WJLA-TV
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| WJLA-TV | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Washington, D.C. | |
| Branding | ABC 7 (general) ABC 7 News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | On Your Side |
| Channels | Analog: 7 (VHF) |
| Subchannels | 7.1 ABC 7.2 Weather Now 7.3 RTN |
| Translators | WWTD-LP Analog: 49 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | American Broadcasting Company |
| Owner | Allbritton Communications Company (ACC Licensee, Inc.) |
| First air date | October 3, 1947 |
| Call letters’ meaning | Joe L. Allbritton (owner of the station) |
| Former callsigns | WTVW (1947) WMAL-TV (1947-1977) |
| Former affiliations | CBS (1947-1949, secondary from 1948) |
| Transmitter Power | 316 kW (analog) 1000 kW (digital) |
| Height | 235 m (analog) 254 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 1051 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | 38°57′1.2″N 77°4′45.5″W / 38.950333°N 77.079306°W |
| Website | www.wjla.com |
WJLA-TV, channel 7, is the ABC television affiliate in Washington, D.C.. It is the flagship station of the Allbritton Communications Company, which also operates local cable station News Channel 8. The two stations share broadcast facilities in the Rosslyn section of Arlington, Virginia. WJLA-TV shares a tower with WUSA in the Tenleytown section of Washington.
In late October 2008, WJLA began simulcasting on WWTD-LP, a local low-powered station whose transmitter is co-located on Nebraska Avenue with WRC-TV. This simulcast is expected to continue past the June 2009 DTV transition; because WWTD-LP is not required to switch on a digital signal, it will start functioning as an analog relay of WJLA.
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[edit] History
The District of Columbia's second television station began broadcasting on October 3, 1947 as WTVW, owned by the Washington Star along with WMAL radio (630 AM and 107.3 FM, now WRQX). It was the first Band III VHF station (channels 7-13) in the United States. A few months later, the station renamed itself WMAL-TV after its radio sisters.
WMAL radio had been an affiliate of the NBC Blue Network since 1933, and remained with the network after it was spun-off by NBC and evolved into ABC. However, channel 7 started as a CBS station since ABC hadn't gotten into television yet. When ABC launched its television network in 1948, WMAL-TV became ABC's third primary affiliate. It continued to carry some CBS programming until WOIC-TV (later WTOP-TV and now WUSA) signed on in 1949. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.[1]
In 1976, Texas businessman Joe L. Allbritton, the owner of Washington-based Riggs Bank, purchased the Star along with the WMAL stations. As a condition of the purchase, Allbritton had to break up the newspaper/broadcast combination, which the Federal Communications Commission was seeking to prohibit under its "one-to-a market" rule. WMAL-TV was separated first from its radio sisters when ABC purchased WMAL-AM-FM in March 1977. Upon the radio transfer, channel 7 changed its call letters to the current WJLA-TV, after Allbritton's initials. Allbritton then sold the Star to Time, Inc. in February 1978.
Rumors abounded from the mid-1990s onward that ABC might buy WJLA-TV, thus reuniting it with its former radio sisters. However, ABC sold most of its radio properties, including WMAL and WRQX, to Citadel Broadcasting Corporation in June 2007. Even so, WJLA is still an ABC affiliate to this day under Allbritton because the company has an exclusive affiliation deal with the network. After WJZ-TV in Baltimore switched to CBS in 1995, WJLA became ABC's longest-tenured affiliate.
In December 2007, WJLA began simulcasting WTOP-FM on its "Weather Now" digital sub-channel.
WJLA became the second television station in Washington (behind CBS affiliate WUSA) to broadcast newscasts in high definition, beginning on December 8, 2008. The newscast has new graphics & made minor changes to the news desk for better viewing quality with high definition.
[edit] Ratings
Prior to 2001, WJLA's newscasts had long rated third in the market, behind WUSA and NBC-owned WRC-TV.
The station scored a major coup in 1999, when it hired Maureen Bunyan, former longtime anchorwoman at WUSA. In 2003, Leon Harris, formerly of CNN, joined the station as an anchor. In 2004, WJLA hired Bunyan's former anchor desk partner, Gordon Peterson; they have since been reunited for the 6:00 p.m. news.
These personnel moves, combined with WUSA's recent troubles, have led to a resurgence in the ratings, and it currently leads at 5:00 p.m. It currently has the largest news team in the Washington area. As the flagship station of the Allbritton chain, WJLA provides national news headlines for other Allbritton-owned stations.
[edit] Shows
WJLA airs Clean Skies Sunday, a program on energy issues produced by the American Clean Skies Foundation[2], a non-profit run by natural-gas billionaire Aubrey McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy.[3]
[edit] Logos and idents
Since 1970, WMAL-TV/WJLA has used a variation of the Circle 7 logo, which has long been associated with ABC affiliates. From 1970 to 2001, WMAL/WJLA used its own version of the logo, with the "7" modified to accommodate the circle. This version was probably the longest continuously used numeric logo in Washington's television history. The only real modification came in 1998, after it began calling itself ABC 7 on-air and added the ABC logo to the left. In 2001, WJLA adopted the standard version of the Circle 7 logo, re-fueling speculation that ABC would buy the station. Ironically, WJLA-TV is the largest ABC affiliate to use the Circle 7 that is not an ABC owned-and-operated station. In addition, sister station KATV in Little Rock, Arkansas has used the standard Circle 7 since the 1960s, longer than all WJLA versions combined.
[edit] Digital television
In 2009, WJLA-TV will return its digital broadcasts to its analog channel number, 7.
| Digital Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 7.1 | Main WJLA-TV programming / ABC HD |
| 7.2 | Doug Hill's Weather Now |
| 7.3 | Retro Television Network |
WJLA operates two digital subchannels: Doug Hill's Weather Now, which shows weather radar and carries a simulcast of WTOP-FM, and the Retro Television Network, as "RTN on ABC7". RTN7 replaced "Local Point TV" at 10:00am on July 28th, 2008.[4] Both subchannels are carried locally by Comcast and Verizon FiOS.
Local Point TV was a local version of current.tv, featuring short five minute video segments created by area residents. Abby Fenton, the station's Director of Community Relations said in an interview with Broadcasting & Cable that "the station likes the Local Point programming and is pondering where else it might fit".[5]
In late October 2008, WJLA began simulcasting on local low-powered station WWTD-LP; the station is expected to continue broadcasting an analog feed of WJLA after the digital transition.
[edit] On-air personalities
On January 23, 2009, WJLA laid off 26 staff members, including several on-air reporters due to financial constraints. The laid off reporters include: Andrea McCarren, Sarah Lee, Alisa Parenti, Emily Schmidt, Jennefer Donelan and weekend sports anchor Greg Toland. Most of the dismissals will take effect immediately, but some will be allowed to serve out their contracts. WJLA also announced a 3.9% salary cut for all remaining staff and a halt to company contributions to 401(k) retirement plans.[6]
[edit] Anchors
- Leon Harris - Weeknights 5 and 11 p.m.
- Maureen Bunyan - Weeknights 6 and 11 p.m.
- Gordon Peterson - Weeknights 6 p.m. and "Inside Washington" Host
- Alison Starling - Good Morning Washington and Noon
- Doug McKelway - Good Morning Washington and Noon
- Cynné Simpson - Weekend Evenings
[edit] Reporters
- Natasha Barrett - General Assignment Reporter
- Brad Bell - Prince George's County Bureau Chief
- Matt Brock - General Assignment Reporter
- Pamela Brown - General Assignment Reporter
- Mike "Buck" Buchanan - Commentary
- Arch Campbell - Entertainment Reporter
- Brianne Carter - Community Reporter (News Channel 8)
- Mike Conneen - Community Reporter (News Channel 8)
- Rebecca Cooper - National Correspondent
- Jennifer Donelan - General Assignment Reporter
- Sam Ford - DC Bureau Chief
- John Gonzalez - General Assignment Reporter
- Horace Holmes - Fill-In Anchor/Choose to Save Reporter
- Suzanne Kennedy - General Assignment Reporter
- Greta Kreuz - Montgomery County Bureau Chief
- Jay Korff - General Assignment Reporter
- Caroline Lyders - Reporter/Fill-In Anchor
- Ross McLaughlin - 7 On Your Side Investigator
- Kathy Park - Community Reporter (News Channel 8)
- Julie Parker - General Assignment Reporter
- Gail Pennybacker - Fairfax County Bureau Chief
- Emily Schmidt - General Assignment Reporter
- Philip Stewart - Community Reporter (News Channel 8)
- Scott Thuman - General Assignment Reporter
- Stephen Tschida - General Assignment Reporter
- Kris Van Cleave - General Assignment Reporter
[edit] Weather
- Doug Hill - Chief Meteorologist (AMS Certified)
- Brian van de Graaff - Morning Meteorologist (AMS Certified)
- Steve Rudin - Weekend Evening Meteorologist (NWA Certified)
- Adam Caskey - "Neighborhood Weather"/Fill-In Morning Meteorologist
- Chris Naille - Radio Meteorologist/Fill-In ABC7/NewsChannel 8 (AMS Certified)
- Dave Zahran - Weekend Morning Weatherman
- All Meteorologists are heard on WTOP Radio in Washington, DC.
[edit] Sports
- Tim Brant - WJLA-TV Weeknight Sports Anchor/Sports Director
- Gregg Mace - Fill-in WJLA-TV Weekend Sports Anchor/Reporter
- Gregg Mace primarily works at sister station WHTM-TV as their Sports Director
[edit] Traffic
- Lisa Baden - Morning Traffic Reporter
- Rich Hunter - Evening Traffic Reporter
- Jim Russ - Fill-In Morning Traffic Reporter
[edit] WJLA alumni
- Donald Allen - Anchor/Reporter (1969-1974, deceased)
- Louis Allen - Chief Meteorologist (1955-1974), deceased). (Was the first meteorologist to appear on television.)
- Lauren Ashburn - Reporter/Anchor (1996-2000, now at USA Today Live)
- Gary Axelson - Reporter (1972-1984)
- Jim Berry - Sports Anchor/Reporter (1981-1988, now at WFOR-TV in Miami)[7]
- Paul Berry - Anchor/Reporter (1971-1999, now in public relations)[8]
- Rea Blakey - Health Reporter (1988-2001, recently at CNN, now with Discovery Health Channel)
- James Brown - Sports Reporter (1984, now at CBS Sports)[9]
- Mike "Buck" Buchanan - General Assignment Reporter (2004-2006, now at WTOP radio; father of WUSA reporter Doug Buchanan; has been seen doing opinion reports on WJLA.)
- Jack Bowden - Reporter/Anchor - MD Bureau Chief 1990-1998 (retired)
- Mike Cairns - Sports Reporter/Anchor (1992-2000, now a sports announcer for Cleveland State University in Cleveland)
- Jim Clarke - Special Correspondent (1964-2003, retired)
- Jack Conaty - National Correspondent (1980-1986, now at WFLD-TV in Chicago)[10]
- Carol Costello - Morning Anchor (1996-2001, now appears on CNN's Situation Room)[11]
- Nancy Cordes - Reporter (1999-2003, now CBS News Congressional Correspondent and Transportation and Consumer Safety Correspondent )[12]
- Kelly Cresswell - Community Reporter (News Channel 8)
- Chris Curle Farmer - Anchor/Reporter (1977-1980, retired in Florida)
- Elliott Francis - Weekend Anchor/Reporter (1997-2007)
- Charles Gibson, Anchor/Reporter (1970-1973, now an anchor for ABC's World News with Charles Gibson)[13]
- Jeff Gilbert - Meteorologist (1991-2001)
- Chris Gordon - Anchor/Reporter (1980-1983, now at WRC-TV in Washington, DC)[14]
- Jason Gough - Meteorologist (now at WNYT in Albany, New York)[15]
- Mike Hambrick - Co-anchor (1992-1995, now with the National Association of Manufacturers)
- Delores Handy - Anchor (1976-1978, Now at WBUR Boston)
- Jim Harriott - Anchor (1989-1990, deceased)
- John Harter - Reporter (1974-2006, retired)
- Dan Henry - Meteorologist (1997-2002, now at KDFW-TV in Dallas)[16]
- Frank Herzog - Sports Director/Reporter (1983-1992, now at WTOP Radio)[17]
- Don Hudson - Morning Anchor (?-2003, now at WTVQ)[18]
- Kerri Kazarba - Anchor/Reporter (1993-1994, now at KCPQ-TV in Seattle)
- Dennis Ketterer - Meteorologist (1988-1995, now at WBOC-TV in Salisbury, Maryland)[19]
- Susan King - Anchor/"Cover Story" Reporter (1987-1997)
- Christianne Klein, Weekend Anchor/Reporter (2005-2006, now an anchor and correspondent for ABC News)
- Rene Knott - Sports Director (1992-2003, now at KSDK-TV in St. Louis)
- Sarah Lee - Morning Reporter
- Dan Lewis - Anchor (1981-1987, now at KOMO-TV in Seattle)[20]
- Josh Mankiewicz - Reporter (1980-1982, now at NBC News)
- Elizabeth Manresa - Consumer Reporter (2001-2004, now at CNN Newsource)
- Kathleen Matthews - 5 p.m. Anchor/Capitol Sunday Co-Host/Reporter (1982-2006, wife of MSNBC's Chris Matthews, now works for Marriott Hotels but still an occasional contributor)
- Andrea McCarren - I-Team Reporter
- Lark McCarthy - Anchor/Reporter (1976-1984)
- Derek McGinty - Anchor/Reporter (1998-2000, now at WUSA-TV)[21]
- Chris McKendry - Weekend Sports Anchor (1994-1996; now at ESPN)
- Alisa Parenti - General Assignment Reporter
- Renee Poussaint - Anchor/Reporter (1978-1992)
- Gary Reals - General Assignment Reporter (1983-1990, now in same position at WUSA-TV)[22]
- Ron Riley - Meteorologist (?-2008, retired)
- Wes Sarginson - Anchor (early 70's through 1975, 1985-1988; now retired)
- David Schoumacher - Anchor (1976-1988; retired)
- Dale Solly - Anchor/Reporter (1988-1993 and 1997-2002, deceased)
- Alexandra Steele - Meterologist (1999-2003; now at the Weather Channel)
- Lori Stokes - Anchor (1992-1996; now at WABC-TV)
- Henry Tenenbaum - Reporter (1987-1990, now at KRON-TV in San Francisco)[23]
- Fred Weiss - Meteorologist (1963-1988; deceased)
- Barry Zevan - Meteorologist (70's; moved to KARE Minneapolis; now retired)
- Joseph McCaffrey-Anchor/Reporter (1959-1973)D
- Joseph McBee-Anchor/Reporter (1960-1969)D
[edit] See also
[edit] News/Station Presentation
[edit] Newscast titles
- The Scene (1974-1978)
- News 7 (1978-2001)
- ABC 7 News (2001-present)
[edit] Newscast slogans
- Where News Can Change the World (1988-1992)
- Your 24 Hour News Source (1992-1999)
- On Your Side (1984-present)
[edit] References
- ^ "Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films", Boxoffice: 13, November 10, 1956, http://issuu.com/boxoffice/docs/boxoffice_111056-1
- ^ http://cenvironment.blogspot.com/2008/06/clean-skies-sunday-energy-environmental.html
- ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS210568+22-Feb-2008+PRN20080222
- ^ WJLA Going Retro with Retro Television Network
- ^ WJLA Washington, D.C. Going Retro
- ^ Tucker, Neely (Jan. 24, 2009). "Citing Economy, WJLA Fires 26 Staffers". Washington Post: p. C1.
- ^ "CBS4 News Team" (in English). WFOR-TV/CBS Television Stations. http://cbs4.com/bios/jim.berry.cbs4.9.375565.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-27.
- ^ "Paul Berry and Associates" (in English). Paul L. Berry & Associates. http://www.paulberry.biz/. Retrieved on 2008-10-27.
- ^ "CBSSports TV - James Brown" (in English). CBS Sports. http://www.sportsline.com/cbssports/team/jbrown. Retrieved on 2008-10-27.
- ^ "Jack Conaty" (in English). WFLD-TV/FOX Television Stations Group. http://www.myfoxchicago.com/myfox/pages/InsideFox/Detail?contentId=386555&version=11&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=5.3.1. Retrieved on 2008-10-27.
- ^ "Anchors & Reporters - Carol Costello" (in English). CNN. http://www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/costello.carol.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-27.
- ^ "Nancy Cordes" (in English). CBS. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/20/utility/main2587211.shtml. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
- ^ "ABC News - Charles Gibson" (in English). American Broadcasting Company. http://abcnews.go.com/WN/News/story?id=1995736. Retrieved on 2008-10-27.
- ^ "NBC Washington - Chris Gordon" (in English). WRC-TV/NBC Washington. http://www.nbcwashington.com/station/newsteam/Chris_Gordon.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-27.
- ^ "Jason Gough" (in English). WNYT-TV. http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S98099.shtml?cat=10265. Retrieved on 2008-10-27.
- ^ "Dan Henry" (in English). KDFW-TV/FOX Television Stations Group. http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/pages/InsideFox/Detail?contentId=5767&version=10&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=5.3.1. Retrieved on 2008-10-27.
- ^ "WTOP Radio - Frank Herzog" (in English). WTOP Radio/Bonneville International. http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=73&sid=844834. Retrieved on 2008-10-27.
- ^ "Don Hudson" (in English). WTVQ-TV. http://www.wtvq.com/news/news-team/23-anchors/71-don-hudson.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-27.
- ^ "WBOC-TV - Dennis Ketterer" (in English). WBOC-TV. http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=2309998&nav=menu222_12_3. Retrieved on 2008-10-27.
- ^ "Dan Lewis" (in English). KOMO-TV. http://www.komonews.com/about/people/fournews/4242061.html. Retrieved on 2008-10-27.
- ^ "WUSA-TV - Derek McGinty" (in English). WUSA-TV/Gannett. http://www.wusa9.com/company/bios/story.aspx?storyid=37263&catid=133. Retrieved on 2008-10-27.
- ^ "WUSA-TV - Gary Reals" (in English). WUSA-TV/Gannett. http://www.wusa9.com/company/bios/story.aspx?storyid=37267&catid=133. Retrieved on 2008-10-27.
- ^ "KRON-TV - Henry Tenenbaum" (in English). KRON-TV/Young Broadcasting. http://www.kron.com/Global/story.asp?S=485033&nav=menu130_7_3. Retrieved on 2008-10-27.
[edit] External links
- WJLA-TV Official Website
- Local Point TV Official Website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WJLA-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WJLA-TV
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