Branding WKDH ABC 45 Owner Southern Broadcasting First air date June 18, 2001 | Affiliations Defunct Operator WTVA, Inc. | |
Channels Digital: 45 (UHF)
Virtual: 45 (PSIP) | ||
WKDH was the ABC affiliate for Northern Mississippi and Northwestern Alabama, licensed to serve Houston, Mississippi. It used to broadcast a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 45 from a transmitter in Woodland, Mississippi.
WKDH was owned by Southern Broadcasting, but was operated by the Spain family, owners of NBC affiliate WTVA through a local marketing agreement (LMA). This made WKDH a sister station to WTVA and Fox affiliate WLOV-TV. The three stations shared studios in Saltillo, Mississippi.
History
The station signed on June 18, 2001 as the fourth commercial station in the market. WKDH was an ABC affiliate from the start, and was its second affiliate in the market; WLOV-TV carried ABC programming from 1983 until switching to Fox in 1995. In the six years that the market had no ABC affiliate, cable systems in the area piped in WPTY-TV from Memphis, Tennessee, or WCFT-TV from Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
On January 26, 2007 at 5 a.m., WKDH "flash-cut" its analog signal to digital on UHF channel 45, becoming the first station in the market to make the transition.
The station did not offer much local content, serving largely as a "pass-through" for ABC programming. It did produce a public affairs show, Community Edition, hosted by Stan Allen.
WKDH ceased broadcasting at 11:59 p.m. on August 31, 2012 after more than 11 years on the air; this is due to the Spain family's decision not to renew its LMA with Southern Broadcasting. The ABC affiliation for the Columbus-Tupelo-West Point market moved to the second digital subchannel of WTVA; before this announcement, Comcast had planned to import an out-of-market ABC affiliate. Though a sale of the station was explored, the only buyer found pulled out of the deal, and on January 31, 2013 Southern Broadcasting surrendered the WKDH license to the Federal Communications Commission, which canceled it on February 7.