Panama City, Fla. TV chronology

1953
WJDM/ch. 7 (NBC primary; CBS and ABC secondaries) signs on.

1960
WJDM drops CBS as a secondary and changes call to WJHG. CBS is furnished to Panama City over the air and via cable from WTVY/ch. 4 in Dothan, Ala.

1973
WJHG/ch. 7 drops NBC. It has ABC as primary.
WDTB/ch. 13 (NBC) signs on.

1977
WDTB/ch. 13 changes call to WMBB.

1982
WJHG/ch. 7 switches to NBC.
WMBB/ch. 13 switches to ABC.

1986
WFSG/ch. 56 (PBS) signs on. It is a satellite for WFSU in Tallahassee, Fla.

1988
WPGX/ch. 28 (Fox) signs on.

1995
WPCT/ch. 46 (UPN, Tourist information) goes full power. It first began in 1984 low-power under the call W46AN.
There is no over-the-air affiliate for the WB. It is furnished via cable as "WBPC."

2000
WPCT/ch. 46 drops UPN.

2001
WBIF/ch. 51 (Pax) signs on. It is licensed to and originates from Marianna, Fla.

2002
WJHG/ch. 7 opens subcarriers 7.2 for the WB and 7.3 for UPN.

2004
WBIF/ch. 51 becomes a UPN affiliate.

2006
WJHG/ch. 7's subcarriers become CW (7.2) and My Network TV (7.3) affiliates.
WBIF/ch. 51 switches to Retro Television Network.

2009
WBIF/ch. 51 switches to This TV. It goes off the air later in the year.
All analog broadcasts cease. The following list shows the station's physical digital channel in parentheses and subcarriers in italics.
WJHG/ch. 7 (7--to relocate to ch. 18 later) - 7.2 - The CW; 7.3 - CBS (simulcast of WECP); 7.4 - VIPIR Weather Radar
WMBB/ch. 13 (13) - 13.2 - This TV
WECP/ch. 18 (18--low-power station signed on in 2012 as CBS; application to move to ch. 29 filed) - 18.2 - My Network TV (moved from 7.3 in 2012); 18.3 - VIPIR Weather Radar
WPGX/ch. 28 (9)
WPCT/ch. 46 (47)
WBIF/ch. 51 (51--returned to the air in 2009 as a DayStar affiliate)
WFSG/ch. 56 (38) - 56.2 - Florida Channel; 56.3 - Create

WJHG got its calls from James H. Gray, longtime mayor of Albany, GA and founder of Gray Communications/Television. Their studios were in the old Commercial Bank building on the corner of Harrison Avenue and Beach Drive. Around the early/mid 70s they moved to their current home on Front Beach Road.

WDTB/WMBB (the new calls stood for "World's Most Beautiful Beaches") had their original studio a couple of blocks away on the corner of Harrison and 3rd Court. I recall before they officially went on the air in 1973, they did test broadcasts around 7 pm, usually of old Universal movies. They later moved to their current home three blocks north, in the old Nelson Buick building next door to First Baptist Church.

Which station was it that used to air turtle races? I was a kid and it was the early 1990s on a Saturday morning when I was turning the dial (yes, there were still dials on TV's then) and we only had a handful of local stations to watch in the hotel room (literally channel 4, channel 28, I think channel 7, and a few other UHF's) and whatever was on (other than The Pirates of Dark Water) was rather boring, but these turtles kept peaking my interest. I think the races I watched were indoors on a basketball court and they were still using the real turtles. All I remember was every time I kept turning the dial during a commercial (because kids don't like commercials during cartoons), the turtles would still be there, so I just kept it there until my family went out to eat and go to the beach and stuff.