Move to Delaware
Soon after taking over, PMCM sought permission to reallocate KJWY from Jackson, Wyoming, to Wilmington, Delaware, as part of a legal loophole that allows any VHF station that moves to a state with no FCC-licensed commercial VHF stations to receive automatic permission to move. Delaware had not had any commercial VHF stations licensed within its borders since WVUE in Wilmington—whose frequency is now occupied by Philadelphia PBS member WHYY-TV—had gone off the air in 1958. (PMCM also looked to move KVNV to New Jersey under the same rule.)[8][9] The request was denied by the FCC in a December 18, 2009, letter.[10] The full Commission denied PMCM's application for review in a Memorandum Opinion and Order released on September 15, 2011;[11] however, this denial was reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on December 14, 2012.[12] On March 8, 2013, the call letters were changed to KJWP, making it one of the few stations east of the Mississippi River with a "K" call sign.[5] KJWP applied for a construction permit to move to Wilmington (though its transmitter is in Philadelphia's Roxborough neighborhood where the transmitters for most Philadelphia television stations are located) on May 28, 2013.[13] KJWP signed off from Jackson for the last time on August 11, 2013, in anticipation of the move. (Following the move, the station's former studios on West Broadway in Jackson were permanently closed.)[14]
On November 18, 2013, KJWP signed on its upconverted 720p high-definition television signal from its new location at Roxborough.[15] The station continued to carry MeTV following the move, and on February 27, 2014, KJWP launched in the Philadelphia and New Jersey area. On March 1, 2014, KJWP fully became the Delaware Valley's exclusive MeTV affiliate, with Allentown-based WFMZ-TV discontinuing their MeTV subchannel the same day. After the move to Wilmington, the station's power drastically increased to 9.36 kW, adjusting itself to the size of the Philadelphia television market.
In late June 2014, the station announced the hiring of longtime Philadelphia television personality Larry Mendte as public affairs director. Mendte hosted two programs for the station; The Delaware Way, a week-in-review rundown of state issues, and ...And Another Thing, a more general news and commentary program (the latter also airs on sister station WJLP in the New York City area).[16]
On December 17, 2015, PMCM TV agreed to sell KJWP to Allentown-based Maranatha Broadcasting Company (owner of WFMZ-TV) for an undisclosed price.[17] The deal was finalized nearly two years later, on August 31, 2017, creating a duopoly in the Philadelphia market with WFMZ, with the two stations serving different parts of the market.
On September 4, 2018, KJWP's call letters were changed to WDPN-TV.[5]
