WMBB

For the radio station in Illinois that operated using this call sign from 1925 to 1928, seeWMBB-WOK.

WMBB(channel 13) is atelevision stationinPanama City, Florida,United States, affiliated withABCandThe CW Plus.Owned byNexstar Media Group,the station maintains studios on Harrison Avenue/US 231in downtown Panama City, and its transmitter is located inunincorporatedYoungstownalong theBay–Calhouncounty line.

WMBB

Panama City, Florida United States
Channels	Digital:13 (VHF) Virtual:13
Branding	WMBB News 13 The CW Panama City (on DT2)
Programming
Affiliations	13.1:ABC 13.2:The CW Plus for others, see§ Subchannels
Ownership
Owner	Nexstar Media Group (Nexstar Media Inc.)
History
First air date	October 4, 1973(1973-10-04)
Former call signs	WDTB (1973-1977)
Former channel number(s)	Analog:13 (VHF, 1973–2009) Digital:19 (UHF,2002–2009)
Former affiliations	NBC(1973–1982)
Call signmeaning	"World's Most Beautiful Beaches"
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	66398
ERP	42kW
HAAT	434 m (1,424 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	30°21′8″N85°23′28″W
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.mypanhandle

History

Channel 13 first began broadcast operations on October 4, 1973, as WDTB. The station was started by Panhandle Broadcasting Corporation (run by attorney Denver T. Brannen, from where the original call letters were derived from), financed by local businessman/car dealer Tommy Thomas, and attorneys Julian Bennett and Dick Arnold. When it first took to the air, the station was originally anNBCaffiliate. The station was a relatively late start for a VHF frequency; most of the allocations on that band elsewhere in the U.S. had been taken by that point. On April 18, 1977, WDTB was sold to Octagon Broadcasting, anAtlanta-based outfit. Upon the change, Octagon changed the station's call sign to the current WMBB (which stands for "The World's Most Beautiful Beaches" ).

Originally, the station was positioned to be the NBC affiliate forTallahasseeas well since themarketdid not have one until April 21, 1983, whenWTWC-TVsigned on. At the time, WMBB's transmitter was inFrink,Calhoun County,well over fifty miles (80 km) away from Tallahassee at approximately30°22′9″N85°12′29″W.In addition, many viewers in the capital city already received NBC fromAlbany, Georgia'sWALBwhich provided a better signal to the area.

On January 4, 1982, WMBB became an ABC affiliate, swapping affiliations with crosstown rivalWJHG,which had been the market's original NBC station prior to 1972. Then on December 5, 1986, Buford Television ofTyler, Texas,purchased the station and began investing in equipment and news talent in order to make the station more competitive, not only with WJHG, but also withDothan, Alabama'sWTVY,theCBSstation serving the eastern part of the northwestern Florida Panhandle region. It was also around this time that this station moved from its location in Downtown Panama City to its current location on Harrison Avenue that formerly housed aBuickdealership. The new facilities offered three times the space of the previous location.

Unexpectedly at 2:03 p.m.Central Timeon May 18, 1989, anAir ForceF-15fighter jetclipped a wire at WMBB's Frink tower. This caused the tower, antenna, and transmitter to be completely destroyed. Not long after this incident, channel 13 was sold once again. This time, it joinedSpartan CommunicationsofSpartanburg, South Carolina,as the construction of new transmission equipment got underway. The company completed the acquisition on April 12, 1990. On August 6 of that same year, WMBB began broadcasting from a new 1,500-foot (457 m) state-of-the-art antenna and transmitter tower now in Youngstown. This allowed for better viewing of the station in the western half of the market including the rapidly growing southernWalton Countyarea andDestin.

In 1993, WMBB became one of several ABC affiliates across the country that refused clearance to the ABC showNYPD Blue.Instead, it aired syndicated programming during the timeslot. Then-general manager Hugh Roche kept the show off the station until 1997 when the parental rating system was adopted by the networks. By the time WMBB finally allowed the program to air, it was the last station in the country to lift its ban on the show.

In March 2000, this station became one of 13 in a package acquired byMedia Generalworth $605 million. Later that year, Media General purchased theJackson County Floridannewspaper. WMBB then established aJackson CountyBureau and used the resources of theFloridanto cover Jackson County as well. This caught the eye of theFederal Communications Commission(FCC) because of the common ownership of a newspaper and television station in the same market. With the sale of WMBB toHoak Media,the issue became moot. By the time Media General sold the station, Media General was granted a permanent waiver by the FCC to operate both properties in the same market. Media General later divested all of their newspapers (with the exception of theTampa Tribune) toWarren Buffett's World Media Holdings in June 2012.

On March 14, 2008, it was announced that Media General would sell the station (and then-sisterKALB-TVinAlexandria, Louisiana) to Hoak Media.The deal was closed on July 16.At the time of the closing, WMBB was Hoak's only television station east of theMississippi River.In July 2010, the station replaced its second digital subchannel broadcast of weather radar with This TV. That network originally aired onWBIFafter that channel stopped airing content from theRetro Television Network(RTV). Its replacement was supposed to beWPGX-DT2 but this never made it to air.

On November 20, 2013, Hoak announced the sale of most of its stations, including WMBB, toGray Television.Due to Gray's existing ownership of WJHG-TV andWECP-LD,Gray immediately placed the station, along withKREX-TVinGrand Junction, Colorado,up for sale to comply with FCC regulations.On December 19, Gray announced that the overlap properties, including WMBB, would be sold toNexstar Broadcasting Group,for $37.5 million.The sale was completed on June 13, 2014.The deal made WMBB a sister station to Dothan's ABC affiliate,WDHN.On January 17, 2017, Nexstar completed its purchase of Media General, which reunited WMBB with most of its former Media General sister stations.

The station was knocked off the air on October 10, 2018, byHurricane Michael.

News operation

WMBB made history duringHurricane Dennisin July 2005 when it became the first station in Panama City to broadcast live storm coverage over the internet. It was one of the first stations in the country to useWeather Services International's Titanforecastingtool (a3Dforecasting system which showed the collapse of the storm just before it struckSanta Rosa Island).

On July 21, 2011, WMBB announced on theirFacebookpage that they would add another newscast starting September 12,News 13 Midday,that runs from 11 a.m. until noon each weekday. This is actually a return to doing a news program during the midday time slot since the station used to produce a midday program until the late-1990s.

In February 2016, Tom Lewis returned to WMBB to become their news director. He was the primary anchor from the late 1980s until 2001, and left for rival station WJHG to become their primary anchor until 2014. He also served as their news director from 2005 to 2010.

On June 1, 2020, WMBB began producing an hour-long 9 p.m. weeknight newscast forFoxaffiliate WPGX.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal ismultiplexed:

Subchannels of WMBB

Channel	Res.	Aspect	Short name	Programming
13.1	720p	16:9	WMBB-DT	ABC
13.2	480i		CW Plus	The CW Plus
13.3			Laff	Laff
13.4			Escape	Ion Mystery

Analog-to-digital conversion

WMBB shut down its analog signal, overVHFchannel 13, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcastsunder federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transitionUHFchannel 19 to VHF channel 13.

External links

• Official website