Branding My 18 | Operator E. W. Scripps Company | |
Channels Digital: 34 (UHF)
Virtual: 18 (PSIP) Subchannels 18.1 MyNetworkTV
18.2 Jewelry TV Affiliations MyNetworkTV (2006–present) Owner Venture Technologies Group
(Spartan TV, LLC) | ||
WHTV is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Central Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Licensed in Jackson, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 34 (or virtual channel 18.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter on M-52 in Lyndon Township. Owned by Venture Technologies Group, the station is operated through a local marketing agreement (LMA) by E. W. Scripps Company as a sister outlet to Fox affiliate WSYM-TV. Both stations share studios on West Saint Joseph Street, along I-496, in downtown Lansing. The station is carried on channel 8 on most cable systems in the market. WHTV sold its spectrum space in the FCC incentive auction and will cease operation on April 30, 2017.
Contents
History
The station signed-on August 20, 1999 carrying programming from Bloomberg Television and Jewelry Television. It aired an analog signal on UHF channel 18 from a transmitter near Onondaga on the Ingham and Jackson County line. It became a UPN affiliate on October 16, 2000, and prior to this, programming from that network was seen on area cable systems from Detroit's WKBD. From 2002 until 2006, WHTV's internal operations (such as advertising sales) were housed at the studios of ABC affiliate WLAJ, which was then owned by Freedom Communications, on South Pennsylvania Avenue in Lansing. It then relocated to the facilities of CBS outlet WLNS-TV on East Saginaw Street after entering into a joint sales agreement with WLNS' then-owner Young Broadcasting.
As a UPN affiliate and under control by Young, WHTV carried the CBS Sports feed of the U.S. Open Tennis Championship while WLNS aired the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon on Labor Day. This station also occasionally carried Saturday NCAA football games from ABC when they conflicted with WLAJ's commitment to broadcast the ESPN Plus college football and basketball packages which later ended with the launch of the Big Ten Network for the 2007-2008 season. As a result of being operated by WLNS, WHTV could also run CBS programming should the former station preempt network shows in the event of a local special or breaking news. This station would later move its transmitter to Van Atta Road in Meridian Charter Township.
WHTV had a construction permit to substantially increase power and relocate its transmitter to a tower previously used by Detroit's Ion Television affiliate WPXD-TV in Lyndon Township. Essentially, the new transmitter would be located in the Detroit market but the station would continue to serve as a Lansing/Jackson market television outlet. The planned move date of its signal to the new antenna was scheduled to occur on November 1, 2012, but the parts delivery for the new transmitter was delayed until December 20.
On December 4, 2012, WLAJ was sold from the Sinclair Broadcast Group to Shield Media, LLC (owned by White Knight Broadcasting Vice President Sheldon Galloway). Shield then entered into certain shared services and joint sales agreements with Young Broadcasting. At some point in February 2013, WLAJ moved from its studios into the WLNS facility. In effect, this move reunited WHTV's intellectual unit with WLAJ since the former station was once housed at the ABC outlet's studios. However, WLNS technically operated WHTV through a separate outsourcing arrangement from WLAJ that was already established. Young Broadcasting would merge with Media General on November 12, 2013. As a result of these changes, WHTV announced that it would not renew its operational outsourcing agreement with WLNS. In July 2014, it entered into a new local marketing agreement with WSYM and relocated its advertising sales operation to the Fox affiliate's studios.
Digital channel
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
Analog-to-digital conversion
WHTV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 18, on December 1, 2008. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 34, using PSIP to display WHTV's virtual channel as 18 on digital television receivers.
Programming
Syndicated programming on WHTV includes Two and a Half Men, The Middle, The Jerry Springer Show, and Divorce Court among others.