The analog channel 30 allotment remained dark until WLBT in Jackson filed for a new station to serve eastern Mississippi in December 1980; a construction permit was issued on September 14, 1981. The station took to the air on June 2, 1982, as WLBM-TV, a low-powered semi-satellite. Previously, NBC programming had been available to eastern Mississippi viewers on WTOK-TV part-time from 1953 until 1972 or on WHTV (now WMDN, channel 24) from 1972 to 1980. WLBM's studios caught fire on April 17, 1990, knocking the station off the air and leaving much of Eastern Mississippi without an over-the-air NBC affiliate. While the station originally was slated to return to the air, Civic Communications decided to close the station instead, a month later. Cable systems provided network programming from either Hattiesburg's WDAM-TV or WLBT for subscribers.