View source for WGGS-TV

{{Short description|Television station in Greenville, South Carolina}}
{{redirect|WGGS|a school in [[England]] that uses this acronym|Watford Grammar School for Girls}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = WGGS-TV
| city = Greenville, South Carolina
| logo = WGGS 2022.svg
| logo_size = 160px
| branding = WGGS-TV 16
| digital = 29 ([[UHF]])
| virtual = 16
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''16.1:''' [[Religious broadcasting|Religious]] [[Independent station|Independent]]|''for others, see {{section link||Subchannels}}''}}
| owner = Carolina Christian Broadcasting, Inc.
| location = {{ubl|[[Greenville, South Carolina|Greenville]]–[[Spartanburg]]–|[[Anderson, South Carolina]]|[[Asheville, North Carolina]]}}
| country = United States
| airdate = {{start date and age|1972|10|29|p=y}}
| callsign_meaning = "We're Greenville's Gospel Station"
| sister_stations = [[WWYA-LD]]
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 16 (UHF, 1972–2009)|'''Digital:''' 35 (UHF, 2000–2009), 16 (UHF, 2009–2019), 2 ([[VHF]], 2019–2024)}}
| erp = 125 kW
| haat = {{convert|354|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id = 9064
| coordinates = {{coord|34|56|26.4|N|82|24|40.4|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| website = {{URL|https://wggs16.com/}}
}}

'''WGGS-TV''' (channel 16) is a [[religious broadcasting|religious]] [[independent television station]] licensed to [[Greenville, South Carolina]], United States, serving [[Upstate South Carolina]] and [[Western North Carolina]]. Owned by Carolina Christian Broadcasting, it is [[sister station|sister]] to [[Honea Path, South Carolina|Honea Path]]–licensed [[low-power broadcasting#Television|low-power]] [[Movies!]] affiliate [[WWYA-LD]] (channel 28). The two stations share studios on Rutherford Road in [[Taylors, South Carolina]]; WGGS-TV's transmitter is located at [[Paris Mountain State Park]] (just outside Greenville).

==History==
The station first signed on the air on October 29, 1972. It is the oldest independent station in the state of South Carolina, and was also the first new commercial station to sign on in the Greenville–[[Spartanburg]]–[[Asheville]] market since [[CBS]] affiliate [[WSPA-TV]] (channel 7) signed on in April 1956. Carolina Christian Broadcasting has owned the station for its entire existence.

The station initially ran a mixture of [[secular]] general entertainment programming for half the broadcast day (which over the years had mainly featured classic series such as ''[[The Lone Ranger (TV series)|The Lone Ranger]]'', ''[[The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet]]'', ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'', ''[[Dennis the Menace (1959 TV series)|Dennis the Menace]]'', ''[[The Donna Reed Show]]'', ''[[Leave It to Beaver]]'', ''[[Father Knows Best]]'' and ''[[Rawhide (TV series)|Rawhide]]'', as well as ''[[Little Rascals]]'', ''[[Looney Tunes]]/[[Merrie Melodies]]'' and ''[[Popeye]]'' shorts) and Christian-related religious programming for the other half. It aired a larger amount of secular programming on Saturdays, and exclusively carried religious programs on Sundays. The station's programming policy, then as now, was very [[conservative]] in regards to content so as not to offend the sensibilities of its mostly [[Christian fundamentalism|fundamentalist]] and [[Pentecostal]] viewership.

WGGS came under fire for allegedly using a copyrighted name for one of its locally produced programs after [[ABC News (United States)|ABC]] premiered the newsmagazine ''[[Nightline]]'' in 1980; this was despite the fact that the program used the title ''Ni<u>te</u>line'' long before ''Ni<u>ght</u>line''{{'}}s existence. Some of WGGS' other local productions at the time included the exercise program ''Beverly Exercise''; a talk show hosted by Peggy Denny and the [[children's program]] ''Drick's Follies'' (running during the 1980s and 1990s), which featured [[public domain]] [[animated cartoon|cartoon]] shorts from the 1930s to the 1950s.

In the early 1980s, Carolina Christian Broadcasting signed on two more stations: WCCT (now [[WACH]]) in [[Columbia, South Carolina|Columbia]] and WGSE (now [[WFXB]]) in [[Myrtle Beach]]. WCCT produced its own version of ''Niteline'' once a week, and aired WGGS' version during the rest of the week. WCCT and WGSE aired far more cartoons, barter [[talk show|talk]] and [[game show]]s, and [[sitcom]]s than WGGS did, with Christian programming comprising only about a third of the schedules of both. Both stations were later sold off to secular interests (both WACH and WFXB are now affiliates of [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]; WACH is now owned by the [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]] and WFXB is now owned by [[Bahakel Communications]]).

WGGS was the only independent station in the western Carolinas until the winter of 1979, when WAIM-TV (channel 40, now [[MyNetworkTV]] affiliate [[WMYA-TV]]) lost its secondary ABC affiliation and reformatted itself as independent station WAXA. WGGS began to phase out secular programs from its lineup in 1982, a process that sped up when [[WHNS]] (channel 21, now a Fox affiliate) signed on in April 1984. By 1986, the station almost entirely ran Christian-oriented religious programs. WGGS did acquire some additional secular cartoons and barter sitcoms to air during the late afternoons from 3 to 6&nbsp;p.m. in the early 1990s, but by 1999, the station was back to airing a schedule almost entirely made up of religious programming. The station also turned down an offer by [[Ion Media|Paxson Communications]] to affiliate with [[Ion Television|Pax TV]] in 1998. The station originally signed off on a nightly basis until the early 1990s, when it reduced its off-hours to late Sunday night/early Monday mornings; channel 16 began broadcasting on a 24-hour schedule in late 1999.

Even after the digital television transition, WGGS' transmitter only provides [[broadcast range|grade B]] signal coverage to the North Carolina portion of the market. From the late 1970s until 1984, WGGS operated a [[low-power broadcasting#Television|low-power]] [[broadcast relay station#translator station|translator]] in Asheville on UHF channel 21. This was necessary in the days before there was significant [[cable television|cable]] penetration in the Greenville–Spartanburg–Asheville market. When this translator was displaced by WHNS when it signed on in 1984, WGGS reached a deal with the owners of WASV-TV (channel 62, now [[WYCW]]) in Asheville, to operate it as a full-power [[Broadcast relay station#Satellite stations|satellite]] until it was sold in 1995 to former WHNS owner [[Pappas Telecasting Companies]].

WGGS-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over [[UHF]] channel 16, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States [[Digital television transition in the United States|transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts]] under federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 35 to channel 16.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds |access-date=March 24, 2012}}</ref>

On April 13, 2017, the FCC announced that WGGS participated in the 2016–17 [[spectrum reallocation]] auction and will be compensated $44.3 million to move its signal to the Low-VHF band.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|title=FCC Broadcast Television Spectrum Incentive Auction|page=1|url=http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2017/db0413/DA-17-314A2.pdf|access-date=July 14, 2020|date=April 13, 2017}}</ref> On September 6, 2019, WGGS transitioned from channel 16 to channel 2. In September 2023, WGGS petitioned the FCC for a move to UHF channel 29, citing reception issues and viewer complaints in its immediate broadcast area since the move to VHF 2.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|title= Channel Substitution/Community of License Change |page=1|url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/25076f918aaf814c018ace146d1513c3|access-date=January 14, 2024|date=September 27, 2023}}</ref> The petition was granted on March 4, 2024,<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-24-199A1.pdf | title=Amendment of Section 73.622(j), Table of Allotments, Television Broadcast Stations (Greenville, South Carolina) | website=docs.fcc.gov | date=April 24, 2024}}</ref> and the move was completed on November 2.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

==Programming==
{{unreferenced section|date=November 2024}}
The station's schedule almost entirely consists of Christian programming. WGGS airs many shows hosted by [[televangelists]], such as [[Jim Bakker]], [[Benny Hinn]], [[Kenneth Copeland]], [[James Robison (televangelist)|James Robison]] and [[Joyce Meyer]] as well as shows such as ''[[The 700 Club]]'', ''[[In Touch Ministries|In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley]]'' and some locally produced programming such as the local Christian talk/variety show ''Niteline''.

[[Tammy Faye Messner]], the ex-wife of former [[PTL Satellite Network|PTL]] and [[Heritage USA]] founder Jim Bakker, announced plans for a cooking show called ''You Can Make It!'' which began airing in May 2006 (Messner died of [[cancer]] in July 2007, but the show remains in production with a different host). The few secular programs on the station include [[infomercial]]s, wildlife sporting programs, family-oriented public domain television series (such as ''[[The Cisco Kid (TV series)|The Cisco Kid]]'', ''Scaly Adventures'', and ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''), and home improvement, health and fitness programs (such as ''[[P. Allen Smith]] Garden Style''). The station also airs some Christian-oriented children's programming as well as a few programs (such as ''Praise the Lord'') sourced from the [[Trinity Broadcasting Network]]—which does not have a full-time affiliate nor an [[owned-and-operated station]] in the Greenville–Spartanburg–Asheville market (however, the network's national feed is carried on [[Charter Spectrum]] and select other cable providers). Like many religious independents of its format, WGGS does not carry secular programming on Sundays, opting to air bible instruction shows, local church services and televangelist programs.

==Subchannels==
The station's signal is [[multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannels of WGGS-TV<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WGGS|title=RabbitEars TV Query for WGGS|website=[[RabbitEars]]|accessdate=November 3, 2024}}</ref>
! scope = "col" | [[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! scope = "col" | [[Display resolution|Res.]]
! scope = "col" | [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! scope = "col" | Short name
! scope = "col" | Programming
|-
! scope = "row" | 16.1 
| [[1080i]] || rowspan="7"|[[16:9]] || WGGS-HD || [[Religious broadcasting|Religious]] [[Independent station|Ind.]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 16.2 
| rowspan="10" |[[480i]] || Walk || [[Outlaw (TV network)|Outlaw]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 16.3 
| SBN || [[Sonlife]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 16.4 
| IONPLUS || [[Ion Plus]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 16.5 
| TRUREAL || [[Start TV]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 16.6 
| Laff || [[Laff (TV network)|Laff]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 16.7 
| COURT || [[Court TV]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 16.8 
| 4:3 || GETTV || [[Busted (TV network)|Busted]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 16.9 
| 16:9 || QVC || [[QVC]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 16.10 
| 4:3 || JEWELRY || [[Defy (TV network)|Defy]]
|-
! scope = "row" |16.11
| 16:9 || Walk || The Walk TV
|}

==See also==
* [[WATC (TV)|WATC]] – sister station in [[Atlanta]]
* [[KMCT-TV]] – sister station in [[Monroe, Louisiana]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{URL|https://wggs16.com/|Official website}}

{{GSA TV}}
{{South Carolina TV}}
{{North Carolina TV}}
{{Other Georgia Stations}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wggs-Tv}}
[[Category:1972 establishments in South Carolina]]
[[Category:Court TV affiliates]]
[[Category:Defy (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:Independent television stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Ion Plus affiliates]]
[[Category:Laff (TV network) affiliates]]
[[Category:Religious television stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Start TV affiliates]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1972]]
[[Category:Television stations in the Greenville–Spartanburg–Asheville market|GGS-TV]]