WTVF
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WTVF | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Nashville, Tennessee | |
| Branding | NewsChannel5 Network |
| Slogan | Your News and Information Leader |
| Channels | 5 (VHF) analog, 56 (UHF) digital |
| Affiliations | CBS |
| Owner | Landmark Communications |
| Founded | August 6, 1954 |
| Call letters meaning | W Television Five |
| Former callsigns | WLAC-TV (1954-75) |
| Website | www.newschannel5.com |
WTVF, also known as "NewsChannel5", is the CBS affiliate in Nashville, Tennessee. The station is owned by Landmark Communications. Its transmitter is located in Nashville.
WTVF also owns and operates NewsChannel5+, a spinoff cable channel, viewable on Channel 50 on most of Middle Tennessee's cable systems. NewsChannel5+ airs replays of the mother station's news broadcasts, as well as original and exclusive call-in and interview shows. NC5+ has also carred live gavel-to-gavel coverage of high-profile criminal trials in the Nashville area, such as those of Paul Dennis Reid and Perry March. NC5+ regularly goes live during severe weather, and will sometimes air local news live if CBS programming pre-empts WTVF's regular local news time slot, such as during the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
Along with their website, newschannel5.com, the stations promote themselves under the umbrella branding NewsChannel5 Network.
Contents |
[edit] History
WTVF signed on the air on August 6, 1954 as WLAC-TV, owned by the Life and Casualty Insurance Company and Nashville businessman Guilford Dudley. Channel 5 was part of a triopoly along with WLAC-AM 1510, and later WLAC-FM (now WNRQ-FM). The call letters, of course, reflected those of the insurance company. It took the CBS affiliation from WSIX-TV (now WKRN-TV), since WLAC-AM had been Nashville's CBS affiliate since 1928. Nashville became the smallest city in the U.S. to have three network-affiliated commercial television stations. American General Corporation, a Houston-based insurer, bought L&C and WLAC-AM-FM-TV in the 1960s.
WLAC-TV was sold to the Hobby family of Houston in 1975, who changed the station's callsign to WTVF; American General/L&C eventually sold WLAC-AM-FM to other interests. Landmark bought WTVF in 1994.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the station used the "Eyewitness News" moniker; it has used the branding "NewsChannel5" since 1989.
During its years as WLAC-TV, the station helped launch the career of a young African-American reporter named Oprah Winfrey by making her a regular news anchor in the early 1970s. The station's Studio B, which was built in 1967 near the Tennessee State Capitol building, was also the home of the hit show Hee Haw for most of its 1968–1993 run (its last few years were recorded at The Nashville Network's studios adjacent to the now-defunct Opryland USA theme park). Channel 5's relation to WLAC-AM, which was known for many years for its nighttime soul music programming, led it to air a groundbreaking show on Friday and Saturday nights during the mid- and late-1960s called "Night Train," which featured R&B performances and dancing, similar to "American Bandstand." Rumor has it that Don Cornelius, then a Chicago TV host, may have used it as a model for his successful "Soul Train" years later.
WTVF has long battled with WSMV--which itself started as WSM-TV, the television arm of another Nashville heritage radio station, WSM-AM--for the top spot in the Nashville ratings. Generally speaking, channel 5 is more popular in the city of Nashville itself than in the more conservative suburbs (e.g., Williamson and Sumner counties) because of its emphasis on hard news and investigative reports, as opposed to WSMV's emphasis on softer stories. Amazingly, the reverse was true some 15 to 20 years ago, as WSMV earned numerous awards for hard-hitting coverage, while WTVF did not make many waves, relying mainly on newscast staples like crime coverage.
For years, the station aired a local talk-variety show, Talk of the Town, at 12:30pm, delaying the CBS soap The Bold and the Beautiful to 1:30pm with As the World Turns airing at 3pm. B&B and ATWT now air in their CBS network timeslots of 12:30 and 1pm with Rachael Ray's new show at 3pm. Talk of the Town now airs for 30 minutes at 11 am, before The Young and the Restless.
[edit] Newscasts
[edit] Weekdays
NewsChannel 5 broadcasts live newscasts for approximately six hours Monday through Friday.
- NewsChannel 5 This Morning - 4:30 AM - 8 AM
- Anchors: Steve Hayslip and Amy Watson
- Meteorologist: Lelan Statom
- Traffic Reporter: Kristin Calpino
- Sky 5 Reporter: Phil Jones
- NewsChannel 5 at 4:00 - 4 PM - 4:30 PM
- Anchor: Vicki Yates
- Meteorologiest: Ron Howes
- NewsChannel 5 at 5:00 - 5 PM - 5:30 PM
- Anchors: Rhori Johnston and Kristin Priesol
- Meteoroligist: Ron Howes
- NewsChannel 5 at 6:00 - 6 PM - 7 PM
- Anchors: Chris Clark and Vicki Yates
- Meteorologist: Ron Howes
- Sports Reporter: Hope Hines
- NewsChannel 5 at 10:00 - 10 PM - 10:35 PM
- Anchors: Rhori Johnston and Kristin Priesol
- Meteorologist: Ron Howes
- Sports Reporter: Hope Hines
[edit] Weekends
NewsChannel 5 airs live newscasts for approximately four and a half hours on Saturday.
- NewsChannel 5 This Morning - 6 AM - 9 AM
- Anchor: Jennifer Kraus
- Meteorologist: Kelly Cox
- Sports Reporter: Eric Yutzy
- NewsChannel 5 at 5:00 - 5 PM - 5:30 PM
- Anchor: Scott Arnold
- Meteorologist: Charlie Neese
- NewsChannel 5 at 6:00 - 6 PM - 6:30 PM
- Anchor: Scott Arnold
- Meteorologist: Charlie Neese
- Sports Reporter: Eric Yutzy
- NewsChannel 5 at 10:00 - 10 PM - 10:35 PM
- Anchors: Scott Arnold
- Meteorologist: Charlie Neese
- Sports Reporter: Eric Yutzy
NewsChannel 5 airs live newscasts for approximately four hours on Sunday, and a live sports show for approximately 20 minutes.
- NewsChannel 5 This Morning - 6 AM - 9 AM
- Anchor: Jennifer Kraus
- Meteorologist: Kelly Cox
- Sports reporter: Eric Yutzy
- NewsChannel 5 at 5:30 - 5:30 PM - 6:00 PM
- Anchors: Scott Arnold
- Meteorologist: Charlie Neese
- Sports Reporter: Eric Yutzy
- NewsChannel 5 at 10:00 - 10 PM - 10:25 PM
- Anchors: Scott Arnold
- Meteorologist: Charlie Neese
- Sports Reporter: Eric Yutzy
- Chevy Sports Central - 10:25 PM - 10:45 PM
- Anchors/Reporters: Hope Hines, Eric Yutzy, and Kami Carmann. Neil O'Donnell sometimes provides Titans insight.
[edit] Station trivia
- Middle Tennessee's first and only live news helicopter, SKY 5, a Bell 206 B3 JetRanger, was introduced to the NewsChannel 5 Network on May 15, 2006. NewsChannel 5 reporter Monica Gutierrez reports stories from the chopper for most newscasts.
- Behind Winfrey, the station's second-most notable anchor is perhaps Chris Clark. He has been the station's main anchor since 1966--longer than anyone in Nashville television history (and probably one of the longest-tenured in the U.S.). Clark, whose real name is Christopher Botsaris, recently announced that he will retire in 2007.
- NewsChannel 5 Midday anchor and co-host of "Talk of the Town," Harry Chapman, retired on September 15, 2006.
- Former NFL quarterback Neil O'Donnell now works for the station as a Tennessee Titans analyst.
- The station's chief investigative reporter, Phil Williams, is considered to be one of the best in the country. In 2002, Williams began a series called Friends in High Places, which launched an investigation into insider state contracts secured during the administration of Don Sundquist, who was governor of Tennessee from 1995 to 2003. A state and federal investigation from the story led to contract reform on the state's Capitol Hill and resulted in indictments and/or jail sentences for several top Sundquist Administration officials. The story earned Williams his second Peabody Award and a duPont-Columbia Award, the station's fifth. One Nashville political strategist said about Williams:
- "If the press calls, call your PR person. If Phil Williams calls, call your lawyer because you're in trouble."
- Though WTVF's parent company also owns The Weather Channel, WTVF has never been involved in any type of cross-promotion with the cable network, and very seldom utilizes any of its news packages (usually only during major hurricanes). This is quite unusual in a time of highly visible corporate media conglomerations.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| Broadcast television in the Nashville market (Nielsen DMA #30) |
|---|
|
WKRN 2 (ABC) - WSMV 4 (NBC) - WTVF 5 (CBS) - WNPT 8 (PBS) - WETV 11 (Ind) - WIIW 14 (Religious/DS) - WZTV 17 (Fox) - WCTE 22 (PBS) - WNPX 28 (i) - WUXP 30 (MNTV) - WJNK 34 (3ABN) - W36AK 36 (TBN) - WHTN 39 (CTN) - WPGD 50 (TBN) - W52CT 52 (A1) - WNAB 58 (The CW) - WJFB 66 (ShopNBC) |
| Broadcast television in the Jackson, Tennessee market (Nielsen DMA #174) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
WREG 3 (CBS) - WSMV 4 (NBC) - WMC 5 (NBC) - WTVF 5 (CBS) - WBBJ 7 (ABC) - WLJT 11 (PBS) - WMAE 12 (PBS/MPB) - WHBQ 13 (FOX) - WJKT 16 (FOX) - WJTE-LP 19 (FamilyNet) - W35AH 35 (TBN) |
|||
| CBS Network Affiliates in the state of Tennessee | |
|---|---|
|
WREG 3 (Memphis) - WTVF 5 (Nashville) - WVLT 8 (Knoxville) - WJHL 11 (Kingsport) - WDEF 12 (Chattanooga) |
|
| See also: ABC, CW, Fox, i, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS and Other stations in Tennessee | |
