WDAM
  
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Laurel-Hattiesburg-Biloxi-Gulfport-Pascagoula, Mississippi United States |
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| Branding | WDAM 7 (general) WDAM 7 News (newscasts) |
| Slogan |
You've Got 7 On Your Side & The Pine Belt's Choice For News |
| Channels |
Digital: 7 (VHF) Virtual: 7 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | (see article) |
| Affiliations | NBC |
| Owner |
Raycom Media (WDAM License Subsidiary, LLC) |
| First air date | June 8, 1956 |
| Call letters' meaning | Station founder David A. Matison |
| Sister station(s) | WLBT, WLOX |
| Former callsigns | WDAM (1956–1978) |
| Former channel number(s) | 9 (VHF analog, 1956–1959) 7 (VHF analog, 1959–2009) 28 (UHF digital, 2001–2010) |
| Former affiliations | This TV (DT2, 2008?–2012) |
| Transmitter power | 75 kW |
| Height | 155 m |
| Class | DT |
| Facility ID | 21250 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 31°27′12″N 89°17′5″W / 31.45333°N 89.28472°W |
| Website | wdam.com |
WDAM-TV is the NBC and ABC affiliated television station for Southeastern Mississippi's Pine Belt that is licensed to Laurel. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter at its studios on U.S. 11 in unincorporated Moselle in southern Jones. Owned by Raycom Media, the station can also be seen on Comcast channel 4 and in high definition on digital channel 432. Syndicated programming on WDAM includes Right This Minute, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Inside Edition, and Judge Judy among others.
WDAM-DT2 is soon upgraded from 480i 4:3 SD to 720p 16:9 HD.
WDAM-TV, named for the initials of the original owner David A. Madison, signed-on June 8, 1956 airing an analog signal on VHF channel 9. At that time is carried both NBC and ABC. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network. In September 1959, then licensed by South Mississippi Broadcasting, Inc., it moved from channel 9 to channel 7 to allow WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to move from UHF channel 28 to VHF channel 9 and to protect Tupelo's WTWV (now WTVA) that also broadcast on channel 9. After moving to 7, the station was designated as serving the Laurel-Hattiesburg area. In 1962, WDAM dropped its secondary ABC affiliation to become a sole NBC affiliate. In 1967 the license holding changed its name to Service Broadcasters, Inc. In 1978, Beam Communications purchased the stations from Service Broadcasters. who later changed their name to Beacon Communications in 1989 (the company also owned KYEL-TV (now KSWT) in Yuma, Arizona/El Centro, California). Beacon sold the station to Federal Broadcasting in 1990, The station was acquired by current owner Raycom Media in 1997. However, Raycom owned CBS affiliate WHLT at the time and had to sell it to Media General in order to comply with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) duopoly rules. In 2008, the station added a new position, web manager, and updated its website to conform to modern standards. That same year, the station launched "wdamtogo.com", a site designed for internet-capable mobile devices. In 2010, the station launched news and weather smart phone applications along with a photo and video sharing service called Send It to Seven. In 2011, the station launched a secondary set of websites for each community of over 20,000 people in the station's viewing area called WDAM Neighborhoods; those sites were retired in early 2014. In early 2012, WDAM launched tablet applications.
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Wikipedia