WGSR-LD

WGSR-LD

Reidsville, North Carolina Danville, Virginia United States
City	Reidsville, North Carolina
Channels	Digital:19 (UHF) Virtual:19
Branding	Star-19
Programming
Affiliations	19.1:Independent 19.2:Buzzr
Ownership
Owner	Star News Corporation
Sister stations	WMDV-LD
History
First air date	March 7, 1988(1988-03-07)
Former call signs	W14AU (1988–1996) WXIV-LP (1996–2004) WGSR-LP (2004–2011)
Former channel number(s)	Analog:14 (UHF, 1988–2004), 39 (UHF, 2004–2011) Digital:47 (UHF, 2011–2018)
Call signmeaning	"Greensboro Star"
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	12834
Class	LD
ERP	11.2 kW
HAAT	74.1 m (243 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	36°21′36.1″N79°39′50.1″W
Links
Public license information	LMS

WGSR-LD(channel 19) is alow-powerindependenttelevision stationinReidsville, North Carolina,United States. Owned by the Star News Corporation, it issisterto fellow independent stationWMDV-LDinDanville, Virginia.WGSR-LD's studios and transmitter are located on Gilmer Street in downtown Reidsville.

History

The station traces its history back to 1982 when "WCTV-3", apublic-access televisionstation on what was then Alert Cable in Reidsville launched. On March 7, 1988, theFederal Communications Commission(FCC) granted an originalconstruction permitto then-station manager Robert Tudor to broadcast onUHFchannel 14, under the call letters W14AU. Over-the-air programming was largely supplied by satellite networks, but the station produced its own nightly newscast. W14AU also began airing a weekly call-in program,Monday Night Live.

The station was sold to Carolina Blue Communications, owned by Daniel Falinski, in early 1996; the FCC approved the purchase that August. Under Falinski's leadership, the station expanded its programming to a more regional focus. Following an established custom of television stations in theGreensboromarket (followingWXII-TV,WXLV-TVandWLXI), the station changed its call letters to WXIV-LP (the letters "XIV" representing theroman numeralsfor the station's then-channel number, "14" ), and changed its on-air branding to "The Boob Tube". Second-run situation comedies dominated the broadcast schedule during this period, with overnight programming brokered to ahome shoppingnetwork.

WXIV-LP was forced to seek a new channel allocation in order to allowBurlington-basedWGPX-TV(channel 16) to begin operating its digital signal on UHF channel 14. Engineering studies determined that moving WXIV to UHF channel 39 was the only possible allocation for the station to continue broadcasting; the station moved there in April 2004.

At the time of the channel switch, Carolina Blue Communications was in the process of selling the station to Star News Corporation, owner of Martinsville-based NewsChannel 18, a regional cable news channel. Since WXIV-LP was moving from channel 14 to channel 39, its call letters no longer held any meaning, so the station changed its call sign to WGSR-LP in 2004, reflecting the station's new "Star-39" brand (the calls were modified to WGSR-LD on June 4, 2009).

Programming

WGSR-LD has expanded its local coverage of the Reidsville/Martinsville/Danville area, and runs a three-hour news/talk program titledStar News,which airs daily from 5 to 8 p.m.Star Newshas gained a reputation for tackling controversial subjects not approached by the region's full-power television stations, as well as giving extensive coverage to news stories in the Dan River Region.

As a service toNASCARracing fans, WGSR-LD devotes six hours on the weekends to providing driver and race previews. When races are being run atMartinsville Speedway,coverage of racing action is significantly expanded with local reporters covering action at the track. Each week, the station airs the syndicated racing programsRaceLineandRace Week,the only independently run shows covering the sport of auto racing. Other sports covered by the station in weekend programs include snowmobiling, softball and obstacle track racing (Hard Charge).

In the fall, WGSR-LD covers severalhigh school footballgames, and airs a syndicated programInside the Gamecoveringhistorically black colleges and universities' football andbasketballprograms. Starting beforeThanksgivingand continuing almost toChristmas,the station broadcasts all of the area municipalChristmas paradesand joins with the merchants of Reidsville andStonevillein promoting holiday shopping seasons in those towns and the lighting of Christmas decorations.

WGSR-LP began organizing the annual Reidsville Downtown Christmas Parade in late 2006, and broadcasts the event live annually.

Prior to the shuttering ofRaycom Sports'ssyndicated ACC sports packagesand replacement with the cable-onlyACC Network,WFMY-TV(channel 2) held the rights to broadcastAtlantic Coast Conferencebasketball games. As a result, some telecasts produced byCBSwere aired on the station; until October 2006, the station also broadcastBaltimore Oriolesbaseball games. On May 31, 2008, WGSR-LP airedEliteXC: Primetimethrough its secondary affiliation with CBS, after primary affiliate WFMY declined to carry the program.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal ismultiplexed:

Subchannels of WGSR-LD

Channel	Res.	Aspect	Short name	Programming
19.1	720p	16:9	WGSR-HD	Main WGSR-LD programming
19.2	480i	4:3	BUZZR	Buzzr

Analog-to-digital conversion

WGSR shut down its analog signal on June 4, 2009.The stationflash-cutits digital signal into operation on UHF channel 47, and received FCC permission to use that as the station'svirtual channel,instead of using its former UHF analog channel 39. The station began carrying second and thirddigital subchannelson August 17, 2009. Digital channel 47.1 began transmitting programming inhigh definitionon February 23, 2011.

2017 auction and repack

In 2017, the FCC authorized the auction of TV channels 38 and above, and the subsequent relocation of all TV stations operating on those channels to new locations below channel 37. On September 1, 2018, WGSR-LD ceased broadcadcasting on channel 47 and commenced operation on RF channel 19. At the time, the station retained its PSIP references to virtual channels 47.1 and 47.3.

Due to further interference issues, the station signed off on February 27, 2019, to move to a new tower. On March 23, 2019, the station returned to the air from a tower in downtown Reidsville, with PSIP numbers on all subchannels changed to reflect the station's physical channel 19.