WUXP-TV

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WUXP-TV
Nashville, Tennessee
Branding	My 30
Channels	30 (UHF) analog, 21 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	My Network TV
Owner	Sinclair Broadcast Group
Founded	February 18, 1984
Call letters meaning	Exploits the U and P from network UPN (former affiliation)
Former callsigns	WCAY-TV (1984-1989) WXMT (1989-1996)
Former affiliations	Independent (1984-1987, 1990-1995),Fox (1987-1990), UPN (1995-2006)
Website	http://www.mytv30web.com

WUXP-TV, channel 30 is the MyNetworkTV affiliate in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, and is a sister station to Fox affiliate WZTV channel 17 and the CW affiliate WNAB channel 58. It is currently branded as My 30. Its transmitter is located in Whites Creek, Tennessee.

[edit] History

The station signed on the air on February 18, 1984 as WCAY-TV, owned by the TVX Broadcast Group, which had signed on a few other stations in other markets. The station had a general entertainment format with cartoons, sitcoms, movies, and drama shows.

Along with the other TVX stations, WCAY became a Fox affiliate at the network's 1986 inception as part of a group deal. Fox affiliated with all of TVX's stations as a condition of affiliating with WNOL-TV in New Orleans, Louisiana. However, there was a catch: if one of TVX's underperforming stations were sold, it could lose its Fox affiliation, and WCAY was lagging WZTV in the ratings. TVX acquired 5 stations from Taft Broadcasting, some which were in large markets, some independent and some Fox affiliates. TVX began to run into debt, and so they sold off a number of their smaller market stations. WCAY and sister station WMKW channel 30 in Memphis were sold to MT Communications, which was headed by -- and named after -- Michael Thompson. WCAY then changed its call letters to WXMT.

In 1990, WZTV's owners, Act III Broadcasting -- who were known for buying stations in a medium market, then buying their competitor's programming assets and having the competitor change formats to religion or shopping or go dark altogether in one case -- offered to buy WXMT's entire programming inventory, move it to WZTV, and make WZTV a Fox affiliate. Originally, WXMT was to switch to home shopping 18 hours a day and religion 6 hours, but after negotiations it was decided that WZTV would get only cash programming (sitcoms, movies, some of the cartoons) and the Fox affiliation, while WXMT would keep barter cartoons, a few barter sitcoms plus some religious shows.

WXMT's schedule now looked like this: cartoons from 7-9 AM, religion 9 AM-noon, home shopping noon to 4 PM, low rated barter syndicated shows from 4 to 9 PM and home shopping after 9 PM. In 1991, WXMT provided Nashville its first-ever 9PM newscast in a deal with WSMV, channel 4, Nashville's NBC affiliate. The hour-long weeknight newscast, which featured WSMV's anchors and reporters, lasted less than two years before being replaced with syndicated programming.

Gradually, more first run talk shows, sitcoms and cartoons were added. By 1994, WXMT was once again running general entertainment full time. On January 16, 1995, the station became a UPN affiliate, and branded itself UPN 30. By then, WZTV was owned by Abry, and later that year, WZTV entered into a local marketing agreement with WXMT. MT Communications sold the station to a local owner, but WZTV would program the station. The call letters changed to the current WUXP on August 23, 1996 and would rebrand itself UXP30 and UPN Nashville before going back to UPN 30 in 2002.

The LMA continued after Sinclair acquired Abry. As time went on, cartoons disappeared gradually and more first run reality and talk shows would be added. In 2000, Sinclair bought WUXP outright.

On September 5, 2006, WUXP became a MyNetworkTV affiliate as My 30., moving UPN programming to late-nights until the network ceased transmission three weeks later. Occasionally as time now permits WUXP may carry CW or Fox network programming should WNAB or WZTV preempt in the event of a local special or an emergency such as a breaking news story.

Before the LMA with WZTV began, WXMT had planned to build a state-of-the-art studio facility along the "south loop" of Interstate 40 in Nashville. For many years, even after the plans had been abandoned, a retaining wall on the site featured a mural reading "Future Home of WXMT-30".

WUXP logo in later years of UPN affiliation

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WUXP-TV

Broadcast television in the Nashville market  (Nielsen DMA #30)
WKRN 2 (ABC) - WSMV 4 (NBC) - WTVF 5 (CBS) - WNPT 8 (PBS) - WETV-LP 11 (Ind) - WIIW-LP 14 (Religious / DS) - WZTV 17 (Fox) - WCTE 22 (PBS) - WGAP-LP 26 (UNI) - WNPX 28 (ION) - WUXP 30 (MNTV) - WJNK-LP 34 (3ABN) - W36AK 36 (TBN) - WHTN 39 (CTN) - WLLC-LP 42 (Telefutura) - WPGD 50 (TBN) - W52CT 52 (A1) - WNAB 58 (The CW) - WJFB 66 (ShopNBC)