TechnoBabble

Thw way Americans have viewed television for the last 60 years is now in the twilight of its existance. One year from today, if you do not have a new digital TV or a digital to analog coverter for your analog only TV or subscribe to cable or satelite, you will NOT be watching FOX8 or any TV station for that matter. You will only see static. For one year from today, the FCC will require all full power television stations to cease analog broadcasting and broadcast only in digital.

We here at FOX8 have spent the last 10 years getting ready for February 18, 2009. In 1998 we began the process to install not only a fully digital studio, but transmitter site as well. In 2000 we installed a digital studio to produce the news casts in digital. Not a HD studio, but it can be convertered much easier than if we were still analog. In 2002 we began broadcasting our digital signal on channel 35. In 2003 and 2004 we converted our newsroom over to a "digital newsroom" where we shoot and edit our news stories digitally. In 2005 we began building a new tower and transmitter building to broadcast in full power digital. In 2006 we conpleted this new transmitter facility and began broadcasting not only a full power channel 35 digital signal, but also an updated channel 8 that will become our digital channel next year. Last year we installed our new digital Master Control Center that is fully HD compatable when other than non-network programming is available in HD. 2008 will see us prepare to shut off our analog channel 8 transmitter and on February 18, 2009 begin digital only broadcasting from our transmitter site north of Asheboro on channel 8.

WGHP started out with a humble existance. The transmitter building and tower were just big enough to house the transmitter and support the single channel 8 antenna. And we used this tower and building from 1963 when Charlie Harville was the first voice heard on channel 8 until the new tower went on line in 2006. Today that tower and building is still there, now being used in auxiliary service. The first studios were in the old Sheraton Hotel building downtown High Point. WGHP was only to be there a short time until a new studio building could be built. That "short time" turned into 20 years before the current studios off of Brentwood Ave were built and the station vacated 400 North Main Street. Through the years WGHP went from black and white to color and then portable news gathering and now digital and high def.

I t has been a long road to get to this point and we are very excited to step into the next phase of television broadcasting and we thank you for being such wonderful viewers through all of the years that WGHP has been in existance. Thank you.