WNXT-TV

WNXT-TV
Location	Nextonville, Tennessee
Branding	Nexton 6 Nexton News NXT News
Slogan	The Future in Innovative News.
Channel(s)	Digital: 6 (VHF) Virtual: 6 (PSIP)
subchannel(s)	WNXT-HD 6.1 MeTV 6.2
Affiliation	NBC (May 1976-present)
First air date	May 11, 1953
Owner	NextonVideo Industries
Former channel number	Analog: 6 (VHF) (1953-2009)
Former Affiliation	CBS (May 1953-May 1976)

WNXT-TV, virtual and VHF digital channel 6, is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Nextonville,Tennessee, United States. The station is owned by NextonVideo Industries, as part of a duopoly with Fox affiliate WNVI. WNXT-TV's callsign letters stand for "NeXTonville," which is also the city's airport code.

Station history

The station signed-on the air on May 11, 1953, as WNVB-TV, whose callsign letters stood for "NextonVille Broadcasting." Originally affiliated with the CBS television network, the station changed its callsign letters to WNXT-TV in 1959. With broadcasters in the United States conducting tests for color broadcasting, WNXT-TV went from broadcasting as a black and white station to a color station on May 11, 1961 (the station's 8th birthday), and began syndicating local programs. On March 10, 1968, the station's building was caught on fire at its original location at 1366 NE Mastville St. Because of this, the station found a new location near the Pointy Dome Tower at 1861 SW Bluebird St. Many recordings from the station's past were saved before it caught fire.

On May 5, 1976, WNXT-TV swapped affiliations with WBSY-TV, and became an NBC affiliate. One of the primary reasons for the switch was because CBS cited WNXT-TV's poor ratings, preemption of network programs, and poor newscasts. As a result, NBC got the chance to jump to channel 6 after moving from the higher-rated WBSY-TV, despite the network's declining ratings throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s. After the affiliation swap, WNXT-TV began syndicating educational and children's series, such as Sesame Street (which had occasionally aired on the main NBC network some few Sundays), Tom & Jerry (which had previously been syndicated on Nextonvillian ABC station WTNO-TV), and Looney Tunes. In 1983, WNXT-TV celebrated 30 years of broadcasting, and became one of the most watched stations in the Nextonvillian market, alongside PBS member station WUON.

Analog shutdown

WNXT-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over VHF channel 6, at 12:33 PM on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-powered television stations switched to digital broadcasting under federal mandate. WNXT-TV was the only station in the Nextonvillian market to participate in the nightlight program, and did so until September 6, 2009, setting the longest running time for an analog station to air the nightlight program. On September 6, at 10:27 AM, WNXT-TV shut down its analog signal.

Slogan history

• 1975-1976 - Catch the Stars on Nexton 6 (localized version of CBS' 1975 slogan; final slogan before WNXT-TV switched to NBC).
• 1979-1981 - Nexton 6, Proud as a Peacock (localized version of NBC's 1979-81 slogan)
• 1981-1982 - In Nextonville, Our Pride is Showing (localized version of NBC's 1981-82 slogan)
• 1982-1983 - You're in Nextonville, Just Watch Us Now (localized version of NBC's 1982-83 slogan)
• 1983-1984 - Nexton 6 There, Be There (localized version of NBC's 1983-84 slogan)
• 1984-1986 - In Nextonville, Let's All Be There/Nexton 6, Let's All Be There (both localized versions of NBC's 1984-86 slogans)
• 1986-1988 - Come Home to Nextonville/Come Home to Nexton 6 (both localized versions of NBC's 1986-88 slogans)
• 1988-1990 - Come Home to the Best, Only on Nexton 6/Come Home to the Best, Only in Nextonville (both localized versions of NBC's 1988-90 slogans)
• 1990-1992 - Nexton 6, The Place to Be!/WNXT, The Place to Be! (both localized versions of NBC's 1990-92 slogan)
• 1991 - Nexton 6, Experience Really Matters. (Used alongside Nexton 6, The Place to Be!)
• 1993-1994 - The Stars Are Back on Nexton 6 (localized version of NBC's 1993-94 slogan)
• 1996-1998 - Nexton 6, Turn TV Time into Game Time. (used to promote WNXT-TV's PlayStation-exclusive Play & View device)
• 2001 - WNXT-TV, Supporting Nextonville, Supporting America. (used after the September 11 attacks)
• 2009-2012 - WNXT-TV 6, More Colorful. (localized version of NBC's 2009-2012 slogan)
• 2005-June 2019 - WNXT-TV, Nextonville, Your Way of Patience.
• April Fools' 2006 - WNXT-TV, Nextonville, Clean Up Your Rooms.
• April Fools' 2007 - WNXT-TV, Nextonville, Eat Your Vegetables.
• April Fools' 2018 - WNXT-TV, Nextonville, Save Some Space.
• April Fools' 2019 - WNXT-TV, Nextonville, Shove A Toy Down Your Throat.
• June 2019 - WNXT-TV. Take the stand.

Campaign lyrics

Read more: WNXT-TV/Campaign lyrics

Sign-off announcement history

1976-1977; after becoming an NBC affiliate

This is television station WNXT-TV, channel 6, Nextonville, Tennessee, a subscriber in good standing to the television code of the National Association of Broadcasters. This concludes the evening schedule on WNXT-TV, channel 6, in Nextonville. WNXT-TV is owned and operated by NextonVideo Industries, Inc., and is an affiliate of the National Broadcasting Company. WNXT-TV operates on channel 6, by authority of the Federal Communications Commission. Studios are located at 1861 SW Bluebird Street in Nextonville. The transmitter is located in NE Hummingbird Avenue, and transmits with a total power output of 726,000 watts. This is Bob McHart, speaking on behalf of the entire staff and management of WNXT-TV, channel 6, wishing you a very pleasant good night. And now, ladies and gentlemen, our national anthem.

1977-1980

This is television station WNXT-TV, channel 6, Nextonville, Tennessee, a subscriber in good standing to the television code of the National Association of Broadcasters. This concludes the evening schedule on WNXT-TV. WNXT-TV is owned and operated by NextonVideo Industries, Inc., and is an affiliate of the National Broadcasting Company television network. Studios are located at 1861 SW Bluebird Street in Nextonville. The transmitter is located in NE Hummingbird Avenue, and transmits programs with a total power output of 726,000 watts. WNXT-TV operates on channel 6, by authority of the Federal Communications Commission. This is (name of announcer), speaking on behalf of the entire staff and management of WNXT-TV, channel 6, wishing you a very pleasant good night. And now, ladies and gentlemen, our national anthem.

Gallery

Ident and sign-off history

Ident from 1955, when the station was still known under its original callsign as WNVB-TV.

Ident from 1976, shortly after WNXT-TV became an NBC affiliate.

Ident from 1978.

Ident from 1980.

Ident from 1981, colored in pink.

WNXT-TV sign-off (February 1983 MOCK)

Sign-off video from February 7, 1983, with voiceover done by Lawrence Williams.

Ident from 1983, celebrating the station's 30th anniversary.

Let's All Be There ident from 1984.

Let's All Be There ident from 1984, promoting syndicated programs.

Station ident bug from 1985, often seen during commercial breaks or at the end of network promos.

Come Home ident from 1986, shortly after the current six-feathered peacock was introduced.

NBC Sunday Night at the Movies local bumper from 1987, with the WNXT-TV byline at the bottom.

Station ident bumper bug, used during a syndicated airing of Home Improvement.

Print advertisements

Print ad from an issue of The Nextonvillian Reader, Nextonville's local newspaper, promoting RCA's spherical XL-100 color projection television, originally from a May 3, 1981 edition. Also found in a localized issue of TV Guide.

Trivia

• In May 2015, 17-year old Nextonvillian female Carolyn Lenning took to co-host Matt Lauer on the Today show (which WNXT-TV aired) about her experience on WNG-TV, channel 21, and as one of the most profitable women in Nextonville.