WKRN-TV

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WKRN-TV
Image:WKRN_logo.gif
Nashville, Tennessee
Branding News 2
Slogan First. Fast. Accurate.
Channels Analog: 2 (VHF)

Digital: 27 (UHF)
Affiliations ABC
Owner Young Broadcasting, Inc.
(WKRN, GP)
First air date November 29, 1953
Call letters’ meaning Knight-Ridder Nashville
(former owner)
Former callsigns WSIX-TV (1953-1973)
WNGE (1973-1983)
Former channel number(s) 8 (1953-1973)
Former affiliations Primary:
CBS (1953-1954)
Secondary:
ABC (1953-1954)
Transmitter Power 100 kW (analog)
946 kW (digital)
Height 411 m (both)
Facility ID 73188
Transmitter Coordinates 36°2′50.4″N, 86°49′48.9″W
Website www.wkrn.com

WKRN-TV channel 2 is the ABC affiliate in Nashville, Tennessee. Its transmitter is located in Brentwood, Tennessee. It brands itself as News 2.

Contents

[edit] History

The station signed on the air on November 29, 1953 as WSIX-TV, the second television station in Nashville. It broadcast on channel 8 and was owned by Louis and Jack Draughon along with WSIX-AM 980 (now WFYN-AM, a religious station). The calls came from the 638 Tire Company in nearby Springfield, where the Draughon brothers had started WSIX-AM in 1930; neither the radio nor the television stations have ever had the number six in their frequencies, which would explain it otherwise. Originally a CBS affiliate sharing ABC with WSM-TV (now WSMV), it became a full ABC affiliate after only one year when WLAC-TV (now WTVF) signed on and took the CBS affiliation due to WLAC-AM's long history as a CBS radio affiliate. Its original studio was on Old Hickory Boulevard, just outside Nashville. In 1961, WSIX-AM-FM-TV moved to a new studio on Murfreesboro Road, where the TV station is located today.

WSIX-TV, however, did not have much luck against WSM and WLAC. Part of the problem was a weak signal, as its transmitter was short-spaced to channel 8 in Atlanta--occupied first by WLWA-TV (now WXIA-TV) and currently occupied by WGTV. WSIX was also hampered by a weaker network affiliation (ABC was not truly competitive with CBS and NBC until well into the 1970s).

The Draughons sold WSIX-AM-FM-TV to General Electric in 1966. In 1972, GE cut a deal with Nashville's PBS station, WDCN-TV (now WNPT), then on channel 2, to swap dial positions. GE did this because the channel 2 signal travels farther than the channel 8 signal under most conditions. The swap occurred on December 11, 1973, in the middle of evening prime-time programming. At the same time, even though General Electric still owned WSIX-AM-FM, it changed WSIX-TV's callsign to WNGE-TV (for Nashville General Electric), leaving the radio stations' callsigns intact. This was only the third facility swap in American television history.

Knight Ridder bought WNGE-TV in 1983 and changed the calls to the current WKRN-TV. Young Broadcasting, the current owners, bought the station in 1989. It is merely a coincidence that the call letters reflect Young Broadcasting's flagship outlet, KRON-TV in San Francisco. Like all other ABC affiliates owned by Young Broadcasting, WKRN preempted ABC's broadcast of the movie Saving Private Ryan in 2004.

[edit] Digital Television

The station's digital channel :

Digital channels

Channel Programming
2.1 / 27.1 Main WKRN programming / ABC HD
2.2 / 27.2 Nashville WX Channel

WKRN will broadcast only on digital channel 27 when the analog channel 2 signal shuts down on February 17, 2009.[1]

[edit] Former Slogans

  • 1972 to 1978: The Powerhouse!
  • 1978 to 1981: 2 a New Beat
  • 1981 to 1983: The News Specialists
  • 1983 to 1986: Let's Get Involved
  • 1986 to 1987: The Winner's Circle!
  • 1987 to 1990: Something's Happening Here
  • 1990 to 1996: On Your Side
  • 1996 to 2001: Where Coverage Comes First!
  • 2001 to 2006: First. Fast. Accurate.
  • 2007 to now: Start Here."

[edit] Station Logos

WNGE-TV logo, January 1980.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Young Broadcasting

ABC Affiliates: WATE · WBAY1 · WKRN · WRIC · WTEN1 / WCDC
CBS Affiliates: KELO / KCLO / KDLO / KPLO · KLFY · WLNS
MyNetworkTV Affiliate: KELO / KDLO / KPLO · KRON1,2
NBC Affiliate: KWQC
Local Weather Channels: KWQC 24-7 Weather Channel  · WBAY Stormcenter 2 24/7  · WTEN News 10 Storm Tracker Channel

1 - Broadcasts Retro Television Network on a digital subchannel
2 - sale pending

Key People: Adam Young and Vincent Young
Website: www.youngbroadcasting.com
v • d • e
Broadcast television in the Nashville market  (Nielsen DMA #30)

WKRN 2 (ABC) - WSMV 4 (NBC), (TEL on DT2) - WTVF 5 (CBS) - WNPT 8 (PBS) - WIIW-LP 14 (Religious / DS) - WZTV 17 (Fox) -
WNTU-LP 26 (UNI) - WNPX 28 (ION) - WUXP 30 (MNTV) - WJNK-LP 34 (3ABN) - WHTN 39 (CTN) - WLLC-LP 42 (Telefutura) -
WPGD 50 (TBN) - WNAB 58 (The CW) - WJFB 66 (Jewelry TV)

Outlying Areas
WETV-LP 11 (Ind) - WCTE 22 (PBS) - WPBM-LP 31 (FN) - WKAG-CA 43 (A1)

Local cable television channels
Metro 3
v • d • e
ABC Network Affiliates in the state of Tennessee
See also: CBS, CW, Fox, ION, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS and Other stations in Tennessee