| Hattiesburg/Laurel, Mississippi | |
|---|---|
| Branding | Fox 23 |
| Channels | Digital: 23 (UHF) Virtual: 23 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 23.1 Fox |
| Owner | Waypoint Media (WHPM-TV, LLC) |
| First air date | June 15, 2005 |
| Sister station(s) | WMDN, WGBC |
| Former callsigns | WHPM-LP (2005–2011) |
| Former channel number(s) | 30 (UHF analog, 2005–2009) |
| Former affiliations | Lifesat TV (2005–2011) |
| Transmitter power | 10.4 kW |
| Height | 142 m |
| Class | LD |
WHPM-LD is the Fox-affiliated television station for Southeastern Mississippi's Pine Belt. Licensed to Hattiesburg, it broadcasts a low-powered digital signal on UHF channel 23 from a transmitter on Old Highway 11/Norton Road (south of US 98) in unincorporated Lamar County. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 6. Owned by Waypoint Media, WHPM has studios on Mayfair Road in Hattiesburg. Syndicated programming on the station includes Family Guy, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men among others.
The station signed-on June 15, 2005 as WHPM-LP carrying religious programming on analog UHF channel 30. It shut-down that signal and switched to digital channel 23 in 2009. However, the station would not switch its call sign to reflect the change until October 7, 2011 when it adopted WHPM-LD. It joined Fox as the market's first locally-based affiliate on October 13, 2011. Until this point, the network was available off-air and on cable through WXXV-TV in Gulfport.
That outlet strategically located its broadcast tower and designed a directional antenna pattern to enable the station to cover the Gulf Coast and Pine Belt regions of the state. WHPM will offer New Orleans Saints preseason football and college football games from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). There are currently no plans to offer local newscasts but the station will be heavily involved in community and charitable organizations in Meridian. [1][2]
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