| WREG-TV | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Memphis, Tennessee | |
| Branding | NewsChannel 3 |
| Slogan | On Your Side |
| Channels | Digital: 28 (UHF) (PSIP 3) |
| Subchannels | 3.1 CBS HD 3.2 NewsChannel 3 Anytime |
| Translators | K62DA Malden MO |
| Affiliations | CBS Television Network |
| Owner | Local TV, LLC (Local TV Tennessee License, LLC) |
| First air date | January 1, 1956 |
| Call letters’ meaning | variation of original calls |
| Former callsigns | WREC-TV (1956-1971) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 3 (1956-2009) |
| Transmitter Power | 906 kW (digital) |
| Height | 313 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 66174 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | 35°10′52″N 89°49′56″W / 35.18111°N 89.83222°W |
| Website | www.wreg.com |
WREG-TV is Memphis, Tennessee's CBS television affiliate, operating on digital channel 28, and uses PSIP 3 as its virtual channel. The station is owned by Local TV, which took over all of the television stations formerly owned by The New York Times Company on May 7, 2007. Its transmitter is located in Memphis.
Contents |
History
WREG-TV first went to air on New Year's Day 1956 as WREC-TV. Owned by electrical engineer and radio dealer Hoyt Wooten along with WREC radio (AM 600 and FM 102.7, now WEGR), the station began regular broadcasts the next day. The calls stood for Wooten's radio store, the Wooten Radio-Electric Company. It took the CBS affiliation from WHBQ-TV because WREC-AM had been a CBS affiliate since 1929. Studios were located in the Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis. Wooten had actually applied for one of the first television licenses in the country, in 1928.
For its first six years, WREC-TV was the only locally-owned station in Memphis (WHBQ-TV was owned by General Tire and WMC-TV was owned by Scripps). However, Wooten sold WREC-AM-FM-TV in 1962 to Cowles Communications. In turn, Cowles sold WREC-TV to the New York Times in 1971 and the call letters changed to WREG-TV; it later sold the radio stations to other interests. Four years later in 1975, the Times built new facilities for WREG on one of the highest points on Chickasaw Bluff, overlooking the Mississippi River. The station also maintains studio space in the Peabody Place shopping center, adjacent to the Peabody Hotel, marking a partial return of sorts to its early years.
For more than two decades, WREG has been in a Nielsen ratings war for first place with longtime powerhouse WMC-TV. But WREG never actually won a ratings period until February, 2006. That was the debut of a new anchor team with years of experience at other stations in the Memphis market. Claudia Barr was previously a main anchor at competitor WHBQ (Memphis's FOX affiliate) and Richard Ransom was previously a morning anchor and reporter at WMC (Memphis's NBC affiliate). Ransom and Barr replaced longtime anchors Jerry Tate and Pam McKelvy. Since that time, WREG has won the all-important 10pm ratings battle three times more often than WMC. The number of victories for the important morning news battle anchored by Kris Anderson and Markova Reed is just as dominant.
WREG often works together with a sister Local TV station, WHNT-TV in Huntsville, Alabama, located in the next market adjoining Memphis to the southeast. The two often share resources on large stories, such as the April 2007 trial of Mary Winkler. For the first week of the trial, WREG worked from the satellite truck of WHNT. During the second week, WHNT worked from WREG's truck. Also, reporters from one station often do live reports for the other. Further, WHNT also airs News Channel 3 Knowledge Bowl on its digital sub-channel.
Digital Television
The station's digital channel is UHF 28, multiplexed:
| Virtual Channel |
Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | Main WREG-TV programming / CBS HD |
| 3.2 | 480i | 4:3 | Weather |
On June 12, 2009, WREG-TV continued on its pre-transitional digital channel when the analog to digital conversion completed.[1]
Programming history
Throughout the early 1960s into the late 1980s, WREC/WREG claimed to possess the largest motion picture library of any TV station in the United States, which was evidenced in its daily (late afternoons and late nights) and weekend programming lineup at the time. The station used some of those features for theme weeks (e.g., "Godzilla Week", "John Wayne Week"), which proved to be very popular with viewers. However, like most major network affiliates in the early 1980s, channel 3 began cutting back on the heavy amount of movie airings that occupied much of its off-network schedule, a move prompted by the presence of cable, VCRs, and the emergence of then-independent competitors WPTY-TV in 1978 and WMKW (now WLMT) in 1983.
WREG is one of the few CBS stations that preempts the Saturday Early Show in favor of a Saturday morning newscast.
Syndicated programs on Channel 3 include Inside Edition, Jeopardy!, Entertainment Tonight, and The Insider.
WREG News Channel 3 is one of the last stations in the memphis area not to broadcast in HD. Both main rivals WMC-TV and WHBQ-TV have both switched to HD.
Current on air staff include:
- Richard Ransom-formerly of WMC
- Claudia Barr-formerly of WHBQ
- Kris Anderson
- Markova Reed
- Tim Simpson
- Jim Jaggers-formerly of WHBQ
- Todd Demers
- Austen Onek
- Omari Flemming
- George Brown-formerly of WMC
- Tom Powell
- Mike Matthews
- Mike Ceide
- Glenn Carver
- Melissa Moon
- Theo Travers
- April Thompson
- Dennis Turner
- Stephanie Scurlock
- Alex Coleman
- Marybeth Conley
- Norm Brewer
Former on air staff include:
- Paul Dorman
- Pam Crittendon
- John Powell
- Fred Cook
- Pam McKelvy
- Joe Larkins
- Natalie Allen
- Mike Lawhead
- Carolyn Brookter
- Jerry Tate
- Cindy Whipple
- Rob Sylvestor
- Susie Robinette
- Gene Hocutt
- Sharon Crews
- Dorothy Tucker
- Brian Teigland
- Tom Stocker
- Larry Ennis
- Jeff Beimfohr
- Jim Bonds
- Olin Morris
- Sheryl Kahn
- Earle Farrell
- Ray Pohlman
- De Anna Sheffield
- Jennifer Van Vranken
- Cheryl Kepes
- Annie Kim
- Brian Kuebler
- Amy Speropoulos
- Christine Connolly
News/Station Presentation
Newscast Titles
- NewsWatch 3 (1970s-early 1980s)
- News 3 (1980s-1993)
- NewsChannel 3 (1993-present)
Station Slogans
- Hello Memphis (1982-1985; during period station used Frank Gari's "Hello News")
- Memphis & Channel 3 (1987-1992)
- Your 21st Century Starts Here (1998-2000)
- On Your Side (2000-present)
References
External links
- NewsChannel 3
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WREG
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WREG-TV
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