| WJCL | |
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| Savannah, Georgia (United States) | |
| Branding | WJCL (general) WJCL News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | The Coastal Source |
| Channels | Digital: 22 (UHF) |
| Subchannels | 22.1 ABC |
| Affiliations | American Broadcasting Company |
| Owner | New Vision Television, Inc. (NVT Savannah Licensee, LLC) |
| Founded | July 18, 1970 |
| Call letters’ meaning | J. Curtis Lewis |
| Sister station(s) | WTGS |
| Former callsigns | WJCL-TV (1970-1981) |
| Former channel number(s) | 22 (UHF analog, 1970-2009) 23 (UHF digital) |
| Former affiliations | ABC (1970-1982) NBC (1982-1986) |
| Transmitter Power | 200 kW |
| Height | 413 m |
| Facility ID | 37174 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | 32°3′29.3″N 81°20′18.8″W / 32.058139°N 81.338556°W |
| Website | www.thecoastalsource.com |
WJCL is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Savannah, Georgia area and the Low Country of South Carolina. Licensed to Savannah, the station broadcasts a digital signal on UHF channel 22. WJCL's transmitter is located in Bloomingdale. The station is owned by New Vision Television as part of a duopoly with the area's FOX affiliate WTGS. The two stations share studios located on Abercorn Street near Hunter Army Air Field. WJCL's on-air slogan is "The Coastal Source".
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History
WJCL began broadcasting on July 18, 1970 as an ABC affiliate. Owned by former Savannah mayor Julius Curtis Lewis, Jr. (whose initials provided the station's callsign), WJCL marked many "firsts". At that time, WJCL built the tallest tower in the market, rising some one hundred fifty feet above sea level. Color film and videotape were introduced to the Savannah market by WJCL; it claims to have been the first station in the market to televise a live event (President Richard Nixon's Savannah visit and ride in a parade on Skidaway Road) and to broadcast in stereo. WJCL TV and Radio were both run by Lewis Broadcasting's Executive Vice President, J. Fred Pierce from 1972 until WJCL's first sale in 1999.
In 1982, WJCL swapped affiliations with WSAV-TV (due to the latter's action) and became an NBC affiliate. However, a mere four years later, channel 22 returned to ABC, in 1986.
When Lewis purchased WNOK television and radio stations in Columbia, South Carolina in 1977, he quickly sold off WNOK radio (undisclosed price) and immediately changed the television callsign to WLTX. In 1982, he purchased WYEA television in Columbus, Georgia from Aflac and changed its callsign to WLTZ to follow a similar call letter format used for his station in South Carolina's Capitol City of Columbia. LT meaning Lewis Television. In the early 1990s, Lewis sold off two of his radio stations, WSTZ-FM and WSTZ-AM in Jackson, Mississippi for an undisclosed price. In 1999, Lewis Broadcasting sold WJCL-TV to Grapevine Communications, which has since merged with Piedmont Television, LLC. In the mid-to-late 1990s, Lewis decided to divest an even larger portion of his media interests and sold four of his combined eight owned and/or previously owned radio and television stations: WJCL-TV, WTGS (Fox-Savannah), WJCL-FM ("Kix 96.5"-Savannah), and WLTX. On May 1, 2007, Lewis broadcasting entered into an agreement with Sagamore Hill Broadcasting to sell off its last remaining television station, [1] WLTZ-TV.
WJCL produces a 10 p.m. newscast for WTGS "FOX 28", with a news partnership agreement that has been in place since the late 1990s.
In 2001, WJCL partnered with Carleton Public Relations, Inc. to produce the show ABC 22 LawCall. Radio on-air Lexie Kaye was hired by Carleton PR as producer of the weekly live, legal call-in show. The show featured Mike Avery as host, along with attorneys from the Carter & Tate firm, with a weekly guest and various topics. This was the first legal call-in show in the nation to use the LawCall name. The show aired until June 2006 on Sunday nights from 11 to 11:30 p.m.
WJCL has never enjoyed as much success as it did under its founding owners. From its start in the early 1970s even through the 1990s, the station lagged behind the others in news ratings (typical at the time for a UHF competing against two VHF stations in a single market), but was known as the market leader in commercial video production and in local television advertisement sales. The station also would frequently beat out the market's news leader, WTOC, in afternoon and primetime programming such as Dr. Phil, Wheel of Fortune, and Jeopardy!, though those syndicated television series now air on Savannah's NBC affiliate, WSAV. Since Lewis' sale of the station in 1999, the station has been bought twice. WJCL and WTGS were most recently sold to New Vision Television and Parkin Broadcasting, respectively.[1] The station unveiled a new blog-based website in June 2007. On November 2, 2007, the station announced on said website that, with the recent acquisition of WJCL by New Vision Broadcasting, a brand new website was on the way. The revamped website (operated largely in-house, with technology borrowed from Broadcast Interactive Media) featured the usual news, weather, and sports, along with streaming video. As of January 2009, the Web sites of WJCL and several of its sister stations have migrated to the Inergize Digital Network platform (which KOIN in Portland, Oregon has been the first station in the New Vision group to use).
In October 2007, longtime Savannah radio (currently heard on Rock AC station WRHQ-FM - Quality Rock Q105.3) and television personality Lyndy Brannen switched stations. A longtime anchor at Savannah's NBC affiliate, WSAV, Lyndy now anchors WJCL's morning show, Good Morning from 5AM-7AM.
WJCL is the setting of the second season of the TV Guide Network show Making News, which began airing on June 4, 2008.
WJCL's broadcasts have been digital-only since February 17, 2009.
On March 16, 2009, WJCL and WTGS became the first two stations in Savannah to launch local news in high definition.
News/Station Presentation
Newscast Titles
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Station Slogans
- Your Local News Source (2002-2005)
- The Coastal Source (2005-present)
Personalities
Current On-Air Talent
Anchors
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Weather
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Sports
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Past news personalities
- Stephanie Simoni, Reporter
- Aisha Greer, anchor
- Wendy McNew, education/military reporter (now at WNEP)
- Trish Hartman, morning anchor/reporter (now at WNEP)
- Greg Pallone, anchor
- Rich Edson, political beat reporter
- Brady Poscik, sports director (?-2005)
- Eric Connor, Executive Producer
- John O'Neil, anchor
- Bill Edwards, sports anchor
- Brent Solomom, reporter
- Kathy Walters, anchor
- Pete Preston, weatherman
- Joe Cox, weatherman
- Nancy Newman, anchor
- Marvin Vawter, anchor
- Doug Weathers, anchor
- Nelson Lewis, kids reporter (1995-1999)
- Kristin Williams, anchor
- Natalie Hendrix, anchor
- Mark Taylor, reporter
- Laurie Rapp, reporter
- Kelly Wright, reporter
- Buck Belue, sports anchor
- Al Jennings, sports anchor
- Jordan Siegel, sports anchor
- Betsy Nolen, anchor
- Michanda Anthony, anchor
- Beth Eckard, weather anchor
- Julie Martin, weather anchor, reporter
- Tom Stringfellow, anchor
- Scott Pierce, news anchor, weather
- Kim Gusby, anchor, reporter (now at WSAV)
- Pamela Kister, weather anchor
- Ken Griner, sports anchor
- Ramona Parks, reporter
- Danielle Powell, producer
- Kim Grossman, reporter
- Andy Behrend, reporter
- Richard Lantz, anchor
- Erina McCoy, reporter
- Joey Gangi, reporter
- Michelle Paynter, reporter
- Shawnette Wilson, anchor (now at WTXF, Philadelphia)
- Mary Kay Kleist, meteorologist (now at WBBM-TV, Chicago)
References
"Channel 22 On The Air Tomorrow," The Savannah Morning News Friday July 17, 1970, p. B1
"Welcome, WJCL-TV," The Savannah Morning News Saturday, July 18, 1970, p. A4
"WJCL Makes Debut," The Savannah Morning News Sunday, July 19, 1970, p. C1
External links
- thecoastalsource.com
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WJCL
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WJCL-TV
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