WSFJ-TV

WSFJ-TV, channel 51, is a Trinity Broadcasting Network-owned and operated television station licensed to Newark, Ohio, serving the Columbus, Ohio television market.

History

WSFJ-TV began operations on March 9, 1980. It was the first independent television station in Columbus, as well as the first new commercial station in the area since 1949. On paper, Columbus had been adventageous to support an independent station as far back as the late 1960s. However, the Columbus area is a very large market geographically, and UHF stations do not carry well across large blocks of territory. By the late 1970s, cable television had gained enough penetration to make an independent station viable.

Initially the station ran only Christian programs, including (but not limited to) The PTL Club, Jimmy Swaggart, The 700 Club, Another Life, and children's programming. In the fall of 1980 WSFJ began running secular programming such as Independent Network News and New Zoo Revue during the weekdays, along with Wild Kingdom and other hunting and wildlife shows on Saturdays, though programming remained predominantly Christian. It was the only over-the-air source of non-network programming in central Ohio until WTTE (channel 28) signed on in 1984.