WCJB-TV

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WCJB-TV


Image:Wcjb dt2 cw.PNG
Gainesville, Florida
Branding WCJB TV 20
The CW Gainesville
(on DT2)
Slogan Your Home Team
Channels Analog: 20 (UHF)

Digital: 16 (UHF)

Affiliations ABC
The CW (on DT2)
Owner Diversified Communications
(Diversified Broadcasting, Inc.)
First air date April 7, 1971
Call letters’ meaning Casey, Jean, and Bill Minshall (orginal owners)
Former affiliations NBC (1971-1973)
Transmitter Power 2,820 kW (analog)
343.6 kW (digital)
Height 287 m (analog)
254.4 m (digital)
Facility ID 16993
Transmitter Coordinates 29°32′11.5″N, 82°24′0″W
Website wcjb.com

WCJB-TV, channel 20, is the ABC-affiliated television station in Gainesville, Florida. Its transmitter is located in Wacahoota. Owned by Diversified Communications, the station has studios on Northwest 43rd Street in Gainesville. WCJB operates the area's CW affiliate on its second subchannel. Known on-air as The CW Gainesville, it is also offered on cable. In High Springs, the station can be seen on Communicomm channel 6. In Gainesville, it is located on Cox channel 10.

WCJB's coverage area includes Lake City (in the Jacksonville market), Ocala (in the Orlando market) and most of northern Florida. It is also the sole ABC affiliate on cable systems in Live Oak and Jasper (both within the Tallahassee market).

[edit] History

WCJB signed on April 7, 1971 as an NBC affiliate owned by William E. "Bill" Minshall. Its callsign bears the first initials of his family members: Casey (daughter), JoAnn (wife), and himself, "Bill". In 1973, just two years after its first broadcast, WCJB switched its affiliation to ABC. In 1977, WCJB was sold to current owner Diversified Communications. In 2001, WCJB began its digital signal on UHF channel 16.

On January 24, 2006, UPN and The WB announced that they would cease broadcasting and merge. The new combined network would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of its corporate parents: CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner.

Until July of 2006, WCJB was the only ABC affiliate seen on the Cox system in Ocala. Even though Ocala is part of the Orlando market, WCJB had exclusivity on that system for ABC programming. This kept Orlando's ABC affiliate, Cox-owned WFTV, off the system for several years. In July of 2006, Cox received the green light to pick up WFTV's standard and high definition feeds in Ocala. The standard signal is located on cable channel 9 and the high definition feed is located on digital channel 729.

WFTV and WCJB are also both seen on Bright House systems in Belleview and unincorporated Marion County.

On September 18, 2006, WCJB launched a new second digital subchannel to be the area's CW affiliate. WCJB-DT2 offers the nationally syndicated morning show, The Daily Buzz, on weekdays from 6 to 9. There is also a weeknight 10 o'clock newscast seen on that station. In addition to their main studios, WCJB operates a Marion County Bureau in Ocala on Northeast 1st Avenue.

[edit] News team

Anchors

  • Amanda Decker - weekday mornings and Noon
  • David Snyder - weeknights
  • Paige Beck - weeknights
  • Myra Monroe - weeknights at 10
    • producer


Meteorologists

  • Bill Quinlan (NWA and AMS Seals of Approval) - Chief seen on weeknights
  • Mike Potter - weekday morning and Noon
  • Lindsay Milbourne - weekends
    • weather reporter

Sports

  • Hank Astengo - Director seeon on weeknights at 6, 10, and 11
  • Chris Price - weekends
    • sports reporter
  • Hubert Mizell - sports contributor
    • "Mizell Minute" segment producer

Reporters

  • Sarah Pusateri - Marion County Bureau
  • Dan Breitwieser - outlying counties
  • Stacey Samuel - fill-in anchor
  • David Hamilton - feature
    • seen weeknights at 5:30 and 6
    • "Around Town with David Hamilton" segment producer
    • fill-in anchor
  • Gavin Johnson
  • Shani Muhammad

[edit] External links