WSVN

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WSVN
Miami / Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Branding WSVN 7
7 News
Slogan The News Station
Channels Analog: 7 (VHF)

Digital: 8 (VHF)
Translators WKIZ-LP 49 Key West
Affiliations Fox
Owner Sunbeam Television
(Sunbeam Television Corporation)
First air date July 29, 1956
Call letters’ meaning We're channel SeVeN
Former callsigns WCKT (1956-1983)
Former affiliations NBC (1956-1988)
Transmitter Power 316 kW (analog)
14.4 kW (digital)
Height 293 m (analog)
291 m (digital)
Facility ID 63840
Transmitter Coordinates 25°57′49.9″N, 80°12′43.6″W
Website wsvn.com

WSVN, channel 7, is the Fox-affiliated television station for South Florida, licensed to Miami. Its transmitter is located in Miramar. Owned by Sunbeam Television, the station has studios on 79th Street Causeway in Miami. Sunbeam also owns NBC affiliate WHDH-TV and CW affiliate WLVI-TV in Boston. WSVN abd WHDH share resources when covering each other's news. WSVN operates a Key West repeater, WKIZ-LP, on channel 49.

Contents

[edit] History

The station began broadcasting on July 29, 1956. It had the call letters WCKT and was a NBC affiliate owned by Biscayne Television Corporation. The station was a partnership of the Cox and Knight publishing families who owned Miami's two major newspapers: The Miami News and The Miami Herald. The same partnership also owned WCKR-AM 610 (now WIOD) and WCKR-FM 97.3 (now WFLC). Before WCKT signed on, NBC had been carried on WFTL-TV in Fort Lauderdale (later known as WGBS-TV after it had been acquired by Storer Broadcasting) along with some DuMont programming. However, WFTL struggled because television sets were not required to have UHF tuning capability. When the Cox / Knight partnership won a construction permit and license for channel 7, NBC quickly agreed to move its affiliation to that channel since WCKR had long been the NBC Radio affiliate in Miami. Channel 23 became an independent and eventually went dark.

[edit] WCKT and Biscayne Television lose license

In 1962, the Cox / Knight partnership was stripped of both of its broadcast licenses due to violations of FCC licensing rules as well as ethics violations. In hearings that began back in June of 1960, it was found that some of the principals of Biscayne Television, as well as some of James M. Cox's personal friends, had made improper contact with FCC Commissioner Richard Mack in order to influence the award of the construction permit and licenses. Biscayne was competing for the license with East Coast Television and South Florida TV. Mack had also been found guilty of taking payoffs and was forced to resign by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, as well as the rest of the FCC commissioners. Biscayne Television originally planned to appeal its license revocation but was advised that it would be turned down due to the gravity of the situation. Mack had also been found guilty of taking payoffs in the licensing process of another Miami station (WPST-TV, now WPLG) to the broadcasting subsidiary of National Airlines. Biscayne then opted to put WCKT on the market. Shortly afterward a new company called Sunbeam Television Corporation bought the station for $3.4 million and assumed ownership on December 19, 1962. Upon the change in ownership, Sunbeam retained the WCKT calls and claimed the Cox/Knight station's history as its own.

Sunbeam Television was a partnership between Edmund N. "Ed" Ansin and his father Sydney. The younger Ansin gained control of Sunbeam Television upon Sydney's death in 1983. He formally assumed control on June 7 of that year and changed the calls to the current WSVN. The WSVN calls were previously used by PBS member station WSBN in Norton, Virginia.

[edit] Sunbeam Television ownership

As an NBC station, WCKT / WSVN aired a newscast in place of whatever NBC aired weekdays at Noon. It also, at some times of the year, preempted shows during the 10 or 11 AM hour (but ran at least one of these hours) and preempted an occasional primetime show. While NBC has traditionally been far less tolerant of pre-emptions than the other networks, it did not mind this at first provided that any programs pre-empted by channel 7 aired on WPTV in West Palm Beach. WPTV's signal provides city-grade coverage of Fort Lauderdale and was available on nearly every cable system in the area. However, in the early 1980s, WPTV fell off a few Miami cable systems to make room for new channels. NBC disliked the fact that much of its programming was getting preempted in the growing Miami market and eventually concluded it needed to have an owned and operated station there.

[edit] Network affiliation switch

NBC got its chance in the late-1980s when CBS affiliate WTVJ, Florida's oldest television station, went on the market. NBC won a bidding war for WTVJ in 1987. WTVJ's affiliation contract with CBS did not run out until the end of 1988, but CBS was willing to let WTVJ out of its affiliation contract a year early. However, Ansin was not willing to let NBC out of its affiliation contract with WSVN, which also ran out at the end of 1988. He wanted to air NBC's strong 1988 lineup, including baseball and the 1988 Summer Olympics. As a result, NBC was forced to run WTVJ as a CBS affiliate for more than a year but all of the NBC shows preempted by WSVN moved to WTVJ. This situation did not sit well with either network. When Ansin made an offer to take the CBS affiliation, CBS turned the offer down almost out of hand. Instead, it bought Miami's original Fox affiliate, WCIX, even though it had an inadequate signal in Broward County.

Finally, on New Year's Day of 1989, NBC formally moved to WTVJ and WSVN quickly snapped up the Fox affiliation from WCIX (now WFOR-TV). WSVN had far fewer programming to pre-empt as a result, as Fox only programmed a few hours each day. WSVN's affiliation with Fox could also be seen as a major coup, as WSVN had been the area's longtime NBC affiliate and Fox was pleased to move its affiliation to a station which had been with a "Big 3" network for years.

[edit] Fox affiliation

WSVN archive betacam newstape at the Florida Moving Image Archive.
WSVN archive betacam newstape at the Florida Moving Image Archive.

Instead of buying a lot of off-network sitcoms and running cartoons, WSVN opted to move to a news intensive format and poured most of its resources into its news department. It began to air a lot of first run syndicated talk shows, court shows, off-network dramas, and 8 hours of news a day. It did run some cartoons on weekends as well. It originally aired Fox Kids programming in 1990 but by 1993 it moved to WDZL (now WSFL-TV). WBFS-TV now airs the current 4Kids TV block which replaced Fox Kids.

Shows on WSVN include Live with Regis and Kelly, Inside Edition, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and Matlock.

In 1994, when New World Communications switched most of its stations' to Fox, the programming on them was very similar in format to WSVN except that their news format may have aimed at an older audience than WSVN. Also, many New World stations passed on Fox Kids just like WSVN.

As a Fox affiliate, the station is branded WSVN 7, rather than Fox 7 under Fox's station standardization rule. (Curiously, sister station WHDH in Boston does brand itself with its network name as 7 NBC.) However, Fox News Channel refers to the station as "Fox 7" when using WSVN's coverage of news from South Florida. Also, the Fox logo occasionally appears in a rolling marquee on the top left hand corner of the website (see link below).

[edit] WSVN today

WSVN tends to run a lot of lower budget first run syndicated shows that other stations pass on. Fox supplies the station with a primetime lineup and plenty of weekend sports. Even though other stations outbid WSVN for the best programming, the station has far higher ratings than WSFL and WBFS and often beats the other network affiliates in ratings. In May of 2006, WSVN was the market's highest-rated English-language station from sign-on to sign-off. [1] WPLG has since surpassed WSVN as the number one English-language station in Miami, though WSVN has remained a strong second.

[edit] News operation

WSVN's news open.
WSVN's news open.

When the station gained Fox affiliation, it began to broadcast in a news intensive format and poured most of its resources into its news department. WSVN was the second Fox affiliate to have a weekday morning newscast and was the first with weeknight 5 and 6 o'clock news. Led by News Director Joel Cheatwood, it airs a format based on the philosophy "if it bleeds, it leads". WSVN's newscasts are heavy on crime stories and flashy graphics. When Ed Ansin bought WHDH-TV in Boston, Cheatwood moved there and adopted a considerably watered-down version of WSVN's format.

The WSVN model would influence what most Fox affiliates would look like in years to come. Despite its reputation as a tabloid station, its newscasts consistently garner high reviews from some media critics. Today, it continues to attract high ratings. It even has a weeknight 11 P.M. news (which began in 1995 as a 15 minute O.J. Simpson murder case wrap-up) in addition to its main 10 o'clock one. The station is often criticized for its sensationalized news reports. In 1994, for instance, nine Florida hotels (all owned or operated by Continental Companies) censored the station from their internal televisions due to WSVN's sensationalized coverage of murders around the greater Miami area. The Continental Companies reasoned that such yellow-journalistic practices would likely hinder the hotels' touristic revenue.

In total, the station airs about 10 hours of news a day. Its reporters of various ethnic backgrounds and sexual orientations displays the diversity of the South Florida community. The station's weather radar is called "Storm Tracker 7". All newscasts, including entertainment show Deco Drive, can be viewed live on WSVN's website.

[edit] News / Station Presentation

[edit] Newscast Titles

  • WCKT-TV News (1956-1962)
  • The World Today / The World Tonight (1962-1973, later used on WTVJ in Miami)
  • TV 7 News (1973-1975, presented on air simply as News)
  • Channel 7 News (1975-1980, 1989-1994)
  • NewsCenter 7 (1980-1989)
  • 7 News (1994-present)

[edit] News music themes

  • The Happening: The Fuzz, Frank De Vol (1968-1970)
  • Cool Hand Luke: The Tar Sequence, Lalo Schifrin (1970-1973)
  • Move Closer to Your World, Al Ham (1973-1975)
  • Berimbau, Stanley Black (1975-1980)
  • The News Image, Tuesday Productions (1980-1984)
  • All the News, TM Productions (1984-1986)
  • On Your Side, Gari Communications (1986-1989)
  • Real News, Killer Tracks (1989-1991)
  • WSVN 1991 Music Package, Chris Crane (1991-1994)
  • WSVN 1994 News Package, Chris Crane (1994-1997)
  • WSVN 1997 News Package, Chris Crane (1997-1998)
  • WSVN 1998 News Package, Chris Crane (1998-2001)
  • WSVN 2001 News Package, Chris Crane (2001-Present)

[edit] News Team

Craig Stevens and Belkys Nerey anchor weeknights at 5, 6, 10, and 11.
Craig Stevens and Belkys Nerey anchor weeknights at 5, 6, 10, and 11.
WSVN's chief meteorologist.
WSVN's chief meteorologist.

Anchors

  • Louis Aguirre - Deco Drive
  • Charles Billi - 7 News at 4:00/4:30/5:30/6:30
  • Reed Cowan - 7 News at 5:00/6:00, 7 News Nightteam (Saturday and Sunday)
  • Christine Cruz - Today in Florida, 7 News at Noon
  • Diana Diaz - Today in Florida, 7 News at Noon
  • Dave Kartunen - Today in Florida (Saturday)
  • Richard Lemus - Today in Florida
  • Lynn Martinez - 7 News at 4:00/4:30/5:30/6:30, Deco Drive
  • Belkys Nerey - 7 News at 5:00/6:00, 7 News Nightteam/11:00
  • Robbin Simmons - 7 News at 5:00/6:00, 7 News Nightteam (Saturday and Sunday)
  • Craig Stevens - 7 News at 5:00/6:00, 7 News Nightteam/11:00

Meteorologists

  • Phil Ferro (AMS Seal of Approval) - Chief
  • Julie Durda - Today in Florida, 7 News at Noon
  • Vivian Gonzalez - Today in Florida (Saturday)
  • Brent Cameron - 7 News at 5:00/6:00, 7 News Nightteam (Saturday and Sunday)

Sports (entire team is seen on Sunday Sports Xtra)

  • Steve Shapiro - 7 News @ 6:00/6:30/7 News Nightteam/11:00
  • Mike DiPasquale - Weekends
  • Donovan Campbell - Sports Reporter

Reporters

  • Carmel Cafiero - Investigative Reporter
  • Howard Finkelstein - Legal Analyst
  • Dianne Fernandez
  • Patrick Fraser - Investigative Reporter
  • Don Guevara
  • Derek Hayward
  • Richard Jordan
  • Nicole Linsalata
  • Rosh Lowe
  • Rene Marsh
  • Q. McCray
  • Vanessa Medina
  • Ellie Rodriguez - Deco Drive
  • Shireen Sandoval - Deco Drive
  • Luanne Sorrell

[edit] Station alumni

[edit] Trivia

  • WSVN has used its own version of the circle 7 logo since the early 1980s. When Sunbeam purchased WHDH in Boston, the WSVN logo was adopted for the new acquisition.
  • WKIZ's calls are a play on the Florida Keys since the translator serves Key West.
  • The opening sequence of the Flight of the Navigator with the dogs catching Frisbees was filmed in a grass field alongside WSVN's studios.
  • WSVN's newscasts were featured in at least two movies -- The Mean Season (1985) and Flight of the Navigator (1986).
  • WSVN's current broadcast license dates back to 1956. The other station involved in the Richard Mack affair, WPST (now WPLG) channel 10, had actually had its license revoked. The owners of WPST were forced to sell the station only after they had to cease broadcasting.
  • Once WPLG moves into new studios in Broward County by 2009, It will be one of three stations based in Miami-Dade County alongside WFOR and WBFS (both owned by CBS).
  • WSVN-TV 1st Used on Channel 47 of Norton, Virginia from 1971 to 1981 and right now it's WSBN-TV (An PBS Member Station.)

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Broadcast television in the South Florida (Miami / Fort Lauderdale / Key West) market (Nielsen DMA #16)
Local stations

WPBT 2 (PBS) - WFOR 4 (CBS) - WTVJ 6 (NBC, WX+ on DT2) - WSVN 7 (Fox) - WPLG 10 (ABC, LATV on DT2) - WLRN 17 (PBS) - WLTV 23 (UNI) - WIMP-CA 25 (HSN) - WBFS 33 (MNTV) - WPXM 35 (ION) - WPMF-LP 38 (Ind) - WSFL 39 (The CW) - WJAN-CA 41 (Ind) - WHFT 45 (TBN) - WFUN-LP 48 (CV) - WSBS-CA 50 (Ind) - WSCV 51 (TEL) - WLMF-LP 53 (SCOLA) - WGEN-LP 55 (Ind) - WEYS-LP 56 (ALMA) - WBEC 63 (Ind/Edu.) - WAMI 69 (TFU)
Digital-only
channels
Local stations
in Key West

Most of these stations either serve Miami proper, or are repeaters of Miami stations.
WGEN 8 (Ind) - WSBS 22 (Ind) - WCAY-LP 34 (tourist) - W38AA 38 / W39AC 39 (CBS) - WGAY-LP 41 (Ind) - W44AC 44 / W58BU 58 (NBC) - W47AC 47 (ABC) - WKIZ-LP 49 (FOX)
Local cable
channels
See also: Broadcast television stations in West Palm Beach and Bahamas
v • d • e
Fox Network Affiliates in the state of Florida
See also: ABC, CBS, CW, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS, Religious, Spanish and Other stations in the state of Florida
v • d • e
Sunbeam Television