WDBJ

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WDBJ
Roanoke / Lynchburg, Virginia
Branding	WDBJ7
Slogan	Your Hometown Station
Channels	7 (VHF) analog, 18 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	CBS My Network TV
Owner	Schurz Communications (WDBJ Television, Inc.)
Founded	October 3, 1955
Former affiliations	None
Website	wdbj7.com/

WDBJ is the CBS television network affiliate serving the Roanoke-Lynchburg television market. It transmits its analog signal on VHF channel 7 and its digital signal on UHF channel 18. It's owned by Schurz Communications of South Bend, Indiana. Its transmitter is located on Poor Mountain near Roanoke, with studios located on Hershberger Road in northwest Roanoke.

The station is also available on cable in the Bluefield-Beckley, West Virginia area; it served as the market's default CBS affiliate until WVSX (now WVNS-TV) became a CBS affiliate in 2001. The station's over-the-air signal reaches as far east as South Boston and as far south as Marion, Norton, Galax and Martinsville. Marion and Norton are part of the Tri-Cities market.

Contents 1 History 2 Promos and Slogans 3 My Network TV & News 7 at Ten 4 The Weather Deck 5 Personalities 6 External links

[edit] History

The station first went to the air on October 3, 1955 under the ownership of the Times-World Corporation, owners of the Roanoke Times, and Roanoke World-News newspapers along with WDBJ-AM 960 (now WFIR), the second-oldest radio station in Virginia. It is Roanoke's third-oldest station and has always been a CBS affiliate.

The station's studio was originally located in the Mountain Trust Bank Building in downtown Roanoke. Its transmitter was located temporarily on Mill Mountain; it originally planned to broadcast from Poor Mountain, but couldn't due to concerns about interference with then-under construction WSPA-TV in Spartanburg, South Carolina. In 1956, WDBJ-AM-TV moved to the Times-World Building. It also relocated its transmitter to Poor Mountain. Within three years of signing on, channel 7 had overtaken WSLS-TV as the area's highest-rated station, and has remained in the lead more or less ever since.

As WDBJ-TV grew during the late 1950s, plans were drawn for a new studio at the corner of Brandon and Colonial Avenues in southwest Roanoke. WDBJ-TV moved to the then state-of-the-art building in the summer of 1961.

Times-World merged with Landmark Communications in 1969. [1] The FCC forced Times-World to sell off WDBJ-TV due to a significant signal overlap with Landmark-owned WFMY-TV in Greensboro, North Carolina. WDBJ's city-grade signal reaches portions of the Virginia side of the Triad market, and grade B coverage as far south as Reidsville, North Carolina. At the time, the FCC normally did not allow common ownership of two stations with overlapping signals. As a result, channel 7 was sold to its current owner, Schurz Communications.

In 2000, WDBJ announced plans for a new digital facility on the site of the Best Products building in northwest Roanoke. That June, the Best Products building was demolished and construction of a new digital facility began. In April of 2002, WDBJ began broadcasting from the new "Digital Broadcast Center." WDBJ has newsrooms in Lynchburg, Blacksburg and Richmond, along with its Roanoke newsroom.

In 2006, WDBJ began a news partnership with WFIR, its former radio sister.

[edit] Promos and Slogans

Its tagline is "Your Hometown Station". In the 1980s, the station did a series of spots for its programming featuring the popular "Ernest", portrayed by Jim Varney.

[edit] My Network TV & News 7 at Ten

On September 5, 2006, WDBJ launched News 7 at Ten & My Network TV in the viewing area.

News 7 at Ten brings a new format to WDBJ's other newcasts, providing "anchor movement" to a different set after each commercial break.

[edit] The Weather Deck

In August of 2006 WDBJ 7 added an outdoor "Weather Deck". This deck provides a new location for controlled outside weather & news segments.

[edit] Personalities

A key to WDBJ's rating success has been the continuity of its on-air team, which is not the norm in local news especially for a market of Roanoke-Lynchburg's size. Lead news anchor Keith Humphry has held the position since around 1980 after serving as the night and weekend anchor for a few years. (In the Roanoke-Lynchburg market, newcast ratings tend to be much higher at 6 PM than 11 PM.) Likewise, Robin Reed has been the lead weathercaster since the early 1980s. Sportscaster Mike Stevens joined WDBJ in the 1980s and became the lead sports anchor in the early 1990s. Senior reporter Joe Dashiell has been at WDBJ since the 1970s and was the longtime Richmond bureau correspondent.

The following is a list of WDBJ's current on-air personalities.

• Susan Bahorich - Reporter/Weekend Morning Anchor (Sunday)
• Aleesha Chaney - Reporter
• Joe Dashiell - Senior Reporter
• Hollani Davis - 6 & 11 P.M. Weekend Anchor
• Rachel Depompa - New River Valley Bureau Chief
• Leo Hirsbrunner - Mornin' & Noon Weathercaster
• Jean Jadhon - 5:00 & 6:00 p.m. Anchor
• Keith Humphry - 6:00 p.m. Anchor
• Bob Grebe - Mornin' Co-Host
• Alex Lawson - Reporter
• Grant Kittelson - Sports Anchor/Reporter
• Kimberly McBroom - Mornin' & Noon Anchor
• Justin McLeod - Reporter
• Robin Reed - Chief Weathercaster
• Holly Pietrzak - New River Valley Reporter
• Steve Smallshaw - Lynchburg Bureau Chief
• Natasha Ryan - 10:00 p.m. & 11:00 p.m. Anchor
• Mike Stevens - Sports Director
• Joy Sutton - Health Reporter/Weekend Morning Anchor (Saturday)
• Brent Watts - 10:00 p.m. Weathercaster
• Travis Wells - Weekend Sports Anchor
• Jay Webb - Weekend Mornings Weathercaster
• Jennifer Wishon - Richmond Bureau Chief

[edit] External links

• WDBJ website
• RabbitEars.Info: Roanoke-Lynchburg Stations
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WDBJ

Broadcast television in the Roanoke market  (Nielsen DMA #68)
WDRG 2 (IND) - WDBJ 7 (CBS) (My Network TV on DT2 "7Too") - W08CW 8 (PBS) - WSLS 10 (NBC) - WSET 13 (ABC) - WBRA 15 (PBS) - WTLU 19 (IND) - WWCW 21 (FOX) (The CW on DT2) - WDRL 24 (Ind) - WFXR 27 (FOX) - WPXR 38 (i) - WRKV 43 (IND) - W49AP 49 (TBN)

CBS Network Affiliates in the state of Virginia
WTKR 3 (Norfolk) - WTVR 6 (Richmond) - WDBJ 7 (Roanoke) - WCAV 19 (Charlottesville)
See also: ABC, CW, Fox, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS, and Other stations in Virginia