air conservative commentaries by Sinclair executive Mark E. Hyman, along with stories from Sinclair's Washington bureau—all of which were critical of the Obama administration. The station also partnered with the conservative Washington Times to feature its weekly "Golden Hammer" award—highlighting "the most egregious examples of government waste, fraud and abuse", as a segment during its newscasts. WJLA-TV staff members felt that it was inappropriate for a station in Washington, D.C. to air stories that are critical of the federal government; one employee told The Washington Post that with these changes, the station may "lose the trust they built up with people over years and years. We've told people, 'We're just like you,' not, 'We're looking out for the tea party.'" WJLA-TV started producing the Syndicated-news program for Sinclair stations, The National Desk, on January 18, 2021. Locally, the program airs on WJLA 24/7 News, which is available over-the-air on WIAV-CD 58.2. Notable current on-air staff Lisa Fletcher – investigative reporter Veronica Johnson – lead meteorologist Alison Starling – anchor Notable former on-air staff Paul Berry (retired in May 1999) Tim Brant (left station in May 2015 after his contract was not renewed) Pamela Brown Maureen Bunyan (left station in January 2017) Nancy Chen Carol Costello Kendis Gibson Mike Hambrick Leon Harris (left station in October 2016) Erin Hawksworth Frank Herzog (also the longtime radio play-by-play broadcaster for the Washington Redskins, later with WTOP-AM; retired) Doug Hill (AMS seal of approval) – chief meteorologist (died on November 23, 2021) Megyn Kelly Kevin Kiley Susan King Kathleen Matthews Andrea McCarren Britt McHenry (was at ESPN until April 26, 2017) Doug McKelway Mike Patrick (former sportscaster and sports director with WJLA and former play-by-play announcer for ESPN and Raycom Sports; retired) Gordon Peterson (retired in December 2014; also host of Inside Washington) Bob Ryan – meteorologist (retired in May 2013) David Schoumacher (retired in 1988) Lori Stokes (was most recently at WNYW; retired on September 30, 2022) Joe Witte Technical information Subchannels The station's digital signal is multiplexed: Analog-to-digital conversion WJLA-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 7, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 39 to VHF channel 7 for post-transition operations. While 90% of the station's viewers received WJLA-TV's signal via