WLOS
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WLOS | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Asheville, North Carolina - Greenville / Spartanburg / Anderson, South Carolina |
|
| Branding | ABC 13 News 13 |
| Slogan | Western North Carolina's News Leader |
| Channels | Analog: 13 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | ABC MNTV (on DT2) |
| Owner | Sinclair Broadcast Group (WLOS Licensee, LLC) |
| First air date | September 18, 1954 |
| Call letters’ meaning | Wonderful Land Of Sky |
| Sister station(s) | WMYA-TV |
| Former callsigns | WLOS-TV (1954-1984) |
| Transmitter Power | 178 kW (analog) 1,000 kW (digital) |
| Height | 853 m (analog) 834.7 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 56537 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | wlos.com |
WLOS, channel 13, is the ABC-affiliated television station for western North and South Carolina, licensed to Asheville, North Carolina. Its transmitter is located atop Mount Pisgah. The station is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group and is sister to MyNetworkTV affiliate WMYA-TV. WLOS is carried on channel 13 on most cable providers in the market, however in its hometown of Asheville on Charter systems, it is located on channel 3. WLOS-HD can be seen on Charter digital cable channel 783 as well as being offered over-the-air. The station offers a simulcast of WMYA on its second digital subchannel.
WLOS began broadcasting its digital signal at 834.7 kW on UHF channel 56. This channel is currently on a band of UHF (channels 52 to 69) which will be no longer in use after the February 17, 2009 cutoff date for analog broadcasting. Therefore, it seems likely that WLOS will move its digital signal from channel 56 to channel 13 by February 2009.
Contents |
[edit] History
The station began broadcasting on September 18, 1954. It was owned by the Skyway Broadcasting Company along with WLOS radio (1380 AM, now WKJV). It has always been an ABC affiliate.
Shortly after channel 13 signed on, most of western North Carolina, including Asheville, was collapsed into the Greenville / Spartanburg market. This was due to the station's wide coverage area in South Carolina. WLOS also enjoyed secondary coverage in portions of Tennessee and Virginia and could also be seen in portions of Georgia and Kentucky under the right conditions. Before the mid to late-1960s, no other ABC affiliate put a clear signal into much of this area. The station also had significant viewership in the Charlotte area and is still available on cable in much of the western portion of that market.
WLOS' only ABC competition came from WAIM-TV in Anderson, which also carried a few CBS programs. Unfortunately, the channel 40 signal covered only the immediate Anderson area. From its 1954 debut, WLOS had a strong signal in Greenville, Spartanburg, and Anderson. It pressured ABC to drop its programming from channel 40 from the 1960s onward, finally succeeding in 1979.
Wometco Enterprises bought WLOS in the 1960s and owned it until 1984, when the company was sold to the investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR). WLOS was later sold to Anchor Media, which in turn was later sold to River City Broadcasting. That company merged with the Sinclair Broadcast Group in 1996. Channel 40 in Anderson, now MyNetworkTV affiliate WMYA, is also now operated and effectively owned by Sinclair.
[edit] Cable disputes
On January 5, 2007, Mediacom dropped all Sinclair stations, including WLOS, from its systems because of a dispute over compensation. [1] Mediacom is the cable provider for much of western North Carolina (though not Asheville itself), leaving much of WLOS' viewing area without ABC until the dispute was resolved a month later. Additionally, Charter briefly dropped WLOS-DT because of compensation disputes. [2]
[edit] Programming
Despite being an ABC affiliate, WLOS has pre-empted a fair amount of network programming over the years. The station has been the home of popular syndicated game shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! since 1985. Prior to that, WYFF aired both programs. The station also produced a local children's show called Mr. Bill and Bumbo starring now retired weathermen Bill Norwood and Bob Caldwell, who celebrated his 40th anniversary on the air at WLOS in June of 2006.
WLOS began broadcasting 24 hours a day / 7 days a week in late-2005 / early-2006, having previously signed off on early Saturday mornings from 5 to 6 A.M. after the late movie. It may still put up color bars for a few minutes if the movie ends early but otherwise airs paid programming. WLOS also signed off every night until 1992 with the introduction of ABC News overnight World News Now. Later on, the station signed off late Friday night / early Saturday morning and late Saturday night / early Sunday morning until the early-2000s. According to a particular sign-off clip from 1988, the sign offs back then included the national anthem played by the Madison County High School Band while the color bars afterwards said "Good Morning, 13 WLOS-TV, Asheville, NC". After that, the sign-offs included Sandi Patty's rendition of the national anthem with a video of different people saluting the flag followed by shots of newspaper presses and people voting with ballots. These years used a color version of the Indian-head test pattern and in the center said "13 WLOS Asheville-Greenville-Spartanburg".
Non-network programming that has aired on WLOS includes:
- The Edge of Night
- Fudge
- One Life To Live (early years, replaced with reruns of The Flintstones)
- Ryan's Hope (during the later years of the show)
- ABC Evening News (around the late-1960s to early-1970s, replaced with I Love Lucy reruns)
- All American Girl
- Thunder Alley
- Mike and Maty (replaced by The Jerry Springer Show)
- Full House (some episodes)
- America's Funniest Home Videos (some episodes)
- Dinosaurs (some episodes)
- The Critic (some episodes, replaced with syndicated reruns of Murphy Brown or local programs)
- the first season of The Drew Carey Show (replaced with reruns of Murphy Brown)
- first three seasons of The View (replaced with syndicated talk show Jerry Springer)
- a 2004 airing of Nightline which paid tribute to the soldiers killed in the 2003 invasion and occupation of Iraq (pre-empted on orders from the Sinclair Broadcast Group, seen instead on WHNS)
- A 2004 airing of the movie Saving Private Ryan (also pre-empted on orders from the Sinclair Broadcast Group)
[edit] News operation
WLOS is one of only a few stations owned by Sinclair that airs a nightly newscast. Most of the others were abandoned in 2005 when the company shut down News Central. In addition to their main studios, the station operates three news bureaus. One is located on Verdae Boulevard in Greenville, South Carolina. There are also two bureaus in North Carolina, located in Rutherford and Haywood Counties. On weekdays, WLOS produces two half-hour newscasts on WMYA. This includes one at 6:30 P.M. and another at 10 P.M.
[edit] Newscast history
WLOS's newscasts have been known by the following names. WLOS used the slogan "Count on 13" from 1988 to 1993 and from 1984 to 1988 used a "Turn To" slogan along with Frank Gari's "Turn To News" theme.
- Your Esso Reporter (1953-1957)
- The Night Report (1957-Late 1960s)
- NewsScope (Late 1960s-1970s)
- Your World Today / Tonight (1970s)
- The Carolina's Today / News 75 (or 76) (1975-1976)
- Dateline 13 News (1970s-1980s)
- News 13 (1980s-current)
[edit] News team
Anchors
- Russ Bowen - weeknights at 10
- reporter
- Larry Blunt - weeknights at 5, 6, and 11
- Victoria Dunkle - weekday mornings and Noon
- Frank Fraboni - weekends
- reporter
- Darcel Grimes - weeknights at 6 and 11
- Holly Headrick - weeknights at 10
- reporter
- Jay Siltzer - weekday mornings
- fill-in meteorologist
- health reporter
- Tammy Watford - weeknights at 5, 5:30, and 6:30
- "Never Stop Learning" segment producer
News 13 AccuWeather Meteorologists
- Mike Cuevas (AMS Seal of Approval) - Chief seen on weeknights
- Julie Wunder - weekday Mornings and Noon
- weather reporter
- Karen Wynne (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - weekends
- environmental reporter
Sports
- Adam Kohler - sports reporter
- Edward McDonald - weekends
- sports reporter
- Stan Pamfilis - Director seen on weeknights at 6, 6:30, 10, and 11
Reporters
- Sherrill Barber
- Terrie Foster
- Charu Kumarhia
- John Le
- Kassandra Pride
- Carolyn Ryan
- Courtney Brennan
- Courtney Ward - weekday mornings and Noon
[edit] Past personalities
- Mike Bettes, Chief Meteorologist (now at The Weather Channel)
- Brenda Burch, AM Anchor
- Ken Bostic, Evening Weather Anchor
- Michelle Boudin, Reporter (12/2001-12/2006) (now at WCNC-TV in Charlotte, NC)
- Jason Boyer, Weekend Meteorologist (now at KWGN-TV in Denver, CO)
- Jeremy Butterfield
- Bob Caldwell, Meteorologist (1966-2007) (now retired)
- Bob Child, Meteorologist (now at News 14 Carolina)
- Heather Childers, Weekend Anchor (now at News 14 Carolina)
- Karen Coulon, left in 1991 after being indicted on arson charges (later acquitted). [3]
- Amy Davis, Reporter (now at KPRC-TV in Houston, TX)
- Jenny Dunn, Weekend Sports Anchor/Reporter (now at WFTV in Orlando, FL)
- Monty DuPuy, Meteorologist (came from rival WFBC-TV in the late 1970s, now retired from television)
- Donna Foreman, Weekend Anchor/Reporter
- Jon Greiner, Anchor/Reporter (now at WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh, PA}
- Hoyt Harris, Co-Anchor (now Anchor at KATC-TV in Lafayette, LA)
- Larry Hawley, Sports Anchor
- Charlie Hicks, Sports Anchor/Reporter (1967-68)
- Suzanne Hudson, Anchor/Reporter
- Mike Hydeck, Anchor/Reporter (now with WFSB-TV in Hartford, CT)
- Sherrie Johnson, Reporter (now with WMAR-TV in Baltimore, MD)
- Frank Kracher, Anchor (now at WTVH-TV in Syracuse, NY)
- Candice Little, Weekend Anchor/Reporter (now at Fox Charlotte in Charlotte, NC)
- Bill Norwood, Metorologist (now retired)
- Mimi Paige, Morning Anchor (deceased - killed in automobile collision while on her way to host the morning news show)
- Mark Pompilio, Anchor (now at WKEF-TV in Dayton, OH)
- Deborah Potter, Anchor/Reporter (most recently served as press secretary to former U.S. Congressman Charles H. Taylor)
- Gary Stephenson, Chief Meteorologist/Weekend Meteorologist (now at News 14 Carolina)
- Scott Wickersham, Anchor (now at WSOC-TV in Charlotte, NC)
- Pat Simon now at KSLA 12 in shreveport la
[edit] Logos
 Logo used during the 1990s. |
 Logo used until 2006. |
Current logo. |
[edit] References
- ^ http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct=us/0-0&fp=45a406de0d166546&ei=JXGkRaTANZHwowLInbm7DA&url=http%3A//www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article%3FAID%3D200770106002&cid=1112411522 Asheville Citizen Times
- ^ Sinclair Media Watch
- ^ http://www.mountainx.com/news/2000/0517motive.php Mountain Xpress: Trial by Fire - March 17, 2000.
[edit] External links
- WLOS "ABC 13"
- WMYA-TV/DT "My 40"
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WLOS
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WLOS-TV
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
