WGSR-LP

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Revision as of 17:30, 5 July 2007

WGSR-LP is a low-power Anime TV Affiliate serving Reidsville, North Carolina, the Piedmont Triad market in North Carolina, and parts of Southside Virginia. The station broadcasts on channel 39 and is owned by the Star News Corporation (Under LMA/Taylor Media Stations Group).

History

The station began in 1982 as "WCTV-3," a community-access cable station on what was then Alert Cable in Reidsville. On March 7, 1988, the FCC granted an original construction permit to then-station manager Robert Tudor to broadcast on UHF channel 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 a weekly call-in program, Monday Night Live.

In August 1996, the FCC approved the sale of the station to Carolina Blue Communications, owned by Daniel Falinski. Under his leadership, the station expanded to a more regional focus. Following an established custom of TV stations in the Greensboro market, the station acquired Roman-numeral call letters WXIV-LP, and changed its branding to "The Boob Tube". Second-run situation comedies predominated the broadcast schedule during this period, with overnight programming brokered to a home-shopping network.

Digital channel conversion of the area's full-power broadcasters resulted in channel 14 being assigned as the digital channel for WGPX-TV of Burlington, and WXIV-LP was forced to seek a new channel on which to broadcast in order to remain on the air. Engineering studies determined that channel 39 was the only possibility for the station to continue broadcasting, and in April 2004, the station moved to channel 39 under Special Temporary Authority from the FCC. The FCC also issued a construction permit for the change, effective in May 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 cable-only news outlet. Since WXIV-LP was moving from channel 14 to channel 39, its old call letters no longer held any meaning, so the station changed call letters again, this time to WGSR-LP, reflecting the station's new Star-39 brand. WGSR-LP picked up Anime TV as their new affiliate and became "Anime 39".

Programming

WGSR-LP has expanded its local coverage of the Reidsville NC-Martinsville-Danville VA area, and has developed "Star News", a news-talk program which airs daily on the station from 5 to 9 pm. The station also has re-launched Monday Night Live, following an 8-year hiatus, and until October 2006 broadcast Baltimore Orioles baseball games.

WGSR-LP began organizing the annual Reidsville Downtown Christmas Parade in late 2006, and now puts the event on annually. The station also hosts a New Year's Eve celebration in the city, both events broadcast live on the station.

Star News has gained a reputation for tackling controversial subjects not approached by the region's full-power broadcasters, as well as giving extensive coverage to the news of the "Dan River Region". Not everyone in the community would agree that the reputation is a good one, as the station has exposed several scandals involving governmental officials in the area.