WOIO
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| WOIO | |
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| Shaker Heights / Cleveland, Ohio | |
| Branding | Cleveland's CBS19 19 Action News |
| Slogan | Honest. Fair. Everywhere. |
| Channels | 19 (UHF) analog, 10 (VHF) digital |
| Affiliations | CBS |
| Owner | Raycom Media |
| Founded | May 19, 1985 |
| Call letters meaning | W Ohio |
| Former affiliations | Fox (1986-1994) Independent (1985-1986) |
| Website | www.19actionnews.com |
WOIO, "Cleveland's CBS19" is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio. It broadcasts on UHF channel 19 and is affiliated with the CBS television network. It is owned by Raycom Media, and is sister station to My Network TV affiliate WUAB. It is licensed to Shaker Heights, and its transmitter is located in Parma, Ohio.
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[edit] History
WOIO signed on the air on May 19, 1985. The station was locally owned, and aired off-network sitcoms, old movies, off-network drama shows, and religious shows. That fall, WOIO added cartoons in the morning and the late afternoon. The station was sold to Malrite Communications later in the year. The station was originally put together by Hubert B. Payne who was the local sales manager at WKYC in Cleveland. He was the first Black local sales manager for a network TV station in the country. Hubert Payne filed with the FCC and was awarded channel 19 and put together WOIO. He was the first President and General Manager of the station.
By the end of 1985, WOIO had surpassed WCLQ (now WQHS) as the market's second highest-rated independent station, and behind only WUAB. In 1986, WOIO became the market's Fox affiliate as "FOX nineteen." or "WOIO nineteen" with the 19 in cursive handwriting. Soon afterward, it became the over-the-air flagship of the Cleveland Cavaliers, a relationship that continued for eight years. It also appeared on cable systems in the Youngstown market, which had no Fox affiliate of its own until 1998. It still is on cable in that market today.
In 1994, Malrite signed a local marketing agreement (LMA) with WUAB's owner, Cannell Broadcasting, and as a result, WOIO and WUAB became sister stations. Both stations moved to a location at downtown Cleveland's Reserve Square. WUAB also became the new over-the-air flagship of the Cavaliers, which it still is to this day.
[edit] Becoming a CBS affiliate
In September 1994, WJW dropped CBS after 40 years and took over the Fox affiliation as part of a national deal. CBS briefly wooed WEWS-TV, but WEWS' owner, E.W. Scripps Company, used WEWS as a bargaining chip (along with WXYZ-TV in Detroit) to sign a longterm deal with ABC. CBS then quickly cut a deal with WOIO. After the switch became official, WOIO moved its sitcoms and non-Fox cartoons to WUAB.
At first, WOIO had no intention to start a news division. However, CBS informed WOIO that it "preferred" that the station air newscasts. Since there was little time to form a news division, WOIO had WUAB, its sister station (which already produced the "Channel 43 10 O'Clock News"), produce its newscasts. WOIO began airing briefs during CBS This Morning...and started newscasts at 6:00pm and 11pm in February 1995. The two WOIO newscasts and the 10PM WUAB broadcast became collectively known as "Cleveland Television News."
However, the affiliation switch caused a major shakeup in the Cleveland market. WJW switched to a more hard-hitting approach after the Oklahoma City bombing, turning off many longtime viewers. Also, WUAB's success at 10PM did not transfer to WOIO's 11PM newscast. Even the presence of Denise Dufala, former longtime coanchor at WJW, didn't help the cause. It was at this time that WEWS began its 7 year run as the top rated news station in Cleveland. Additionally, with the Fox affiliation, WJW moved its late night newscast to 10PM. This meant that now, for the first time, there were two 10PM newscasts splitting the audience. WJW's newscasts made Cleveland Television News look somewhat amateurish by comparison. WKYC-TV, which had been at the bottom of the Cleveland ratings for almost 30 years, moved to next-to-last place ahead of WOIO.
In 1996, WOIO and WUAB dropped the "Cleveland Television News" moniker. WOIO began identifying itself as "CBS 19" and titled its newscasts "CBS 19 News." WJW had been one of the strongest CBS affiliates in the country, and WOIO hoped that viewers would associate CBS with a high-quality local newscast. Later that year, WOIO added news at 6am and pre-empted most of the first hour of CBS This Morning with local news. They also added a noon newscast around the same time. Still, WOIO failed to win viewers.
In 1997, WOIO tried a two woman (Gretchen Carlson & Dufala) anchor team for its 6 and 11PM newscasts. This has rarely been tried nationally, and had never been tried in Cleveland.
In 1999, both WOIO and WUAB rebranded themselves as "Hometeam 19" and "Hometeam 43" respectively. The stations tried to put an emphasis on local coverage, and play on the fact that at the time they carried all 3 major Cleveland sports teams (Indians and Cavaliers on WUAB, Browns [via CBS] on WOIO). While both WOIO and WUAB made minor gains during this period, both were still in last place.
[edit] Action News
In the late 1990s, Malrite was bought out by Raycom Media. Raycom was not impressed with both WOIO and WUAB's ratings and decided that a major change was needed. In late 2001, Raycom hired controversial station manager Bill Applegate as the GM at WOIO and WUAB. Raycom made this selection because Applegate was known for creating "different" newscasts and quick turnarounds of struggling TV stations to becoming contenders.
In May 2002, "Action News" debuted, using a theme based on the signature tune of WBBM-TV in Chicago. Applegate fired most of the news team (Dufala was one of the notable exceptions) and a popular press format was put into place. The pacing, the look, the style, and the language of each newscast took on a dramatically different look and feel.
Soon after, the newscasts' title would officially be changed to "19 Action News", airing on both WOIO and WUAB. Ratings improved almost immediately, especially in late news, where 19 Action News at 11 became the only late newscast to gain viewers an unprecedented four years in a row, as WKYC, WEWS, and WJW's late newscasts either remained flat or lost viewers. They added an hour of news at 5pm in 2002, joining the newscasts of WEWS and WJW to make it a 3 way competition for 2nd place in the time slot (as WKYC's airing of Dr. Phil at 5pm has long been in 1st place).
In June 2004, WOIO began airing Cleveland's first 4PM newscast. The newscast is anchored by David Wittman and Lynna Lai, with chief meteorologist Jeff Tanchak, sports director Chuck Galletti, and traffic reports with Rick Abell in the 19 Action News Chopper. It debuted in last place, but now has grown steadily as it fights for second place with WJW's Judge Judy, but still trails The Oprah Winfrey Show at that hour.
In November of 2004, Cleveland viewers responded to what many say is the most controversial local news story ever. Earlier that year, Spencer Tunick, a photographer known for taking pictures of large groups of naked people came to Cleveland. 19 Action News anchor Sharon Reed, regarded by many viewers as attractive, volunteered to pose in the photo for a first hand account of the experience.
WOIO shot video of Reed getting up in the morning, going to the event, stripping down to her underwear, and finally nude profile shots of her. The story, called "Body of Art", aired in the November sweeps period after being promoted heavily with promos that contained a "viewer discretion advisory".
Both WOIO and Reed insisted that the story had nothing to do with selling sex, but instead was supposed to make viewers question whether the body is art or "something else." On the night the story aired WOIO received its highest ratings ever. The story also gave Reed and WOIO national attention, as she was invited to defend the piece on Fox News and on The Late Show With David Letterman.
WOIO has stayed in last place for most of the time since Raycom bought the station, but has been much more competitive than before. In the November 2006 ratings period, its 11PM news came in a very close second behind WKYC, while winning the noon timeslot. It came in last place in the morning and at 5PM and 6PM.
WOIO's newscasts are viewed by many as a "tabloid" newscast, with a confrontational "in your face" style of reporting.
[edit] Coverage in Canada
The station is readily available over-the-air to Kingsville, Leamington, and Pelee Island in southern Essex County, Ontario, and was once listed in the TV Guides for those communities (and Windsor, Ontario until 2000, though the station's signal wasn't strong enough to reach Windsor and Detroit. Unlike WKYC-TV, WEWS-TV, and WJW-TV/WJKW-TV, it was not one of the stations from Cleveland carried on local cable in those three locations.
[edit] Newscasts
WOIO's newscasts are currently titled "19 Action News." They are seen at the following hours:
[edit] Weekdays
- 5am - 7am: 19 Action News This Morning--with anchors Jeff Eliasoph and Allison Alexander, meteorologist Bruce Kalinowski, traffic reporter Jen Picciano, and 19 Action News Chopper reporter Rick Abell
- 12noon - 12:30pm: 19 Action News at Noon--with anchor Allison Alexander and meteorologist Bruce Kalinowski
- 4pm - 5pm: 19 Action News First at Four--with anchors David Wittman and Lynna Lai, chief meteorologist Jeff Tanchak, sports director Chuck Galeti, and traffic reporter Rick Abell
- 5pm - 6pm: 19 Action News at Five--with anchors Paul Joncich and Sharon Reed, meteorologist Markina Brown, sports director Chuck Galeti, and traffic reporter Rick Abell
- 6pm - 6:30pm: 19 Action News at Six--with anchors David Wittman and Denise Dufala, chief meteorologist Jeff Tanchak, and sports director Chuck Galeti
- 10pm - 11pm: (on WUAB) 19 Action News at Ten--with anchors Paul Joncich and Sharon Reed, meteorologist Markina Brown, and sports director Chuck Galeti
- 11pm - 11:35pm: 19 Action News at Eleven--with anchors David Wittman and Denise Dufala, chief meteorologist Jeff Tanchak, and sports director Chuck Galeti
[edit] Weekends
Saturday
- 6pm - 6:30pm: 19 Action News at Six
- 10pm - 11pm: (on WUAB) 19 Action News at Ten
- 11pm - 11:35pm: 19 Action News at Eleven
--with anchor Danielle Serino, meteorologist John Loufman, and sports anchor Dave Pingalore
Sunday
- 7am-9am: 19 Action News Sunday Morning--with anchor Catherine Bosley and meteorologist John Loufman
- 6:30pm - 7pm: 19 Action News at 6:30
- 10pm - 11pm: (on WUAB) 19 Action News at Ten
- 11pm - 11:30pm 19 Action News at Eleven
--with anchor Danielle Serino, meteorologist John Loufman, and sports anchor Dave Pingalore
[edit] Cleveland Browns
WOIO and the Cleveland Browns entered into a television partnership in April 2005. After the Browns contract with WKYC expired, WOIO acquired the rights to air all of pre-season games as well as a pre-season draft show, execlusive training camp reports, and a Monday night coach's show.
On July 18, 2006, the Browns announced they were ending their partnership with WOIO. [1] The partnership ended due to controversy over the station's coverage of the drowning of the six-year-old niece of team owner Randy Lerner. On its newscasts, WOIO aired a 911 recording of Nancy Fisher, Lerner's sister, calling for assistance. Although WOIO was within its legal bounds to air the tape, the Browns thought that it was an unnecessary invasion of the family's privacy.[2]
On August 1, 2006, the Browns and WOIO ended their contract, and two days later, the team announced a new one-year deal with WKYC. [3]
Due to the NFL's contract with WOIO network CBS, the station will continue to air the majority of Browns' regular season games.
[edit] Previous Logos
 station logo from 1988. The Fox seachlight tower would sometimes substitute "WOIO". |
 From a 1989 promo that said, "We're your summer vacation station, We're 19." |
 Logo used for movie programs, 1989. |
 logo variant from 1991, from a Fox network ad |
 on-screen ID overlay from 1992, during Mama's Family |
 station logo from 1995 |
 news logo from 1995 |
 print logo from 1995, from a CBS network ad |
 news logo from 1997 |
 logo between 1999 & 2002. Similar to WUAB's logo at that time. |
[edit] External links
| Local television stations
WKYC 3 (NBC) - WEWS 5 (ABC) - WJW 8 (Fox) - WDLI 17 (TBN) - WOIO 19 (CBS) - WVPX 23 (ION) - WVIZ 25 (PBS) - WAOH 29 / W35AX 35 (A1) - WIVN 29 / WIVM 52 (A1) - W32AR 32 (TBN) - WRAP 32 (Corner) - |
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| See also: Broadcast television stations in the Detroit/Windsor, Toledo, Columbus, Ohio, Youngstown, Wheeling/Steubenville, Erie and London markets | |||
| Broadcast television in the Youngstown, Ohio / Warren, Ohio market (Nielsen DMA #102) | ||
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WFMJ 21 (NBC) (The CW on DT2 "WBCB") - WKBN 27 (CBS,Fox/WYFX on DT.2) - WYTV 33 (ABC, MNTV/ABC/A1 on DT2 "My YTV") - WNEO 45 (PBS) - W52CX 52 (TBN) - WPCP-LP 56 (Ind) - WYFX-LP 62/WFXI-CA 17 (Fox) |
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Significantly Viewed Out-of-Market Broadcast Stations |
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Cleveland: WKYC 3 (NBC) - WEWS 5 (ABC) - WJW 8 (Fox) - WOIO 19 (CBS) - WVPX 23 (ION) - WVIZ 25 (PBS) - WUAB 43 (MNTV / The Tube) - WBNX 55 (The CW) - WQHS 61 (Univision) - WOAC 67 (S@H/JTV) |
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| See also: Broadcast television stations in the Wheeling-Steubenville market | ||
| CBS Network Affiliates in the state of Ohio | |
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WHIO 7 (Dayton) - WBNS 10 (Columbus) - WTOL 11 (Toledo) - WKRC 12 (Cincinnati) - WOIO 19 (Shaker Heights/Cleveland) - WKBN 27 (Youngstown) - WLMO-LP 38 (Lima) |
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| See also: ABC, Fox, NBC, PBS, MyNetworkTV, CW and Other stations in Ohio | |
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Corporate Staff: Paul McTear (President & CEO) | Wayne Daugherty | Marty Edelman | Leon Long | Jeff Rosser | Anne Adkins | Clyde Baucom | Rebecca Bryan | David Folsom | Mary Carloe McDonnell | Billy McDowell | Susana Schuler | Melissa Thurber |
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CBS Network Affiliates: KFVS | KOLD | KSLA | WAFB | WOIO | WTOC | WTOL | WTVR |
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Fox Network Affiliates: WDFX | WFLX | WFXG1 | WPGX | WSFX1 | WTNZ | WXIX | WXTX1 |
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MyNetworkTV Affiliates: KFVE | WBXH | WUAB |
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NBC Network Affiliates: KCBD | KHNL/KHBC/KOGG | KPLC | WAFF | WALB | WAVE | WDAM | WECT | WFIE | WIS | WLBT | WMBF2 | WMC | WSFA |
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1Raycom Media operates these stations owned by Southeastern Media Holdings. |
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2Scheduled to begin broadcasting in 2007. |
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Annual Revenue: Unknown at this time. | Employees: 4,200 | Stock Symbol: None, privately held. | Website: www.raycommedia.com |
