City Gulfport | Affiliations NBC (2012–present) | |
Branding WXXV NBC 25 (general)
News 25 (newscasts) Slogan Your Local NBC Station For South Mississippi (general)
Your Local Choice (news) Channels Digital: WXXV-DT 48.2 (UHF)
Virtual: 25.2 (PSIP) Owner Morris Multimedia
(Morris Network of
Mississippi, Inc.) |
WXXV-DT2 is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It is a second digital subchannel of Fox affiliate WXXV-TV that is owned by Morris Multimedia. Over-the-air, the station airs a 720p high definition digital signal on UHF channel 48.2 (or virtual channel 25.2 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Wire Road East, in unincorporated Stone County, northeast of McHenry.
Contents
WXXV-DT2 can also be seen on Cable ONE channel 18 and in full high definition on digital channel 465. Its parent outlet has studios on U.S. 49 in Lyman (with a Gulfport postal address). Syndicated programming on this station includes Judge Judy, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Meredith Vieira Show, and Celebrity Name Game among others.
History
WXXV-DT2 first signed-on in September 2006 to be the market's MyNetworkTV affiliate. On June 25, 2012, it was announced WXXV would become the area's first-ever locally based NBC affiliate. The MyNetworkTV affiliation was moved to cable-exclusive status so that WXXV-DT2 could become the NBC outlet. Prior to the station adding NBC, both WDSU-TV in New Orleans (for Gulfport, Long Beach and Pass Christian) and WDAM-TV in Laurel, Mississippi (for Biloxi, D'Iberville, Jackson County and Stone County) served as the Gulf Coast's longtime de facto affiliates on cable.
Newscasts
Corresponding with the announcement of NBC coming to WXXV-DT2, Morris Multimedia made public its plans to bring back an in-house local news operation for the second time in WXXV's history. A previous attempt seen on the main channel for a few years in the late 1990s and early 2000s was ultimately scrapped.
On September 30, 2013, WXXV added local news following the expansion of its studios to house the department; the station hired fifteen personnel to staff the startup operation. Locally produced newscasts, running a half-hour in length, air on both the Fox and NBC channels in high definition under the News 25 branding. The main channel airs a weeknight prime time show at 9 while weeknight newscasts at 5:30 and 10 p.m. are seen on WXXV-DT2.
NBC Nightly News is therefore aired in a half-hour tape delay at 6 which is unlike most NBC affiliates in the Central Time Zone. This NBC subchannel also carries local weather cut-ins on weekday mornings from 7 until 11 a.m. during Today. Eventual plans also include a weekday morning newscast at some point in time. The station does not maintain a sports department or carry weekend newscasts at this time but may include them in the future.