WDYR-CD (channel 33) was a low-power,

Class A television station The class A television service is a system for regulating some low-power television (LPTV) stations in the United States. Class A stations are denoted by the broadcast callsign suffix "-CA" (analog) or "-CD" (digital), although very many analog -C ...

Dyersburg, Tennessee Dyersburg is a city and the county seat of Dyer County, Tennessee, United States. It is located in northwest Tennessee, northeast of Memphis on the Forked Deer River. The population was 16,164 at the 2020 census, down 5.72% from the 2010 census ...

, United States,

owned and operated In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate, ...

Tri-State Christian Television Tri-State Christian Television, Inc., doing business as TCT Network and TCT Ministries, is a religious television network in the United States. The network was founded in May 1977 by Garth Coonce and his wife, Tina Coonce. TCT Network includes t ...

. The station's studios were located on Upper Finley Road in Dyersburg.

History

WDYR's application history began in 1995 under the callsign W33BO. The late Ray Ashley, Jr., senior law partner of

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and responsibilities, and to ...

Ashley, Ashley & Arnold in Dyersburg and former Tennessee State Attorney General (1974–76) filed for the original application. Former

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

TV news reporter Tommy Stafford, a friend of Ashley's, co-founded the station. By 1999, the station was on air and had launched a local news operation, titled ''Tri 33 News''. The news aired at 6:30 a.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. CT, including anchors that had left nearby television stations in

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

, Memphis, and

Paducah Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky. The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Miss ...

to start the newscast. The original anchors of the 6 p.m. newscast were Larry McIntosh (who formerly anchored in the Paducah market), Tiffany Carey, a former Jackson anchor, and the producer and weather anchor Carey Byars, who had previously reported nationally for the syndicated series ''

AgDay ''AgDay'' is a syndicated daily half-hour television program presented in magazine format focusing on agriculture news, agribusiness, and country living. It generally airs in early morning timeslots on stations throughout the country and also ai ...

''. After a contentious meeting, original founders Ashley and Stafford found themselves at odds with shareholders in the company. Outside shareholders had been brought in to give the station sufficient capitalization. However, some of these outside shareholders and the founders disagreed strongly on the direction the station should be headed. Ashley and Stafford did not feel their original vision was being followed. They left the board and eventually the company in early 2000. The news was gone by the summer of 2000, when the

network acquired the station and began airing its network's programming, which was a mixture of

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

programming. TCT surrendered WDYR's broadcast license in February 2013. The station is now defunct. Before the station left the air, WDYR-CD carried all TCT network programming, along with some syndicated shows such as ''Bridging the Gap'', ''

Jack Van Impe Jack Leo Van Impe ( ; February 9, 1931 – January 18, 2020) was an American televangelist known for his half-hour weekly television series ''Jack Van Impe Presents'', an eschatological commentary on the news of the week through an interpre ...

Presents'', ''A Bible Answer'' (originating from an area church in Paducah), ''Manna Fest'', and a few others.

Coverage area

In addition to its Dyer County coverage, WDYR was also available to antenna users in parts of

Crockett Crockett may refer to: People and fictional characters *Crockett Gillmore (born 1991), American National Football League player *Crockett Johnson, pen name of David Johnson Liesk (1906-1975), American cartoonist and children's book illustrator *C ...

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...

and Obion counties in Tennessee, as well as in

Caruthersville, Missouri Caruthersville is a city in and the county seat of Pemiscot County, Missouri, United States, located along the Mississippi River in the Bootheel region of the state's far southeast. The population was 5,562, according to the 2020 census. Histo ...

. In

Pemiscot County, Missouri Pemiscot County is a county located in the southeastern corner in the Bootheel in the U.S. state of Missouri, with the Mississippi River forming its eastern border. As of the 2020 census, the population was 15,661. The largest city and count ...

, including the

Steele Steele may refer to: Places America * Steele, Alabama, a town * Steele, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Steele, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Steele, Missouri, a city * Lonetree, Montana, a ghost town originally called Steele * ...

area and

Mississippi County, Arkansas Mississippi County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,685. There are two county seats, Blytheville and Osceola. The county was formed on November 1, 1833, and named for the Mi ...

, including the

Osceola Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Asi-yahola in Creek), named Billy Powell at birth in Alabama, became an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfather was a Scotsman, James McQ ...

area, the station was available on

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

via NewWave Communications.

References

{{Memphis TV 1995 establishments in Tennessee 2011 disestablishments in Tennessee DYR-CD Defunct television stations in the United States Dyer County, Tennessee DYR-CD Television channels and stations disestablished in 2011 Television channels and stations established in 1995