Morris Network, Inc., a division of Morris Multimedia, Inc., owns and operates fourteen network affiliate television stations in Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee.
The stations are: WMGT-TV (NBC) and MY41 (My Network TV) in Macon, Georgia; WTVQ (ABC) and MYTVQ2 (My Network TV) in Lexington, Kentucky; WCBI-TV (CBS), MYMS TV (My Network TV) and North Mississippi (The CW)in Columbus, Mississippi; WXXV-TV (Fox), WXXV TV(NBC) and MYXXV2 (My Network TV) in Gulfport, Mississippi; WWAY-TV (ABC) and RTV (Retro Television Network) in Wilmington, North Carolina; WDEF-TV (CBS) and Bounce TV in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Headquartered in Macon, Georgia and run by President and CEO Dea
n Hinson, Morris Network Inc., continues to grow its portfolio of broadcast properties throughout the United States with strategic acquisitions. This includes investments in High Definition television broadcasts, WEB based multimedia content, podcasting, and other exciting technology directions that are fast changing our viewers� ability to get content when and where they want it.
WCBI-DT/ NORTH MS CW (CW Affiliate)
201 5th Street S
Columbus, MS 39701
Phone: 662-327-4444
Website: http://nmscw.wcbi.com
In September of 2002, WCBI's 3rd digital stream began broadcasting a local 24/7 local weather channel called Weather Check and in January of 2006, this channel was rebranded as First Alert Weather. With the formation of a new network from CBS and Warner Brothers called The CW, WCBI became the North MS CW at 7:30am on September 18, 2006 with the broadcasting of the network morning program called The Daily Buzz.
WTVQ-TV (ABC Affiliate)
6940 Man O’War Boulevard
Lexington, KY 40509
Phone: 859-204-3636
Fax: 859-293-5002
WTVQ-DT is nestled in the rolling bluegrass of a thoroughbred farm on the outskirts of Lexington, KY. Surrounded by fence-lined meadows, this ABC Network affiliate has been a major part of the local community since 1968. Live local newscasts Monday through Friday at 5:00 a.m., noon, 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.; and 6:30 and 11:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday are the main staple of the WTVQ broadcast day.
In January, 2009, WTVQ launched My TVQ2, a My Network TV affiliate broadcasting over-the-air in High Definition on digital channel 36.2. Solid syndicated programming compliments the My Network TV schedule. In December 2011, the station launched Antenna TV on digital channel 36.3. Antenna TV features many of America’s classic TV shows and movies from the 1950’s through the 1990’s. With the addition of Antenna TV, WTVQ broadcasts more programming content than any other TV station in the Lexington market. WTVQ also has a significant Internet presence with www.wtvq.com.
Known as “The Horse Capital of the World” for its thoroughbred equine industry, Lexington is the 62nd largest television market in the country with a population of 1.2 million people. Lexington is also a technology, education, and healthcare center with three universities (including the market’s largest employer, the University of Kentucky, the state’s flagship institution of higher education), five private colleges, two theological seminaries, and three major hospital facilities. Toyota Motor Manufacturing has its largest North American assembly plant just outside of Lexington in Georgetown, KY where the Toyota Camry, North America’s bestselling car, is made. Lexington is also the home to Lexmark International, a Fortune 500 company which develops and manufactures printing and imaging products with worldwide distribution.
WDEF-TV (CBS Affiliate)
3300 Broad Street
Chattanooga, TN 37408
Main Phone: 423-785-1200
News Phone: 423-785-1227
Fax: 423-785-1271
WDEF-TV, the CBS affiliate for Chattanooga, became a part of the Morris Network in October, 2006. As Chattanooga's first television station, WDEF signed on April 25th, 1954. The station first provided local programming as well as network programs from CBS and NBC. Tennessee Valley residents no longer had to strain to pick up grainy Atlanta stations. Local shows included the children's variety show, Mr. Chickaroonie, starring Luther Masingil. Fifty-three years later, Luther still works at WDEF-TV. One of the first locally-produced shows on WDEF-TV was Point of View. Still on the air, it is one of the longest-running local public affairs programs in the United States. Now known as WDEF News 12, the station serves the 86th Nielsen television market made up of Southeast Tennessee, Northwest Georgia and a corner of North Carolina. Viewership stretches into a few counties in Northeast Alabama. Our studios are located at the foot of scenic Lookout Mountain. The WDEF News 12 team of dedicated news professionals produces award winning local newscasts featured weekdays at 5:00am, 6:00am, Noon, 6:00pm and 11pm as well as 6:00pm and 11:00pm newscasts both on Saturday and Sunday. The WDEF News 12 Team won AP Awards for Best Newscast, Spot News, Photography and Website honors. Newscasts feature a Local, Quick and To the Point format capitalizing on market research that shows viewers want and need news that doesn't waste their time unnecessarily. Cutting edge News and Weather technology drive that brand. With fully non-linear newsgathering from Grass Valley editors and Panasonic P2 cameras, WDEF New 12 crews work faster, with fewer mistakes and superior quality. WDEF StormTeam Meteorologists forecast with the latest weather with Titan Radar from WSI. WDEF News 12 is also working to maximize media convergence with output to WDEF.com, cell phones and local radio partners. The Tennessee Valley loves SEC football and CBS SPORTS! Viewers keep it locked on WDEF-TV for all of the top sports programming like the Tennessee Titans and NFL Football, PGA Golf, NCAA football and basketball, US Open Tennis and, of course, the local scores and highlights on Touchdown Friday Night.
The WDEF TV local sales department is strong, trained, dedicated and diverse and has an aggressive plan to target new revenue generation and new media opportunities. A strong history and a bright future, WDEF-TV is setting the pace for Morris Network in ratings and revenue growth in the Tennessee Valley.
WCBI-DT/ MY MS-TV (MNT Affiliate)
201 5th Street S
Columbus, MS 39703
Phone: 662-327-4444
UPN/MS was the state's first all-digital television station in Mississippi and the first analog CBS and UPN digital station in the nation beating out Corpus Christi, Texas by a matter of days. Many syndicators and networks used the WCBI model for digital television programming on dot 2s and dot 3s across the nation. The UPN network went off the air and WCBI localized the channel by branding it My Mississippi by becoming a My Network Affiliate on September 4, 2006. WCBI's My MS offered the first 9pm newscast on a digital station in the state of Mississippi on September 8, 2008 and in October of 2010 aired the first morning newscast Sunrise from 7-8am.
WCBI
201 5th Street S
Columbus, MS 397013
Phone: 662-327-4444
Fax: 662-329-1004
WCBI began broadcasting a full power digital signal in August of 2002. By early September, WCBI-DT was streaming three broadcast channels - WCBI-DT 35-5 (a high definition CBS broadcast); WCBI-DT 35-3 (a standard definition UPN affiliate); and WCBI-DT 35-4 (Accu-weather 24/7 weather affiliate). All broadcasts, including analog channel 4, are generated from our digital plant. WCBI is making history again as Mississippi's first digital station, and one of the few stations in the nation broadcasting multiple streams of news, sports, weather and entertainment.
WWAY News Channel 3
615 N. Front Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
Phone: 910-762-8581
Fax: 910-762-8367
WWAY News Channel 3 first signed on the air in Wilmington, NC as an ABC affiliate in 1964. WWAY, which stands for “Wonderful Watching All Year,” has come a long way in the last half century, including being the first station in Wilmington to broadcast in High Definition.
The station takes its brand, “Live, Local, Interactive, very seriously. It produces 16 hours of local news a week and keeps viewers informed online 24/7 via WWAYTV3.com. The TV station is also the first in the market to use cell phone technology to go live from anywhere in the country. Thanks to advances made by the Italian company Vejero, we can use a device about the size of a small suitcase to produce live shots anywhere there’s a cell phone signal. The technology we feel will eventually replace the big, expensive microwave vans that have been a staple for TV stations for years. And thanks to Apple technology, we’re able to use an iPad live during newscasts to go interactive with our viewers.
WWAY NewsChannel 3 continues to produce award-winning stories and newscasts, a legacy that has been years in the making. In 2011, The Radio and Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas awarded WWAY with “Best Newscast,” “Best Documentary” and “Best Investigative Report” along with five other awards. That same year, the North Carolina Associated Press awarded the newsroom six awards.
RTV, or Retro TV, is WWAY's dot 2 network which features the best shows on television from the 60's, 70's and 80's. It launched nationally in 2005 and we picked it up in 2009, replacing 24/7 Weather, which had been our dot 2 for more than five years.
WMGT-TV (NBC Affiliate)
301 Poplar Street
Macon, Georgia 31201
Phone: 478-745-4141
Fax: 478-742-2626
WMGT-TV an NBC affiliated station, was the first television station purchased by Charles Morris in 1978. Over the years, the station has grown significantly to become one of the leading television stations in Macon, Georgia. Competing in the Middle Georgia area led the company to expand its television division. WMGT-TV, known as "41 NBC" relocated its television offices and studio to a remodeled facility in downtown Macon in 2000. Situated within walking distance to the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame and Historic Terminal Station the WMGT studio is part of the revitalized downtown.
Knowing the local programming was the one element missing in the WMGT broadcasting day, the station began a daily local News broadcasts in the fall of 2004. 41 NBC now broadcasts news from 5 - 7 am, an evening newscast at 6:00 p.m. and a late newscast Sunday through Friday at 11:00 p.m. These News broadcasts have been building a loyal viewing audience and are now the second most watched News in the market. An energetic News team produces the live telecasts every day covering stories from Macon, Warner Robins and Middle Georgia.
MY 41.2 (My Network) signed on Monday July 6, 2009. My 41 airs local news at 7:00 a.m., 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.
Morris Network, Inc., the television station corporate entity, has its offices located in Macon on the second floor of the WMGT studios.
41 NBC can be found online at 41 NBC as well as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
WXXV-TV (FOX/NBC/My Network)
14351 Highway 49 North
Gulfport, Mississippi 39503
Phone: 228-832-2525
Fax: 228-314-9223
WXXV TV/DT signed on the air February 14th, 1987 and became the FOX affiliate for South Mississippi. The station serves the 162nd size DMA of Biloxi/Gulfport with 128,150 households. WXXV launched My 25, The My Network, April 10th, 2009 and launched NBC June 25th, 2012. Both FOX and NBC are broadcast in High Definition covering 100% of the DMA with My 25 on cable reaching approximately 70% of the DMA.
The studios are located on the beautiful Mississippi Gulf Coast in Gulfport, the second largest city in Mississippi and home to the largest man-made beach (26 miles) in the world. The Gulf Coast is Mississippi’s brightest star, the region’s destination of choice because of the smart growth, vast business opportunities and diverse cultural experiences.
The area is rich in tradition and history, dating back to the landing of French explorer, Pierre LeMoyne Sieur D’ Iberville in 1699. The Coast’s economy is driven by tourism, military facilities and shipbuilding. The casino industry opened its doors in August, 1992 and has become the driver to the area’s vibrant tourism industry. Currently, with the May 2012 opening of Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, there are twelve casinos operating on the Mississippi Gulf Coast employing approximately 13,000 South Mississippians. Ingalls Ship Building, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries is located in Pascagoula, Mississippi and is strategically positioned for easy access to the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. For more than 70 years, the more than 18,000 employees of Ingalls Shipbuilding facilities have pioneered the development and production of technologically advanced, highly capable warships for the surface Navy fleet, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marine Corps, and foreign and commercial customers. Ingalls is Mississippi’s largest private employer. For more than four decades, John C. Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi has served as NASA’s primary rocket propulsion testing ground. Today, the center provides propulsion test services for NASA and the Department of Defense, as well as the private sector. It is home to NASA’s Rocket Propulsion Test Program, which manages all of the agency’s propulsion test facilities. Every space shuttle main engine was tested here, but now is preparing to test engines that will be used on NASA’s new heavy-lift Space Launch System. The Coast is home to the largest set of military and federal installations in the state. Keesler Air Force Base is a major computer, medical and electronics training center. The Naval Construction Battalion Center, one of two in the Unites States, is a combat construction support unit and assists humanitarian and disaster relief efforts. Together Keesler and the Seabee Base employ over 17,000 military and civilian personnel and are scheduled to add additional military personnel.
The Mississippi Gulf Coast is positioned for significant future growth and WXXV is poised to grow with the Coast. We will continue to be a community partner as the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s local FOX, NBC and My Network Television Stations.