|
|
|
Chronology data should be put on the appropriate chronology page ("Chronology of call letters WXLV") .
|
|
Other material must be reorganized into appropriate categories of articles.
|
WXLV-TV ("ABC 45") is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina that is licensed to Winston-Salem. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 29 (virtual channel 45) from a transmitter located near Randleman along U.S. 220 in Randolph County. Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station is sister to MyNetworkTV affiliate WMYV. The two stations share studios on Myer Lee Drive east of Winston-Salem along I-40. Syndicated programming on WXLV includes: Frasier, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Deal or No Deal, Family Feud, and The Doctors. It was ABC's only affiliate in North Carolina which broadcast on an analog UHF channel. It can be found on channel 7 on most cable systems in the market. WXLV's numeric "45" is similar to that of Sinclair flagship WBFF in Baltimore, Maryland.
| [1] | |
| Winston-Salem / Greensboro / | |
|---|---|
| City of license | Winston-Salem |
| Branding | ABC 45 |
| Channels | Digital: 29 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | ABC |
| Owner | Sinclair Broadcast Group
(WXLV Licensee, LLC) |
| First air date | September 1979 |
| Call letters' meaning | XLV (Roman numeral 45, former analog channel number) |
| Sister station(s) | WMYV |
| Former callsigns | WGNN-TV (1979-1980)
WJTM-TV (1980-1984) WNRW (1984-1995) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog:
45 (UHF, 1979-2009) |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1979-1986) |
| Transmitter power | 990 kW |
| Height | 576 m |
| Facility ID | 414 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 35°52′3″N 79°49′26″W / 35.8675°N 79.82389°W / 35.8675; -79.82389 |
| Website | abc45.com |
[edit] History[]
The station signed on in September 1979 as independent station WGNN-TV. The station was bought by the TVX Broadcast Group in 1980 and changed its call letters to WJTM-TV. Over the years the station ran a general entertainment format consisting of cartoons, movies, sitcoms, and dramas. It changed its call letters to WNRW in 1984 in memory of one of its employees who was murdered in a shooting at the station that year. It became the market's Fox affiliate when the network premiered on October 9, 1986. During its Fox affiliation, WNRW would be known on-air by either "Fox 45" or "TV 45". TVX sold off many of its smaller stations in 1988, including WNRW, which it sold to Act III Broadcasting. Meanwhile, one of channel 45's competitors, WGGT (now WMYV), filed for bankruptcy in the late-1980s and still had not emerged from it by 1991. At that time, Act III bought WGGT's programming which was moved onto WNRW's lineup.
WGGT then began to simulcast WNRW creating a strong combined signal with over 60% overlap. This was known as the "Piedmont Superstation". The simulcast continued after Act III was bought by Abry in 1993. It took on a secondary UPN affiliation when that network debuted on January 16, 1995. In September 1995, when Fox acquired longtime ABC affiliate WGHP, the ABC affiliation went to channels 45 and 48 and all Fox programming (including Fox Kids) went to WGHP. WNRW also changed its calls to the current WXLV-TV. In 1996, Sinclair acquired WXLV through its merger with Abry. It then had Glencairn purchase WGGT from Guilford Broadcasters. The WGGT simulcast of WXLV was discontinued and the two stations entered into a local marketing agreement (LMA) instead with all UPN programming moving to WGGT in 1997 (which resulted in that station receiving the WUPN-TV callsign).
Since the Smith family (founders of Sinclair) owned most of Glencairn's stock, Sinclair effectively had a duopoly in the Triad. A similar situation existed in the Triangle where Sinclair owned WLFL and Glencairn-owned WRDC. Sinclair bought WUPN outright in 2000. In early-2006, some viewers complained about WXLV's high definition signal not being carried on Time Warner cable. However, the station noted that Sinclair's company wide policy is to not allow cable providers to carry their HD signals without compensation. With NASCAR on ESPN broadcasts during the Chase for the Nextel Cup on WXLV, there was a dilemma for the Triad area because it is regarded as the highest-rated NASCAR television market. However, after Sinclair and Time Warner came to a nationwide compensation/retransmission deal in 2007, WXLV-DT and WMYV-DT began to be carried on Time Warner systems.
On February 2, 2009, Sinclair told cable and satellite television providers via e-mail that regardless of the exact mandatory switchover date to digital-only broadcasting, the station would cease airing in analog on February 17.[1] At 11:59 P.M. on that date, WMYV's analog signal switched to "nightlight" service and went dark permanently during the week ending March 13. This move made WMYV and WXLV the first digital-only broadcast stations in the market.
Its analog transmitter was located west of Gap in Stokes County.
[edit] News operation[]
The station opened a news department after becoming an ABC affiliate. At one point, it aired local news weeknights at 6 and 11 as well as on weekends. There were also local weather cut-ins weekday mornings during Good Morning America. At one point, WXLV's sports department produced a local high school sports show known as Friday Night Football. The station was unsuccessful in competing with WFMY-TV, WGHP, and WXII-TV. WXLV ended its weekday morning cut-ins and weekend newscasts in 2000. The news operation and weeknight broadcasts shut down entirely on January 11, 2002. The following year, sister station WUPN began airing a nightly 10 o'clock newscast featuring former WFMY anchor Frank Fraboni as well as national news, weather, and sports from Sinclair's News Central. A newscast on WXLV, known ABC 45 News Late Edition, aired at 11 P.M. from 2004 until 2005 which also featured the News Central format. Both newscasts were pulled by Sinclair due to poor ratings. WXLV and sister station KDNL in St. Louis are the only two ABC affiliates under Sinclair to have no newscasts to this day. News Central still provides WXLV with weather updates and forecasts during Good Morning America on weekday mornings. The segments feature weather anchor Tony Pagnotti and WLOS - Asheville's Julie Wunder.
[edit] On-air staff[]
[edit] Current on-air staff[]
- Eric Gabriel - Entertainment, Sports, and Community
- Julie Wunder - Meteorologist (WLOS-TV Asheville)
- Tony Pagnotti - Meteorologist
[edit] Past on-air staff[]
Anchors
- Sharon Delaney - weeknights at 6 and 11
- Karen Jarvis - weeknights at 6 and 11
- Tom Mustin - weeknights at 6 and 11
- Frank Fraboni - weeknights at 11
- Dia Davidson - weekends and reporter
- Jennifer Block - weekends and reporter
- McCall Pera - weekends and reporter
- Keith Yaskin - weekday mornings and Noon
- Jennifer Gladstone - national news
- now weekday morning anchor at WBFF
- Morris Jones - national news
- now Sinclair Chief National Correspondent
Meteorologists
- Rob Roseman - Chief seen weeknights at 6 and 11
- Vytas Reid - Chief seen weeknights at 11
- now Chief at WBFF
- Chris Runge - weekday mornings
- Tammy O'Neil - weekday mornings
- Chuck Bell
- Kristin Emery
- Megan Glaros
- Elizabeth Hart
- Scott Padgett
- Emily Byrd
- now at WGHP
Sports
- Jim Connors - weeknights
- Bruce Snyder - weeknights
- Jonas Schwartz - Director seen weeknights at 11
- Lee Goldberg - weekends and reporter
- Mark Armstrong - weekends
Reporters
- Jon Leiberman - Washington Bureau Chief
- Mark Hyman - "The Point" segment producer
- Robert Hamilton - producer
- Denise Jackson - producer
- Donald Robinson - general assignment and sports
- Ed McNeal - now Director of Marketing and Communications for Winston-Salem
- Surae Chinn - now reporter at KCTV
- Tanya Rivera - now morning anchor at WFMY
- Brian Davis - now at BB&T Corporate Communications
- Leonard Simpson
- Bridget Lowell
- Jennifer Block
- Angela Starke
- Len Stevens
Photojournalists
- Hoyle Koontz - Chief
- Jon Smith - Assistant Chief
- Steve Vollinger - sports
- Ron Atkins
- Richard Cisney
- Thomas Cormier
- Blanton Allen
- Courtney Davis
- Charles Barchuk
- Jennifer Schnabel
[edit] News/station presentation[]
[edit] Newscast titles[]
- News 45 (1995)
- ABC 45 News (1995–2002)
- ABC 45 Late Edition (11 p.m. newscast; 2004–2005)
[edit] Station slogans[]
- My ABC 45 (2007–present)
- ABC 45, Start Here (2007–present; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
[2] This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.==[edit] References==
- ^ Hearn, Ted (February 2, 2009). "Sinclair Sticks To Feb. 17 Analog Cutoff". Digital Video Report. http://digitalvideoreport.blogspot.com/2009/02/sinclair-sticks-to-feb-17-analog-cutoff.html. Retrieved February 24, 2009.