WDSI-TV - History

History

The station signed-on January 24, 1972 with the calls WRIP-TV. It aired an analog signal on UHF channel 61. It was Tennessee's second Independent outlet having launched a little over nine months after the state's first Independent, WMCV in Nashville, went off-the-air but only to return in 1976 as WZTV. It is the state's oldest television station in continuous operation to have never had affiliation with any of the big three networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC). The station was plagued by financial problems not in the least because it was a UHF station serving a small market in a very mountainous area. UHF stations, especially those on high channel numbers, usually do not get good reception at in rugged terrain.

Initially, WRIP was positioned as an all movie station. Therefore, early programming on WRIP included older movies for most of its broadcast day along with some theatrical cartoons and shorts. These selections included Little Rascals, Three Stooges, and Looney Toons. The station was on-the-air for about twelve hours a day signing-on at noon. By the summer the station was on 19 hours a day signing on at 7 AM. But the station was losing money and overspent on movie packages. It was put up for sale by its original owner in late-1973. By then, WRIP gradually shifted to a somewhat traditional Independent station but with a very low-budget approach. In 1973, it added cartoons, westerns, low budget syndicated shows, and locally-based religious shows. The station cut back on movies as well as hours on the air signing on at noon and off the air by Midnight. It was sold to Jay Sadow in mid-1974. Movies disappeared from the schedule entirely and the station was signing on as late as 3 PM. In the fall of 1974 it expanded the broadcast day slightly and added two runs of the ninety-minute edition of The 700 Club in 1975 and two runs of the two-hour version of the PTL Club. The station then began selling huge blocks of time to mostly churches in the local area cutting back more on low budget secular shows.

By 1976, the station was running mostly Christian programs about twelve hours a day along with some low-budget secular programs such as children's programs (like New Zoo Revue, Devlin, and Gigantor) outdoor sporting, and hunting shows, Mike Douglas Show, as well as some low budget instructional shows about five hours a day. The station was basically profitable by selling thirty and sixty minute blocks of time most of the day to local religious broadcasters.

By 1978, WRIP was running Christian programs (both local and syndicated) for all except a couple of hours a day. The station produced and scheduled many hours per day of programs from local churches. By 1980, it was running nearly all religious shows (again half local and half syndicated) with a couple secular shows a day. In fall 1981, it began adding additional secular shows in the 3 to 7 p.m. time slot such as Superfriends, Little Rascals, McHale's Navy, Make Room For Daddy, and Munsters among others. In Fall 1982, off network dramas such as Kojak, Star Trek; sitcoms such as I Love Lucy, Brady Bunch, Leave It To Beaver; and more cartoons such as Scooby Doo, Bugs Bunny, Flintstones were added along with some older movies. The station was about half religious and half secular.

It seemed like it was being spruced up for a sale, because in January 1983, Jay Sadow sold the station to Roy Hess. The station immediately changed its call sign to the current WDSI-TV. It modified its then-hybrid religious/general entertainment format (which was leaning more on entertainment for the first time since about 1975) adding cartoons in the 7 to 9 a.m. time slot. The religious shows remained in the late mornings, but in the early afternoons, more old movies were added along with holdover classic sitcoms. Cartoons, older sitcoms, and drama shows continued in the late afternoons and early evenings. A prime-time movie was also added along with some older shows late at night. The station was on-the-air about twenty hours a day by then. Its on-air branding at that time was "Watch What We're Doing Now".

WDSI provided, free of charge, UHF antennas (which customers could obtain at local convenience stores) so viewers could watch the station. At that time, many households in the Chattanooga DMA were still not wired for cable. After the overhaul in programming, the station was again sold to Donatelli and Klein in 1985. Stronger, more recent sitcoms such as Benson, M*A*S*H, and better movies were added to the schedule and the religious shows were scaled back even more becoming regulated only to Sunday mornings. On October 9, 1986, WDSI became a charter affiliate of Fox beginning with The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers and has remained with the network ever since. It was a typical Fox station at that time running a blend of newer cartoons, recent off network sitcoms, classic cartoons, old sitcoms, old movies, and drama shows. The station was becoming one of the strongest independents in Tennessee, polar opposite of what it was just 5 years before.

In 1993, the station was sold to Pegasus Communications. As time went on due to changes in the industry, classic sitcoms and movies were replaced by more modern talk/reality shows and court shows. Cartoons began to fall off the schedule from 1999 until 2002 and replaced by more first run reality programs. In 2002, WDSI began broadcasting a digital signal on UHF channel 40. On September 5, 2006, the station launched Fox's new sister network MyNetworkTV on a new second digital subchannel. It was not until March 2009 that WDIS-DT2 was added to area digital cable systems. On January 19, 2008, WDSI ceased broadcasting in analog on channel 61 and now transmits only in digital on channel 40. Throughout its history, the station has produced and aired several local programs.