KJWP

KJWP, channel 2, is a television station in Wilmington, Delaware, serving as the Me-TV affiliate for Philadelphia. The station is owned by PMCM TV, LLC. Its transmitter is located at the antenna farm in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia.

History

KJWP's origins lie in a construction permit granted to Ambassador Media in 1988 for a Jackson, Wyoming satellite station of its ABC affiliate in Pocatello, Idaho, KPVI. The new station, which signed on in 1990 as KJVI, served as a semi-satellite of KPVI for the Wyoming side of the Idaho Falls-Pocatello market, airing separate commercials. KPVI and KJVI were sold to Sunbelt Communications Company in November 1995, who switched the stations to NBC in January 1996. Channel 2's call letters were changed to KJWY that June. While KJWY was technically a satellite of KPVI, it later began to carry Wyoming news from another Sunbelt station, KCWY in Casper, after that station began a news operation.

KJWY had the distinction of being the lowest-powered full-service analog television station in the United States, at only 178 watts. It also tied CJBN-TV channel 13 of Kenora, Ontario, also at 178 watts, for the lowest-powered full-service analog station in North America. The analog channel 2 signal traveled a very long distance under normal conditions, and KJWY had to operate at very low power since it was short-spaced to KBCI-TV in Boise, Idaho (now KBOI-TV) and KUTV in Salt Lake City. After the digital transition was complete, KJWY's power was increased to 270 watts, equivalent to 1,350 watts in analog—still fairly modest for a full-power station.