WJHL-TV aired its first television broadcast on October 26, 1953. Hanes Lancaster, Jr. and Sr. and Jay Birdwell founded the station. Eventually the Lancaster's bought Birdwell's interest in the station and operated it from a location in downtown Johnson City that is now demolished.

The early days of television were exciting and packed with unexpected surprises. Since television was in its infancy, the station crew had to feel its way along, often improvising and making adjustments to deal with the situation. One situation that developed even before the station went on the air was the devastating fall of the tower on Tannery Knob.

Literally, just a few weeks were left to sign on when the guy lines which held the tower snapped, causing the tower to lose its support and come crashing down. Now in the early days, this sort of accident was catastrophic because television was new and unknown.

Bankers and lenders were skeptical; so most television pioneers had to seek investment sources that were willing to back risky, unproven ventures. The Lancaster's scrambled and had the station on the air by its due date even though they had to mount the antenna on a telephone pole!

As the years progressed, WJHL-TV's associationCBS with CBS helped make it one of the strongest stations in the area. WJHL-TV was blessed with employees who came aboard in the 1950s and worked into the 1990s.

Hanes Lancaster, Jr. managed the station from 1953 until April 30th, 1989. On May 1, 1989, Jack Dempsey was named General Manager and remains so today. This means that in more than 50 years, WJHL-TV has had only two general managers, a very rare occurrence in the world of television today.

WJHL-TV has a partnership in convergence with the BRISTOL HERALD-COURIER and TRICITIES.COM. Tri-Cities viewers and readers are now able to receive up-to-the-minute news content online. This is a major commitment on the part of all three enterprises.

WJHL-TV/Newschannel 11 is owned by Media General, Inc., an independently owned communications company situated primarily in the Southeast with interests in newspapers, television stations, interactive media and diversified information services.

The company's publishing assets include The Tampa Tribune, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Winston-Salem Journal and 24 other daily newspapers in Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama, and South Carolina, as well as nearly 100 other periodicals and a 20 percent interest in The Denver Post.

Media General's 26 network-affiliated television stations reach more than 30 percent of the television households in the Southeast, and nearly 8 percent of those in the United States.

The company's extensive interactive media offerings include more than 50 online enterprises. Media General also has a 33 percent interest in SP Newsprint CO., which operates newsprint mills in Dublin, GA and Newberg, OR.