WTHR

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WTHR
Indianapolis, Indiana
Branding	WTHR 13 (general) Eyewitness News 13 (newscasts)
Slogan	Indiana's News Leader Channel 13
Channels	13 (VHF) analog, 46 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	NBC
Owner	Dispatch Broadcast Group
Founded	September 2, 1957
Call letters meaning	THiRteen (Channel Number 13)
Former callsigns	WLWI (1957-76)
Former affiliations	ABC (1957-79)
Website	www.wthr.com

WTHR channel 13 is a television station serving the Indianapolis, Indiana metropolitan area. Affiliated with NBC, the station broadcasts its analog signal on VHF channel 13 and its digital signal on UHF channel 46 from its transmitter in Indianapolis. Since 1974, WTHR has been owned by the Dispatch Broadcast Group of Columbus, Ohio.

[edit] History

The station signed on September 2, 1957 as ABC affiliate WLWI, owned by Crosley Broadcasting Corporation. It was one of five stations which made up the Cincinnati-based WLW television network in the early days of television. The other stations were WLWT-TV in Cincinnati, WLWC (now WCMH-TV) in Columbus, WLWA (now WXIA-TV) in Atlanta and WLWD (now WDTN) in Dayton.

From 1957 to 1962, the station was tied up in one of the most heated licensing disputes in early television history. The FCC originally awarded the license to a group headed by Union Federal Savings and Loan president George Sadlier. However, after an appeal, the FCC reversed itself and awarded the license to Crosley. However, one of the other competitors, Richard Fairbanks, owner of WIBC-AM 1070 sued the FCC. It claimed that the FCC had erred in awarding the last VHF license in Indianapolis to a company based in Cincinnati when there were viable potential licensees in Indianapolis. The suit, however, was filed too late to prevent WLWI from signing on.

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals overturned the FCC's decision in 1958, but allowed Crosley to continue running the station pending further FCC action. In 1961, the FCC awarded Fairbanks the channel 13 license. However, Crosley appealed. A year later, Crosley and Fairbanks reached a deal in which Fairbanks bought WLWA in return for allowing Crosley to keep WLWI.

Amid this instability in ownership, WLWI found the going rather difficult. It was also dogged by a weaker network affiliation; ABC would not be on an equal footing with CBS and NBC until the 1970s. WLWI spent most of its first 17 years as an also-ran behind WFBM-TV (now WRTV) and WISH-TV. In some cases, it even fell to fourth place behind WTTV.

[edit] From last place to ratings leadership

Crosley/Avco poured a lot of money into WLWI, but eventually concluded that it was a "third-rate" operation and put it up for sale. The Wolfe family, owners of the Columbus Dispatch and WBNS-TV in Columbus, bought the station from Avco in 1974 and changed the calls to WTHR two years later. The Wolfes vastly improved WTHR's on-air quality. While it was still third behind WISH and WRTV, it was more competitive than it had ever been before. In the case of the ABC affiliation, the network rose to first place and was seeking out stronger local stations to affiliate with in many markets; NBC, meanwhile, was the lowest rated network. So in 1979, WTHR swapped affiliations with WRTV and became an NBC affiliate. Ratings were slow to improve until the mid-1990s, when WTHR hired former CBS News correspondent John Stehr to anchor its evening newscasts. WTHR quickly moved from third to second place after a botched relaunch at WRTV. Changes continued to be made, and in 1999, WTHR's Eyewitness News surged past then-dominant WISH in several key news timeslots, moving to first place for the first time in its history. By 2002, WTHR beat WISH in all news timeslots and changed its slogan to "Indiana's News Leader".

[edit] WTHR today

Today, WTHR consistently dominates every news timeslot. WISH has been a close second except at 11PM where CBS has helped WISH move ahead. WTHR is also one of NBC's five strongest affiliates for primetime and news programming, ranking up with KUSA-TV in Denver and KSDK in St. Louis. This led to speculation that NBC Universal could buy the station from the Wolfe family and become NBC's first O&O in Indiana and change to "NBC 13". However, NBC Universal recently decided that it only wants to own stations located in larger markets, selling four owned-and-operated stations in several mid-sized markets to Media General. The most likely purchaser for WTHR is thought to be the Gannett Company, which owns KUSA-TV.

It should be noted, however, that the Wolfe family tends to own businesses for the long-term. Wolfe family businesses are profitable and carry very little debt, thus there is little incentive to sell. The Wolfe family controlled BancOhio Corporation, once Ohio's largest bank holding company, for nearly 70 years. The Wolfes also controlled The Ohio Company, once Ohio's largest brokerage, for nearly as long. The Wolfes have owned The Columbus Dispatch since the late 1800s and have been in the broadcasting business since the 1920s. The Wolfe family's last remaining interests are in the media and in real estate, thus it is highly unlikely that they are actively looking for buyers for WTHR.

WTHR used to have a partnership agreement with WNDY-TV, the UPN affiliate for Indianapolis. Under the partnership, WTHR produced a 10 p.m. newscast for WNDY. However, the partnership ended when WNDY was purchased by LIN TV Corp., the owner of WISH. WTHR's sister-station, WBNS-TV, now has the same partnership with LIN-Owned WWHO-TV in Columbus. WISH took over the production of WNDY's 10 p.m. newscast. WTHR now airs a short 8 minute "First Forecast" on the company-owned SkyTrak Weather Network, channel 50, in lieu of a 10 p.m. newscast. SkyTrak Weather Network also airs constant weather forecasts for Central Indiana and replays of WTHR's midday, 6 p.m. newscasts, and short 5 minute news updates throughout the day.

[edit] Eyewitness News In HD

Beginning with Eyewitness News Nightbeat on Sunday November 12th, 2006, WTHR became the first station in Indiana to broadcast local news in High Definition, making it one of only five TV stations in the Midwest broadcasting news in HD (the others being WKYC-TV in Cleveland, KSDK in St. Louis, KARE-TV in Minneapolis/St. Paul, and sister station WBNS-TV in Columbus, Ohio). WTHR broadcasts Eyewitness News in 1080i HDTV, which is the same HD format as NBC programming. Updated graphics and news set were also introduced, along with updated music composed by 615 Music in Nashville, TN (who has provided news music for WTHR since 2000).

[edit] Trivia

When WTHR swapped affiliations with WRTV in 1979, its final closedown as an ABC affiliate went in an unusual way than its past sign-offs. Two years before, ABC awarded WTHR a cup in honor of its 20-year affiliation with the network. A rifle attached to a camera shot through the cup. The next day was its first day as an NBC affiliate, and the station played the NBC chimes during its first startup as an NBC affiliate.

• Late night talk show host David Letterman was a weatherman for the station in the 1970s.
• Longtime WTHR Chief Meterologist Bob Gregory has a son named Kevin, who currently is the chief meterologist at competitor WRTV.

[edit] Slogans and image campaigns

• "You're On Top Of It All" - Used from 1976-1979. Image campaign composed by Al Ham.

• "Hello Indiana; Channel 13 Loves You!" - Used from 1980-1987; briefly revived in 1991. Image campaign composed by Frank Gari, vocals mainly by Florence Warner.

• "This Is Indiana, And We're Proud To Call It Home!" (a.k.a. "Proud To Call It Home!") - Used from 1987-1994.

• "Indiana, 13's On Your Side" - Used from 1994-1997. Image campaign composed by Frank Gari.

• "Coverage You Can Count On" - Used from 1994 - 2002; still appears on some WTHR-owned vehicles.

• "Indiana's News Leader" - Used from 2002 to the present

[edit] Newscasts

Anne Marie Tiernon and Julia Moffitt anchor the weekday 12 PM newscast, 3/27/2007. Tiernon was filling in when this picture was taken. She is currently the 5:30 and 6:00 anchor at WTHR.

Weekdays

• Eyewitness News Sunrise - 4:30 a.m.-7 a.m.
  • Bruce Kopp, Julia Moffitt, Chuck Lofton (weather), Mimi Pearce & Paul Kasey (traffic)
• Eyewitness News at 12:00 - 12 p.m.-1 p.m.
  • Scott Swan, Julia Moffitt, Tina Simpkin (weather)
• Eyewitness News at Five - 5 p.m.-5:30 p.m.
  • John Stehr, Andrea Morehead, Chris Wright (weather)
• Eyewitness News at 5:30 - 5:30 p.m.-6 p.m.
  • Scott Swan, Anne Marie Tiernon, Chris Wright (weather)
• Eyewitness News at Six - 6 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
  • John Stehr, Anne Marie Tiernon, Chris Wright (weather), Dave Calabro (sports)
• Eyewitness News Nightbeat - 11 p.m.-11:35 p.m.
  • John Stehr, Andrea Morehead, Chris Wright (weather), Dave Calabro (sports)

Weekends

• Eyewitness News Weekend Sunrise - Saturdays: 6 a.m.-7 a.m., 8 a.m.-10 a.m.; Sundays: 6 a.m.-8 AM, 9 a.m.-10 AM
  • Jeremy Brilliant, Kris Kirschner, fill-in (weather), Rich Nye (sports)
• Eyewitness News at Six - 6 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
  • Linsey Davis, Jude Redfield (weather), Henry Wofford (sports)
• Eyewitness News Nightbeat - Saturdays 11 p.m.-11:30 p.m. and Sundays 11 p.m.-11:20 p.m.
  • Linsey Davis, Jude Redfield (weather), Henry Wofford (sports)
• 13 Sports Jam - Sunday 11:20 p.m.-Midnight
  • Dave Calabro

[edit] Notable WTHR Alumni

• Tom Cochrun, anchor from 1981-1996 (now retiried news director at WISH-TV)
• Debbie Denmon, weekend morning anchor in the late 1990s (now at WFAA-TV Dallas)
• Jill Ditmire, weekday anchor (now feature reporter at WISH-TV)
• Alex Sanz, reporter (now at KHOU-TV, Houston)
• Cameron Harper, anchor in the 1980s (now at WPTY-TV, Memphis)
• Barry Judge, anchor in the 1980s
• Chris Stout, sports reporter from the late 1990s-2002 (now at WKRN-TV, Nashville)
• Erik Waxler, sports anchor/reporter from 1998-2006 (now at WHAS-TV, Louisville)
• John Lindsay, anchor in the 1970s
• Pat Carlini, meteorologist in the late 1980s and weekday morning anchor until 2003
• Jim O'Brien, meteorologist (now at rival WXIN Fox59 in Indianapolis)
• Lyra O'Brien, meteorologist (now at WISN-TV, Milwaukee)
• Linda Allen, reporter (now 5, 6 & 10pm anchor at WJTV, Jackson, MS)
• Roger Harvey, anchor/reporter (now VP Communications, Bose Public Affairs Group)
• Parella Lewis, weekend meteorologist (from 2004-2007)
• Rhori Johnston, weekend anchor from 1999-2005 (now at WTVF, Nashville)
• Yolanda Walker, reporter (now at WFAA, Dallas)
• Marc Thompson, reporter (now at WOOD-TV, Grand Rapids, MI)
• Jeremy Rogalski, investigative reporter (now at KHOU-TV, Houston)
• Amanda Rosseter, anchor/reporter (now at CNN)
• Lynda Moore, medical reporter/anchor from 1995-2004 (now ??)
• Anita Malichi, anchor/reporter from mid 1990s-2001 (now ??)
• Angie Moreschi, anchor/investigative reporter (now freelance journalist & media consultant in Lutz, Florida)
• Tim "Treeboy" Bush, Sunrise feature reporter until 2005 (now ??)
• Brent Cameron, weekend meteorologist (now at WSVN-TV, Miami)
• Lisa Amin, reporter (now freelance journalist in California)
• Lis Daily (1959-2002), Community Affairs Director (passed away in 2002 from cancer)
• Mark Clegg, anchor/reporter (now at KSHB-TV, Kansas City)
• Jack Martin, weekend anchor/reporter
• Richard Reeve, reporter
• Anne Ryder, anchor/reporter

[edit] Other Logos

Variation of the WTHR logo - used on certain vehicles and "simple" settings.

[edit] External links

• WTHR.com
• WTHR NBC 13 Fan Site
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WTHR