WJET-TV, virtual and UHF digital channel 24, is an ABC-affiliated television station licensed to Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also operates Fox affiliate WFXP (channel 66) under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with owner Mission Broadcasting. The two stations share studios and transmitter facilities on US 19/Peach Street in Summit Township (with an Erie mailing address).
WJET's over-the-air signal covers the city of Erie and its suburbs and nearby communities in Chautauqua County, New York and northern Ashtabula County, Ohio. The station has been dropped from Time Warner Cable (now Charter Spectrum) in the eastern portion of the Cleveland TV market, in favor of WEWS-TV from Cleveland.
History[]
WJET-TV signed-on as the third station in Erie during the 6 p.m. hour on April 2, 1966. Owned by Jet Broadcasting along with WJET radio, it aired an analog signal on UHF channel 24 and the first program shown was a 24-hour movie marathon. The station immediately joined ABC. Previously, ABC had been limited to off-hours clearances on NBC station WICU-TV (channel 12) and CBS outlet WSEE-TV (channel 35) until this point. In January 1998, Nexstar acquired WJET-TV. Later that year, it began performing non-programming functions for Mission Broadcasting-owned WFXP as was standard for most Nexstar stations. That station was then consolidated into WJET's facilities.
On April 3, 2006 the station celebrated its 40th anniversary. It began airing its digital signal on UHF channel 58 in high definition in 2008. WJET's broadcasts became digital-only, effective June 12, 2009. It is carried on cable in London, St. Thomas and other communities in Ontario, Canada near Lake Erie. In recent years, the station has been bumped to high dial positions on cable systems in those locations. WJET-TV was once available on cable in the Hamilton, Niagara, and Grand River areas but was dropped by the early 2000s.
WJET-TV continues to supply its former radio sister with news and weather updates during the day, even though the two have been under separate ownership for several years.
The station celebrated its 50th anniversary in April 2016.
On June 15, 2016, Nexstar announced that it has entered into an affiliation agreement with Katz Broadcasting for the Escape, Laff, Grit, and Bounce TV networks (the last one of which is owned by Bounce Media LLC, whose COO Jonathan Katz is president/CEO of Katz Broadcasting), bringing the four networks to 81 stations owned and/or operated by Nexstar, including WJET-TV and WFXP.
| TV stations in Pennsylvania |
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| WPVI, Philadelphia WHTM, Harrisburg |
| TV stations in Northwestern Pennsylvania, including Erie |
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| WICU 12 (NBC) WJET 24 (ABC) |