WSFJ-TV
|
Newark - Columbus, Ohio United States |
|
|---|---|
| City | Newark, Ohio |
| Channels |
Digital: 24 (UHF) Virtual: 51 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 51.1 TBN 51.2 Hillsong Channel 51.3 JCTV/Smile of a Child 51.4 Enlace 51.5 TBN Salsa |
| Affiliations | TBN (O&O; 2012–present) |
| Owner |
Trinity Broadcasting Network (Trinity Christian Center of Santa Ana, Inc.) |
| First air date | March 9, 1980 |
| Call letters' meaning | We Stand For Jesus |
| Former channel number(s) |
Analog: 51 (UHF, 1980–2009) |
| Former affiliations |
Independent (1980–1998) Pax TV / i / ION (1998–2007) |
| Transmitter power | 1000 kW |
| Height | 133 m |
| Facility ID | 11118 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°4′44″N 82°41′42″W / 40.07889°N 82.69500°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
| Website | www.tbn.org |
WSFJ-TV, channel 51, is a Trinity Broadcasting Network-owned and operated television station licensed to Newark, Ohio, serving the Columbus, Ohio television market.
WSFJ-TV began operations on March 9, 1980. It was the first independent television station in Columbus, and the first new commercial station in the area since 1949. On paper, Columbus had grown large enough to support an independent station as far back as the late 1960s. However, the Columbus area is a very large market geographically, stretching across a large swath of central Ohio. UHF stations do not carry well across large blocks of territory. By the late 1970s, cable television had gained enough penetration to make an independent station viable.
The new station ran only Christian programs, including The PTL Club, Jimmy Swaggart, The 700 Club, Another Life, and children's programming. In the fall of 1980 WSFJ began running secular programming such as Independent Network News and New Zoo Revue during the weekdays, along with Wild Kingdom and other hunting and wildlife shows on Saturdays, though programming remained predominantly Christian. It was the only over-the-air source of non-network programming in central Ohio until WTTE (channel 28) signed on in 1984.
In the fall of 1998, the station affiliated with Pax TV (later i and now ION Television), running the network's programming from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and again from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. WSFJ also began to be seen on a translator in Columbus, WCPX-LP channel 48, which was owned by Pax's parent company, Paxson Communications (now ION Media Networks). WSFJ was the largest ION affiliate owned by a company other than ION Media Networks. While affiliated with Pax, WCMH-TV, the local NBC O&O, reaired their NewsChannel 4 newscasts on Pax 51, as part of an agreement with NBC and Pax.
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