WTOK-TV

For the radio station in San Juan, Puerto Rico, seeWTOK-FM.

WTOK-TV

Meridian, Mississippi United States
Channels	Digital:13 (VHF) Virtual:11
Branding	Channel 11;WTOK News 11 myTOK2(on DT2) Meridian CW 8(on DT3)
Programming
Affiliations	11.1:ABC 11.2:MyNetworkTV 11.3:CW+ for others, see§ Subchannels
Ownership
Owner	Gray Television (Gray Television Licensee,LLC)
History
First air date	September 26, 1953(1953-09-26)
Former channel number(s)	Analog:11 (VHF, 1953–2009) Digital:49 (UHF,2000–2009), 11 (VHF, 2009–2020)
Former affiliations	CBS(1953–1980) DuMont(secondary, 1953–1955) NBC(secondary, 1953–1972) ABC (secondary, 1953–1980) Fox(secondary mid-1990s, DT2 2006–2008)
Technical information
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	4686
ERP	115kW
HAAT	160 m (525 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	32°19′39″N88°41′28″W
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.wtok.com

WTOK-TV(channel 11) is atelevision stationinMeridian, Mississippi,United States, affiliated withABC,MyNetworkTVandThe CW Plus.The station is owned byGray Television,and maintains studios on 23rd Avenue in Meridian'sMid-Townsection; its transmitter is located on Crestview Circle (alongMS 145/Roebuck Drive) inunincorporatedLauderdale County,south of the city.

History

WTOK-TV began broadcasting on September 26, 1953,as the second television station in Mississippi and the first on the VHF band. WTOK was originally owned by Southern Television Corporation founded by Robert F. Wright, and its first program was a football game betweenDartmouthandHoly Cross.WJTVinJacksonhad started broadcasting in January of that year on aUHFfrequency. WTOK started as a primaryCBSaffiliate but carried programming from ABC,NBC,andDuMontas well. DuMont folded in 1955 and NBC went to WHTV (channel 24, nowWMDN) when that station resumed broadcasting in 1972 (via its status as asatelliteofTupelo's WTWV, nowWTVA). It became an exclusive ABC affiliate on April 1, 1980, sending CBS to WHTV when WTVA's owners decided to convert it into a separate station. ABC had become the highest-rated network in the nation by this time and wanted a station that would clear all of its programming.Wright also ownedThe Meridian Star,and was forced to sell channel 11 to the Hobby family ofHoustonin 1981 as a result of FCC action six years earlier prohibiting cross-ownership between a town's only newspaper and TV station.In 1983, the Hobbys reorganized their broadcast holdings asH&C Communicationsafter they sold off theHouston Post.H&C then sold WTOK to United Broadcasting, who also ownedKARK-TVinLittle Rock, Arkansas,in 1984.

Although most media markets were allocated two VHF commercial channels and one VHF noncommercial channel, what would become of the Meridian media market was sandwiched betweenColumbus–Tupelo (channels2,4,and 9) to the north, Jackson (channel 3and later channel 12) to the west,Hattiesburg–Laurel(channel 9, later 7) andMobile(channels3,5,and10) to the south, andBirmingham(channels6,10,and13) andMontgomery(channels8and12) to the east. This created a "doughnut" in East Central Mississippi where there was onlyoneVHF license available. WTOK-TV was fortunate enough to gain that license, and consequently became the only station to serve the Meridian area until WHTV started in 1968 (however, that station went off the air in 1970, for a year and a half); WMAW (a Mississippi Public Broadcasting station) would not sign on until 1972.

WTOK also served as a partialFoxaffiliate in the mid-1990s, carryingNFLbroadcasts as well as selected Fox programming in late night time-slots, after ABC programming had ended for the day. In 1988, then-owner United Broadcasting was taken over by investment firmMerrill Lynch,who then sold its three stations off to separate buyers. That year, Benedek Broadcasting bought WTOK. When Benedek's parent company went bankrupt in 2002, current owner Gray Television bought most of the Benedek portfolio, including WTOK.

WTOK-TV has been digital-only since June 12, 2009.

On June 25, 2018, Gray Television announced it would acquire Montgomery, Alabama–basedRaycom Mediafor $3.65 billion. The deal would give WTOK-TV new sister stations in Raycom's virtualtriopolyof NBC affiliate WLBT, Fox affiliateWDBDand MyNetworkTV affiliateWLOOin Jackson.In addition, the sale would give Gray ownership of at least one station in nearly every television market in Mississippi (the exceptions being Greenville and the adjacent Columbus-Tupelo market). The FCC approved the sale on December 20, and the sale was consummated on January 2.

On December 30, 2023, WTOK-TV parent company Gray Television announced it had reached an agreement with theNew Orleans Pelicansto air 10 games on the station during the2023–24 season.

WTOK-DT2

WTOK-DT2, branded on air as "myTOK2", is theMyNetworkTV-affiliated seconddigital subchannelof WTOK-TV, broadcasting in16:9widescreenstandard definitionon channel 11.2.

History

The station signed on inearly 2006as themarket's first locally based Fox affiliate. Known on-air as "Fox Meridian", it could also be seen onComcastchannel 10 and in high definition on digital channel 434. WTOK had previously served as a partial Fox affiliate in the mid-1990s, carryingNFLbroadcasts as well as selected Fox programming in late-night time-slots. Access to the rest of the network's programs was provided on cable at first viaWDBBinTuscaloosa, Alabama,then viaFoxnetafter WDBBswitched its affiliationto The WB in 1996.

Starting September 5, 2006, it began airing programming from Fox's new sister programming service MyNetworkTV. Shows from that service aired Monday through Friday nights from 9 until 11 in adelayedarrangement. After NBC affiliateWGBC(channel 30) acquired the area's Fox affiliation in late 2008, WTOK-DT2 became branded as "myTOK2" to reflect the station's shift to a primary MyNetworkTV affiliation. At this point, overnight programming fromThe Sportsman Channelwas dropped and Jewelry Television took its place. It also moved from Comcast channel 10 to channel 2 and surrendered the digital channel 434 allotment to WGBC.

In October 2017, the over-the-air feed of "myTOK2" was upgraded into a 16:9 widescreen standard-definition picture format; it could not be upgraded into720pHD, most likely due to bandwidth limitations prohibiting WTOK from transmitting all three of its feeds in HD simultaneously."myTOK2" had previously been offered in480i4:3standard definition. In autumn 2018, Gray Television opted out of an HD upgrade to its 11.2 subchannel, instead deciding to addIon Televisionto channel 11.4.

Newscasts

WTOK-TV has long been the dominant station in Eastern Mississippi due to its status as the only VHF station in the area. From 1991 to 1994, WTOK was even the only over-the-air commercial station in town after both of its rivals went off-the-air. After WMDN shut down its news department in 2005, WTOK would be the only source of full-length local newscasts in the market until 2012. Unlike most ABC affiliates, it does not air full two-hour morning or midday newscasts during the week. WTOK-DT2 rebroadcasts the 6 a.m. hour ofGood Morning Meridianweekday mornings at 7:30 andNewsCenter 11 at 10every night at midnight. On April 25, 2012, WTOK-TV began broadcasting local newscasts in high definition for the first time.

Awards

In 2016, WTOK-TV was recognized by theAssociated Pressfor best breaking news coverage and best breaking weather coverage.

Notable former on-air staff

• Stan Torgerson– reporter (deceased)

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal ismultiplexed:

Subchannels of WTOK-TV

Channel	Res.	Aspect	Short name	Programming
11.1	720p	16:9	WTOK-HD	ABC
11.2	480i		myTOK2	MyNetworkTV
11.3	720p		WTOK-CW	Meridian CW 8
11.4	480i		WTOKION	Ion Television
11.5			WTOK365	The365
11.6			Cozi	Cozi

In 2021, Gray launched a low-power station, WOOK-LD on Channel 15. The channel originally relayed WTOK's main channel on 15.3, its Circle TV feed on 15.2, a weather and traffic stream on 15.4, and is planning additional programming on channels 15.1 and 15.5. By March 2023, WOOK began carryingHeroes and Iconson channel 15.2 andStart TVon channel 15.3, removing the redundant coverage of Circle and WTOK. In April 2023, WOOK launchedTelemundoon channel 15.1, removing channel 15.5.

See also

• Channel 8 branded TV stations in the United States
• Channel 11 digital TV stations in the United States
• Channel 11 virtual TV stations in the United States

External links

• WTOK.com(Official WTOK-TV website)
• MeridianCW.com(Official CW Meridian website)