WHAS-TV
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| WHAS-TV | |
|---|---|
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| Louisville, Kentucky | |
| Branding | WHAS 11 |
| Slogan | Coverage You Can Count On |
| Channels | Analog: 11 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | ABC (secondary 1950-1961, sole affiliate 1990-present) |
| Owner | Belo Corporation (Belo Kentucky, Inc.) |
| First air date | March 27, 1950 |
| Call letters’ meaning | Sequentially assigned by the federal government to the AM sister station; unofficially means We Have A 'Signal |
| Former channel number(s) | 9 (1950-53) |
| Former affiliations | CBS (1950-1990) |
| Transmitter Power | 135 kW (analog) 1000 kW (digital) 5200 watts (after 2009) |
| Height | 390 m (analog) 370 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 32327 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | www.whas11.com |
WHAS-TV, channel 11, is the ABC affiliated station in Louisville, Kentucky. Owned by Belo Corporation, the station's transmitter is located in Floyd County, Indiana, near the community of Floyds Knobs.
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[edit] History
The station began broadcasting on March 27, 1950 on channel 9 as Kentucky's second television station. It was owned by the Bingham family, publishers of the The Courier-Journal newspaper, along with WHAS-AM, Kentucky's first radio station. The station was a primary CBS affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation. It swapped frequencies with WCPO-TV in Cincinnati on February 7, 1953, moving to its current location on channel 11; it was a rarity for TV stations in two different markets to trade channels with each other. When WLKY-TV signed on in 1961, WHAS-TV became a sole CBS affiliate.
Family patriarch Barry Bingham, Sr. handed over control to his son, Barry, Jr. in 1971. A 15-year family dispute culminated in a decision to split up the family's media holdings. WHAS-TV was sold to the Providence Journal Company in 1986, while WHAS-AM went to Clear Channel Communications and the Courier-Journal went to Gannett. The Journal Company merged with Belo in 1997.
WHAS-TV swapped affiliations with WLKY-TV in 1990 and became an ABC affiliate. This proved to be a terrible mistake, as once-moribund WLKY made significant progress and has become a viable ratings competitor.
[edit] Newscasts
Not surprisingly for a station with roots in a newspaper, WHAS-TV has been an innovator in news coverage. It was the first Kentucky station to use newsreel film. The station annually broadcasts the WHAS Crusade for Children, a highly successful local telethon benefiting children's charities throughout Kentucky and southern Indiana.
In the late 1970s, WHAS-TV displaced long-dominant WAVE-TV and became the news ratings leader in Louisville. It held the lead through the early 21st century, often by a wide margin. While it still leads WAVE and WLKY in most time slots, its dominance is not nearly as absolute as it once was. In recent years, it has lost the 11 p.m. lead to WLKY. In the May 2006 ratings period, WHAS placed 4th at 11:00 behind Sex and the City re-runs on local Fox affiliate WDRB, but by May 2007 it had regained the runner-up spot behind WLKY. [1]
As a CBS affiliate in the 1970s until 1991 its newscasts were titled "Action 11 News." In 1991, their news branding was changed to "Kentuckiana's News Channel, WHAS-11." Most recently in the late 1990s, the station began using "WHAS 11 News" to brand their news product.
On January 2, 2006, WHAS began producing a 10:00pm newscast on WBKI-TV.
[edit] Owners
- 1950-1986: Bingham family
- 1986-1997: Providence Journal Company
- 1997-present: Belo Corporation
[edit] Notable WHAS alumni
- Mort Crim - Later became anchor for KYW-TV Philadelphia and WDIV-TV Detroit, now runs Mort Crim Communications
- Milton Metz, host
- Jeremy Kappell, Now Chief Meteorologist at KSNT in Topeka, Kansas
- Hugh Smith, later became anchor for WTVT in Tampa, Florida; died December 16, 2007
- Stacy Smith, now at KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh
- Ken Schulz, meteorologist from 1978-2008, now spokesman for Humana
[edit] Sports
WHAS-TV originated the first television broadcast of the Kentucky Derby in 1952. When the Derby and the rest of the Triple Crown moved to ABC in 1986 (local affiliate WLKY), Churchill Downs included a provision in the contract requiring ABC to allow WHAS to continue showing the Derby. The provision became moot when WHAS joined ABC several years later. However, after the Triple Crown races moved to NBC in the 1990s, WHAS-TV lost the rights to WAVE, the local NBC affiliate, though in 2006 regained the rights to the Belmont Stakes which has moved back to ABC. WHAS also simulcast the 2006 Breeders' Cup from Churchill Downs that aired on ESPN.
Currently, WHAS is the flagship station for local broadcasts of Louisville Cardinals basketball. Sponsors include Kroger and Louisville Jewish Hospital.
[edit] Slogans
- Hello, Louisville, 11 Loves You (used from 1983-1985)
- Stand Up and Tell them You're From Kentucky (used from 1985-1989)
[edit] Station logos
 WHAS "Circle 11" Logo from 1987 to 2007 |
 Current logo, since April 2007. |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- WHAS 11 Website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WHAS-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WHAS-TV
- WHAS Crusade for Children Website
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