WGNO
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| WGNO | |
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| New Orleans, Louisiana | |
| Branding | ABC 26 |
| Slogan | Getting Answers |
| Channels | Analog: 26 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | ABC |
| Owner | Tribune Company (Tribune Television New Orleans, Inc.) |
| First air date | October 1967[1] |
| Call letters’ meaning | Greater New Orleans -or- We've Got New Orleans (also a homage to Tribune's Chicago flagship station WGN-TV, and a portmanteau of "WGN" and "NO" abbreviation for New Orleans) |
| Sister station(s) | WNOL-TV |
| Former callsigns | WWOM-TV (1967-1971) WGNO-TV (1971-1988) |
| Former affiliations | independent (1967-1995) The WB (1995-1996) |
| Transmitter Power | 3140 kW (analog) 800 kW (digital) |
| Height | 309 m (analog) 132 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 72119 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | www.abc26.com |
WGNO, "ABC 26" is the ABC affiliate for the greater New Orleans, Louisiana area, as well parts of southern and coastal Mississippi. It broadcasts on analog channel 26, and is owned by Tribune Broadcasting. The station offers ABC programming along with syndicated programming and local news. Its transmitter is located in New Orleans.
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[edit] History
The station signed on in October 1967 as WWOM-TV (The Wonderful World Of Movies). It was the first independent station in Louisiana, as well as the first new commercial station to sign on in the city since WWL-TV signed on in 1957. It programmed as a general entertainment station, with an emphasis on old movies and cartoons. It was owned by David Wagenvoord until its sale to Communications Corp. of the South in 1971, and its call letters were changed to the current WGNO.
The station was sold to Seymour Smith and family in 1976. It continued to program a general entertainment format with cartoons, vintage sitcoms, older movies, and religious shows. The station was purchased by Glendive Media in 1978.
Tribune Broadcasting bought the station in 1983. With the slogan "New Orleans Style," the station continued to grow, and as other competitors signed on, WGNO remained the leading independent station in the market. It turned down the Fox affiliation in 1986 (which then went to WNOL). After 28 years, WGNO finally ceased to be an independent station in January 1995 when it affiliated with the new WB Network (which Tribune owned an interest in-so in a way WGNO was a WB owned and operated station) changing its name to "WB 26".
After WVUE dropped the ABC affiliation to become a Fox station, WGNO became the market's new ABC affiliate on January 1, 1996. The station launched newscasts in the evening and at 10pm in March 1996. The WB affiliation, along with the cartoons and some of the syndicated programming, moved to WNOL channel 38.
WNOL later came under management by Tribune, and WGNO officially became sister station to WNOL after Tribune purchased the latter in 2000, creating a "duopoly" operation in the market. WNOL is the senior partner in the duopoly because of its network affiliate history. In other Tribune duopolies, a Big Four affiliate is usually the senior partner.
In July 2005, the station moved its facilities from the World Trade Center New Orleans to a facility at the New Orleans Centre.
On the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina (August 29, 2007), WGNO began broadcasting from new high-definition-ready studios in the Galleria Center in nearby Metairie. Included in WGNO's new facility are a brand-new news set and weather center. Revamped logos and graphics were introduced, and now the 5:00 pm, 6:00 pm, and 10:00 pm News can be seen in High Definition.
The station is unique for having its own bounty hunter, Tat-2, as part of its "Wheel of Justice" sweeps series. [1], [2]
[edit] Hurricane Katrina
As Hurricane Katrina approached in August 2005, WGNO's operations were moved to fellow ABC affiliate WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge.
For a time after Hurricane Katrina hit, nightly newscasts were broadcast from various locations throughout the New Orleans area because the main studio was inaccessible. Temporary facilities (including a makeshift studio and control room) were eventually established in two trailers outside of the Louisiana Superdome, and most of the station's broadcast equipment was purchased from eBay resellers.
In April 2006, WGNO announced that it was temporarily moving its broadcast operations back to the World Trade Centre New Orleans tower. Management at the New Orleans Centre terminated the station's lease when it decided not to reopen the complex -- the station had only moved into the facility a few weeks before Katrina. In February 2007, Tribune announced that rather than move WGNO to WNOL's facility on Canal Street, it would be moving to the Galleria building in nearby Metairie. This would make WGNO the first local station to move outside of New Orleans - station management indicated that they wanted to keep WGNO in New Orleans, but that there wasn't a facility suitable for the purpose.[2] The move to the Galleria was complete and broadcasting began at their new home on August 29, 2007, the second-year anniversary of Katrina.
Hurricane Katrina also destroyed WGNO's analog and digital transmitters. After considering building a new hurricane-hardened building on their existing transmitter site, as well as various alternate sites, WGNO ultimately has decided to lease transmitter and tower space from WDSU at their transmitter site.[3] As of March 1, 2008, WGNO has completed its "post transition" channel 26 DTV transmitter. Since this transmitter operates on the same frequency as their analog transmitter (26) it will not be powered up until their analog transmitter shuts down on or before February 17, 2009, at which time the station will flash cut to digital.[3] In the interim, its digital signal (with full resolution HDTV content) is being carried on a sub-channel of WNOL's digital transmitter on channel 15.
[edit] Former Employees
- Jason Allen - currently with WGCL in Atlanta
- Tom Bagwell - currently at WLAE New Orleans
- Rick Barrett
- Val Bracy - currently at WVUE New Orleans
- Kim Davis - currently at KPRC Houston, Texas
- Yunji de Nies - currently with ABC News
- Mark Deane
- Brooke Erickson - Cox Sports TV
- Brad Giffen -
- Doug Mouton - currently at WWL-TV New Orleans
- Paul Murphy - currently at WWL-TV New Orleans
- Chris Nakamoto - currently at WBRZ Baton Rouge
- Joni Naquin
- Janella Newsome - Associate director of university communications and marketing Dillard University
- Dawn Ostrom - currently doing freelance work
- Jeff Peterson
- Kris Rhodes
- Harry MacCulla
- Susan Roesgen - currently with CNN
- Eric Richey - currently at WVUE
- Mike Russ - currently at WPMI in Mobile, Alabama
- Catherine Shreves - currently Vice President of Public Relations LIFT Productions
- Melinda Spaulding - currently at KRIV Houston
- André Trevigne - currently at WRNO-FM New Orleans
[edit] News Staff
- Larry Delia - General Manager
- Bob Noonan - News Director
Anchors
- Ed Daniels - sports director; weekdays
- Michael Hill - weekdays
- Adam Norris - sports; weekends
- Liz Reyes - weekdays
- Curt Sprang - weekends
Meteorologists
- Hank Allen - weekends
- Mike Janssen - Host Weather Now
- Bruce Katz - chief meteorologist; weekday evenings
Reporters
- Glynn Boyd - Host The 411
- Sheldon Fox
- Lalia Marcos
- Meredith Mendez - North Shore reporter
- Cyndi Nguyen
[edit] External links
- WGNO ABC26 Homepage
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WGNO
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WGNO-TV
[edit] References
- ^ The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says October 16, while the Television and Cable Factbook says October 14.
- ^ New Orleans Times-Picayune/NOLA.com, accessed February 10, 2007
- ^ Federal Register: September 10, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 174)
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