WOIO

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WOIO
Shaker Heights/Cleveland, Ohio
Branding	Cleveland's CBS 19 19 Action News
Slogan	Honest. Fair. Everywhere.
Channels	Analog: 19 (UHF) Digital: 10 (VHF)
Affiliations	CBS "24/7 Weather" (DT2)
Owner	Raycom Media (WOIO License Subsidiary, LLC)
First air date	May 19, 1985
Call letters’ meaning	OhIO
Sister station(s)	WUAB
Former affiliations	Independent (1985-1986) Fox (1986-1994)
Transmitter Power	3700 kW (analog) 3.5 kW (digital)
Height	351 m (analog) 304 m (digital)
Facility ID	39746
Transmitter Coordinates	41°23′13.4″N, 81°41′41.3″W
Website	www.19actionnews.com

WOIO, channel 19, is a CBS-affiliated television station licensed to Shaker Heights, Ohio and serving the Cleveland-Akron, Ohio television market. WOIO is owned by Raycom Media and is sister station to MyNetworkTV affiliate WUAB (channel 43). The two stations share a studio facility in Cleveland and WOIO's transmitter is located in Parma, Ohio.

[edit] History

As a television station, WOIO signed on the air on May 19, 1985. Prior to that time, the call letters were assigned to a radio station in Canton, Ohio, under the frequency of 1060 AM (now WILB). In 1985, the new WOIO TV station was locally owned by Hubert B. Payne, the local sales manager at WKYC-TV (channel 3). He had been the first African-American to hold that position at a network affiliate. Payne sold the station to Malrite Communications later in the year. WOIO aired a typical independent lineup of off-network sitcoms, old movies, off-network drama shows and religious shows. That fall, WOIO added cartoons in the morning and the late afternoon.

By the end of 1985, channel 19 had surpassed WCLQ (channel 61, now WQHS-TV) as the market's second highest-rated independent station, and behind only WUAB. In 1986, WOIO became the market's Fox affiliate after WUAB turned it down. It branded itself as "Fox nineteen" or "WOIO nineteen" with the "nineteen" in cursive handwriting. Soon afterward, it became the over-the-air flagship of the Cleveland Cavaliers, a relationship that continued for eight years. It also appeared on cable systems in the Youngstown market, which had no Fox affiliate of its own until 1998. It still is on cable in that market today.

In 1994, Malrite signed a local marketing agreement (LMA) with WUAB's owner, Cannell Communications and as a result, WOIO and WUAB became sister stations. Both stations moved to a location at downtown Cleveland's Reserve Square. WUAB also became the new over-the-air flagship of the Cavaliers, which it still is to this day.

[edit] CBS affiliation

In September 1994, WJW-TV (channel 8) dropped CBS after 40 years and took over the Fox affiliation as part of a group deal with WJW's parent, New World Communications. CBS briefly wooed ABC affiliate WEWS (channel 5), but WEWS' owner, the E.W. Scripps Company, used WEWS as a bargaining chip (along with WXYZ-TV in Detroit) to sign a long-term deal with ABC. CBS then quickly cut a deal with WOIO. After the switch became official, channel 19 moved its sitcoms and non-Fox cartoons to WUAB.

At first, WOIO had no intention to start a news department. However, CBS informed WOIO that it "preferred" that the station air newscasts. Since there was little time to form a news division, WOIO had LMA partner WUAB (which already produced the Cleveland market's original 10:00 p.m. newscast), produce its newscasts. WOIO began airing briefs during CBS This Morning with Julie Hanahan, WOIO's first news employee, and Betty Haliburton. Early additions to the news staff were Emmett Miller, Denise Dufala (former longtime anchor at WJW); Dave Sweeney, weeknight weather; Jeff Phelps, weeknight sports; Gretchen Carlson and Dave Barker, weekend co-anchors; Ronnie Duncan, weekend sports; Julie Hanahan, weekend weather. WOIO started newscasts at 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. in February 1995. The two WOIO newscasts and the 10:00 p.m. WUAB broadcast became collectively known as Cleveland Television News. Romona Robinson and Jack Marschall remained as anchors for WUAB, maintaining their long history of ratings success at 10:00 p.m. One of the first big stories aired on WOIO was the glasses cam, in which Dave Barker used to enter into a school without being stopped.

However, the affiliation switch caused a major shakeup in the Cleveland market. WJW switched to a more hard-hitting approach after the Oklahoma City bombing, one which turned off many longtime viewers. Also, WUAB's success at 10:00 p.m. didn't transfer to WOIO's new 11:00 newscast. Even Dufala's presence didn't help the cause. It was at this time that WEWS began its seven-year run as the top rated news station in Cleveland. Additionally, with the Fox affiliation, WJW moved its late night newscast to 10:00. This meant that now for the first time, there were two 10:00 newscasts splitting the audience. WJW's newscasts made Cleveland Television News look somewhat amateurish by comparison. WKYC, which had been at the bottom of the Cleveland ratings for almost 30 years, moved to next-to-last place ahead of WOIO.

In 1996, WOIO and WUAB dropped the Cleveland Television News moniker. WOIO began identifying itself as CBS 19 and titled its newscasts CBS 19 News. WJW-TV had been one of the strongest CBS affiliates in the country and WOIO hoped that viewers would associate CBS with a high-quality local newscast. Later that year, WOIO added news at 6:00 a.m. and pre-empted most of the first hour of CBS This Morning with local news. They also added a noon newscast around the same time. Still, WOIO failed to win viewers.

In 1997, WOIO tried a two-woman (Gretchen Carlson and Dufala) anchor team for its 6 and 11:00 newscasts. This has rarely been tried nationally and had never been tried in Cleveland. It failed to catch on, and Carlson left WOIO - only to find success later at the Fox News Channel. Also in 1997, WOIO tried to have their news studio at street level where pedestrians could see the newscasts being taped (similar to what CHUM Limited tried out with its "NewNet" stations in Ontario). This concept for Cleveland did not last long, but today this concept is being used by ABC Good Morning America and NBC Today Show.

In 1999, both WOIO and WUAB rebranded themselves as "Hometeam 19" and "Hometeam 43" respectively. The stations tried to put an emphasis on local coverage and play on the fact that at the time they carried all three major Cleveland sports teams -- Indians and Cavaliers games were carried on WUAB, while the Browns on WOIO by way of CBS' NFL coverage. While both WOIO and WUAB made minor gains during this period, both were still in last place.

[edit] Action News

In the late 1990s, Malrite was bought out by Raycom Media. Raycom wasn't impressed with both WOIO and WUAB's ratings and decided that a major change was needed. In late 2001, Raycom hired controversial station manager Bill Applegate as the GM at WOIO and WUAB. Raycom made this selection because Applegate was known for creating "different" newscasts and quick turnarounds of struggling TV stations to becoming contenders.

In May 2002, Action News debuted, using a theme based on the signature tune of WBBM-TV in Chicago. A popular press format was put into place. The pacing, the look, the style and the language of each newscast took on a dramatically different look and feel.

Soon after, the newscasts' title would officially be changed to 19 Action News, airing on both WOIO and WUAB. Ratings improved almost immediately, especially in late news, where 19 Action News at 11 became the only late newscast to gain viewers an unprecedented four years in a row, as WKYC, WEWS and WJW's late newscasts either remained flat or lost viewers. They added an hour of news at 5:00 p.m. in 2002, joining the newscasts of WEWS and WJW for a three-way competition for second place in the time slot at the time (as WKYC's airing of Dr. Phil at 5:00 had long been in first place until recently).

In June 2004, WOIO launched Cleveland's first 4:00 p.m. newscast with David Wittman and Sharon Reed. In late 2006, Reed was moved to 5pm. The newscast is now anchored by David Wittman and Lynna Lai (wife of noted attorney Phillip C. Kosla) and also features chief meteorologist Jeff Tanchak, sports director Chuck Galeti, and traffic reports with Rick Abell. It debuted in last place, but began to grow steadily and today fights for second place with WJW's Judge Judy, but still trails WEWS' The Oprah Winfrey Show at that hour.

WOIO's 11pm newscast mounted a serious challenge to WKYC that begain in 2004 and ended in November of 2006. While WOIO never won, it came very close a number of times.

The station's theme music is the newest version of CBS Enforcer, a package created for CBS O&O's which orginated at Chicago's WBBM-TV.

WOIO uses a Bell 206 helicopter for traffic coverage and reporting. The helicopter is a black and white color with a red trim. On the helicopter is 19 ACTION NEWS on the sides.

[edit] Body of Art

In November 2004, Cleveland viewers responded to what many say is the most talked about local news story ever.^{[citation needed]} Earlier that year, Spencer Tunick, a photographer known for taking pictures of large groups of naked people, came to Cleveland. WOIO anchor Sharon Reed, regarded by many viewers as attractive, was asked by news director Steve Doerr to participate in the project for a first hand account of the experience. The idea for the story was the brainchild of GM Bill Applegate. Several other media outlets participated in the same way, including the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Cleveland Magazine. The other news stations also covered the event.

WOIO shot video of Reed getting up in the morning, going to the event, getting undressed and finally nude shots of her from behind. The story called "Body of Art" aired in the November sweeps period after being promoted heavily with promos that contained a "viewer discretion advisory".

WOIO insisted that the story was supposed to make viewers question whether Spencer Tunick's body of work is art or "something else". On the night the story aired WOIO received its highest ratings ever. The story also gave Reed and WOIO national attention as she was invited to defend the piece on Fox News and on The Late Show with David Letterman.

[edit] Digital television

After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009, ^[1] WOIO will remain on its current pre-transition channel number, 10. ^[2] However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display WOIO's virtual channel as 19.

[edit] High definition newscasts

WOIO began to broadcast their newscasts in high definition with the station's 6:30pm newscast on October 21, 2007, making the Cleveland market the first in the nation to have all the Big Four affiliates broadcasting news in the format. The 10pm newscast on Channel 43 also broadcasts in HD; that newscast airs in 720p due to that resolution being MyNetworkTV's HD display format, while Action News programs on Channel 19 air in CBS' 1080i format.

The conversion to HD by Channel 19 creates an odd anamoly where WOIO's news and weather cut-ins during The Early Show are in 16:9 HD, but as the Early Show is still currently broadcast in 4:3 SDTV, results in a rare situation where local HD segments are placed in a national SD program.

The station's new set designed for HD was unveiled on January 14, 2008, with the weather center graphics following suit a week later. The blue coloring theme and integration of the CBS eyemark within the graphics resembles that of WCBS-TV in New York, along with the desk and paneling designs. Touchscreens have also been integrated into the set.

[edit] Coverage in Canada

The station is readily available over-the-air to Kingsville, Leamington and Pelee Island in southern Essex County, Ontario and was once listed in the TV Guide edition for those communities (and Windsor, Ontario until 2000 though the station's signal wasn't strong enough to reach Windsor and Detroit). Unlike WKYC-TV, WEWS, and WJW-TV, it was not one of the stations from Cleveland carried on local cable in those three locations. WOIO is available on cable in St. Thomas and was briefly available on the digital tier in London in early 2005.

[edit] Cleveland Browns

WOIO and the Cleveland Browns entered into a television partnership in April 2005. After the Browns contract with WKYC-TV expired, WOIO acquired the rights to air all of pre-season games as well as a pre-season draft show, execlusive training camp reports and a Monday night coach's show.

On July 18, 2006, the Browns announced they were ending their partnership with WOIO. [1] The partnership ended due to controversy over the station's coverage of the drowning of the six-year-old niece of team owner Randy Lerner. On its newscasts, WOIO aired a 9-1-1 recording of Nancy Fisher, Lerner's sister, calling for assistance. Although WOIO was within its legal bounds to air the tape, the Browns thought that it was an unnecessary invasion of the family's privacy.[2]

On August 1, 2006, the Browns and WOIO ended their contract, and two days later, the team announced a new one-year deal with WKYC, which has since been expanded to a three-year deal. [3]

Due to the NFL's contract with CBS, channel 19 will continue to air the majority of Browns' regular season games.

[edit] Local Programming

WOIO presently offers five-and-a-half hours of news each weekday. On Saturdays, there is one hour of news, and there is three hours of news each Sunday. Also, WOIO produces a 10 p.m. newscast on sister-staion WUAB.

[edit] Current Personalities

Anchors

• Denise Dufala - Weeknight Anchor 6 and 11 PM
• David Wittman - Weeknight Anchor 4, 6 and 11 PM
• Paul Joncich - Weekday 5, 10 PM Anchor
• Sharon Reed - Weekday 5, 10 PM Anchor/Entertainment
• Lynna Lai (Kosla)- Weekday 4 PM Anchor/Reporter
• Jeff Eliasoph - Weekday Morning Anchor 5-7 AM and noon
• Tiffani Tucker - Weekday Morning Anchor 5-7 AM and noon
• Harry Boomer - Weekend Morning Anchor/reporter
• Catherine Bosley - Weekend Morning Anchor/reporter
• Danielle Serino - Weekend Anchor/reporter (also consumer reporter)

Weather

• Jeff Tanchak - (Chief Meteorologist/AMS) Weekdays
• Markina Brown - (Meteorologist/AMS and NWA) Weekdays
• Jon Loufman - (Meteorologist/AMS) Mornings and Noon
• Jennifer Harcher - (Meteorologist) Weekends

Sports

• Chuck Galeti - Sports Director
• Tony Zarrella - Weekend Sports Anchor
• Mike Cairns - Fill in Anchor
• Bob Golic - Browns Analyst/Fill in Anchor
• Hanford Dixon - Browns Analyst
• Reggie Langhorne - Browns Analyst

Reporters

• Denise (Strzelczyk) Zarrella (wife of Tony Zarrella)
• Blake Chaneult
• Dawn Kendrick
• Matt Stevens - Senior Correspondent
• Scott Taylor - Investigator, (known for his CLEAN UP! catchphrase during his "Dirty Dining" reports)
• Paul Orlousky
• Carl Monday - Lead Investigator
• Rick Abell - Traffic Helicopter Reporter/Pilot
• Jen Picciano
• Myrt Price
• Nicole Pesceky - Traffic/Transit reporter
• Brian Duffy
• Ed Gallek
• Dan DeRoos
• Shannon O'Brien

Notable Alumni

• Allison Alexander (Now at WLNE)
• Ryan Andrews
• Brett Anthony
• Dave Barker
• Cynthia Barnes
• John Bell (Now Managing Editor at WPXI in Pittsburgh)
• Alicia Booth (Now at WEWS)
• Tiffany Burns (Documentary Producer in Canada)
• Gretchen Carlson(Now at Fox News Channel)
• Amy Castelli (Now running Castelli Media Group in Cleveland)
• Kevin Cokely
• Carey Coleman
• Paul Cox (Now at WVIZ and WCPN)
• Ronnie Duncan
• Steve Doerr (Now GM at WLNE in Providence)
• David Eden (Recently won landmark lawsuit against WOIO and Raycom Media)
• Wendy Gillette (Now a freelance reporter for CBS NewsPath in New York)
• Kim Godwin (Now Senior Producer for CBS News New York)
• Eric Greene
• Julie Hanahan
• Rick Jackson (Now at WVIZ and WCPN)
• Tom Johnson (Now at WOFL)
• Bruce Kalinowski (Now at WKYC)
• Sue Levine (Now in Palm Springs, CA)
• Jack Marschall (Now Communications Director for the city of Parma)
• Monica McNeal
• Tom Meyer (Now at WKYC)
• Emmett Miller (Now at KTLA
• Neki Mohan (Now at WPLG)
• Scott Newell (Now at WKYC)
• Mike O'Mara (Now at WKYC)
• Jeff Phelps
• David Pingalore
• DaVida Plummer
• Joe Ranyak (Now at Sports Time Ohio)
• Stephanie Roberts
• David Rottman
• Scott Shaw
• Kristin Smith
• Jawan Strader (Now at WFOR in Miami)
• Cynthia Tinsley
• Heather Weber
• Bill Younkin
• Cathy Younkin (Now ND in Grand Rapids, MI)
• Jonathan Carter (Now at WVUE in New Orleans)

[edit] Station Presentation

station logo from 1988. The Fox seachlight tower would sometimes substitute "WOIO".	WOIO DX screenshot (composing of station's test pattern)	Second WOIO DX screenshot	logo variant from 1991, from a Fox network ad
print logo from 1995, from a CBS network ad	WOIO CBS logo from 1998	WOIO's 19 Action News logo

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• WOIO Website
• TV ark: WOIO idents
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WOIO
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WOIO-TV
• TV Anchor Info
• [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y0Vy8hXIS8 WOIO sign-on (YouTube.com)