WTLV
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| WTLV | |
|---|---|
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| Jacksonville, Florida | |
| Branding | NBC 12 (general) First Coast News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | Your News Leader |
| Channels | Analog: 12 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | NBC NBC Weather Plus (DT2) |
| Owner | Gannett Company, Inc. (Multimedia Holdings Corporation) |
| First air date | September 1, 1957 |
| Call letters’ meaning | TeLeVision or TweLVe |
| Sister station(s) | WJXX |
| Former callsigns | WFGA-TV (1957-1975) |
| Former affiliations | Primary: NBC (1957-1980) ABC (1980-1988) Secondary: ABC (1957-1966) |
| Transmitter Power | 316 kW (analog) 25 kW (digital) |
| Height | 296 m (analog) 310 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 65046 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | www.firstcoastnews.com |
WTLV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Jacksonville, Florida. The station broadcasts an analog signal on VHF channel 12 and a digital signal on VHF channel 13. The station is owned by Gannett as part of a duopoly with the area's ABC affiliate, WJXX. The two stations share studios located on East Adams Street in downtown near Jacksonville Municipal Stadium; its transmitter is located in Kilarney Shores. The station serves all of northeast Florida (more specifically, the First Coast) and southeast Georgia. The station is available on channel 11 on Comcast cable in the Jacksonville area.
WTLV airs NBC Weather Plus on its digital subchannel 12.2. It is also offered on Comcast digital cable channel 201 and via live streaming video on the WTLV and WJXX website. The channel is known on-air as "First Coast News Weather Plus".
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[edit] History
The station began broadcasting on September 1, 1957 as WFGA-TV, an NBC affiliate owned by the Florida-Georgia Television Company. It was the first television station in the United States designed for color broadcasting. Two years later, WFGA donated tower space, money, and transmitting facilities to Jacksonville's PBS affiliate, WJCT.
WFGA-TV was the first television station to air a live launch from Cape Canaveral in the 1960s. The station provided the remote facilities and supplied video and audio for all three major networks. This earned WFGA-TV the exclusive spot for NBC's space coverage.
In 1975, WFGA-TV changed call letters to the current WTLV. Later that year, Harte-Hanks Communications bought the station and began producing the market's first hour-long newscast, branded as Action News; channel 12 began producing Jacksonville's first noon newscast soon after.[1]
On January 1, 1980, WTLV switched its network affiliation with WJKS (now WCWJ) to ABC. That network was number-one at the time. WTLV's ABC Action News launched the city's first morning newscast, Good Morning Jacksonville, in the early 1980s.[1] Some of the first shows featured Pamela Rittenhouse and current First Coast News chief meteorologist Tim Deegan.
Gannett bought WTLV and sister station WFMY-TV in Greensboro from Harte-Hanks in 1988. WTLV then swapped affiliations with WJKS, again returning to NBC in what the network called one of its most successful affiliation switches ever.
WTLV became the official station of the Jacksonville Jaguars (at the time, the NFL's newest franchise) in 1993. As an NBC affiliate, the station broadcasted Jacksonville Jaguars games until 1998. WTLV also broadcasted a weekly television show during football season called Monday Night Live which went on-air at 7 p.m. every Monday and was hosted by Sports Director Dan Hicken and John Jurkovic. In 1998, WJXT became the new home of Jacksonville Jaguars football until WTEV became Jacksonville's new CBS affiliate in 2002.
Gannett later acquired WJXX, the area's current ABC affiliate, from Allbritton Communications in late-1999. As part of this purchase, the company moved WJXX into WTLV's facilities and combined the news personnel of both stations. This created First Coast News which airs on both stations today. Most of the news personnel are veterans of WTLV, however.
First Coast News adopted the "Global Village" theme by Stephen Arnold Music in 2000, shortly after acquiring WJXX (the package used before then was "The NBC Collection"). This package stayed until December 2006, when the station switched to "Seize The Day" by 615 Music.[2] Earlier that very year, First Coast News renovated its studios and changed their graphics after long-time anchor Alan Gionet departed.
On September 10, 2007, First Coast News stopped simulcasting the 5 and 5:30 p.m. weekday broadcasts on WJXX. The Ellen DeGeneres Show replaced the broadcasts at 5 p.m. on WJXX instead. Since NBC's Today expanded to four hours, the station moved Live with Regis and Kelly, which had previously aired at 10 a.m. on WTLV, to WJXX at 9 a.m. Divorce Court was also moved from WJXX (where it had aired at Noon) to 2 p.m. on WTLV. Joy Purdy (who previosly worked at WFOR-TV, the CBS affiliate in Miami) also debuted as the new anchor of First Coast News at 7.
On October 29, 2007, First Coast News once again debuted new graphics in time for the November sweeps. Along with new graphics, Donna Hicken officially identified herself on-air as Donna Deegan. The NBC 12 logo also had changed for the first time since the 1980s.
On May 15, 2008, First Coast News released an email to all subscribers about their website set to debut on May 21. It was announced by Online Manager Linda Mock that the new site was to have a new forum system known as 'Pluck' and would require everyone to sign up, unlike their existing system 'Topix'. A new banner that will change with the weather conditions replaced the old banner that showed the current on-air anchors. Also started was ads for every newscast at the top of the screen, that cycles through with previous ads. The new website was also announced via a breaking news alert at the top of the existing website. [3]
On May 21, 2008, as expected, First Coast News debuted its new website.[4]
[edit] Digital Television
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:
Digital channels
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 12.1 / 13.1 | Main WTLV programming / NBC HD |
| 12.2 / 13.2 | NBC Weather Plus |
[edit] News operation
WTLV's newscasts, which were known as 12 News until the merger with WJXX in 1999, have always had tough competition with rival station WJXT in the ratings. As a CBS affiliate, WJXT had a strong lead in the number of households viewing its newscasts.[5] However, once WTLV and WJXX merged together, the gap slowly closed to create tough competition in the Jacksonville market.[6][7][8] In the May 2007 Nielsen Ratings, WTLV and WJXX had a powerful lead. They won the weekday morning, noon, 5:30, 6, and 11 p.m. slots. During the 11 p.m. slot, more people watched WTLV and WJXX than any other local station combined. The 5 p.m. slot went to WJXT because of the powerful lead-in, The Oprah Winfrey Show.
However, six months later during the November 2007 Nielsen Ratings, WTLV and WJXX only won the weekday morning, noon, and 11 p.m. news slot. The 5, 5:30, and 6 p.m. slots went to WJXT. This was partly due to the cancellation of simulcasting First Coast News at 5 and First Coast News at 5:30 on WJXX, as well as a complete programming reconfiguration.
The May 2008 Nielsen Ratings did not bring the former glory First Coast News had seen before. The weekday morning, noon, 5, 5:30, and 6 p.m. slots went to WJXT, making it the number-one station in the Jacksonville market. WTLV and WJXX won only won slot: 11 p.m. First Coast News remains the second-most-watched television news organization in Jacksonville, behind WJXT but ahead of both WAWS and WTEV-TV.
The second half-hour of Good Morning Jacksonville Sunrise, Good Morning Jacksonville, First Coast News at 6, and First Coast News at 11 are simulcasted on WJXX. WTLV's exclusive newscasts are the first half-hour of Good Morning Jacksonville Sunrise, First Coast News at Noon, First Coast News at 5, First Coast News at 5:30, and Good Morning Jacksonville Saturday. WTLV airs First Coast News at 6 Weekend at 6 p.m. while WJXX airs another edition of it at 6:30 p.m.. The same occurs on Sundays. WJXX is the only television station in Jacksonville to have a weeknight 7 p.m. newscast known as First Coast News at 7 and airs Good Morning Jacksonville Sunday as well.
In addition to their main studios, WTLV and WJXX operate a "Southern Bureau" that covers St. Johns, Clay, and Putnam Counties.
WTLV and WJXX operate their own weather radar. Known as "First Coast Doppler 2 Track", it is located next to WTLV's transmitter. They also broadcast another radar during weather segments that is provided from the same company that produces the WTLV and WJXX weather graphics.
[edit] Personalities
[edit] Anchors
- Ken Amaro - "on your side" anchor (also investigative reporter)
- Phil Amato - weekday mornings and 5:30 p.m. (also business reporter)
- Victor Blackwell - weekend mornings and evenings (also reporter)
- Jeannie Blaylock - weeknights at 5 and 6 p.m. (also health reporter)
- Ashley Coleman - Sunday mornings on WJXX (also reporter)
- Patricia Crosby - weekday mornings (also weekday morning producer)
- Donna Deegan - weeknights at 5:30 and 11 p.m.
- Deanna Fené - weeknights at 7 p.m. (on WJXX) <also general assignment and medical reporter>
- Shannon Ogden - weeknights at 5, 6, and 11 p.m.
- Joy Purdy - weeknights at 7 p.m. (on WJXX) <also reporter>
- Angela Spears - weekdays at Noon (also weekday morning reporter)
- Lindy Thackston - Saturday mornings (also weeknight reporter)
Weather:
- Mark Collins (CBM certified) - weeknights at 7 p.m. on WJXX
- Tim Deegan (AMS certified) - chief meteorologist/weekday evenings
- Steve Smith - weekday mornings and Noon
- Dave Vanore - weekends
Sports:
- Pete Cataldo - sports reporter/weekends (also seen on "First Coast News Sports Final")
- Chad Cushnir - photojournalist (also "Cush Cam" segment reporter during "First Coast News Sports Final")
- Dan Hicken - sports director/weeknights at 6, 7 (on WJXX), and 11 p.m. (also co-host of "First Coast News Sports Final")
- Jeff Prosser - assistant sports director (also co-host of "First Coast News Sports Final")
[edit] Reporters
- Jackelyn Barnard - chief investigative reporter
- Ronnie Belton - Money Manager seen Monday mornings
- Jessica Clark - "Southern Bureau" reporter (also fill-in anchor)
- Julia Crowley - trend reporter
- Ryan Duffy
- Mike Kaminski - photojournalist
- Grayson Kamm (also fill-in anchor)
- Doug Lockwood - photojournalist
- Kyle Meenan (also fill-in anchor)
- Kristin Smith
- Chef Robert Tulko - seen during food segments on weekday and Saturday mornings
- Roger Weeder - education reporter
- Angela Williams
[edit] Notable alumni
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[edit] News/Station Presentation
[edit] Newscast titles
- The News on 12 (1957-1972, 1986-1993)
- TeLeVision 12 News (1972-1975)
- Action News (1975-1986)
- 12 News (1993-2000)
- First Coast News (2000-present) With WJXX
[edit] Newscast Music
- The NBC Collection, Gari Communications (1996-2000)
- Global Village, Stephen Arnold Music (2000-2006) With WJXX
- Seize The Day, 615 Music (2006-Present) With WJXX
[edit] References
- ^ a b GMJ: The City's First Morning Newscast. First Coast News. Retrieved on 2007-10-29.
- ^ News Music Search Archive. SouthernMedia. Retrieved on 2007-10-29.
- ^ ONLINE EXTRA: Preview the all-new firstcoastnews.com. First Coast News. Retrieved on 2008-05-15.
- ^ Firstcoastnews.com. First Coast News. Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
- ^ Channel 4 beats 12 in May 1996 Nielsens. The Jacksonville Business Journal. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
- ^ Nielsen ratings show WTLV gain. The Jacksonville Business Journal. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
- ^ Verdict's still out on WJXT's move. The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
- ^ TV news in transition. The Jacksonville Business Journal. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
[edit] External links
- Station Website (shared with WJXX)
- First Coast News Wireless
- WTLV and WJXX History
- Photos of WTLV's/WJXX's news set
- Aeriel view of WTLV transmitter from Wikimapia
- WFGA-TV Original Sign-On
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WTLV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WTLV-TV
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