WZDX

History

WZDX first signed on in 1985 as Northern Alabama's first independent station and the area's first new outlet to launch in nearly twenty years. The station originally broadcast in analog on channel 54. The inaugural program shown was an airing of the 1968 film Charly. The station's transmitter was on Green Mountain in Southeastern Huntsville while its studios were in the northwestern section of the city. During the first months after its beginning, WZDX used the slogan "We're Taking You to the Top!" and ran full page ads in The Huntsville Times with this tagline and with still pictures of old movies and syndicated TV shows that the station planned to air. On October 1, 1984, the station changed its call sign to the current "WZDX".

When Fox began broadcasting on October 6, 1986, WZDX abstained from affiliating with the network unlike many other independent TV stations across the country. However, the station did occasionally air Fox special broadcasts such as the Emmy Awards. Eventually in 1990 it became a full-time affiliate of the network. Also that year on March 29, WZDX became the first property owned by a new broadcasting group founded by Milton Grant.

In 2002, it launched the second digital signal of the market on UHF channel 41. A simulcast of cable-only WB affiliate "WAWB-TV" was then added to a second digital subchannel of WZDX. That offered non-cable viewers access to WB programming for the first time. In September 2003, the broadcast tower shared by WZDX and ABC affiliate WAAY-TV collapsed killing three men. Until it could be replaced, WZDX and WAAY temporarily aired from the nearby tower of CBS affiliate WHNT-TV.

On November 6, 2013, Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced that it would purchase the Grant stations, including WZDX, for $87.5 million. The sale was completed on December 1, 2014. WZDX is Nexstar's second station in Alabama; it already owned WDHN, the ABC affiliate in Dothan. On January 27, 2016, it was announced that Nexstar would buy Media General for $4.6 billion. WZDX, along with WDHN, will become part of "Nexstar Media Group" and join a cluster of stations Nexstar would own in Alabama including WIAT in Birmingham and WKRG-TV in Mobile, as well as WRBL in Columbus, Georgia, which covers much of east Alabama including Opelika and Auburn. All three of these stations are CBS affiliates.

The station's WAMY .2 subchannel was an initial affiliate of the American Sports Network with its first broadcast on August 30, 2014.

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

On April 17, 2012, WZDX launched a third digital subchannel on 54.3, that carries MeTV.

On June 15, 2016, Nexstar announced that it has entered into an affiliation agreement with Katz Broadcasting for the Escape, Laff, Grit, and Bounce TV networks (the last one of which is owned by Bounce Media LLC, whose COO Jonathan Katz is president/CEO of Katz Broadcasting), bringing one or more of the four networks to 81 stations owned and/or operated by Nexstar, including WZDX (Bounce TV and Grit are already available in the area on digital subchannels of WAFF-TV).

Analog-to-digital conversion

WZDX shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 54, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 41, using PSIP to display WZDX's virtual channel as 54 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. In order to adequately serve its area, its effective radiated power was increased to 700 kW on July 2.

Newscasts

In January 2007, WZDX launched a thirty-minute prime time newscast known as Fox 54 Nine O'Clock News. Airing every night except Saturday, it was produced by the Independent News Network (INN) through an outsourcing agreement with Grant Broadcasting. News anchors, meteorologists, and sports anchors were provided by INN and other personnel from the newscast production company would fill-in as needed. WZDX maintained two locally based news reporters which would contribute content to the show. It was taped in advance and then fed to the station through satellite.

The broadcasts originated from INN's facility on Tremont Avenue in Davenport, Iowa. In a report in the Macon, Georgia Telegraph, it was announced the Independent News Network filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy and the company would end all news productions (including those for WZDX) by January 9, 2009. However, all INN broadcasts would then be reinstated under ownership of Fusion Communications (also of Davenport) according to the newspaper. WZDX would not face local news competition until February 1, 2010 when WHNT added a nightly half-hour newscast at 9 to its Retro Television Network (RTV) subchannel (WHNT-DT2 dropped RTV for Antenna TV in 2011).

On September 20, WZDX terminated its outsourcing agreement with INN and entered into another news share arrangement with WAAY (owned by Calkins Media). This resulted in a local refocus of Fox 54 Nine O'Clock News which can now be seen every night from a secondary set at WAAY's studios on Monte Sano Boulevard Southeast. WZDX maintains separate news anchors and a meteorologist but they can report for and/or fill-in on WAAY. In addition to its main facility, the latter also operates bureaus in Decatur (on Lee Street Northeast) and The Shoals (in Florence on North Pine Street within the University of North Alabama campus). Although the previous INN newscasts were in high definition in later years, the newscasts on WZDX reverted to pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition when WAAY took over the production. WAAY upgraded to high definition newscasts on December 12, 2011 and the WZDX shows were included.

On December 4, 2015, Nexstar announced that WZDX would launch a standalone news operation on April 4, 2016. Concurrently, the station's newscast will be extended to an hour.