WJHP-TV

The interest of the Jacksonville Journal Company, known until 1952 as the Metropolis Company,^[2] in television had been made manifest as early as 1948. In May 1948, it applied for VHF channel 8 to go with its existing radio station holdings, WJHP-AM-FM, named for company owner John H. Perry.^[3] This application was granted by the Federal Communications Commission on August 13, 1948.^[4]

However, the FCC's reallocation plan after the freeze removed channel 8 from Jacksonville. Instead, the Jacksonville Journal Company reapplied for UHF channel 36 on December 5, 1952.^[5] A second application was filed for the channel by WEAR in Pensacola, but a settlement agreement was reached in early June. The John H. Perry–owned station in Pensacola, WCOA, withdrew its request for channel 3 there, and WEAR in turn pulled out of the channel 36 fight in Jacksonville. This resulted in WEAR-TV being approved in Pensacola and WJHP-TV in Jacksonville.^[6][7]

With the permit awarded, work began on putting the new station on the air. In August, a subsidiary of the Jacksonville Journal Company purchased the former Peacock Club, a nightclub on Philips Highway, to be refitted as the home of its radio and television operations.^[8] The Peacock, a nightclub opened during World War II, had not performed as expected in spite of being among the "plushest" such establishments in northern Florida.^[9] WJHP-TV signed affiliation agreements with the NBC^[10] and ABC networks in November.^[11]

WJHP-TV began broadcasting a test pattern on November 30, 1953,^[12] and programming on December 13.^[1]

Over its history, ownership constantly fought for a VHF channel to be made available for their use. In 1955, the station and local educators made a proposal whereby the Duval County school system would receive the channel 36 facility for educational broadcasting if the reserved channel 7 were reclassified to permit commercial use.^[13] The Jacksonville Journal Company protested after the FCC awarded channel 12 to the Florida-Georgia Television Company in September 1956. It believed the FCC should have enacted "deintermixture"—the making of the Jacksonville market all-VHF or all-UHF—as it had in similarly situated markets such as New Orleans and Duluth, Minnesota, which had one VHF and one UHF outlet in operation and a final decision pending for a second VHF station. In the appeal, Perry Jr. indicated that from December 1953 to June 30, 1956, the station had incurred operating losses of $448,900 in addition to $561,575 in construction expenses, and NBC had become noncommittal as to continuing its affiliation with WJHP-TV;^[14] previously, NBC had told WJHP-TV that it would move to the new channel 12 whenever it was granted.^[13]

The appeals court upheld the channel 12 grant in May 1957.^[15] A second appeal to have channel 7 made commercial, or alternatively to change channel 12 to UHF channel 46, was denied.^[16] Florida-Georgia Television Company's station, WFGA-TV, began broadcasting as an NBC affiliate on September 1, 1957.^[17][18]

John H. Perry Jr. announced on October 15, 1957, that the station would leave the air on October 25, its problems having been exacerbated by WFGA-TV's debut. Perry believed that the only way that a third station in the market could be successful was the addition of a VHF channel to Jacksonville, and hoped that the FCC would provide relief.^[19] A country music program hosted by a young Johnny Tillotson, still attending the University of Florida at the time, moved from WJHP-TV to WFGA-TV after channel 36 folded.^[20]

Perry's desire for an additional VHF channel never came to pass, and in August 1960, the FCC deleted the WJHP-TV construction permit at the Jacksonville Journal Company's request.^[21] The channel was not used again. Rust Craft Broadcasting applied for channel 36 in 1963,^[22] but after obtaining the permit, it applied to switch to channel 17 in service of its efforts to obtain network affiliation.^[23][24] The FCC approved this request in August 1964,^[25] and Rust Craft put WJKS-TV on the air on February 19, 1966.^[26]