WOI-TV
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WOI-TV | |
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| Ames-Des Moines, Iowa | |
| Branding | ABC 5 |
| Slogan | Clear. Concise. Complete. |
| Channels | Analog: 5 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | ABC |
| Owner | Citadel Communications Company, Ltd. (Capital Communications Company, Inc.) |
| First air date | February 21, 1950 |
| Call letters’ meaning | reverse spelling of "IOWa" |
| Former channel number(s) | 4 (1950-1952) |
| Former affiliations | Primary: CBS (1950-1955) Secondary: NBC (1950-1954) DuMont (1950-1955) ABC (1950-1955) NET (1952-1959) |
| Transmitter Power | 100 kW (analog) 1000 kW (digital) 8200 watts (after 2009) |
| Height | 564 m (analog) 613 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 8661 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | (analog) (digital) |
| Website | www.woi-tv.com |
WOI-TV is the ABC affiliate licensed to Ames in the Des Moines, Iowa market. Its studios are in West Des Moines. Its transmission tower is located near Alleman.
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[edit] History
WOI-TV signed on the air on February 21, 1950. It was Iowa's second television station, following WOC-TV (now KWQC-TV) in Davenport. WOI-TV was on channel 4 before moving to channel 5 in 1952. Programming came from ABC, CBS, NBC, and the DuMont network during the station's early years, but it was a primary CBS affiliate. NBC disappeared from the schedule when WHO-TV signed on in 1954, and CBS disappeared when KRNT-TV (now KCCI) signed on in 1955, leaving channel 5 as the ABC affiliate.
WOI-TV was originally owned by Iowa State University in Ames along with its noncommercial WOI radio stations (AM 640 and FM 90.1), making it the first commercial television station in the United States to be owned by a major college. As such, it carried some educational programming from sign-on until the Des Moines Public Schools signed on KDPS-TV (channel 11, now KDIN-TV) in 1959.
On March 1, 1994, the Iowa Board of Regents sold WOI-TV to Citadel Communications (unrelated to radio station owner Citadel Broadcasting) while keeping the WOI radio stations, and Capital moved WOI-TV's studios to a temporary location in Des Moines later that year. In 1998 WOI-TV moved to its current studios on Westown Parkway in West Des Moines.
WOI-TV was home to America's longest running local children's program, The Magic Window. The show ran continuously from 1951 through 1994, and was hosted by Betty Lou Varnum for all but three of those years.
WOI has long been in third place in the Des Moines market, in large part because ABC was not on par with CBS and NBC until the 1970s.
On September 11, 2006, WOI dropped the Eyewitness News brand (which the station only used for five years) and rebranded themselves as "ABC5", using a rendition of the circle logo.
[edit] Personalities and programming
Current personalities on WOI-TV's ABC5 News broadcasts (as of June 2008) include:
Anchors
- Chris Flanagan- 5, 6 & Ten at 10 M-F
- Stephanie Angleson- Mornings & Midday M-F
- Bobbi Bergman- Weekend Anchor & Weekday Reporter
ESP:Live Weather
- Brad Edwards- Chief Meteorologist
- Sara Kelley- Morning & Midday Meteorologist
- Chris Maiers- Weekend Meteorologist
Sports
- John Walters- Sports Director, M-F 6 & Ten at 10
- Eric Murphy- Weekend Sports Anchor
- Dave Zawilinski- Sports Reporter
Reporters
- Elizabeth Erwin
- Sarah Danik
- Sloane Heller
- Amanda Krenz
- Hillary Mintz
- Christina Palladino
- James A. Swierzbin
- Jay Villwock
Former Personalities & Employees
- Ashton Altieri- Morning Meteorologist (now with KUSA in Denver, CO)
- Brian Armentrout- News Reporter (now a reporter with WCFT in Birmingham, AL)
- Ed Beebout- News Anchor/Reporter (now with KFTY in Santa Rosa, CA)
- Joy Benedict- News Anchor/Reporter (now with WEWS in Cleveland, OH)
- Lynsay Clutter- News Reporter (now with WTHR in Indianapolis, IN)
- Kristen Cullen- News Reporter (now with WCSH in Portland, ME)
- Katie Janssen- News Reporter (now a morning anchor/reporter with KELO in Sioux Falls, SD)
- Sonya Heitshusen - News Anchor/Reporter (now a reporter/anchor with WHO-TV in Des Moines)
- Erin Little- Morning Metorologist (now with KDVR in Denver, CO)
- Zubin Mehenti- Weekend Sports Anchor (now with KWGN in Denver, CO)
- Chris Mycoskie- News Reporter (now a sports anchor with WGMB and WVLA in Baton Rouge, LA)
- Carrie Netherton- News Reporter (now with KOKI in Tulsa, OK)
- Tina Potthoff- Morning Anchor (now a public relations spokesperson for the Iowa Lottery)
- Metinka Slater- Morning Meteorologist (now Weekend Morning Meteorologist with KCCI in Des Moines)
- Sunny Layne- Reporter (now a morning anchor with KWWL-TV in Waterloo)
In addition to ABC programming, WOI-TV airs syndicated programs such as Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, Martha, Judge Judy, and reruns of ER and 24. The station also airs Iowa State University football and basketball games. WOI-TV does not carry ABC World News Now, instead the station signs off each night; one of the few remaining stations in the country to do so.
[edit] Transmission aerials
The WOI-Tower (also called NYT Broadcast Holdings Tower) is a 609.6 meter (2,000 feet) high guy-wired mast located in Alleman, Iowa, north of the Des Moines urban area, at . It carries not only the signals of television stations WOI-TV (channel 5), but also WHO-TV (channel 13), and KDIN (channel 11) as well as radio station WOI-FM (90.1). The structure is one of the very few masts to have elevators.
The WOI-Tower was completed in 1972 and is property of Local TV, the owner of WHO-TV.
[edit] References
- Stein, Jeff, Making Waves: The People and Places of Iowa Broadcasting (ISBN 0-9718323-1-5). Cedar Rapids, Iowa: WDG Communications, 2004.
[edit] External links
- WOI-TV's website
- WOI-TV historical artifacts from DesMoinesBroadcasting.com
- WOI Television Tower in the Structurae database
- Listing 1043707 in the FCC Antenna Structure Registration database
- http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b7116
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WOI-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WOI-TV
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