WVEC

Coordinates: 36°51′21.62″N 76°18′9.37″W / 36.8560056°N 76.3026028°W / 36.8560056; -76.3026028

WVEC
Hampton/Norfolk/Virginia Beach/Chesapeake, Virginia
Branding	WVEC TV-13 (general) 13 News (newscasts)
Slogan	Your Local News Leader
Channels	Digital: 13 (VHF)
Affiliations	ABC (secondary 1953-1957, sole affiliate since 1959)
Owner	Belo Corporation (WVEC Television, Inc.)
First air date	September 19, 1953
Call letters’ meaning	We Value Every Customer
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 15 (1953-1959) 13 (1959-2009) Digital: 41 (1997-2009)
Former affiliations	NBC (1953–1959)
Transmitter Power	35 kW
Height	363 m
Facility ID	74167
Transmitter Coordinates	36°48′59″N 76°28′6″W / 36.81639°N 76.46833°W / 36.81639; -76.46833
Website	www.wvec.com

WVEC is the ABC affiliate for the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, which includes Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, and the surrounding area. It is licensed to Hampton, with its main studio in downtown Norfolk. Its transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia. The station broadcasts on channel 13, and is owned by the Belo Corporation.

Digital television

On June 12, 2009 at Midnight, WVEC-DT left digital channel 41 and moved to channel 13 to complete the analog to digital conversion.

History

The station began operations on September 19, 1953, on UHF channel 15 as an NBC affiliate^[1]. It was owned originally by Hampton businessman Tom Chisman along with WVEC radio (1490 AM, now WXTG; and 101.3 FM, now WWDE-FM). The station switched affiliations to ABC in 1959, when WAVY-TV took the NBC affiliation two years after signing on. During the late 1950s, WVEC-TV was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.^[2]

In those days, UHF stations were not as successful as VHF stations, and the FCC did not yet make requirements for television sets to have UHF tuners. So on November 13, 1959^[3], WVEC-TV moved to its current location on VHF channel 13. Four years later, the channel 15 position would be occupied by current PBS affiliate WHRO-TV.

In 1980, Chisman sold the station to Corinthian Broadcasting^[4], a unit of Dun & Bradstreet. At the time of the sale, it was the last locally owned and operated "Big Three" station in Hampton Roads. Four years later, Dun sold Corinthian to Belo, which owns the Dallas Morning News and WFAA-TV in its home city.

"The Spirit of Hampton Roads", 1987

In 1997, WVEC (along with The Virginian-Pilot and Cox Communications) launched LNC4 (now LNC5), a 24-hour local news channel, featuring repeats of WVEC newscasts and a live 10:00 PM newscast. It is carried by Cox Communications on channel 5 within Hampton Roads. "Pilot 13-News at 10" ceased production on January 30, 2009, however, the partnership with the Virginian-Pilot is expected to continue on a lesser level.

On January 12, 2008, WVEC started producing local newscasts in digital widescreen 16x9. Though not truly high definition, the digital widescreen broadcasts are rescanned and up-converted from standard definition to 1080i before transmission to match the ratio of HD television screens.^[5]

Branding and Image

Spirit of Hampton Roads

In the late 80s, WVEC introduced its most well-known promotional campaign, "The Spirit of Hampton Roads" - a campaign which has been customized and used by several other Belo Corporation stations (most notably the originator, WFAA-TV's "Spirit of Texas" campaign). The campaign was revamped in September 1992 with a new logo and song composed by Nashville-based 615 Music. WVEC originally dropped it in 1996 and replaced it with another slogan, "Working for You". "The Spirit of Hampton Roads" would finally return in 2003 on New Years Eve. WVEC phased out the "Spirit" image for the second time in 2008.

Weather Titles

• Nexrad 13 (1990s-1996)
• Skymax 13 (1996–2001)
• 13 News Weather Lab (2001-2009)
• 13 News Weather Authority (2009-Present)

News Personalities

Terry Zahn and Barbara Ciara in 1996.

In 1978 upon the resignation of news anchor Tony Burden, WVEC hired ABC News correspondent Jim Kincaid as its main news anchor^[6]. Kincaid's signature became his "Jim's notes," short commentaries which ended the station's nightly newscasts. Compilations of these essays were published in several books authored by Kincaid, including "Notes from Elam," referring to the small town in Prince Edward County, Virginia, where he owns a farm. During the Vietnam War, Kincaid was a war correspondent for ABC. He returned to Vietnam in 1994 and reported from the same locations he had covered in the 1960s, producing an award-winning documentary and series of news stories. Kincaid retired from WVEC in 1997.

Another well known news anchor for WVEC was Terry Zahn, who was hired from WAVY-TV in 1994^[7]. Zahn was very active with the American Cancer Society and helped establish the Relay for Life in the area. He produced two videos about Relay for Life which were distributed nationally, and served as chairman of the local Relay, which at the time was the largest in the U.S. Zahn was diagnosed with bone cancer in 1997 and died in January 2000^[7]. Each year, the American Cancer Society presents the Terry Zahn Award to a supporter of the Relay for Life.

Barbara Ciara was the 5pm and 11pm co-anchor from 1988 until 2000 when she left for cross-town WTKR.

On March 7, 2003, former investigative reporter, Craig Civale, and former general assignment reporter, Michelle Louie were engaged during a live segment of "Joe's Job" on 13News Daybreak. Michelle was filling in for fellow reporter, Joe Flanagan, where she was to visit a jewelry shop. During a live shot, out pops Craig Civale with ring in hand, where he proposes to Michelle. They both, at the time, had been dating for 5 years. They were married in September 2004.^[8]

Current personalities

Anchors

• David Alan, 5:30, 6 and 11pm
• Lasalle Blanks, Daybreak and noon
• Wayne Carter, Weekend Mornings
• Vanessa Coria, Daybreak
• Sula Kim, Weekend 6 and 11pm
• Regina Mobley, 5, 6 and 11pm
• Sandra Parker, 5pm
• Janet Roach, noon and 5:30pm

Reporters

• Benita Adams, Traffic
• Wayne Carter, Investigative Reporter
• Vanessa Coria^[9]
• Brian Farrell
• Joe Flanagan, Features Reporter
• Mike Gooding, Military Reporter
• Sula Kim
• Carl Leimer
• Lindsey Roberts, Investigative Reporter
• Kristina Rohall
• Velma Scaife, Peninsula Bureau Chief
• Shannon Sims
• Patrick Terpstra

13News Weather Lab

• Jeff Lawson (AMS Seal of Approval): Chief Meteorologist^[10]
• Craig Moeller (AMS Seal of Approval): Weekday Mornings
• Evan Stewart (AMS Seal of Approval): Weekend Evenings
• Julie Wilcox: Weekend Mornings

'Sports

• Scott Cash, weeknight sports anchor/sports director
• Brian Smith, weekend sports anchor

Past Personalities

• Sharyn Alfonsi, general assignment reporter from 1997–1999. Joined ABC News as a correspondent in January 2008. ^[11]
• Doug Aronson,Chief Investigative Reporter until 2005. ^[12] Now works for S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co. in Norfolk^[13]. Also worked for WAVY.
• Kathy Barnstorff, weekend anchor from 1983–1989, reporter until 1998. Now media relations specialist at NASA.
• Judith Baroody, reporter and anchor in the 1970s. Now the Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Santiago, Chile^[14]
• Kathryn Barrett, began as host of Tidewater Evening in 1983, became medical editor, retired in 2008.
• Natasha Barrett, reporter from 2003–2006. Now reporter at WJLA-TV in Washington, DC.^[15]
• Andria Borba, reporter from January 2007 until March 2009. Now at KTXL in Sacramento, CA
• Dave Browde, reporter from 1979-1981. Now correspondent at CBS News in New York and ^[16].
• Tony Burden, News Anchor and Director, resigned in 1978.
• Chris Castleman, weathercaster 1990-1994. Primary weather anchor 1994-1998 WESH Orlando, FL. Morning and noon weather anchor KAIT Jonesboro, AR. 2004-2008.
• Jessica Chang, reporter from 2004–2005. Now reporter for San Diego cable channel 4SD's San Diego Insider newsmagazine.^[17]
• Thomas P. Chisman, WVEC's founder.
• Craig Civale, investigative reporter from 2003–2006, left WVEC in January 2007 to join WFAA in Dallas, TX.^[18]
• Barbara Ciara, worked there for two stints, first in the early 1980s until leaving for WAVY in 1983; returned in late 1988 and stayed until 2000, now at WTKR.^[19] Was President of the National Association of Black Journalists from 2007-2009. Elected interim President of Unity: Journalists of Color in 2009 ^[20].
• Simeon Coxe, reporter specializing in off-beat stories in the 1970s and 80s. Lead singer for the 1960s and 1990s Silver Apples.
• Mark Craft, reporter and contributing correspondent to "Focus" newsmagazine. Now director, external communications, at Duke Energy.
• Lori Crouch, reporter, left on family military transfer to Florida, has since returned to Hampton Roads and is now weekend anchor and investigator at WAVY-TV
• Alveta Ewell, anchor until 1989, now at WAVY-TV.
• Brad Face, anchor, reporter and sports director from 1975–1984. Now CEO of The Face Companies
• Joe Foulkes, meteorologist during the 1970s and 1980s (died in 1993)
• Jane Gardner, anchor from 1981–1990. Moved to WTKR-TV as anchor from 1990–1998. Now retired.
• Dale Gauding, investigative reporter from 1998 to 2003, previously at WTKR. Now is a public relations consultant for Sentara Hospitals^[21]
• Dr. Duane Harding, meteorologist from 1986 until 1990, later worked for WTKR until 1996.
• Bonita (Billingsley) Harris, weekend anchor and reporter until 2003. Now works for the Norfolk Sheriff's Office. ^[22]
• Sheldon Ingram, reporter in the early to mid 90s, now at WTAE in Pittsburgh.
• Karen Jones, weekend weathercaster in the early 90s to 1997. Now is an author and teaches writing courses.^[23] She also still appears occasionally on WVEC as a fill-in weathercaster.
• Jim Kincaid, hired from ABC News in 1978, served as anchor from 1978-96^[24], retired in 1997.
• Nesita Kwan, weekend anchor and reporter from 1990 until 1992. Now health reporter at WMAQ-TV in Chicago.
• Mike Lewis, anchor/reporter until the mid-1990s. Was most recently lead co-anchor at WNEP-TV in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
• Michelle Louie, general assignment reporter. Left back in 2003 for a career in pharmaceutical sales. Married former WVEC reporter Craig Civale in 2004.^[25]
• John Miller, news anchor and news director in the 1970s and 80s, morning and noon anchor in the 1990s. Elected Virginia state senator in November 2007^[26]
• Dan Molina, reporter and talk show host in the 1970s. Later a correspondent and Chicago bureau chief for NBC News. Now part of the management team of Shelton & Caudle, a public relations firm in Texas.^[27]
• Ramona Parks, weekend anchor/investigative reporter 2001–2005, left to accept a position at NEA in Washington DC. ^[28]
• Hank Plante, reporter in the 1970s and 80s. A reporter for KPIX in San Francisco since 1986. A national Emmy and Peabody Award winner.^[29]
• Pete Pochkowski, sports producer/photographer, fill-in anchor until 2009[2]
• Jude Redfield, weekend meteorologist until 2002. Now meteorologist at WTHR in Indianapolis.
• Danielle Roach, LNC sports reporter ("Varsity Buzz") until May 2004, when she was killed in a car accident.^[30]
• Lee Sausley, 11pm co-anchor until January 1991. Now lead co-anchor at KRIS-TV in Corpus Christi, Texas.
• Brittany Suddith, morning anchor until January 2002. Worked as a development officer for the Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters in Norfolk. Now works for the Mary Kay Cosmetics Company.
• Stan Verrett, now an anchor at ESPN and ESPNEWS, also worked for rival WAVY.
• Graham Wilson, morning anchor 1980, now president of PRStreet, Cary, NC
• Alison Williams, former reporter^[31], left WVEC in 2002 after being taped having sex with another WVEC employee in a news van.
• Terry Zahn, hired from WAVY in 1994, served as anchor until death from bone cancer in January 2000.
• Albert Zipp, anchor/reporter. Now lead co-anchor at WBOY-TV in Clarksburg, West Virginia.

Programs produced by WVEC

• Dialogue- 30 minute public affairs program hosted by various WVEC news talent. Airs Sunday mornings at 5:30am.

See also

• LNC 5

External links

• Query the FCC's TV station database for WVEC
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WVEC-TV

References