WBRZ-TV
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WBRZ-TV | |
|---|---|
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| Baton Rouge, Louisiana | |
| Branding | News 2 Louisiana |
| Slogan | Fair. Balanced. Accurate. |
| Channels | Analog: 2 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | ABC (secondary 1955-71, primary 1977-present) |
| Owner | Louisiana Television Broadcasting, LLC (Manship family) |
| First air date | April 14, 1955 |
| Call letters’ meaning | We're Baton Rouge's Z (2) |
| Sister station(s) | KBTR-CA |
| Former callsigns | WBRZ (1955-1981) |
| Former affiliations | NBC (1955-1977) |
| Transmitter Power | 100 kW (analog) 30 kW (digital) |
| Height | 515 m (both) |
| Facility ID | 38616 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | www.2theadvocate.com |
WBRZ, channel 2, is an ABC affiliate serving Baton Rouge, Louisiana, south-central and southeastern Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi. It is owned by the Manship family, who also publishes the Baton Rouge daily newspaper, The Advocate. Its transmitter is located in Sunshine, Louisiana. The station is seen via satellite through DirecTV.
The station airs syndicated programming, like Live with Regis and Kelly, The Tyra Banks Show, Extra, Elimidate, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! (Regis & Kelly [then Live with Regis and Kathie Lee], Jeopardy!, and Wheel of Fortune, however, aired on channel 9 prior to 1995). It also airs reruns of former prime-time network shows, such as the ABC sitcom Mork and Mindy and the classic CBS hit M*A*S*H. In September 2006, it began airing Dr. Phil. The station formerly aired Oprah (until 2002) and the Rosie O'Donnell Show. On Sundays, it airs the services from the Healing Place Church, a local Christian megachurch.
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[edit] History
WBRZ signed on the air on April 14, 1955 as a primary NBC affiliate, sharing ABC with WAFB.
At first, the Manships wanted to call the station WBRA-TV, for Baton Rouge Advocate. However, they concluded that the call letters would cause confusion and controversy, as the letters "B-R-A" spelled "bra". Station founder Douglas L. Manship, Sr. still wanted "BR" in the station's calls, and decided to go to the other end of the alphabet for the fourth letter, picking "Z." He explained, "It was a good choice. 'Z' is a phonetically good sound on the air. It's distinctive." The "Z" was later expanded to mean "2" (similar to WGRZ-TV in Buffalo, New York), and the "W" was expanded to mean "We're". However, the WBRA call letters are currently used on the PBS affiliate in Roanoke, Virginia.
It dropped ABC in 1971 after WRBT-TV (now WVLA) signed on. This made WBRZ a sole NBC affiliate. Because ABC was seeking out new affiliates with stronger signal coverage at the time, WBRZ swapped affiliations with WRBT and became an ABC affiliate again in 1977. In that same timeframe NBC sunk to third and last place while ABC moved up to first place in the ratings.
In 1991, Manship's son Richard took over the station as its new president, and would later be named "Broadcaster of the Year" by the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters.
WBRZ began broadcasting in high definition on channel 13 on April 22, 2002.
During Hurricane Katrina, the station worked with New Orleans ABC affiliate WGNO (ABC26) to provide coverage of the storm and its aftermath.
In late Summer 2007, the Manships acquired a low-powered, independent television station, KBTR-CA, from Veritas Broadcasting Company. Future plans for the station to be announced later.
[edit] Dish Network
As of midnight, April 30, 2008, WBRZ was no longer available on DISH Network's local channel lineup. WBRZ and DISH Network continue to negotiate in order to reach an agreement as soon as possible.
The relationship between WBRZ and the Dish Network began to deteriorate in the Fall of 2007, when WBRZ realized that fees collected from Baton Rouge subscribers were not paid to the station since the inception of Dish Network’s local-into-local service which was May of 2006. That was in violation of the carriage agreement.
When the contract expired in March of 2007, WBRZ insisted that Dish Network be more attentive to business practices and to bring the level of compensation to less than 5% of what they collect from their subscribers for the local broadcast signals. WBRZ requested less than a penny a day versus the twenty cents a day they collect from local subscribers in the Baton Rouge market. Dish Network believes the content, news, weather, sports and ABC Television Network seen exclusively on WBRZ is valued at 2% of what they collect for local TV stations.
Dish subscribers may continue to receive the WBRZ analog and digital signals, free of charge, with an antenna. The WBRZ high-definition signal is also available through other cable services. Viewers may also receive the analog signal with DirecTV.
[edit] Digital Television
The station's digital channel:
Digital channels
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 2.1 / 13.1 | Main WBRZ programming/ABC HD |
| 2.2 / 13.2 | WBRZ News rebroadcast |
| 2.3 / 13.3 | WBRZ Weather with NOAA Weather Radio |
[edit] News Staff
Anchors
- Michael Cauble - sports director; weekdays
- Brian Davies - sports; weekends
- Luke Margolis - weekends
- Michael Marsh - 5, 6 and 10 pm weekdays
- John Pastorek - "2une In" and at noon
- Todd Ross - 4 pm weekdays and Assistant Director of News
- Whitney Vann - "2une In"
- Sylvia Weatherspoon - 5, 6 and 10 pm weekdays
Forecasters/Meteorologists
- Dave Nussbaum - weekday mornings and noon
- Pat Shingleton - chief forecaster; weekday evenings
- Chris Stevens - weekends
Reporters
- Brian Davies - sports
- Christy Davis
- Claire Hatty
- Tony Jones
- Luke Margolis
- Louis Miller - gardening expert
- Veronica Mosgrove
- Chris Nakamoto
[edit] Former Staff
- Bo Willisons
- Ed Buggs - now at WIBR-AM Baton Rouge
- Andrea Clesi - former weekday anchor (retired)
- Glen Duncan - meteorologist/environmental specialist; now Director of Communications at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and author of "Goodbye Green - How extremists stole the environmental movement from middle America and killed it."
- Jim Egan - sports
- Chip Barrere
- Chelby Kosto-now at WDTN Dayton, Oh
- Summer Jackson - now at CLTV Chicago
- Bruce Katz - meteorologist; now at WGNO-TV New Orleans
- Margaret Lawhon - anchor; now an actor and freelance writer
- Kurt Lee (Weather and news)
- Ben Lemoine - now at KTVK-TV Phoenix
- Mary Lynch- weather (2000's)
- John Mahaffey - retired
- Marvin McGraw - now does PR for LSU
- Avery Miller - now a producer at World News with Charles Gibson
- Dale Moon
- Margaret Orr - now at WDSU-TV New Orleans
- Ken Pastorick - now does PR for LA Department Health and Hospitals
- Andy Pepper- sports
- Rebecca Rainer - Owner/President of Chase Rainer Media San Antonio, TX
- Mike Rhodes - Retired, still living in Baton Rouge
- Mike Ross
- George Ryan - now does PR for Exxon Mobil
- Scott Satchfield - now at WWL-TV
- Jennifer Sheffield (Freel) - now an attorney in Austin, Texas
- Jake Skellett - pharmaceutical sales with sanofi-aventis
- Bruce Webber - sports
- Melba Williams
- Mike Woolfolk - now news anchor/managing editor for WACH-TV Columbia, SC
- Jay Young - news anchor; (died of apparent heart attack on 08/23/2006)
- Lee Zurik - now at WWL-TV
[edit] Awards
WBRZ has been the recipient of numerous awards from the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters, a National Edward R. Murrow Award in 2000, plus other local awards.
- Louisiana Association of Broadcasters "Television Station of the Year" Award
1990, 1991, 1994 and 1997
- Louisiana Association of Broadcasters - Baton Rouge Branch "Community Station of the Year" Award
1996, 2002, 2005
- Louisiana Association of Broadcasters "Television Station of the Year" Prestige Award
1999
- 1999 Sigma Delta Chi Awards
George Ryan won the award for "Silent Trust," a series that exposed student-on-student sexual misconduct at the Louisiana School for the Deaf in Baton Rouge, La.
- Louisiana Association of Broadcasters "Promotion of the Year" Award
2000 - "Buckle Up for Tony"
- National Edward R. Murrow Award
2000
- Louisiana Association of Broadcasters "Community Service" Award
2001
- Outstanding Philanthropist Award
2001
Other Awards Won:
- Louisiana Association of Broadcasters Lifetime of Distinction Awards (2005)
- Ad Fed's Pete Goldsby Award (2005)
- YWCA's Women of Achievement Award (2005)
- American Women in Radio and Television's Broadcaster of the Year Award (2005)
- Baton Rouge Business Report's 25 Most Influential Women in Baton Rouge (2005)
- SME's Marketer of the Year Award (2005)
Won by Pat Cheramie, who retired after serving 39 years as General Manager of WBRZ-TV on January 31, 2005.
- Louisiana Association of Broadcasters Lifetime Achievement Award (2005)
Won by news anchor and reporter Andrea Clesi.
[edit] External links
- WBRZ Homepage
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WBRZ
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WBRZ-TV
[edit] References
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