Affiliations TBN | ||
Channels Digital: 44 (UHF)
Virtual: 63 (PSIP) Subchannels 63.1 - TBN
63.2 - Hillsong Channel
63.3 - JUCE TV/Smile
63.4 - Enlace
63.5 - TBN Salsa Owner Trinity Broadcasting Network, Inc.
(Trinity Broadcasting Network) First air date March 15, 1991; 26 years ago (1991-03-15) Call letters' meaning Home Shopping Network Georgia (former owners),
backronymed to His Saving Grace | ||
WHSG-TV is a Trinity Broadcasting Network owned-and-operated station in Atlanta, Georgia television station on digital channel 44 (redirecting to former analog channel 63 via PSIP). It is licensed to Monroe, while its studios are located in TBN's facility in Decatur.
Contents
Because it airs no local content (except for local insertion of the required station ID), it is not carried as a local channel on DirecTV; the national TBN feed is already available. Conversely, WUVM-LP 4 is carried on DirecTV instead.
It had one broadcast translator, W55BM atop Sweat Mountain, northwest of Atlanta. That station was later W49DE and WXID-LP, an affiliate of JCTV.
This station chose in the first round of digital channel elections to keep its current DTV RF channel 44 permanently, since all channels 52 to 69 were removed from the UHF TV bandplan in June 2009. Like other TBN stations, it ended analog broadcasts on April 16, 2009.
The station's analog transmitter was located in northern Rockdale County, halfway between Monroe and Atlanta. The station's digital facility is immediately south of Atlanta's Inman Park neighborhood, along the north side of Interstate 20. This is the same tower as WUPA TV 43 (69.1), built by that station when its original location (atop the Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel) could not hold a second large TV antenna for digital, although both WHSG and WUPA have since moved to the North Druid Hills site, sharing an antenna through a diplexer. It also has WIRE-CD 40, an expired construction permit for W06CM-D 6, and a license for WYGA-CD on 16 (as well as a permit for 18 and a later app for 16 again). No serious damage occurred to the tower when the 2008 Atlanta tornado passed by the site, even though the then-analog WYGA-CA 45 (operating from the site under STA at very low power until WGCL-TV 46 went digital) was knocked off-air. WHSG had an application to increase from 700 kW to its maximum 1000 kW effective radiated power with the same antenna height, which is now licensed at the new site.
History
The channel launched on March 15, 1991. As the call sign indicates, this was an affiliate of Home Shopping Network throughout much of the 1991-1998 time frame, replacing WNGM (now WUVG). In 1999, TBN bought the station and changed to the current religious format.
Digital television
This station's digital signal, like most other full-service TBN owned-and-operated stations, carries five different TBN-run networks.
TBN-owned full-power stations permanently ceased analog transmissions on April 16, 2009.
WHSG-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 63, on that date. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 44, using PSIP to display WHSG-TV's virtual channel as 63 on digital television receivers, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition.