WHOI (TV)

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WHOI
Image:HOI 19 ABC logo.png

Image:The CW Peoria-Bloomington.png
Peoria, Illinois
Branding HOI 19
Slogan Accurate. Balanced. To the Point.
Channels 19 (UHF) analog,
40 (UHF) digital
Affiliations ABC
The CW on DT2
Owner Barrington Broadcasting
Founded November 13, 1953
Call letters meaning Heart
Of
Illinois
Former callsigns WTVH-TV (1953-65)
WIRL-TV(1965-73)
WRAU-TV (1973-85)
Former affiliations CBS, DuMont
Website http://www.hoinews.com/
http://www.hoicw.com/

WHOI, channel 19, is the ABC affiliate licensed to Peoria, Illinois, with studios located in Creve Coeur in Tazewell County, Illinois. The station is owned by Barrington Broadcasting.

WHOI airs newscasts weekdays at 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., and 10:00 p.m.. The morning show, HOI News Daybreak, airs from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. from Monday to Friday preceding Good Morning America. The weekend shows are Saturday at 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., and Sundays 5:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.

Contents

[edit] History

Channel 19 was Peoria's second TV station, signing on as WTVH-TV on November 13, 1953. The station was owned and operated by Hilltop Broadcasting (co-owned by the Peoria Journal Star). Its original studios were located at 234 North Madison Street in downtown Peoria.It was a primary CBS affiliate, but also carried shows from ABC and DuMont. DuMont ceased operations in 1955, and WTVH lost CBS when WMBD-TV began broadcasting.

The Metropolitan Broadcasting Corp., later known as Metromedia, purchased the station in 1959 and owned it for six years, until 1965. It was then sold to the owners of WIRL-AM, who changed the calls to WIRL-TV. It became WRAU-TV in 1973 and adopted its present calls in 1985.

In 1987, WHOI came under the ownership of Adams Communications following a merger with WHOI's previous owners, Forward Communications. The station was then sold to Brisette Broadcasting in 1991, then to Benedek Broadcasting in 1996. When Benedek merged with Gray Television in 2002 following a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, WHOI was spun off to Chelsey Broadcasting. The station also operates cable-only WB affiliate "WBPE" on channel 4 on most cable systems in the area.

Barrington Broadcasting became the owner in 2004.

Beginning in September of 2006, WHOI DT2 began serving as the area's new affiliate for The CW. [1] The digital subchannel is known as "Peoria's CW". WHOI DT2 offers The Daily Buzz newscast, weekday mornings from 6 to 9 AM.

[edit] News Themes

  • Newscene 19, Bob Cashen., year unknown
  • News Series 2000, Gari Communications, Inc., 1989
  • News Series 2001, Gari Communications, Inc., 1989
  • Turn To News, Gari Communications, Inc., 1989-1992
  • The Great News Package, Gari Communications, Inc., 1992-1995
  • In-Sink (V.1, V.2, V.3), 615 Music, 1995-2001
  • Signature, Stephen Arnold Music, 2001-2002
  • News Matrix, Stephen Arnold Music, 2002-2007
  • Transitional Themes, Various publisher, 2007-present

[edit] Personalities

[edit] Current

  • Gretchen Wirtz (Daybreak Anchor/Weather)
  • Mark Welp (Daybreak Anchor)
  • Ric Kearbey (5, 6, 10 p.m. Meteorologist)
  • Jim Mattson (Sports Director)
  • Jen Christensen (5, 6, 10 p.m. News Anchor)
  • Jessica Wheeler (Weekend News Anchor and Weather Anchor/Reporter)
  • Laura Michels (Weekend News Anchor/Reporter)
  • Donnie Tillman (Weekend Sports Anchor/Reporter)
  • Kim Carrollo (Reporter)
  • Tim McGinnis (5, 6, 10 p.m. News Anchor)
  • Ian Schwartz (Reporter)
  • Nishi Gupta (Reporter)

[edit] Former

[edit] External links