WDAM-TV
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WDAM-TV is the NBC affiliate station for southern Mississippi. Licensed to Laurel, its studios and transmitter are located near Eastabuchie, a small community located in southern Jones County, midway between Laurel and Hattiesburg.
History
WDAM-TV signed on June 8, 1956 on channel 9 and was affiliated with both NBC and ABC.
In September 1959, WDAM-TV moved from channel 9 to channel 7, in order for Baton Rouge's WAFB-TV to move from channel 28 to channel 9 and to protect Tupelo, MS station WTWV (now WTVA), also broadcasting on channel 9. Several years later in 1962, it dropped its secondary ABC affiliation to become a sole NBC affiliate, where it remains today.
WDAM was acquired by current owner Raycom Media in 1997 when it bought out previous owner Federal Broadcasting. However, Raycom owned CBS affiliate WHLT at the time and had to sell it to Media General in order to comply with FCC duopoly rules.
In 2001, WDAM signed on its digital signal on channel 28. WDAM's General Manager is Jim Cameron.
Several members of its staff have been with the station for an exceptionally long period of time. Bobby Smith has been at the station since a week after it signed on. He was Chief Engineer for many years and continues to work in the Engineering department. Weathercaster Jim Gibbon was a staple of WDAM's morning and noon newscasts for 43 years until his retirement in March 2007; he died nearly two months later on April 25. News Director Randy Swan has been with the station for approximately three decades, leaving for only a brief period when he served in the same position with a station in the Greenwood/Greenville, Mississippi market. Swan's father, Jimmy Swan, was a well known radio personality and country/bluegrass singer/bandleader during the late 1950s and '60s who also ran for governor.
ABC Television's Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts was a sports anchor at WDAM in the early 1980s.
Gulf Coast
Throughout much of its history, and to a lesser extent today, WDAM carried many of the same syndicated programs as nearby WLOX, frustrating many rural viewers without cable or long-range antenna equipment. While WLOX serves the Mississippi Gulf Coast, its signal almost completely covers WDAM's market area. By comparison, WDAM's signal barely reaches the three coastal counties that make up WLOX's primary service area.
As a result of this, cable systems on the Mississippi Gulf Coast opt for New Orleans' WDSU or Mobile's WPMI instead, despite the fact that even those stations have spotty or non-existent coverage in the area.
Both WDAM and WLOX are now owned by Raycom Media.
External links