WBXH-CD


WBXH-CD, virtual channel 39, is a low-powered, Class A MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station licensed to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. Owned by Gray Television, it is a sister station to CBS affiliate WAFB. The two stations share studios on Government Street in downtown Baton Rouge, where WBXH-CD's transmitter is also located. There is no separate website for WBXH-CD; instead, it is integrated with that of sister station WAFB.
Even though WBXH-CD broadcasts a digital signal of its own, the low-powered broadcasting radius only covers the immediate Baton Rouge area. Therefore, it is simulcast in standard definition on WAFB's fourth digital subchannel in order to reach the entire market; this can be seen on virtual and VHF channel 9.4 from a transmitter on River Road near the city's Riverbend section.

History

WBXH began broadcasting in 1995 and was owned by the Box LP Group who owned low-power affiliates of The Box music channel across the United States. In 2001, it became an affiliate of MTV2. The station operated on UHF channel 46 until WAFB signed-on its digital signal on the same channel in 2002. This led WBXH to change channels to 39. It was purchased by Raycom Media in 2003 and became a UPN affiliate. WBXH was the third and final station in Baton Rouge to be affiliated with the network, as UPN was originally programmed on WBTR from 1995 to 1999 and then on KZUP from 1999 to 2003. It showcased itself as "UPN the Block" and used a duo known as "Rider and the Fish" to promote programming and various locales around Baton Rouge. On January 24, 2006, Time Warner and CBS Corporation announced that the WB and UPN networks would be shutting down and that those two companies would combine their resources to create a new television service. The newly combined network would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of its respective corporate parents.
On February 22, News Corporation announced that it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. This new service, which would be a sister network to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming independent. It was also created to compete against The CW. On March 7, WBXH was announced as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV along with two other Raycom Media-owned stations. Until the September 5 launch of the new network, the UPN branding on WBXH was removed which resulted in the station becoming one of a few non-Fox owned-and-operated UPN stations to do so. In the interim, the station called itself "WBXH the Block."
Since becoming a MyNetworkTV affiliate, the station branded itself as "My BR TV," and in 2010, it began identifying itself as "channel 16," as the station is viewed on Cox Cable channel 16 in the Baton Rouge area. In other idents, the station identifies itself by its digital channel: 9.4. In September 2012, the station de-emphasized its MyNetworkTV affiliation by rebranding itself as "WBXH Channel 16: Where X marks the spot" and the newscast as 9 News Extra after being called My 9 News at 9.
On December 17, 2014, the station was licensed for digital operation and changed its call sign to WBXH-CD.
On August 1, 2015, the station added Grit and Escape as subchannels; they are also available on Cox Cable channels 128 and 129 in the Baton Rouge market.
On August 31, 2018, WBXH became the first Baton Rouge-area station to change its frequency due to spectrum reallocation, moving from its previous digital channel of 39 to channel 32.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
ChannelVideoAspectPSIP Short NameProgramming
39.11080iWBXHMain WBXH-CD programming / MyNetworkTV
39.2480iGritGrit
39.3480iEscapeCourt TV Mystery

Programming

programming on WBXH includes Right This Minute, TMZ on TV, and Friends.

Newscasts

On January 8, 2007, WAFB began producing a half-hour weeknight 9 p.m. newscast on WBXH under the title My 9 News at 9. WAFB's weekday morning newscast is also rebroadcast on this station. The station also airs a live Saturday morning newscast, which is currently the only WAFB-produced newscast airing on WBXH-CA on weekends. On March 3, 2008, WAFB became the first in Baton Rouge and the third in Louisiana to broadcast their local news in high definition; the newscasts on WBXH were included in the upgrade. The 9 p.m. newscast was later renamed 9 News X-Tra after WBXH de-emphasized its MyNetworkTV affiliation in 2012.
In November 2013, WBXH canceled its 9:00 p.m. newscast, replacing it with reruns of WAFB's popular program, Sportsline. The station continued airing a unique newscast called The Six30, which aired at 6:30 p.m. on weeknights. The newscast was hosted by Steve Caparotta and Greg Meriwether and was geared toward the young adult audience. In August 2014, The Six30 was canceled. On September 8, 2014, WBXH premiered a new news program: 9 News This Morning — The Big Xtra Hour, which is a continuation of WAFB's 9 News This Morning. The program airs from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. while WAFB airs CBS This Morning, and it features Graham Ulkins, Johnny Ahysen and Diane Deaton with more emphasis on covering weather and traffic around the Greater Baton Rouge area. WBXH does not air a prime time newscast. It also simulcasts the 6:00 a.m. hour of WAFB's 9 News This Morning from its main channel.