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WDTN
Dayton, Ohio
Branding	Dayton's NBC 2 NEWS
Slogan	On Your Side
Channels	2 (VHF) analog, 50 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	NBC (1949-80 and since 2004)
Owner	LIN TV
Founded	1949
Call letters meaning	W DayToN
Former callsigns	WLWD (1949-1976)
Former affiliations	DuMont (1949) [1], ABC (1980-2004)
Transmitter Power	100 kW (analog)
Website	www.wdtn.com

WDTN (channel 2) is a television station in Dayton, Ohio affiliated with the NBC network since August 30, 2004.

Contents 1 Station Overview 1.1 History & Highlights 1.2 Storm Team 2 1.3 High Definition 1.4 Previous logos 1.5 Newscasts 1.6 Notable WDTN Alumni 1.7 External links

[edit] Station Overview

The station was previously an ABC affiliate from 1980 to the network switch in 2004. Its transmitter is located in Dayton. It is Dayton's first television station, established in 1947. However, it did not go on the air until late 1949, a couple months after WHIO-TV signed on the air in July of that same year.

WDTN's local news department, 2NEWS (known in the 1970s and 1980s as Eyewitness News), has usually placed second to WHIO-TV's news department in the ratings. The 2NEWS team is led by Marsha Bonhart, Mark Allan, Carl Day and Chief Meteorologist Carl Nichols. They also are known for Turn to 2, which viewers can contact reporter Kennan Oliphant if they need help with consumer issues. 2NEWS is an emmy award winning newscast.

[edit] History & Highlights

It originally signed on as WLWD (identified on-air as "WLW-D"), one of several stations owned by Powell Crosley's company Crosley Broadcasting Corporation , whose flagship was WLW AM.

The license for WLW-D was granted to the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation in March 3, 1947. It was the first broadcast television license granted by the Federal Communications Commission to the Dayton television market. The station began broadcasting in 1949 as an affiliate of NBC; it also carried programming from DuMont [2]. The first program broadcast was the Texaco Star Theater with Milton Berle. Their offices, studios and Studio-Transmitter Link KUQ-43 were established at 4595 South Dixie Highway in the Dayton suburb of Moraine in a building which previously housed a skating rink. The studios and offices remain there to this day.

While NBC shows aired on WLWD, its main speciality was local programming and news serving Dayton. This provided an alternative not found anywhere else. Across town, WHIO signed on a few weeks later with a similar format with CBS programs. Dayton received clear pictures from stations in Cincinnati (45 miles south) and Columbus. Game show announcer Johnny Gilbert hosted his own local daytime variety/talk show immediately after the local airing of WLW Television's "The Paul Dixon Show" in the mid 1960s. Phil Donahue formerly of WHIO (AM)'s "Conversation Piece" talk show debuted on WLWD in 1967 and went national in 1970. Since most programs on the regional network "WLW Television" originated from WLWT in Cincinnati, it was the first time WLWD was the originator of a program.

In 1968 Crosley merged with Avco . The address has a slight change although the studios were not moved. As Dixie Drive is a northbound one-way street, the southbound one way street running parallel with Dixie is the present-day Kettering Boulevard(the former Avco Drive),hence the address changed briefly to 4590 Avco Drive. In 1976 Avco sold WLWD to Grinnell College, who changed the call letters to WDTN with the mailing address reverted back to 4595 South Dixie Drive.

By the mid 1970s, ABC had become the leading network. Dayton's ABC affiliate, WKEF, was only a part-time affiliate. It ran ABC's prime time shows, sports, Saturday and Sunday cartoons and ABC shows pre-empted by WKRC-TV (then Cincinnati's ABC affiliate). ABC wanted a primary affiliate that had news and was better-rated. It approached WDTN for a deal and on January 1, 1980 WDTN and WKEF swapped affiliations. Under the deal they were to run all of ABC's programming that was being pre-empted by WKRC but was exempt from running the afternoon soaps after 2 p.m. In place of One Life to Live and General Hospital, WDTN ran cartoons and off-network sitcoms. NBC's programming would go to less desirable WKEF. In 1981, the station was purchased by Hearst Broadcasting.

Later in the 1980s, the cartoons and sitcoms made way for first run talk shows like Oprah Winfrey at 4 p.m. but also younger talkers like Montel Williams and Jerry Springer. WDTN would begin their talk block at 2 p.m. weekdays.

In 1998, the station was sold to the Sunrise Television Group after Argyle Television's purchase of Cincinnati's WLWT. WDTN's city-grade signal covers most of the Cincinnati area, and although FCC rules of the time normally did not allow common ownership of two stations with overlapping signals, the agency would not even consider a waiver for stations with overlapping city-grade coverage. Hearst-Argyle Television (which was formed with the merger between Hearst's broadcasting unit and Argyle Television the year before) had to sell WDTN (ironically both stations were at one point owned by Crosley Broadcasting, under Crosley they were grandfathered).

Dayton has always had a high percentage of cable subscribers. As new satellite channels were signing on cable systems needed more space so Dayton's largest cable system took duplicate network affiliates from Cincinnati in 2000 to make room for more satellite channels. As a result ABC soap viewers could no longer see One Life or General Hospital while over the air viewers still could. As a result in the Fall of 2000 General Hospital was added to WDTN's schedule. But One Life To Live would be pre-empted another 2 years. In 2002, when Sunrise merged with LIN TV, One Life To Live was added to the schedule as well. After that WDTN ran ABC's entire schedule.

On August 30, 2004 in a reversal of the 1980 swap, WDTN returned to NBC to take advantage of NBC's more popular programming. In spite of this however, WDTN still remains a strong second in the Dayton market to WHIO-TV.

In December 2006, Coleen Sullivan, the anchor for WDTN's evening news, put in a resignation. She stated she was homesick and wanted to return to San Francisco. Local newspaper Dayton Daily News www.daytondailynews.com showed that British tabloids had discovered that she is dating Earl Spencer(the brother of Princess Diana). Per www.wdtn.com in Early January 2007, she confirmed that the rumors are true. An official statement from WDTN confirmed that her contract expired and she is no longer an anchor at the station.

[edit] Storm Team 2

WDTN's team of meteorologists consist of Chief Meteorologist Carl Nichols, meteorologist Brian Davis, meteorologist Jamie Jarosik (Krumheuer), and meteorologist Erik Zarnitz who joined WDTN on March 3, 2007. WDTN bills their radar as Live Doppler 2X and is located on the west side of Dayton just Southwest of US-35 and Interstate 75.

In January of 2007, Chief Meteorologist Carl Nichols went part-time to cover only the 5:30PM and 6:00PM Newscasts while Jamie Jarosik covers the 5:00PM and 11:00PM reports. Erik Zarnitz to take over as Weekend Meteorologist and reporter.

Storm Team 2 has created a weather blog for Miami Valley viewers to read up on the latest local conditions and give the public an inside eye of what happens behind the scenes at WDTN.

[edit] High Definition

WDTN and local cable television provider Time Warner Cable have been in talks in for providing the cable system with WDTN's digital channel. Currently, Time Warner Cable does not have NBC in high definition. Many have complained because the only way to receive NBC in high definition is using over the air signals which many can not currently do with their televisions.

[edit] Previous logos

Left: 1996-2002 logo, based on first generation Hearst standardization.
Right: 2002-2004 logo, used between LIN takeover and affiliate swap.

[edit] Newscasts

WEEKDAYS

2 NEWS AT SUNRISE 5:00-7:00a.m. with Updates during NBC'S "TODAY SHOW"

• Anchors: Dan Edwards And Libby Kirsch
• Weather: Brian Davis
• Traffic: Jessica Moore

2 NEWS AT NOON 12:00-1:00p.m.

• Anchors: Marsha Bonhart and Carl Day
• Weather: Brian Davis

2 NEWS AT 5:00 5:00-5:30p.m.

• Anchors: Mark Allan and Marsha Bonhart
• Weather: Jamie Jarosik

2 NEWS AT 5:30 5:30-6:00p.m.

• Anchors: Marsha Bonhart and Mike Schell
• Weather: Carl Nichols

2 NEWS AT 6:00 6:00-6:30p.m.

• Anchors: Mark Allan and Marsha Bonhart
• Weather: Carl Nichols
• Sports: Jack Pohl

2 NEWS AT 11:00 11:00-11:35p.m.

• Anchor: Mark Allan
• Weather: Jamie Jarosik
• Sports: Jack Pohl

WEEKENDS

SATURDAY

2 NEWS AT 6:00 6:00-6:30p.m.

• Anchor: Jana Katsuyama
• Weather: Erik Zarnitz
• Sports: Neil Konerman

2 NEWS AT 11:00 11:00-11:30p.m.

• Anchor: Jana Katsuyama
• Weather: Erik Zarnitz
• Sports: Neil Konerman

SUNDAY

2 NEWS AT 6:00 6:00-6:30p.m.

• Anchor: Jana Katsuyama
• Weather: Erik Zarnitz
• Sports: Neil Konerman

2 NEWS AT 11:00 11:00-11:30p.m.

• Anchor: Jana Katsuyama
• Weather: Erik Zarnitz
• Sports: Neil Konerman

WDTN NEWS STAFF

ANCHORS AND REPORTERS

• Mark Allan
• Marsha Bonhart
• Laura Borchers
• Jim Bucher
• Carl Day
• Dave D'Marko
• Dan Edwards
• Jana Katsuyama
• Libby Kirsch
• Jessica Moore
• Kris O'Donnell
• Kennan Oliphant
• Megan O'Rourke
• Myrt Price
• Mandi Sheridan

Weather Team

• Chief Meteorologist: Carl Nichols
• Meteorologist Brian Davis
• Meteorologist Jamie Jarosik
• Meteorologist Erik Zarnitz

Sports Team

• Sports Director: Jack Pohl
• Neil "Hutch" Konerman

Management Team

• President & General Manager: Lisa Barhorst
• Station Administrator: (Currently Vacant)
• General Sales Manager: Alison Wilkerson
• Local Sales Manager: Sheryl Brownlee
• National Sales Manager: Joe Mulligan
• News Director: (Currently Vacant)
• Chief Engineer: Jim Atkinson
• Director Of Community Services: Sharon Howard
• Creative Services Director: Jason Doyle
• Internet Editor: Dave Robinson

[edit] Notable WDTN Alumni

• Randi Rico, weekend meteorologist (now at WLWT)
• Len Berman (now at NBC Sports and WNBC)
• Donna Jordan, anchor (went to WHIO, now retired)
• Dave Colabro, sports (now Sports Director at WTHR Indianapolis)
• Coleen Sullivan, weekday anchor (now dating Earl Spencer, brother of the late Princess Diana)
• Dan Spehler, anchor/reporter (now at WRTV 6 in Indianapolis)
• Howard Nathan, anchor/investigative Reporter
• Kristi Piehl, reporter (now at KSTP)
• Guy Fogle, sports anchor
• Glen Barbour, reporter (now at KSTP)
• Dan Patrick, sports anchor (now at ESPN and ESPN Radio)
• Julie Chen, reporter (now at CBS NEWS)
• Scott Arnold, reporter (now at WTVF)
• Fran Charles, sports anchor (now at NFL Network)
• Inge Hammond, reporter (now at Golf Channel)
• Jodine Costanzo, reporter (now at WPXI)
• Jack Hicks, lead anchor (later demoted to morning anchor now retired)
• Kathy Hart, anchor/reporter (now at WKEF/WRGT)
• Karen Schimmoller, morning news anchor
• Sam Yates, morning news anchor (formerly @ WHIO)
• Omar Williams, long time sports director
• Bruce Pompeani, anchor/reporter
• Tony Pann, meteorologist
• Mike Gallagher, sports anchor/reporter, conservative radio talk show host
• Ken Kettering, sports anchor/reporter
• Joan Khoenle, anchor/reporter
• Mark Viviano, sports anchor/reporter
• C.K. Elston, staff announcer, retired
• Ed Hamlyn, news director and 6 and 11 pm news anchor, retired
• Dewey Hopper, staff announcer host of "The Weather Outside with Dewey" during 6pm newscast and saturday morning children's program "Janie and The Genie", retired
• Bob Breck, first staff meteorologist

[edit] External links

• WDTN-TV 2 Website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WDTN

Broadcast television in the Dayton market  (Nielsen DMA #58)
WDTN 2 (NBC) - WHIO 7 (CBS) (Accuweather on DT2) - WPTO 14 (PBS) - WPTD 16 (PBS) - WKEF 22 (ABC) - WBDT 26 (The CW) - WRCX-LP 40 (BFC) - WKOI 43 (TBN) - WRGT 45 (Fox) (MNTV on DT2) - WWRD-LP 55 (HSN) - W66AQ 66 (MNTV)
Defunct cable television channels
Miami Valley Channel / UPN 17 (UPN)
See also: Broadcast television in the Indianapolis, Columbus, Cincinnati, Fort Wayne, and Lima markets

NBC Network Affiliates in the state of Ohio
WDTN 2 (Dayton) - WKYC 3 (Cleveland) - WCMH 4 (Columbus) - WLWT 5 (Cincinnati) - WTOV 9 (Stubenville) - WHIZ 18 (Zanesville) - WFMJ 21 (Youngstown) - WNWO 24 (Toledo) - WLIO 35 (Lima)
See also: ABC, CBS, Fox, PBS, MyNetworkTV, CW and Other stations in Ohio