WTCT


WTCT is a religious television station licensed to Marion, Illinois, United States, serving the Paducah–Cape Girardeau–Harrisburg television market as the flagship station of the locally based Tri-State Christian Television network. WTCT's transmitter is located near Goreville, Illinois. The national feed of TCT via WTCT is available on DirecTV channel 377.

History

The station signed on the air in August 1981 as independent station WDDD-TV. In 1984, its call letters were changed to WTCT. The station carried business news programming from the Financial News Network after the late movie each weeknight before sign-off until 1985. It became a TBN station in 1986 along with a few independent stations that switched to the religious network during that year. In 2007, the TCT network permanently dropped all TBN programming.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:
ChannelRes.AspectShort nameProgramming
27.11080i16:9WTCT HDTCT
27.2480i16:9SBNSonlife
27.3480i16:9PositivPositiv
27.4480i16:9LAFFLaff
27.5480i16:9StartTVStart TV
27.6480i16:9StoryTVStory Television
27.7480i16:9QuestQuest
27.8480i16:9BuzzrTVBuzzr
27.9480i16:9OANPLUSOne America Plus
27.10480i16:9ShopLCShop LC
27.11480i16:9WESTWEST

Analog-to-digital conversion

WTCT shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 27, 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 remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 17, using virtual channel 27.

Former translators

WTCT previously broadcast on low-power translators W54AE in Paducah, Kentucky, KCGI-CA in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and K54CA in Sikeston, Missouri; these translators ceased operation around 2010.