WBBJ-TV

WBBJ-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Western Tennessee that is licensed to Jackson. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 43 (or virtual channel 7.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Potts Chapel Road in unincorporated Eastern Madison County. Owned by Bahakel Communications, WBBJ has studios on Muse Street in Jackson.

Digital channels

History

The station signed on March 6, 1955 as WDXI-TV, Jackson's first television station. It operated an analog signal on VHF channel 7, and was a CBS affiliate owned by Aaron Robinson along with WDXI radio (1310 AM). Cy Bahakel bought the station in 1966 and changed the call letters to the current WBBJ-TV in 1967 (as Robinson's estate held on to WDXI radio). Since then, WBBJ has had the longest ownership tenure of any station in Tennessee, surpassing stations in much larger markets in the state.

Soon after Bahakel took over, in January 1967, the station dropped CBS in favor of ABC (which WDXI-TV had carried as a secondary affiliation for some time beforehand); since then (and until the launch of WBBJ's CBS-affiliated subchannel), Jackson has received CBS programming from WREC-TV/WREG-TV in Memphis. Like many of the stations that operated in analog on channel 7, the station has used various versions of the circle 7 logo over the years; since 2003, WBBJ has used the original, ABC-trademarked version. Jackson can also see ABC programming over-the-air in some areas through WATN-TV in Memphis but that outlet is not carried on local cable providers.