| WTVD | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Durham / Raleigh / Fayetteville, North Carolina |
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| City of license | Durham |
| Branding | ABC 11 (general) ABC 11 Eyewitness News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | Breaking News. Breaking Stories. |
| Channels | Digital: 11 (VHF) |
| Subchannels | 11.1 ABC 11.2 Live Well HD 11.3 AccuWeather |
| Affiliations | ABC (secondary, 1954-1962; sole affiliate 1985-present) |
| Owner | Disney/ABC (WTVD Television, LLC) |
| First air date | September 2, 1954 |
| Call letters’ meaning | TeleVision Durham |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 11 (VHF, 1954-2009) Digital: 52 (UHF) |
| Former affiliations | NBC (sole affiliate 1954-1956, secondary 1962-1971) CBS (1956-1985) |
| Transmitter Power | 45 kW |
| Height | 615 m |
| Facility ID | 8617 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | 35°40′5″N 78°31′59″W / 35.66806°N 78.53306°W |
| Website | abc11.com |
WTVD is the ABC owned-and-operated television station for the Triangle area of North Carolina that is licensed to Durham. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter southeast of Auburn along the Wake and Johnston County line. They have studios on Liberty Street in downtown Durham. Durham. Syndicated programming on the station includes: Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Oprah, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
Contents |
Digital programming
The station's signal is multiplexed. On DT2 and Time Warner digital channel 212 is the Live Well HD Network. On DT3 and Time Warner digital channel 213 is "Eyewitness News Now" that is part of The Local AccuWeather Channel.
| Virtual channel |
Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11.1 | 720p | 16:9 | main WTVD programming / ABC HD |
| 11.2 | 720p | 16:9 | Live Well HD |
| 11.3 | 480i | 4:3 | "Eyewitness News Now" |
History
In 1952, two rival companies each applied for a license to build a television station in Durham on the city's newly allotted VHF channel 11. They were Herald-Sun Newspapers (publishers of the Durham Morning Herald and the Durham Sun as well as radio station WDNC-AM 620) and Floyd Fletcher and Harmon Duncan (owners of WTIK-AM 1310). Ironically, Floyd Fletcher was the son of A.J. Fletcher, who would eventually start rival WRAL-TV 3 years later. In December 1953, the two sides agreed to join forces and operate the station under the joint banner Durham Broadcasting Enterprises. Eight months later on September 2, 1954, WTVD began broadcasting with a black-and-white film of the Star Spangled Banner. It was originally a primary NBC station with a secondary ABC affiliation. Their initial studios were located in a former tuberculosis sanitorium at 2410 Broad Street with a transmitter atop Signal Hill in northern Durham County. Channel 11 is the Triangle's oldest surviving television station having signed-on a few months after CBS affiliate WNAO-TV.
On May 22, 1957, Durham Broadcasting Enterprises merged with Albany, New York-based Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company owners of WCDA-TV (now WTEN) to form Capital Cities Television Corporation (predecessor of Capital Cities Communications). Around 1958, WTVD built a 1,500-foot (460 m) tower at its present transmitter site southeast of Auburn to better serve the market. That same year, the station first began broadcasting in color although it would be until 1966 before the same was true for local programming. WRAL-TV started in 1956 and took over as the Triangle's NBC affiliate. CBS then dropped its affiliation with the under-performing WNAO and gave it to WTVD. During the late-1950s, they were also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network. [1]
When WNAO stopped broadcasting in 1959 due to financial difficulties, channel 11 began sharing ABC programming with WRAL. After that station took the ABC affiliation full-time in 1962, WTVD was forced to shoehorn CBS and NBC programming onto its schedule. This was a very unusual arrangement for what was then a two-station market. Although the area got a third commercial station six years later when channel 28 returned to the airwaves as WRDU-TV (now WRDC), WTVD "cherry-picked" the most popular CBS and NBC programs leaving WRDU with the lower-rated shows from both networks until 1971. At that time, the FCC intervened on behalf of WRDU's owners and in the interest of protecting the development of UHF. They ordered WTVD to select one network and channel 11 decided to go with CBS full-time allowing WRDU to become an exclusive NBC station (it is now affiliated with MyNetworkTV).
In 1978, they attempted to expand its broadcast coverage to the Fayetteville area which had been without a television station of its own for nearly two decades. Its studios were relocated to their current location on Liberty Street in downtown Durham on a parcel of land it shares with the Durham County Library. They also built its current 2,000-foot (610 m) transmitter tower. A fire on March 4, 1979 caused extensive damage to the newly-built studio building. However, the newsroom and a number of other key components had been rebuilt within a month. By that time, much of WTVD's operations had returned to normal although it had resorted to temporary setups during the interim such as holding the newscasts in one of the meeting rooms that survived the aforementioned crisis unscathed.
On March 18, 1985, WTVD's owner Capital Cities announced it was purchasing ABC. Five months later on August 4, the station swapped affiliations with WRAL and became an ABC affiliate. At that time, the two joined the small list of stations that have held primary affiliations with all of the big three television networks. The transaction was finalized on January 3, 1986 making WTVD an ABC O&O station and the first network-owned station in North Carolina. Since then, they have held that distinction with two notable exceptions. Another station in the same market, WNCN (now owned by Media General), was an NBC O&O from 1996 until 2006. In the Piedmont Triad, WGHP was a Fox O&O from 1995 until 2008 (now owned by Local TV).
On the night of December 6, 1991, a helicopter carrying a pilot and three WTVD employees from a high school football game in Wilmington crashed killing three of the four members on board. [2] Sports reporter Tony Debo was the only survivor. [3]
In 1996, the Walt Disney Company acquired Capital Cities / ABC. On April 30, 2000, a dispute between Disney and Time Warner Cable forced WTVD off cable systems within the market for over 24 hours during the May sweeps period. Other ABC stations in markets served by Time Warner Cable, such as New York City, Los Angeles, and Houston were also affected by the outage as well before the FCC forced Time Warner to restore service to those areas on May 2. [4]
On June 12, 2009 at 12:30 in the afternoon, WTVD remained on channel 11 when the analog to digital conversion completed. However, the station is broadcasting at a much reduced power level due to its position on the VHF band making it difficult for some viewers using indoor antennas to pick up its signal. [5] On September 23, 2009, the station filed an application to the FCC to increase power from 20.7 to 45 kW. [6]
Out of Market Coverage
In North Carolina, it is carried out of market in Elizabethtown and Whiteville which are part of the Wilmington market. In that city, WTVD used to be carried on the local access channel during newscasts. In the Florence / Myrtle Beach / Lumberton market, it is carried in Laurinburg, Lumberton, and St. Pauls. In the Greensboro / High Point / Winston-Salem area, it is carried in Burlington and Mebane. In Virginia, it is carried in South Boston which is part of the Roanoke / Lynchburg market. On DirecTV, WTVD is carried in two North Carolina counties out of market in Alamance and Northampton Counties.
News operation
For most of the time since the 1970s, WTVD has been a distant though solid runner-up to WRAL. However, it has made recent gains against that station particularly on weekend mornings where WTVD has claimed the number one position for the time period. Principal anchor Larry Stogner has been with the station since 1976 and a weeknight anchor continuously since 1982. His longtime co-anchor for much of the 1990s, Miriam Thomas, abruptly left WTVD after nineteen years in November 2001. Notable former members of WTVD's news staff include musicians John Tesh and John D. Loudermilk, ESPN personality Stuart Scott, as well as former Good Morning America co-host David Hartman.
From 1973 until 1984, WTVD used the Eyewitness News name for its newscasts though its format was very similar to the Action News format pioneered by sister station WPVI-TV in Philadelphia. The arrangement was similar to then-sister station WKBW-TV in Buffalo, New York and the two had identical opening sequences and theme songs. WRAL was also using the Action News name during that time period. This station was known simply as WTVD 11 News for a time after the affiliation switch in 1985. WTVD called itself NewsChannel 11 from 1993 until 2000 when they changed back to Eyewitness News. WTVD was among the last stations to use the Cool Hand Luke Tar Sequence theme in its broadcasts. However, the station debuted the theme soon after the Capital Cities / ABC merger and retired it in 1993. Like sister stations WABC, KABC, and KGO-TV the theme was used only in the opens.
On June 26, 2006, WTVD debuted a new prime time newscast for WB affiliate WLFL entitled Eyewitness News at 10 on WB 22. This happend after WLFL's owner, Sinclair Broadcast Group, ended the controversial News Central format on its stations. This newscast runs directly against the WRAL-produced show on WRAZ. No plans have been announced for a morning newscast on WLFL. On September 17 concurrent with that station's official affiliation switch to The CW, the newscast changed its name to Eyewitness News at 10 on CW 22. On April 21, 2008, WTVD became the second television station in the Triangle behind WRAL and the eighth ABC-owned station to produce its newscasts in high definition. The WLFL broadcast was included in the upgrade.
It subscribes to AccuWeather for the weather portion of the broadcasts. The operate their own weather radar, called "First Alert Doppler XP", at its transmitter. There are live streams offered on their website of every newscast (except the WLFL show) and "Eyewitnesses News Now". In addition to their main studios, the station operates bureaus in Fayetteville on Green Street and Raleigh on Fayetteville Street.
Newscast titles
- 11 Now Report (1962-1973)
- Eyewitness News (1973-1985)
- WTVD 11 News (1985-1993)
- NewsChannel 11 (1993-1999)
- NewsChannel 11 ABC (1999-2000)
- ABC 11 Eyewitness News (2000-present)
Station slogans
- 11 Together (late 1970s-early 1980s)
- Across the Heart of Carolina (1988-1993)
- The NewsChannel (1993-2001)
- Working for You (2001-2003)
- Live. Local. Up to the Minute. (2003-2004)
- Giving You More Breaking News (2004-2007)
- Breaking News. Breaking Stories. (2007-present)
News team
Current personalities
Anchors
- Amber Rupinta - weekday mornings (also traffic reporter)
- Barbara Gibbs - weekday mornings and noon
- John Clark - weekday mornings and noon
- Frances Scott - weeknights at 5 and 5:30
- Tisha Powell - weeknights at 5, 5:30, and 10 (also health reporter)
- Larry Stogner - weeknights at 6
- Angela Hampton - weeknights at 6 and 11 (also weeknight 5 and 5:30 reporter)
- Steve Daniels - weeknights at 10 and 11 (also weeknight 5, 5:30, and 6 breaking news reporter)
- Anthony Wilson - weekend mornings and weekday morning reporter
- Fred Shropshire - weekend evenings and reporter
- Shae Crisson - weekend evenings and reporter
ABC 11 HD AccuWeather Meteorologists
- Chris Hohmann (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist) - Chief seen weeknights
- Glenn Willey (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - weekday mornings and Noon
- Steve Stewart (AMS Seal of Approval) - weekend mornings
- Scott Dean (AMS Seal of Approval) - weekend evenings
Sports
- Mark Armstrong - weeknights at 6, 10, and 11
- Joe Mazur - weekend evenings and weekday sports reporter
- Kerith Burke - sports reporter and fill-in sports anchor
Reporters
- Ed Crump - Senior based at Raleigh Bureau
- Gilbert Baez - Fayetteville Bureau
- Greg Barnes - Fayetteville Bureau
- Diane Wilson - consumer investigator
- Tim Nelson - weekday morning traffic and general assignment
- Jennifer Kovaleski - digital journalist
- Mathew Mendez - digital journalist
- Gerrick Brenner
- Tamara Gibbs
- Rebecca Hall
- Sheyenne Rodriguez
Former personalities
- Dan Ashley - anchor (1993-1995; now at KGO in San Francisco, CA)
- Fred Blackman - anchor (1960s; later worked for WGHP in Greensboro, North Carolina)
- Kate Bolduan - reporter (now at CNN in Washington, D.C.)
- Jason Brewer - meteorologist (2002-2006; later moved to KPRC-TV in Houston, TX now at WESH in Orlando, FL)
- Dave Boliek - reporter (1981-1997; in private business; daughter is an assignment editor at WRAL-TV)
- Beverly Burke - anchor/reporter (late 1970s and early 80s; now on XM radio)
- Mike Caplan - weather anchor (1988-1993; now at WLS-TV in Chicago)
- Skip Carpenter - weathercaster (into the 1980s)
- Carol Cookerly - reporter (1980-?; now runs Cookerly Public Relations in Atlanta)
- Clare Casademont - anchor/reporter (1985-1989)
- Pati Darak - meteorologist (1999-2002; now at News 14 Carolina in Raleigh, N.C.)
- Betty Davis - weekend meteorologist (2000s; now at The Weather Channel)
- Kim Deaner - meteorologist (now at WRAL-TV)
- Kathleen DeLaski - reporter (early 1980s; later Deputy Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs)
- Mike Dunston - anchor/reporter (now anchor at WOFL-TV in Orlando, FL)
- Joanne Feldman - chief meteorologist (2002-2007; now at WAGA-TV in Atlanta)
- Steve Forgy - sports anchor (1998-2000), traffic reporter (2001-2007; now in San Francisco, CA)
- Ervin Hester - anchor/reporter/host of Reel Perspectives and Prime Time Sunday (1971-1996; owner of The Shoe Doctor in Durham)
- Amanda Fitzpatrick - reporter (2008-2009, laid off; now authoring book on minorities in journalism)
- Bob Hughes - anchor (1978-1980)
- Denise James - reporter/host of Reflections (1985-1987; now at WPVI-TV in Philadelphia)
- Martie Johnson - reporter (late 1960s - mid 1970s)
- C.S. Keys - sports reporter (late 1980s)
- Steve Leeolou - anchor/reporter (1980-1982)
- Deborah Long - reporter (late 1970s-early 1980s)
- George Mallet - anchor/reporter (1987-1997; now at WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee)
- Peggy Mann - midday show host (1954-1980; deceased)
- Gary McGrady - meteorologist (1999-2002; now at WTTG in Washington, D.C.)
- Katina Rankin - anchor/reporter (2003-2006; now owns a PR firm in North Carolina)
- Bill Reh - meteorologist (1983-1997; now at WNCN)
- Russ Riesinger - anchor/reporter (1991-1995)
- Don Ross - reporter (1980-2006)
- Stan Saunders - sports anchor/reporter (late 1970s and early 80s)
- Don Shea - sportscaster (1967-1984)
- Monica Shuman - anchor/reporter (1989-1997)
- Shauna Singletary - reporter (late 1970s)
- Matt Sinclair - reporter (late 1970s)
- Drew Smith - sports anchor (1991-2005)
- Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder - special sports correspondent (late 1970s-early 1980s; deceased)
- Jim Sughrue - reporter (1979-1985; now Police Information Officer for Raleigh Police Department)
- Miriam Thomas - anchor/host of Reflections (1982-2001)
- Cheryl Toney - weathercaster (late 1970s)
- Katherine Walters - reporter (late 1970s-late 1980s)
- Keith Whitney - reporter (1983-1993; now at WXIA-TV in Atlanta)
- Dan Williams - troubleshooter reporter (late 1970s and early 80s)
References
- ^ "Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films", Boxoffice: 13, November 10, 1956, http://issuu.com/boxoffice/docs/boxoffice_111056-1
- ^ "Three Die When Helicopter Crashes in North Carolina". NYTimes.com. 1991-12-08. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE2D71231F93BA35751C1A967958260. Retrieved 2007-07-28.
- ^ "A Visit to Honor Friends". newsobserver.com. 2001-12-11. http://www.newsobserver.com/321/v-print/story/257497.html. Retrieved 2007-07-28.
- ^ http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Cable/Orders/2000/da000987.pdf
- ^ "Conversion sticks TV stations with lower power and poor reception". newsobserver.com. 2009-06-17. http://blogs.newsobserver.com/tv/conversion-sticks-tv-stations-with-lower-power-and-poor-reception. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
- ^ https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101333712&formid=301&fac_num=8617
External links
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