
,
Jefferson City
)
- WTCT 27
(
TCT
,
Marion, IL
)
- KDNL-TV 30
(.2
TBD
, .3
Charge!
, .4
Nest
,
St. Louis
)
- KWBM 31
(
Daystar
,
Harrison, AR
)
- KBNS-CD 36
(
Ind.
,
Branson
)
- KMCI-TV 38
ATSC 3.0
(
Ind.
,
Lawrence, KS
)
- KGKC-LD 39
(
TMD
,
Lawrence, KS
)
|
---|
|
---|
|
ABC
| | |
---|
CBS
| |
---|
The CW
(
O&O
)
| |
---|
Fox
| |
---|
MyNetworkTV
| |
---|
NBC
| |
---|
Other stations
| |
---|
TV channels
| |
---|
TV programs
| |
---|
Other assets
| |
---|
Acquisitions
| |
---|
- 1
Nexstar operates these stations under an
SSA
.
- 2
These stations broadcast these networks on their digital subchannels.
|