WNJX-TV
WNJX-TV, virtual channel 4, is an independent television station licensed to Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. It is a full-time satellite of San Juan-licensed WAPA-TV that is owned by :es:Hemisphere Media Group|Hemisphere Media Group, which is 83.8% owned by InterMedia Partners. WNJX-TV's transmitter is located at Monte del Estado in Maricao, while its parent station maintains studios on Avenida Luis Vigoreaux in Guaynabo.
WNJX-TV's fourth digital subchannel operates as a full-time satellite of San Juan-licensed Telemundo owned-and-operated station WKAQ-TV under a time brokerage agreement with the Telemundo Station Group subsidiary of NBCUniversal. Branded on-air as Telemundo West, this subchannel is mapped to virtual channel 2.12 rather than 4.4. WNJX-DT4's parent station maintains studios on Roosevelt Avenue in San Juan.
History
Although Puerto Rico is very small, its terrain is so mountainous that there is no site where any one TV station can cover the entire island. No San Juan licensed station has ever been successful if they didn't offer a signal to all of Puerto Rico. As a result, most San Juan stations reach San Juan and Ponce from sites like La Santa Mountain in the southeast, relying on affiliations or ownership of western stations to rebroadcast their signal into that part of Puerto Rico. Many of these western stations also originate some local programming.The preferred western site is the Monte del Estado. From there, a TV station reaches the entire western and northwestern shores of Puerto Rico plus penetrating east into the center of the island. It is home to educational WIPM-TV, WORA-TV, WOLE-TV and WNJX-TV.
Both WOLE and WNJX began their operations on another mountain, Mount Atalaya, which is located further west between Aguadilla and Mayagüez. They located there mainly because of potential interference from stations to the east—channel 12 in St. Thomas and channels 18 and 24 in San Juan. The Atalaya site afforded coverage into Arecibo, Aguadilla, Mayagüez and down the western shore towards Cabo Rojo. Years later, rule changes allowed both WOLE and WNJX to move to the Monte del Estado, greatly increasing their coverage area which is of greater benefit to their San Juan originating stations.
Ana J. Plaza and her husband, long-time Caribbean broadcaster Glenn Tryon, filed the original 120 kW WNJX application in the hopes of gaining an affiliation with a San Juan originator. The station incorporated as WNJX-TV, Inc. and came on the air April 27, 1986. The call letters stood for the nicknames of two of the wives associated with the station, Ninin and Jan. The first affiliation was with WKAQ-TV as part of the early beginnings of the Telemundo Network. Offices and studios were opened in the Guanajibo Shopping Center in Mayagüez.
At the same time Lorimar-Telepictures was obtaining from the bankruptcy court WKBM-TV Caguas/San Juan and WSUR-TV Ponce which had been off the air since the death of their founder Rafael Pérez Perry. They changed the call letters to WLII-DT and an island-wide network was formed with Channels 11, 9 and 22. As is the case with WORA and WOLE, WNJX originated local programming including a weekly newsmagazine with guests including the island's governor and other newsmakers. Other programs were a beauty and fashion show, area wrestling, and comedy with area DJs. Commercials for western Puerto Rico businesses were inserted.
At the end of the 5-year agreement, Tele-Once strengthening its coverage, affiliated with WORA-TV broadcasting from the higher Monte del Estado. WKAQ-TV, losing its WORA outlet, signed a rebroadcast agreement with WOLE-TV Aguadilla and WOLE moved its transmitter to the preferred Monte del Estado site. WNJX began broadcasting the signal of WSTE-DT Ponce/San Juan. This left WAPA-TV without an affiliate in western Puerto Rico until they contracted WVEO-TV in Aguadilla to broadcast WAPA's signal until late 1999.
WNJX-TV principal Glenn Tryon recognized that the station would have to move to the Monte del Estado if it was to remain competitive in the "affiliation wars." Working with Washington consulting engineers and legal counsel, an application was presented to the Federal Communications Commission requesting four major waivers that would allow WNJX to transmit from the Monte del Estado with full power of 4,201 kW analog. The request was granted, the new facilities went on the air and subsequently WNJX sold the station to LIN TV, owners of WAPA-TV on March 1, 2001 for $1,000,000.
On October 19, 2006, LIN TV announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell its Puerto Rico television operations to InterMedia Partners for $130 million in cash. The sale was completed on March 30, 2007.
On January 23, 2013, InterMedia Partners announced that it would merge WAPA-TV, WTIN-TV, WNJX-TV and WAPA America, along with its stake in Cinelatino with the shell corporation Azteca Acquisition Corporation to form Hemisphere Media Group. 73% of the new company would be owned by InterMedia.
On June 27, 2019, Hemisphere Media Group announced that Telemundo would switch from WORA-TV to WNJX-TV by January 1, 2020. This marks the return of Telemundo to WNJX, as a subchannel.
Programming
WNJX-TV currently serves as a satellite for both WAPA-TV and WKAQ-TV and simulcasts 100% of their programming on its primary and fourth subchannels. The station does have a small studio in Aguada which is used to produce news segments for WAPA-TV's NotiCentro. These segments are titled Noticentro: Sur y Oeste and are similar to WORA-TV's and WOLE-DT's news offerings. However, unlike the former western stations, the news segments produced at WNJX-TV can be seen all across Puerto Rico.Digital television
Digital channels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming |
| 2.12 | 720p | WKAQ-DT | Simulcast of WKAQ-TV / Telemundo West | |
| 2.22 | 480i | WKAQ.2 | Simulcast of WKAQ-DT2 / Punto 2 | |
| 4.1 | 720p | WNJX HD | Main WNJX-TV programming | |
| 4.2 | 720p | WNJX2HD | WAPA Deportes | |
| 4.3 | 480i | WNJX3 | WAPA Deportes |