WPVI-TV

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WPVI-TV
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Branding	6ABC/Channel 6 Action News
Slogan	The Delaware Valley's Number 1 News Station
Channels	6 (VHF) analog, 64 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	ABC
Owner	Disney/ABC
Founded	September 13, 1947
Call letters meaning	W Philadelphia VI (6 in roman numerals)
Former callsigns	WFIL-TV (1948-71)
Former affiliations	CBS (1947-48), DuMont (1947-55)
Transmitter Power	74.1 kW/332 m (analog) 500 kW/390 m (digital)
Website	www.6abc.com

WPVI-TV "6ABC" is the owned-and-operated ABC television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, owned by ABC's parent The Walt Disney Company with its transmitter in the Roxborough neighborhood (shared with KYW-TV). Its signal covers the Delaware Valley area including large portions of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

Contents 1 History 1.1 As WFIL-TV 1.2 As WPVI-TV 1.3 Logos and idents 2 Action News 3 Radio 4 Current Anchor Lineups 4.1 Weekdays 4.2 Saturdays 4.3 Sundays 4.4 Reporters 4.5 Past News Personalities 5 Former Entertainment Personalities 6 See also 7 External links

[edit] History

[edit] As WFIL-TV

The station, Philadelphia's second-oldest station (to KYW-TV), signed on the air on September 13, 1947 as WFIL-TV It was owned by the Annenberg family's Triangle Publications, owners of The Philadelphia Inquirer with WFIL radio. WFIL-AM-FM-TV had been an ABC affiliate dating to its days as the NBC Blue Network. Triangle had bought the radio station only two years before and had ambitious plans for the station. A sign of this was when Triangle built the nation's first studio solely dedicated to television broadcasting, on 46th and Market streets. The WFIL stations originally broadcast from the Widener Building in downtown Philadelphia. Triangle later built one of the most advanced broadcast centers in the nation on City Line Avenue, a circular building across from rival WCAU-TV, in 1964. The station still broadcasts from there today, while the original studio was turned over to WHYY-TV.

WFIL was the first station to sign on from the Roxborough neighborhood. It originally used a 600-foot tower, but in 1957 it moved to a new 1100-foot tower co-owned by WRCV-TV (now KYW). The new tower added much of Delaware and the Lehigh Valley to the station's city-grade coverage.

WFIL-TV started out as a CBS station with a secondary DuMont affiliation, as ABC hadn't gotten into television yet. When WCAU-TV signed on in 1948, it naturally took the CBS affiliation as WCAU radio had long been the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia. ABC had launched its television network only a few months before and WFIL became the fledgling network's first affiliate. Ironically, ABC affiliated with WFIL before its flagship station, WJZ-TV in New York City (now WABC-TV) signed on in August. It retained a secondary DuMont affiliation until that network's demise in 1955.

The WFIL stations were the flagship of the growing communications empire of Walter Annenberg's Triangle Publications, Inc. which owned the Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, TV Guide (which it started as a national publication in 1953), Seventeen Magazine, The Morning Telegraph, The Armstrong Daily, Daily Racing Form, ITA Electronics, McMurray Printers in Florida, McMurray Publishing in Canada which published the Canadian version of TV Guide for Triangle, and 16 radio and television stations. Triangle began to divest of its properties in 1969 when The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Daily News were sold to Knight Newspapers (later Knight-Ridder).

[edit] As WPVI-TV

Capital Cities Broadcasting (later Capital Cities Communications) bought a portion of Triangle's broadcasting operations in 1971. Those stations included WFIL AM-FM-TV as well as WNHC AM-FM-TV in New Haven, Connecticut, and KFRE AM-FM-TV in Fresno, California. As a condition of the sale, Capital Cities had to spin-off the radio stations to various other entities (i.e., WFIL-AM to LIN Broadcasting, WFIL-FM to Richer Communications which changed the call letters to WIOQ). WFIL-TV changed its calls to WPVI.

In 1986, ABC and Capital Cities merged, a move that stunned the broadcast industry since ABC was some ten times larger than CapCities at the time. Some have said that CapCities was only able to pull off the deal because of the profits from WPVI, which by this time was one of the most profitable stations in the world. However, the merged company almost had to sell off WPVI-TV due to a significant grade B signal overlap with WABC-TV. In the FCC's view, the merger gave the new company a duopoly forbidden by the regulations of the time. Capital Cities/ABC sought a waiver to keep WPVI, citing CBS' longtime ownership of WCBS-TV in New York and WCAU-TV in Philadelphia. The FCC granted the waiver, making WPVI an ABC owned and operated station. Distinctively, under that transition, WPVI is one of two Capital Cities-owned stations already affiliated with ABC (KTRK in Houston is the other). A decade later, The Walt Disney Company purchased Capital Cities/ABC.

WFIL/WPVI has a rich history of local shows. One included Captain Noah & His Magical Ark. The hit TV show American Bandstand got its start from WFIL's original 46th and Market studio before ABC picked it up. As ABC's first affiliate, it also originated several network shows.

For many years, WFIL/WPVI preempted ABC programming in favor of local shows, even though it was ABC's first affiliate and, until the CapCities-ABC merger, its largest. In 1975, when ABC launched Good Morning America, WPVI preempted it. In 1976, the station preempted the 8 AM hour for Captain Noah (also seen on then-sister WKBW-TV in Buffalo while running the 7 AM hour. It began running Good Morning America in its entirety in 1978. When ABC picked up The Edge of Night in 1975, WPVI also preempted it. WKBS-TV ran the show from 1975 to 1983. By 1978, WPVI was preempting several other ABC daytime shows and WKBS broadcast them as well. When Family Feud moved from 11:30am to noon on June 30, 1980, WPVI continued to carry the show at 11:30am on a one-day delay until it opted to carry Loving upon its premiere in June 1983. Family Feud then moved to WTAF-TV for the summer, until September 1983 when the daytime version was no longer seen in the Philadelphia area. When Channel 48 went dark in 1983, WTAF picked up several more preempted ABC shows. Despite the preemptions, ABC was more than satisfied with WPVI.

Even in the years after WPVI became an ABC O&O, the station preempted an hour of ABC daytime programs in favor of local programs. The NBC affiliate in Atlantic City, WMGM-TV picked up the preempted ABC shows until 1987. They moved to WTAF-TV/WTXF-TV from 1987 to 1996. The shows were usually magazine shows, game shows or reruns of ABC prime time programs from other seasons but were not yet in syndication. In the 1990s, WPVI was down to preempting only half the Home Show which became Mike & Maty.

In 1997, the station began carrying the entire ABC network schedule for the first time ever, at the expense of its own local show AM Philadelphia at 10:00 a.m. In 1997 after ABC cancelled the low rated Caryl & Marilyn: Real Friends, WPVI moved The Rosie O'Donnell Show to 10:00 a.m. and began airing ABC's new talk show The View live at 11:00 a.m. AM Philadelphia moved to 12:05 a.m. following Nightline and was renamed Philly After Midnight. After a few years Philly After Midnight was cancelled.

Today, WPVI carries the entire ABC daytime lineup as well as syndicated programming from Buena Vista (Disney's syndication division) such as Live with Regis & Kelly and Millionare. In fact, its entire daytime lineup, including syndicated shows, is identical to that of WABC-TV. Both stations have already replaced The Tony Danza Show with King World's new talk show from Rachael Ray, that started on Monday, September 18, 2006 at 10:00 a.m.

On January 22, 1987 WPVI became infamous for re-broadcasting in part the suicide of Pennsylvania treasurer Budd Dwyer on its noon Action News broadcast. Dwyer's suicide occurred at a press conference earlier that morning.

[edit] Logos and idents

WFIL-TV logo from 1957 to 1963	WPVI-TV ident from 1971 to 1981 (version 1).	WPVI-TV ident from 1971 to 1981 (version 2)	WPVI-TV ident from 1981 to 1982
WPVI-TV ident from 1984 to 1986	WPVI-TV ident from 1986 to 1987	WPVI-TV ident from 1987 to 1988	WPVI-TV ident from 1990 to 1991
WPVI-TV ident from 1991 to 1992	The present 6ABC logo, used since 1997	WPVI-TV ident from 2000 to 2003	WPVI-TV ident from 2003 to 2005

[edit] Action News

The station is famous for pioneering the "Action News" format, which was used by many stations throughout the United States. When it premiered on April 6, 1970 the format allowed the news program to have more stories than KYW's Eyewitness News due to strict time limits on story packages. Within a few months, the station surged to first place for the first time in its history. It had previously been an also-ran behind KYW and WCAU, which was surprising given its newspaper roots. WPVI went back and forth with KYW for first place for most of the 1970s. Since 1977, however, WPVI has dominated the Philadelphia ratings, winning virtually every time slot. Its dominance has only been seriously challenged twice--in the 1980s, when WCAU briefly took the lead at 5 pm; and in 2001, when WCAU took first place at 11 pm for the first time in decades. WPVI is one of many ABC O&O's to not use the Eyewitness News branding. The Eyewitness News branding would not be able to be used by WPVI, as KYW uses it in the Philadelphia market. However, it is not likely that ABC would have even considered dropping the Eyewitness News branding in any case.

The station has used the same theme since 1972, "Move Closer to Your World" by Al Ham. The composition has become as much a part of the Philadelphia consciousness as the Rocky theme and has helped WPVI stay number one in the Delaware Valley for 30 years. The station tried to switch to a fuller, thunderous and authoritative version of the song by the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1997, but switched back to the old version after five days of viewer complaints.

Years of being in the lead have led WPVI to keep things old-fashioned, with an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality. For instance, it has had the same "6" logo since the 1970s; the only significant change coming in 1997 when it began calling itself "6ABC" and began placing the ABC "dot" logo inside the "6." It has frequently remastered "Move Closer to Your World" to make it sound less dated.

In recent years, attempts have been made to modernize the newscasts. The magnetboard used for weather forecasts gave way to a video screen in 2000 and a chromakey wall in 2005. On February 13, 2006, Action News debuted a revamped and fully modernized set which includes a glass etching background of several historical landmarks in Philadelphia positioned behind the anchor desk, shiftable lighting effects and a computerized Accu-Weather center[1]. WPVI introduced a new HD-capable helicopter in February 2006. Live shots from the helicopter, officially named Chopper6 HD, were shown in high definition. Furthermore, on July 23, 2006, starting with the 6:00 PM broadcast, Action News began broadcasting from their studio in full 720p HDTV. The official announcement was made on July 24. Field reports are still upconverted for the digital broadcast, although the station has promised to upgrade its remote cameras soon.

Most of WPVI's personalities have been at the station for 10 years; several for 20 years or more. Jim Gardner has been with the station since 1976 and has been main anchor since 1979, the longest tenure as a main anchor in Philadelphia history. Dave Roberts (joined in 1978) has been the main weatherman since 1983 (after the accidental death of popular weatherman Jim O'Brien), and Rob Jennings has been weekend anchor since 1981.

WPVI cooperates with sister station WABC-TV in the production and broadcast of statewide New Jersey political debates. When the two stations broadcast a statewide office debate, such as Governor or U. S. Senate, they will pool resources and have anchors or reporters from both stations participate in the debate. Additionally, the two stations cooperate in the gathering of news in New Jersey where their markets overlap; sharing reporters, live trucks and helicopters.

WPVI offers live streaming video of "Action News Now", which offers live local and national weather updated from AccuWeather. Local news headlines and updates are also provided. The format of "Action News Now" is much like NBC Weather Plus. WSVN, WFMZ-TV, WLS-TV, and WABC-TV also offer simular live video services by AccuWeather. The station's radar is known as "Storm Tracker 6 HD".

[edit] Radio

WPVI holds the distinction of being the only Philadelphia television signal that can be heard on AM or FM radio. The station can be heard at 87.7 FM at a slightly lower volume that other FM stations.

[edit] Current Anchor Lineups

[edit] Weekdays

• 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. (anchored by Matt O'Donnell and Tamala Edwards, David Murphy on weather and Karen Rogers or Matt Pellman with traffic)
• 12 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. (anchored by Rick Williams and Sarah Bloomquist with David Murphy on weather)
• 5 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (anchored by Rick Williams and Monica Malpass, Matt Pellman with traffic and Dave Roberts on weather)
• 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. (anchored by Rick Williams and Monica Malpass, Matt Pellman with traffic, Jamie Apody with sports and Cecily Tynan on weather)
• 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (anchored by Jim Gardner, Gary Papa with sports and Dave Roberts on weather)
• 11 p.m. to 11:35 p.m. (anchored by Jim Gardner, Gary Papa with sports and Cecily Tynan on weather)

[edit] Saturdays

• 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. (anchored by Jessica Borg and Walter Perez with Adam Joseph on weather)
• 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (anchored by Rob Jennings, Keith Russell with sports and Adam Joseph on weather)
• 11 p.m. to 11:35 p.m. (anchored by Rob Jennings, Keith Russell with sports and Adam Joseph on weather)

[edit] Sundays

• 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. (anchored by Jessica Borg and Walter Perez with Adam Joseph on weather)
• 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. (anchored by Jessica Borg and Walter Perez with Adam Joseph on weather)
• 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. (anchored by Jessica Borg and Walter Perez with Adam Joseph on weather)
• 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. (anchored by Rob Jennings, Keith Russell with sports and Adam Joseph on weather)
• 11 p.m. to 11:35 p.m. (anchored by Rob Jennings, Keith Russell with sports and Adam Joseph on weather)

[edit] Reporters

• Jamie Apody, sports
• Amy Buckman
• Anita Brikman, health
• Cathy Caldwell, traffic fill-in
• Dann Cuellar
• Joya Dass, business reporter seen weekdays
• Cathy Gandolfo, New Jersey correspondent
• Nydia Han, Action News Consumer Report
• David Henry
• Denise James
• Nora Muchanic, New Jersey correspondent
• Vernon Odom, host of Visions (Saturdays 7:30p.m.)
• Erin O'Hearn
• Don Polec, features (Don Polec's World)
• Chad Pradelli
• John Rawlins
• Lauren Wilson

[edit] Past News Personalities

• Marc Howard
• Larry Kane
• SallyAnn Mosey
• Jim O'Brien
• Lorne Matalon
• Chris Wagner
• Karen Friedman
• Dave Frankel

[edit] Former Entertainment Personalities

• Al Alberts
• Dick Clark
• Larry Ferrari
• Traynor Ora Halftown
• Bob Horn
• Wally Kennedy
• Lorne Matalon

[edit] See also

• WPVI-TV Anchors
• WPVI-TV Reporters

[edit] External links

• 6ABC website
• WPVI Wireless
• Modern Television - R. Budd Dwyer
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WPVI-TV
• Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia
• Interactive Tour of New Action News set