New TV station on the air

By NATE HUBBARD/Staff

A new television station is on the air, beaming regional programming content from the top of Big Walker Mountain.
WJDG-TV23 began serving the area in late October as an over-the-air station, available through an antenna.
The new station is owned and operated by John Dash, pastor of Church on the Rock in Tazewell. Dash has been operating TV stations for 15 years.
“We’re very local-oriented,” Dash said. “We really have been wanting to do something in Bland and Wytheville.”
The coverage area for WJDG extends outward from Big Walker Mountain with a nearly 40-mile radius south as far as Independence, north just beyond Princeton, W.Va., west past Tazewell and east as far as Dublin.
The broadcast is not available on local cable providers, but Dash said he hopes eventually to be added to the lineup. WJDG televises shows 24/7.
Currently, the station is on an analog signal, but Dash said that permission for a digital upgrade already has been secured and the change will be forthcoming.
With the station in its infancy, Dash said that for now programming is being drawn from WJDW-TV21 – a station that Dash also owns with a coverage area northwest of Big Walker Mountain surrounding Tazewell.
Dash’s media operations are based out of Bishop, a small town north of Tazewell on the Virginia/West Virginia border. The headquarters are planned to move to Tazewell in the next few months and additional expansion to Wythe County also is a possibility.
“Our goal is actually to put a studio in Wytheville,” he said, adding that he hopes to accomplish the venture by mid-2008.
WJDG and Dash’s other media outlets, including a channel in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., specialize in non-denominational Christian and local content.
The programming on the well-established WJDW is 95 percent locally based.
“I believe that in the age we’re in where everything is a nationwide flavor, there still is a tremendous need for local,” Dash said. “I’d like to know what’s happening two doors down.”
To accomplish his local vision, Dash has many spots with hometown pastors. In addition, his stations report on local events, such as WJDW’s coverage of Richlands High School football and the Tazewell County Fair.
Dash encouraged any pastors in the Wythe and Bland area who would be interested in producing unique content for WJDG to call 276-979-9200 or write to P.O. Box 600 Tazewell, VA 24651.
He also added that he is looking for someone to manage advertising sales for WJDG. Interested applicants can call the same number as above for more information.
The process of getting WJDG operational was a long, difficult and expensive project, Dash said.
WJDG first had to receive approval from the Federal Communications Commission. Overall, Dash said the venture took about five years to complete.
“It’s been by the grace and mercy of the Lord that we’ve come together with this,” he said.
Although local programming is the major emphasis, Dash’s Virginia stations also serve as affiliates for Gospel Music TV and the Worship Network.
Dash said he was first called by God in the early 1990s to develop television stations in the area to find “treasures hidden in the mountains.”
“All the station is, is a conduit,” Dash said. “It’s about building relationships.”
The television stations are under the umbrella of New Beginning World Outreach, which the War, W.Va., native also founded with his wife, Janice Dash.
New Beginning World Outreach is known for its food distribution program that helps to feed thousands each year.
In WJDG’s brief time on the air, Dash said he has heard lots of positive feedback.
He mentioned a trucker who said he watches when he passes through the area and a woman in Wytheville who was pleasantly surprised to find the new station.
“We get calls just about everyday from someone who’s watching,” he said. “We try to create more of a family type programming.”
Out of the Bishop studio, the stations also produce live programming, something Dash hopes to continue with from the planned Wytheville studio as WJDG moves to its own, even more locally-oriented, unique content.
Dash said he’s found people respond well to heartfelt Christian programming that is locally generated.
“It’s not veneer, it’s real wood,” he said in explaining the allure of his stations. “We don’t want to be a reflection of anything else.”
Nate Hubbard can be reached at 228-6611 or .