WMBR began broadcasting in the fall of 1949 from a quonset hut on the Southbank of the St. Johns River.At first, the station only carried four hours of live shows daily. It didn't begin carrying network shows(shipped from New York on kinescope) until the following year.Jerry Chamberlain mans one of the first cameras at WMBR's Flagler Street studios.The control room was in the truck (parked behind), so live programs wouldoriginate from either the WMBR radio studio or a remote location.WMBR general manager Glenn Marshall, who brought television to Jacksonville and ran the stationuntil 1968, is pictured talking with operating engineer Dick Dyre at the transmitter.Virginia Atter hosted her own daily 15-minute show of songs and interviews, and appeared regularly on other programs with members of her band Tommy Carroll (pictured), Tommy Wood and Larry Hartsfield.By 1952, Bill Grove has a daily 10-minute newscast, followed by five minutes of sportsfrom Dick Stratton and 5 minutes of weather with Frank Forrestor.Claude Taylor, one of Grove's news department hires, anchors in the 1950s."We used to call it, rip-and-read because you would go to the teletype, rip it off, run, sit-down and read it. That's the way it was," Taylor said. "It started out at first the news department had still pictures, if you could get a still picture. Then after a while when film became more available and cameras became more available, it was considered. You don't want the still pictures anymore, use film. And if you could get film, if anything moved, shoot it."Tommy Woods at the piano with Virginia Atter."The first years of broadcasting on WMBR, like most TV stations, they were simply trying to fill hours and hours of a day with all sorts of programming: music groups, singing people, a lot of other kinds of programming -- all locally produced," said Donn Colee Jr., author of Towers in the Sand. "There was no videotape in those days, so you had to produce everything live."Bob Brooker discusses an upcoming live show with Toby Dowdy,who hosted a country music show in the early years of WMBR.Gospel group sings on Toby Dowdy's show.Red Parham's sportsman and outdoors show was one of the early shows producedin WMBR's first studio on Flagler Street.Educational shows were another form of programming in the early years.Phil Graham, owner of the Washington Post, meets with WMBR GM Glenn Marshall.The Post bought the TV-4, along with the AM and FM radio stations, in December 1952 for $2.47 million.Within a few years, WMBR-TV moved into a building of its own on the Southbankat the foot of the Main Street Bridge.No description foundFor every person seen on TV, there were several more technicaland administration staff members at the station.Looking for live, entertainment programming, the fledgling station ran its own pageant.Among the early remotes were telethons. Here, Yvonne Daniels singsin a live broadcast from the George Washington Hotel in 1957.In a second telethon, Gunsmoke actors Dennis Weaver, Amanda Blake and Milburn Stone perform.In addition to remote broadcasting, the station was involved in many community events, including the state fair. Here, the station's booth is under the structure of the Gator Bowl.The Ken Knight Show featured live gospel music. Knight (on piano) was the first black man to host a television program in Jacksonville and went on to became the general manager of radio station WPDQ and one of the founders of the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers.Phyllis Hanskat, another early TV host that began her career at WMBR in sales,began hosting a children's show called Lady Alice. Here, Leo Carillo visits.A widely remembered children's program was The Ranger Hal Show,which ran on WJXT from 1958 through 1969."Hal" was also served as an announcer and hosted other special-interest programs.He starred in commercials and had other entrtainment-related roles.The Ranger Hal Show ran on WJXT until 1969.Watch montage of Ranger Hal clipsA growing news team requires a bigger news set.With more news programming, Bill Blackburn began sharing the anchoring duties.Bill Grove talking with reporter next to the station's first news vehicles.Ken Butcher is hired as the station's first photojournalist.A sales brochure from the mid-50s claimed the signal from its 1,000-foot tower reached 67 counties in north Florida and south Georgia, and gave this "sovereign territory" the name "Florgia."While WMBR's primary affiliation was with the Columbia Broadcasting System,as the only television station in town it could also carry programs from DuMont (until 1955), NBC (until 1957) and ABC (until 1966).Frank Forrester and Norm Davis deliver an update in the first days of broadcastingfrom the Main Street studio.In 1958, the call letters were changed from WMBR to WJXT.No description foundDick Stratton and Virginia Atter interview guest in late 1950s.Ray Mitchell runs camera with Tony Kennedy floor directing in 1958.Bill Grove on the new set in the Main Street studios.TommyTucker interviews a guest on "Open House, " a daily live program.Among the many community outreach programs in the early days was filming "Hi Daddy' messages to send to fathers deployed overseas.The transmitter for Channel 4 had always been on property a few blocks off the river.In the late 50s, ground was broken on a new, two-story $750,000 building onadjoining property that would become "Broadcast House."No description foundConstruction begins on the new studios on the Southbank.By 1959, the staff of WJXT had grown to nearly 80.By the time WJXT moved into Broadcast House in 1960, Grove had assembled a news team of more than a dozen.Row behind Grove: Bill Blackburn, John Thomas, Robbie Gordon, Claude TaylorThe rest (left to right): Norm Davis, George Brolin, Ron Johnson, Dick Lane, Larry Pietro, an unidentified stringer,Joe Grawett, Armand Wood, Cliff Ramsey, Bill Bodway, George Winterling and Bob Atkins.Broadcast House would be the station's home for the next 30 years.Grove is pictured on the new set in Studio A with Russ Benedict and Win Jervis.Broadcast House was featured in national industry publications.A new film chain allowed Channel 4 to show movies and pre-produced programming.The film chain allowed the station to schedule regular movie presentations.George Winterling and Bill Grove on the new set in Broadcast House.Pat White (left) and Bill Blackburn (right) interview actor John Carradine, one of hundreds of celebrities that stopped by the set of Midday, which ran each weekdayfrom the 50s to the late 70s.Bob Atkinson on camera, with Ray Mitchell assisting in a remote broadcastfrom Jacksonville Veterans Coliseum in the early 1960s.A multi-camera remote downtown in the early 60s.WJXT also produced monthly Project 4 documentaries. George Brolin is a photographer with the documentary unit.Opportunity Line was one of hundreds of hours of annual programming devoted to community service.No description foundNo description foundThe WJXT news staff in the mid-1960s, including weather, sports, editorial and documentaries.The lone woman is Judy Grant Brock, news desk assistant, proof-reader, secretary.Bill Grove moderates a debate about the consolidation of Jacksonville with Duval County in 1968.Grove listens to John Thomas, along with Windsor Bissell, Jim McGuirk at others at a news meeting.As WJXT had been a big part of the consolidation effort, Grove, along with Ernie Mastroianni and John Thomas broadcast during Consolidation Day festivitiesBy the early 70s, Grove had assembled a large and diverse news staff.Left to right: Reporter Bill Blackburn, assignment editor Ernie Mastroianni,producer Bruce Cummings, reporter Eiken Jones and newscast director Richard Schreier.Photographer Joe Coppoletta with one of the first Electronic News Gathering minicams in the early 1970s.WJXT provided extensive live coverage when President Gerald Ford and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat arrived in Jacksonville for a summit at Epping Forest.Dick Stratton continued hosting Midday into the late 70s and the celebrities kept stopping by. Here, Mike Douglas visits the show.You don't have to be too old to remember seeing this promotional display ofWJXT televisions at Jacksonville International Airport in the late 70s.Windsor Bissell, a cameraman and director at the station since the early 50s,grew with the technology and was now using color field production equipment.Some of the WJXT staff in the late 70s.Deborah Gianoulis was Tom Wills' co-anchor by the late 70s, but the team kept growing as WJXT expected its early-evening newscasts. Rob Sweeting and Nancy Rubin anchored the 5:30 p.m. news, Sam Kouvaris continued sports duties, and Bill Henleywas assisting George Winterling with weather duties.By the early 80s, remote trucks were smaller and were criss-crossing townfor live shots in every newscast.By the late 80s, remote broadcasts weren't limited to microwave range as the station aquired a satellite news gathering truck.While Broadcast House was state-of-the-art when it was built, it was bursting at the seamsby the late 80s, so ground was broken next door for a larger building.The new building had a vanity address: 4 Broadcast Place.Having come a long way from its roots, WJXT hadn't given up on entertainment programming.As the networks were getting started in reality TV, the station ran a live, local singing contest.Live trucks get smaller and more plentiful, allowing for more live reporting from the field.By the 1990s, Mary Baer joins Rob Sweeting on the 5:30 newscast.George Winterling, Deborah Gianoulis, Tom Wills and Sam Kouvarisbecome the longest-running anchor team in America.Staff gathers in 2009 for a 50th anniversary photo.Now on computers, phones, tablets, TV set top boxes and even Amazon Alexa in addition to broadcast television, what's evolved into News4Jax continues to be the leader in news for greater Jacksonville.
WMBR began broadcasting in the fall of 1949 from a quonset hut on the Southbank of the St. Johns River.At first, the station only carried four hours of live shows daily. It didn't begin carrying network shows(shipped from New York on kinescope) until the following year.
