Three Alabamians said they hope their purchase of a Jacksonville-based television station will help bring more wholesome programming to the area, along with local news.
Heritage Communications LLC took control of television station WJSX TV-24 March 4 and began local news broadcasts March 11. The station is an affiliate of FamilyNet, which is part of the North American Mission Board broadcast communication group, and broadcasts family-oriented programming.
While the station will bring local news and programs back to Calhoun County, Heritage Communications said returning programs with nonobjectionable content was one of the reasons behind the purchase.
“We wanted to be a positive influence on the community,” said Troi Hayes, chief marketing officer for Heritage.
Hayes, a member of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, is a former employee of radio station WHMA-FM, along with Mickey Shadrix and Tom Williams. The three men are purchasing the station along with four other “silent partners.”
Along with family-oriented programming, Shadrix said the station will provide an outlet for local programming that was lost when radio station WHMA moved its signal to Atlanta in 2000.
“We felt like there was a void in local programming,” said Shadrix, who serves as the station’s chief operating officer and grew up at Lakeview Baptist Church in Oxford.
Hayes said the loss of WHMA further complicated a situation that began when TV-40 moved to Birmingham in 1996 to become part of ABC 33/40.
“With the departure of WHMA, there was an opportunity to come back into the market with local programming,” Hayes said.
Shadrix said Heritage communication also recognized the need for “wholesome family programming.”
Hayes said FamilyNet broadcasts family and religious programming, along with children’s shows and reruns of nonobjectionable situation comedies like “The Andy Griffith Show” and “The Beverly Hillbillies.”
“It’s our goal to program a station that parents and grandparents can watch with their kids,” Hayes said.
Williams described the Jacksonville area as one with more traditional values that is ideally suited for families.
“This is very much a great market to raise a family,” Williams said. “The climate and people make this a fabulous place to live.
“You can literally put a child in front of the television and not have to worry about what they’re watching,” Williams added.
Stan Grubbs, an affiliate relations associate with FamilyNet, said the network’s programming offers a substitute to the violence, sex and offensive language found in most television programming today.
“We strongly feel FamilyNet needs to be there to be a voice in the wilderness,” Grubbs said.
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