WFMY-TV
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| WFMY-TV | |
|---|---|
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| Greensboro - High Point - Winston-Salem, North Carolina |
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| Branding | WFMY, News2 |
| Slogan | Dependable Local Coverage |
| Channels | Analog: 2 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | CBS |
| Owner | Gannett Company (WFMY Television Corporation) |
| Founded | September 22, 1949 |
| Call letters’ meaning | began as the TV arm of a now-defunct FM radio station |
| Former affiliations | All secondary: ABC (1949-1963) NBC (1949-1953) DuMont (1949-1956) |
| Transmitter Power | 100 kW (analog) 1000 kW (digital) |
| Height | 550.8 m (analog) 568.8 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 72064 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | www.digtriad.com |
WFMY-TV, channel 2, is a television station in Greensboro, North Carolina. Owned by the Gannett Company, WFMY-TV is the CBS affiliate for the Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem (also known as the Piedmont Triad) area. WFMY-TV's studios are located on Phillips Avenue in downtown Greensboro, and its transmitter is located in Randleman, North Carolina.
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[edit] History
The station began operation on September 22, 1949 as the second television station in North Carolina, just a few months after fellow CBS affiliate WBTV in Charlotte. It was owned by the Greensboro News Company, publishers of the Greensboro Daily News and Daily Record (now merged as the Greensboro News & Record). The News Company had put WFMY-FM on the air in 1947, but the radio station shut down in the 1950s. It aired programs from all four networks (CBS, NBC, ABC, and DuMont), but has always been a primary CBS affiliate. NBC moved to WSJS-TV (now WXII-TV) when it signed on in 1953 and WFMY shared ABC with WSJS until WGHP signed on in 1963.
In 1965, the News Company was bought by what became Landmark Communications. The station was acquired by Harte-Hanks Communications in 1976, and by Gannett in 1989.
WFMY's local programming, including the long-running news program "Good Morning Show" with Lee Kinard, and children's program "The Old Rebel Show" pre-empted CBS' various attempts at morning programming from the 1957 through the 1980s. WGGT (now WMYV) aired the CBS Morning News until 1985, and afterwards WFMY began to run the broadcast on delay from 8-10am following "The Good Morning Show". Lee Kinard later moved to the weeknight news until his retirement in the 1990s. WFMY does not carry CBS's Saturday Early Show; instead, it carries a Saturday edition of "The Good Morning Show," followed by the CBS kids' block.
Another important local daytime program from the 1970s was "Sandra and Friends", hosted by current news anchor Sandra Hughes. This was one of the first shows in the region to be hosted by a black woman.
On September 25, 1984, the station's number one newsgathering tool, SKY 2, did itself become news. The Bell Jet Ranger Helicopter, piloted by Tom Haroski, was attempting to assist in the rescue of a construction worker trapped atop a water tower in Kernersville, near Winston-Salem. The tower was being dismantled when a piece of steel snapped and trapped the worker for hours. He was bleeding profusely when late that night, SKY 2 was called in to assist. The pilot began lowering the chopper above the tower. An EMS worker on board was going to attempt the rescue. As the chopper hovered over the tower the tail rotor hit one of the steel beams of the tower sending the helicopter nose first into the ground. The images were captured on tape by competitor WXII and broadcast around the country. The pilot and rescue worker were killed instantly. In a sad footnote it was determined that the worker they were attempting to reach had bled to death before the chopper ever took off.[1]
WFMY began using a new version of SKY 2 (painted black) after the accident, but eventually retired the chopper altogether.
WFMY boasts one of the largest coverage areas in the Southeast; the channel 2 signal travels a long distance under most conditions. It can be seen as far east as the Triangle and as far south as Charlotte under most circumstances.
[edit] Recent News
WFMY was one of a handful of stations to pre-empt the May 31, 2008 broadcast of EliteXC: Primetime, the first-ever mixed martial arts program on network television. Program director David Briscoe cited the program's graphic content as a reason for not showing the event. A made-for-TV movie, "Getting Up and Going Home", aired in its place. [2] [3]
[edit] Current Personalities
5,6, & 11pm News
- Sandra Hughes, Anchor
- Kent Bates, Anchor
- Eric Chilton, Chief Meteorologist
- Greg Kerr, Sports Director
Good Morning Show
- Jay Rickerts, Morning Anchor
- Rosemary Plybon, Morning Anchor
- Ed Matthews, Morning Meteorologist
- Isabel Caldwell, Traffic Reporter
Weather
- Robb Ellis, Meteorologist
- Leigh Brock, Meteorologist
Reporters
- Frank Mickens, Weekend Anchor/Reporter
- Mac Ingraham, Reporter
- Tanya Rivera, Weekend Anchor/2 Wants To Know Reporter
- Tracey McCain, Backpack Journalist
- Justin Quesinberry, Backpack Journalist
- Erica Taylor, School Solutions Reporter
- Kerri Hartsfield, Reporter
- Julia Bagg, Reporter
- Jamie Baldwin, Sports Reporter
[edit] News/Station Presentation
[edit] Newscast Titles
- Channel 2 Evening News (1967-1980)
- News 2 (1980-2001)
- WFMY News 2 (2001-present)
[edit] Past Logos
 WFMY logo c. 1968. |
 WFMY logo c. 1975. The "wfmy-tv" (in lowercase letters) was retained until the 1990s, while the "sailboat 2" was retained until 2001. |
[edit] External links
- WFMY News2
- Video Tour Of WFMY
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WFMY
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WFMY-TV
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