WMDV-LD


WMDV-LD channel 23 and virtual channel 23 is a low-power television station licensed to Danville, Virginia and serving that city and adjacent Pittsylvania, Halifax and Henry Counties. It is owned by the Star News Corporation, the owners of WGSR-LD. The station is also seen on Chatmoss Cable and Comcast systems throughout the region.
Under former owners Tri-State Christian Television, the station aired the schedule of full-power Christian station WLXI-TV from Greensboro, North Carolina. Star News re-launched the station as an independent station serving the cities of Martinsville and Danville.

History

The station first broadcast in 1993. The majority of the programming for the station was provided by the Trinity Broadcasting Network through WLXI. This arrangement ended in April 2007 when TCT replaced TBN programming with its own programming for all of its stations.
In November 2008, TCT decided to divest itself of its Danville translator. In June 2009, TCT passed ownership of W18BG to Star News, which temporarily took the station dark. In early May 2010, the FCC issued the Construction Permit to build the station on RF Channel 45, with a PSIP number of 44 since Winston-Salem, North Carolina station WXLV-TV uses 45 as its PSIP.
The station's callsign was changed to WMDV-LP on October 9, 2009. WMDV-LP returned to the air on the afternoon of May 26, 2010, after about 50 1/2 weeks of being dark.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
ChannelVideoAspectPSIP Short NameProgramming
44.1480iWMDV-LDMain WMDV-LD programming
44.2480iDanville's OwnWMDV Danville Channel

2017 Auction and Repack

In 2017, the Federal Communications Commission authorized the auction of TV channels 38 and above, and the subsequent relocation of all TV stations operating on those channels to new locations below channel 37. On September 1, 2018, WMDV-LD ceased broadcadcasting on channel 45 and commenced operation on RF channel 23. The station retains its PSIP references to virtual channels 44.1 and 44.2.