WLJT-DT

WLJT-DT

Lexington/Martin/Jackson, Tennessee United States
Slogan	Public Media That Matters
Channels	Digital: 47 (UHF)
Affiliations	PBS (1970–present)
Owner	West Tennessee Public Television Council, Inc.
First air date	February 13, 1968
Call letters' meaning	Lexington Jackson Tennessee
Former channel number(s)	11 (VHF analog, 1968–2009)
Former affiliations	NET (1968–1970)
Transmitter power	282 kW
Height	167 m
Facility ID	71645
Transmitter coordinates	35°42′11.9″N 88°36′10.4″W / 35.703306°N 88.602889°W
Website	www.wljt.org

WLJT-DT is the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member station serving western and northwestern Tennessee on digital channel 47 (virtual channel 11). Its studios are located in Martin on rented space at the University of Tennessee at Martin; its transmitter and tower are located in Lexington, its city of license.

Digital channels

Channel	Video	Aspect	PSIP short name	Programming
11.1	1080i	16:9	WLJT-HD	Main WLJT-DT programming / PBS
11.2	480i		WLJT-DT	PBS World
11.3				Create

History

WLJT began operations on February 13, 1968. It was originally operated by the Tennessee Department of Education as a service to the schools of western Tennessee. At the time, this region was considered too small and too rural to support a full-fledged traditional educational station. As such, for its first 13 years of broadcasting, it repeated the signal of Memphis station WKNO, via contract, since WKNO was not, unlike WLJT, operated by the state. In 1981, the station inaugurated a separate schedule, including programs of local interest. A few years later, the state education board relinquished the license to a local community board, the West Tennessee Public Television Council. Until 1993, administrative offices were located in Martin, while the technical staff worked in Lexington, some 60 miles (100 km) away; microwave links to the transmitter enabled WLJT to consolidate its entire operation in Martin afterward.

WLJT especially emphasizes programs of community interest, in large part because commercial broadcasters in Memphis and Paducah, Kentucky devote little attention to rural western Tennessee in newscasts and other local programming. The only commercial news operation in the market explicitly devoted to the area is Jackson station WBBJ.

After the digital transition on February 17, 2009, WLJT stop transmitting on its analog signal, continuing to operate on digital channel 47. However, digital tuners with PSIP display its virtual channel as "11".

External links

• Official site
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WLJT
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WLJT-DT

References