Affiliations CBS | ||
Branding WECP-TV (general)
Local 18 News
My 7 (DT2) Channels Digital: 29 (UHF) &
WJHG-DT 18.3 (UHF)
Virtual: 18 (PSIP) &
WJHG-DT 7.3 (PSIP) Subchannels 18.1 CBS
18.2 MyNetworkTV/Jewelry
18.3 Heroes & Icons Owner Gray Television
(Gray Television
Licensee, LLC) First air date September 24, 2012; 4 years ago (2012-09-24) | ||
WECP-LD is the low-powered, CBS-affiliated television station in Panama City, Florida. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 29 (or virtual channel 18.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter on SR 20 in unincorporated Youngstown. Owned by Gray Television, the station is sister to NBC affiliate WJHG-TV and the two outlets share studios on Front Beach Road/SR 30 in Panama City Beach. In order to increase its off-air broadcasting reach, WECP is simulcasted in standard definition on WJHG's third digital subchannel. This can be seen on UHF channel 18.3 (or virtual channel 7.3 via PSIP) from the same Youngstown tower.
Contents
On weekdays, WJHG produces two thirty-minute newscasts (at noon and 5:30 p.m.) that are exclusive to WECP. As a result, this station airs the CBS Evening News taped delayed at 6 unlike most CBS outlets in the Central Time Zone. It has a dedicated anchor and meteorologist for the two programs but the personalities can also contribute to WJHG. WECP does not simulcast any newscasts from WJHG.
History
On April 20, 2012, then owner MIK LLC announced it was selling the construction permit for the station (which initially held the call sign W18DR-D) to Gray Television. Under the transfer, MIK would receive $4,000 and would turn over the permit to DTV America Corporation LLC which would, in turn, transfer the permit to Gray. Gray exercised a purchase option that was part of the deal to acquire the station outright on May 11, 2012. Gray changed the calls to WECP-LD on June 4, 2012.
On July 17, 2012, Gray Television signed an affiliation agreement with CBS for WECP and two other low-powered stations that Gray acquired around the same time period as the WECP acquisition. As a result, WECP-LD became the CBS affiliate for the Panama City area when the station took to the air on September 24, 2012.
It is the second CBS affiliate that is licensed to the immediate Panama City market. Sister station WJHG had previously carried a secondary affiliation with the network from its December 1953 sign-on until 1961. Since then, Dothan sister station WTVY has served as the default CBS affiliate for Panama City. In October 2012, WTVY was officially removed from cable systems in the market with WECP taking its place.
On January 7, 2014, WECP applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to move from channel 18 to channel 29. The reasoning is WJHG has a construction permit to relocate to channel 18. The application was approved on November 14, 2014 giving WECP its construction permit. The switch of WECP to channel 29 (retaining 18 as virtual) and WJHG to channel 18 (virtual 7) took place on May 21, 2015, with the FCC issuing the station's license on June 5, 2015.
Digital channels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed: