WDLI TV 17 (Norton, Ohio)

 television broadcast station / TV centre  Add category

WDLI Channel 17, affiliate of Court TV owned by Inyo Broadcasting. The channel first signed on in 1967 as WJAN, a low-budget independent channel airing locally produced and syndicated programming. The station originally aired only in black & white not being able to afford color equipment. It labeled itself as a Cleveland channel so it struggled to get good competition with Cleveland's other independent channels, but it found a niche in religious programming. In August 1977 the channel was sold to Jim Bakker and went to full-time 24 hour religious programming via affiliation with his PTL Club Network, but still airing local news updates and local religious programs from nearby churches. This made it the first TV channel to have a full 24/7 broadcast schedule. In 1982 the channel's call letters were changed to WDLI and in 1986 it was sold to Trinity Broadcasting Network, airing it full time. The channel would be sold to Ion in 2018 creating a duopoly with WVPX 23. In September 2018 the channel entered a Local marketing Agreement with Ion which switched TBN programming over to Ion Life. Ion would purchase the channel outright when Ion Life re-branded as Ion Plus. Ion sold the channel to Scripps in 2020 who sold it to independent group Inyo Broadcasting before Ion Plus ended in 2021 thus switching the channel to Court TV for about two years. On January 1, 2023 it switched over to Bounce TV before it began to broadcast Scripps News Network on May 5, 2024. On November 15, 2024 it switched to GRIT TV when Scripps News shut down. On January 1, 2025 it switched back over to Bounce TV Network.