WAVE (TV)
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| WAVE | |
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| Louisville, Kentucky | |
| Branding | WAVE 3 |
| Slogan | Investigating the problem. Getting Results. |
| Channels | Analog: 3 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | NBC NBC Weather Plus (DT2) |
| Owner | Raycom Media, Inc. (WAVE License Subsidiary, LLC) |
| First air date | November 24, 1948 |
| Call letters’ meaning | WAVE = The word wave (as in a radio wave, not a wave like in water) |
| Former callsigns | WAVE-TV (1948-1987) |
| Former channel number(s) | 5 (1948-1953) |
| Former affiliations | All secondary: CBS (1948-1950) DuMont (1948-1955) [1] ABC (1948-1961) |
| Transmitter Power | 100 kW (analog) 1000 kW (digital) |
| Height | 555 m (analog) 392 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 13989 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | (analog) (digital) |
| Website | www.wave3.com |
WAVE, "WAVE 3" is the NBC station in Louisville, Kentucky. It is owned by Raycom Media and broadcasts from its main studio in downtown Louisville. Its analog transmitter and tower (on channel 3) is located in La Grange, Kentucky. Their Digital transmitter and antenna (over the air channel 47) are co-located with the digital antenna and transmitter of WLKY near Floyds Knobs in New Albany, Indiana.
WAVE referred to its coverage area as "WAVE Country" in the past, echoing a popular jingle and image campaign the station launched in the early 1970s. In fact, that very jingle was the image campaign of the news music theme "Home Country" compossed by Al Ham. WAVE currently uses the "Getting Results" slogan for promotion. It currently operates its digital signal on digital channel 3 (UHF 47) which offers NBC Weather Plus on 3.2.
When their analog signal is shut down in February 2009, WAVE-TV will stop broadcasting on channel 3 completely and be permanently assigned to channel 47.[2][3]
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[edit] History
WAVE signed on November 24, 1948 on channel 5. It was Kentucky's first television station, the 41st in the United States, and was owned by the Norton family, who had put WAVE-AM (970 kHz, now WGTK) on the air in 1932. At first, it carried programming from all four networks, but was a primary NBC affiliate. WAVE-TV lost CBS in 1950 when WHAS-TV signed on, and lost DuMont programming in 1956 when that network folded, but shared ABC with WHAS until 1961 (when WLKY-TV signed on). It is the only commercial station in Louisville that has never changed its affiliation.[1]
In 1953, WAVE moved to channel 3 due to interference from WLWT in Cincinnati. Over the years, the Nortons acquired three other television stations and two other radio stations, including WFRV-TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin (and satellite WJMN-TV in Marquette, Michigan); WMT-AM-FM-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and WFIE in Evansville, Indiana. Eventually, the Norton holdings became known as Orion Broadcasting, headquartered in Louisville with WAVE-AM-TV as the flagship station.
Orion merged with The Liberty Corporation in 1981. WAVE-TV became part of Liberty's broadcast arm, Cosmos Broadcasting, while WAVE-AM was sold off. When Liberty bowed out of the insurance business in 2000, WAVE came directly under the Liberty banner.
In August 2005, Liberty announced that it was being purchased by Raycom Media of Montgomery, Alabama. This sale was completed January 31, 2006.
As of 2006, Tom Wills is the station's longest-tenured on-air personality, having forecast the weather for WAVE since 1969. The station's head meteorogolist is John Belski. John has received various awards from community organizations and publications including being named Best Of Louisville by the readers of Louisville magazine for a number of years and has been named Best of Kentucky by the readers of Kentucky Monthly magazine and the LEO's Readers' Choice Award. He has received a "Best of the Best" award from Louisville magazine given to people and organizations that have won more than 10 times. He has anchored Emmy Award winning severe weather coverage. John was also presented the Mark Trail Award for public awareness of NOAA weather radios. This prestigious national award was presented on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.
In the February 2007 ratings period, WAVE overtook former leader WHAS for second place in the mornings, and came in second in a very tight three-way race at 6 pm. It continued to finish second at 11 pm. [4]
[edit] Notable WAVE-TV alumni
- Steve Kmetko, anchor
[edit] Owners
- 1948–1981: Orion Broadcasting (Norton family)
- 1981–2006: The Liberty Corporation
- 2006–present: Raycom Media
[edit] References
- ^ Kleber, John E. Encyclopedia of Louisville. (University Press of Kentucky). pg.872.
[edit] External links
- WAVE 3 Website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WAVE
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WAVE-TV
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