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Coordinates: 41°52′44″N 87°38′8″W / 41.87889°N 87.63556°W / 41.87889; -87.63556
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WJYS
Three glossy spheres, two with silver rings, next to bold blue text reading "WJYS", with the J having a dot above it, with "The Way" as a subheading in silver below.
CityHammond, Indiana
Channels
BrandingWJYS, The Way
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
OwnerMillennial Telecommunications, Inc.
WEDE-CD
History
First air date
March 2, 1991 (33 years ago) (1991-03-02)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 62 (UHF, 1991–2009)
  • Digital: 36 (UHF, until 2019)
Call sign meaning
Original owners Joseph and Yvonne Stroud[1]
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID32334
ERP140 kW
HAAT510 m (1,673 ft)
Transmitter coordinates41°52′44″N 87°38′8″W / 41.87889°N 87.63556°W / 41.87889; -87.63556
Links
Public license information
Websitewjystv.net

WJYS (channel 62) is an independent television station licensed to Hammond, Indiana, United States, serving the Chicago area. Owned by Millennial Telecommunications, Inc., WJYS maintains studio facilities on South Oak Park Avenue in Tinley Park, Illinois, and its transmitter is located atop the Willis Tower.

After a lengthy award and construction process, WJYS began broadcasting on March 2, 1991. It was originally a home shopping station before becoming a general-entertainment independent in November 1994. It augmented its syndicated programming with local-interest specialty shows for Chicago's Black community as well as local sports, but it slowly became primarily a purveyor of religious programs and infomercials. Beginning October 2024, it will broadcast Chicago Sports Network over-the-air to the Chicago area.

History

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Channel 62 was first proposed to be constructed in Hammond, Indiana, in the 1960s. Aben E. Johnson Jr. of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, proposed to build channel 56 but saw his application shifted to channel 62.[3] Johnson hoped to build the Action Network with the Hammond station, which was given the call sign WAXN-TV, and WXON-TV near Detroit.[4] Johnson struggled to find a suitable site that would meet his obligations to broadcast to Hammond while serving the Chicago metropolitan area, and he focused on building the Detroit-area station first.[5] The station never was constructed, as Chicago-area stations protested transmitter site proposals and Johnson ran out of financing; Johnson surrendered the construction permit to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in November 1970.[6]

Channel 62 remained assigned to Hammond and was sought by Northwest Indiana Public Broadcasting, a group composed of advisory members of St. John–based public station WCAE.[7] The group had splintered from WCAE's owner, the Lake Central School Corporation, over programming and community operation issues.[8]

By 1981, a new crop of potential owners had applied for channel 62 as a full-service station. Whiteco Industries of Merrillville proposed a station providing commercial programming, particularly of interest in Indiana, to underserved Northwest Indiana.[9] Whiteco's Northwest Indiana Television formally applied for the channel that July, by which time it was already the third applicant.[10] The FCC designated in April 1982 for comparative hearing applications from eight parties: Apogee, Inc.; Hammond, Indiana T.V.; Jovon Minority Broadcasting Corporation; Northwest Indiana Television; Hammond Telecasters; Pan American Broadcasting Company; Cafricam Television; and Cross Country Network.[11] FCC administrative law judge Joseph P. Gonzalez handed down an initial decision in June 1984, favoring Pan American Broadcasting Corporation. It planned to begin broadcasting as the first full-time Spanish-language TV station in the Chicago market.[12] The initial decision was overturned seven months later by the FCC's review board. The board found that Jovon Minority Broadcasting Corporation—owned by Joseph and Yvonne Stroud—had a superior proposal for integration of ownership and management, a comparative criterion. It relied on a technicality in the Pan American bid; one of the owners was going to be an office manager, which was not deemed an actual management position.[13]

The Strouds chose the call sign WJYS for their names and selected a transmitter site in Tinley Park, Illinois.[14] Though Tinley Park approved the necessary zoning in May 1988, a change in tower height required Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization,[1] and the Strouds were forced to ask for several extensions of time to build.[15]

After nearly a decade, WJYS finally began broadcasting on March 2, 1991.[16] Where the Strouds had planned a general-entertainment independent station, they were motivated by high program costs to begin WJYS as a round-the-clock shopping channel utilizing Home Shopping Spree.[17] It had no facilities in the state of Indiana in spite of being licensed to Hammond.[18] The station slowly added local-interest programs, primarily directed at the Black community. Examples in the 1990s included a weekly talk show with blues artists, The Blues News;[19] Positive Images, a music video and entertainment show for the Black community;[20] and a weekly show hosted by Doug Banks, then at WGCI-FM radio.[21]

WJYS switched to a general-entertainment independent format and dropped home shopping in November 1994.[22] It was one of the chief beneficiaries of the conversion to Univision programming by WGBO-TV (channel 66), picking up much of its syndicated programming inventory[23] as well as Hoosier Millionaire, the game show produced by Indiana's Hoosier Lottery.[24] Channel 62 rounded out its schedule of mostly classic TV series with a late-night anime block, local sports, and infomercials.[25] Its wide assortment of programming caused a columnist from The Herald-News in Joliet, Illinois, to compare it to the former Tempo cable channel.[26] By 2009, WJYS primarily broadcast religious programs and infomercials.[27]

WJYS began digital broadcasting on channel 36 on August 1, 2002. Where its analog transmitter was located in Tinley Park, its digital broadcasts originate from atop the Willis Tower.[16] The station became digital-only in 2009, continuing on channel 36 using virtual channel 62,[28] and was repacked to channel 21 in 2019 as a result of the 2016 United States wireless spectrum auction.[29]

On September 15, 2024, the newly formed Chicago Sports Network announced it would broadcast on the second and third digital subchannels of WJYS starting October 1, bringing games featuring the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bulls, and Chicago Blackhawks to over-the-air viewers.[30]

Technical information

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Subchannels

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The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WJYS[31]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
62.1 480i 4:3 WJYS-DT Main WJYS programming
62.2 480i → 720p 4:3 → 16:9 PRISM-6 Jewelry TV → CHSN (eff. 10/1/2024)
62.3 PRISM QVC → CHSN overflow (eff. 10/1/2024)
62.4 480i 4:3 HRTLND Heartland
62.5 PRISM-3 QVC
62.6 PRISM-4 Heartland
62.7 JTV Jewelry TV
62.8 EVINE HSN
62.9 16:9 HSN
62.10 4:3 Polvision Polvision (Polish independent)

References

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  1. ^ a b Boyd, Roger (January 15, 1989). "62 says: 'Just stay tuned'". The Times. Hammond, Indiana. p. A-3. Retrieved September 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WJYS". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^ "UHF License Expected Soon". The Times. Hammond, Indiana. February 6, 1966. p. C-4. Retrieved September 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Region's First TV Station Due To Be on Air by June: License Already Granted". The Times. Hammond, Indiana. December 1, 1966. p. B-3. Retrieved September 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Channel 62 Expected on Air in 1968". The Times. Hammond, Indiana. December 31, 1967. p. 1B. Retrieved September 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "TV Request Cancelled". The Times. Hammond, Indiana. November 22, 1970. p. 10F. Retrieved September 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Potter, Donald (March 23, 1979). "TV License Sought". The Times. Hammond, Indiana. p. 2. Retrieved September 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Channel 62 Plans Ambitious". The Times. Hammond, Indiana. March 30, 1979. p. 3. Retrieved September 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Lake County Television Panel Forms". The Times. Hammond, Indiana. May 29, 1981. p. A-3. Retrieved September 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Application made for new TV station". Vidette-Messenger of Porter County. Valparaiso, Indiana. July 10, 1981. p. 3. Retrieved September 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Notice of Designation for Hearing". The Times. Hammond, Indiana. June 1, 1982. p. C-2. Retrieved September 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Ragan, Mark; Waters, Michael (June 14, 1984). "Illinois group gets TV permit; Hammond may get TV station in a year". The Times. Hammond, Indiana. p. A-3. Retrieved September 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "New TV station wins permission to build". Journal and Courier. Lafayette, Indiana. January 10, 1985. p. C5. Retrieved September 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Channel 62 to air soon". The Times. Hammond, Indiana. January 31, 1988. pp. A-1, A-16. Retrieved September 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Boyd, Roger (May 31, 1989). "'62' asks more time to build". The Times. Hammond, Indiana. p. A-3. Retrieved September 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ a b "WJYS, WJYS-DT". Television and Cable Factbook. 2006. pp. A-830, A-831.
  17. ^ Feder, Robert (March 6, 1991). "WJYS-Ch. 62 enters local market with Home Shopping". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 51.
  18. ^ "'Local' TV in Illinois: 'Home Shopping Spree' dominates Channel 62". The Post-Tribune. March 7, 1991. p. B1.
  19. ^ Feder, Robert (May 19, 1992). "Channel 32 to add news on weekends". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 37.
  20. ^ Feder, Robert (April 1, 1993). "'Fly Jock' Joyner Readies New Show". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 39.
  21. ^ Feder, Robert (October 19, 1994). "Garry Meier Aims For Channel 9 Job". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 53.
  22. ^ Feder, Robert (November 28, 1994). "Channel 62 Enters Independents' Fray". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 39.
  23. ^ Feder, Robert (December 19, 1994). "Ex-Radio Managers Buy Spanish Station". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 27.
  24. ^ "WJYS now airs 'Millionaire'". The Post-Tribune. January 11, 1995. p. B8.
  25. ^ Cox, Ted (July 31, 1996). "Channel 62 takes traditional approach to programming". Daily Herald. p. FoodPlus 9.
  26. ^ "Don't skate past WJYS-TV too fast". The Herald-News. September 25, 1999. p. A2.
  27. ^ Protess, Ben (February 9, 2009). "Burris' $1.5 Million Pal". ProPublica.
  28. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. May 23, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
  29. ^ "FCC TV Spectrum Phase Assignment Table" (CSV). Federal Communications Commission. April 13, 2017. Archived from the original on April 17, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  30. ^ "Chicago Sports Network announces over-the-air carriage agreement with WJYS subchannels". Chicago Sun-Times. September 16, 2024. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  31. ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for WJYS". RabbitEars. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
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