WHLT
WHLT is a CBS and The CW Plus television station serving Hattiesburg and the Pine Belt region of Mississippi.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
WHLT is a television station licensed to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, broadcasting on channel 22 and serving the Hattiesburg–Laurel market and the wider Pine Belt region. The station is affiliated with CBS and carries The CW Plus on a digital subchannel. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group and operates as a semi-satellite of WJTV, Nexstar's CBS-market station in Jackson, Mississippi. WHLT has historically supplied local reporting from the Hattiesburg area for WJTV newscasts, while most of its current news programming is based on or simulcast from the Jackson station. The station was created to address a long-standing gap in CBS service across the Pine Belt. Before WHLT launched, Hattiesburg viewers depended on distant CBS affiliates in Jackson, Meridian, New Orleans, or Mobile, none of which provided consistently strong over-the-air coverage in the city. The effort to establish a local CBS outlet involved competing applications, appeals, ownership changes, and a dispute over a consulting agreement associated with the channel 22 construction permit. Central Television initially secured the permit, while Capitol Broadcasting, owner of WJTV, pursued a separate Laurel-area facility. After several years of regulatory and legal conflict, the channel 22 permit was transferred to the company associated with WJTV, subject to restrictions imposed by the Federal Communications Commission. WHLT began broadcasting on January 12, 1987, from a transmitter near U.S. Route 11. Its original facilities were on Hardy Street in Hattiesburg. The station initially contributed local reports and weather information to WJTV's Jackson-produced newscasts, then made repeated attempts to establish a full local news operation. It introduced a 6 p.m. newscast and a late-evening report in 1988, expanded its independent late news production in 1991, and later launched the branded 22 Daily News service after moving to the Cloverleaf Center. These efforts faced strong competition from WDAM-TV, the dominant Hattiesburg-area news station, and the locally originated operations were discontinued in 1996 and 2001 respectively. Ownership changed several times during WHLT's first decade. News-Press & Gazette transferred its stations to New Vision Television in 1993, and the portfolio subsequently moved to Ellis Communications. Raycom Media acquired Ellis in 1996, but regulatory limits arising from Raycom's ownership of WDAM led to a 1997 exchange that placed WHLT and WJTV under Media General. Media General invested in a new Hattiesburg facility and revived local news under the 22 Daily News name, but later returned WHLT to a largely semi-satellite model. The station resumed local inserts within WJTV programming in 2007, completed its transition to digital broadcasting in 2009, and added The CW to a digital subchannel in 2014. Nexstar acquired Media General in a transaction completed in January 2017. Under Nexstar, WHLT continued its CBS service and added simulcasts of WJTV's noon and 5 p.m. newscasts. According to the referenced station history, WHLT retained CBS service in the Hattiesburg–Laurel market after WJTV lost the network affiliation in Jackson in 2026. WHLT's principal identity is therefore that of a local broadcast outlet: it combines national CBS programming, CW Plus programming, syndicated and locally relevant content, and news coverage focused on southern Mississippi, while relying substantially on its relationship with WJTV for regional news production.
History
WHLT emerged from a prolonged effort to provide dependable CBS television service to Hattiesburg and the Pine Belt. Before its creation, local viewers relied on distant stations whose signals were weak or unavailable in much of the market. The dispute began in 1980, when Capitol Broadcasting, owner of WJTV in Jackson, applied for a Laurel-area channel intended to operate as a satellite. Central Television, owner of WHTV in Meridian, applied in 1980 for channel 22 in Hattiesburg and proposed a full-service local station. Central received the initial construction permit, using the call sign WLHT, later changed to WHLT. The applications were effectively competing bids for the same scarce CBS opportunity. Capitol secured its own construction permit in 1982 for channel 18, later identified with WJLH, but Central challenged that decision before the Federal Communications Commission and in court. After News-Press & Gazette agreed to acquire WJTV, it also reached an arrangement with Central and station owner Frank K. Spain concerning the Hattiesburg permit. Spain would withdraw his appeals and provide consulting services, while the WJTV-related ownership group would acquire the permit. WDAM-TV challenged the arrangement as an impermissible construction-permit transaction. The FCC ultimately allowed the transfer in 1986 but limited the recognized purchase price to documented costs rather than the larger amount stated in the consulting agreement. WHLT began broadcasting on January 12, 1987, from a transmitter near U.S. Route 11. It operated from Hardy Street facilities in Hattiesburg and initially supplied local reports and weather inserts to WJTV's Jackson newscasts. The cable system added the station several months later. WHLT gradually expanded its own news presence, starting with morning cut-ins and then adding an evening newscast in September 1988. A separate 10 p.m. newscast followed in 1991, supported by an expanded news staff. The effort encountered entrenched competition from WDAM-TV, which had a much larger audience in the local market. A 1995 Nielsen comparison cited in the station history placed WHLT's 6 p.m. news at a 7 percent share against 66 percent for WDAM. The ownership environment changed repeatedly. News-Press & Gazette sold its eight-station portfolio to newly formed New Vision Television in 1993. New Vision then sold the same group to Ellis Communications within roughly eighteen months. Raycom Media acquired Ellis in 1996 and also acquired Federal Broadcasting, whose portfolio included WDAM-TV. Because of the resulting overlap in the Hattiesburg market, WHLT and WJTV were exchanged to Media General in 1997 along with WSAV-TV, in a transaction involving WTVR-TV in Richmond. Media General attempted to reposition WHLT as a more substantial local operation. In 1998 it announced a move to the Cloverleaf Mall area, where the station occupied a former retail space converted into offices and a television studio. On April 5, 1999, the station launched 22 Daily News, with locally originated 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts. The project again struggled to compete with WDAM and ended on March 30, 2001. WHLT nevertheless received recognition from the Mississippi Associated Press Broadcasters Association for its 2000 small-market newscast. In 2007, the station resumed inserting Hattiesburg material into WJTV newscasts rather than maintaining a fully independent news department. WHLT completed its conversion to digital broadcasting in 2009. In 2014, Media General announced that The CW would be added to a WHLT digital subchannel, giving the station a second major network programming relationship. Nexstar Broadcasting Group acquired Media General in a transaction completed on January 17, 2017, and subsequently operated under the Nexstar Media Group name. Nexstar added WJTV's noon and 5 p.m. newscasts to WHLT's lineup in 2017, continuing the station's role as a Hattiesburg semi-satellite of the Jackson outlet. The referenced history states that WHLT retained CBS affiliation in the Hattiesburg–Laurel market after WJTV lost CBS service in Jackson to a digital subchannel of WAPT in 2026. WHLT therefore remains an active local broadcast brand centered on CBS programming, CW Plus service, regional news access, weather, and community coverage for southern Mississippi.
- 2026
CBS service retained in Hattiesburg–Laurel
[1]The referenced history reports that WHLT kept CBS affiliation after WJTV changed its network affiliation in Jackson.
- 2017
Nexstar acquisition completed
[1]Nexstar completed its acquisition of Media General, becoming WHLT's owner through Nexstar Media Group.
- 2014
The CW Plus added
[1]The CW was added to a WHLT digital subchannel.
- 2009
Digital conversion
[1]The station ended analog broadcasting and moved to digital transmission.
- 1999
22 Daily News launches
[1]Media General relaunched locally originated evening news from WHLT's new Cloverleaf Center facilities.
- 1997
Media General ownership begins
[1]WHLT and WJTV moved to Media General through an exchange prompted by Raycom's ownership overlap involving WDAM-TV.
- 1993
New Vision Television acquisition
[1]New Vision acquired the station group that included WHLT from News-Press & Gazette.
- 1988
First Hattiesburg-originated evening newscast
[1]WHLT began originating a 6 p.m. newscast and a late-evening local report.
- 1987
Broadcast launch
[1]WHLT began broadcasting on January 12 as a Hattiesburg-area CBS station.
- 1986
FCC approves permit transfer with restrictions
[1]The FCC permitted the transfer associated with the Hattiesburg construction permit while limiting the recognized purchase amount to actual costs.
Products and positioning
A local broadcast television service for Hattiesburg, Laurel, and the Pine Belt, combining CBS network programming with regional news access and a secondary CW Plus offering.
Broadcast television network affiliate · 1987
WHLT CBS Channel 22
WHLT's primary service is a CBS-affiliated broadcast signal serving Hattiesburg, Laurel, and surrounding communities in southern Mississippi. The station carries CBS network programming alongside local, syndicated, and public-service content.
Digital subchannel · 2014
The CW Plus
The CW Plus is carried on a WHLT digital subchannel. It extends the station's programming portfolio beyond CBS and provides additional entertainment and network content for the Hattiesburg–Laurel market.
Television news · 1987
Local news and WJTV simulcasts
WHLT has used both locally originated reports and programming produced by WJTV. Its current semi-satellite model includes Hattiesburg-area inserts and selected WJTV newscast simulcasts, including noon and 5 p.m. programming added in 2017.
Local television news · 1999
22 Daily News
22 Daily News was WHLT's branded local news operation launched from the Cloverleaf Center in 1999. It offered weeknight 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts but was discontinued in 2001 after failing to overcome WDAM-TV's dominant local audience position.
Brand decisions
1999
Launch of 22 Daily NewsProduct launchBackground
Media General sought to strengthen WHLT's local identity after acquiring the station and relocating it to the Cloverleaf Center.
Action taken
WHLT launched weeknight 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts under the 22 Daily News brand.
Aftermath
The operation was discontinued in 2001 because it did not attract enough viewers against WDAM-TV.
1996
Shift from independent local news to a semi-satellite modelStrategyBackground
WHLT's separate newscasts faced very low ratings in a market dominated by WDAM-TV.
Action taken
The station ended its separate newscasts and reduced local output to a short 22 News Now report while carrying WJTV-produced programming.
Aftermath
The move established the operating pattern that later made WHLT primarily a semi-satellite of WJTV, although local inserts and news experiments continued.
1986
FCC limits the recognized permit purchase priceOtherBackground
A proposed transfer of the Hattiesburg channel 22 permit included a consulting agreement that was challenged by WDAM-TV as violating FCC restrictions on construction-permit sales.
Action taken
The FCC approved the transfer but limited the recognized purchase price to $100,000 in actual costs.
Aftermath
The regulatory decision cleared the way for WHLT to be built and launched as a local CBS outlet.
Permitted acquisition cost. $100,000 (1986)
- WDAM-TV — WDAM-TV petitioned the FCC against the transaction, arguing that the consulting arrangement improperly valued the construction permit.
Sources2 sources
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