WSET-TV

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WSET-TV
Image:Wset13.gif
Lynchburg/Roanoke, Virginia
Branding ABC 13
Slogan The Heart of Virginia
Coverage You Can Count On
Channels Analog: 13 (VHF)

Digital: 34 (UHF)
Affiliations ABC
RTN
(Digital only, starting April 2008)
Owner Allbritton Communications Company
(WSET, Inc.)
First air date February 8, 1953
Call letters’ meaning NeWSET 13
Former callsigns WLVA-TV (1953-1977)
Former affiliations CBS/ABC (1953-1954)
Transmitter Power 302 kW (analog)
200 kW (digital)
Height 625 m (analog)
568.4 m (digital)
Facility ID 73988
Transmitter Coordinates 37°18′54.6″N, 79°38′5.1″W
Website www.wset.com

WSET-TV is the ABC television network affiliate in Lynchburg-Roanoke, Virginia. The station is licensed to Lynchburg, and transmits its analog signal on VHF channel 13 and its digital signal on UHF channel 34. It is owned by the Allbritton Communications Company. Its transmitter is located near Thaxton, Virginia. WSET is one of the only stations in the market that does not transmit in stereo. WSET will add programming from the Retro Television Network, owned by Equity Media Holdings Corporation on a digital subchannel starting April 2008.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

WSET-TV signed on the air for the very first time on February 8, 1953 as WLVA-TV (W-Lynchburg-VirginiA), under the ownership of Lynchburg Broadcasting, who also owned WLVA-AM. It was the first station in Virginia to operate at full power. It was originally a CBS affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation, but switched to ABC full-time in late 1954. In the late 60's, current ABC World News Tonight anchor Charles Gibson was a reporter/anchor for the station.

Lynchburg Broadcasting sold WLVA-AM-TV to the Washington Star Company in 1965. Joe L. Allbritton bought the Star in 1976. Allbritton sold off the company's non-television assets, including WLVA-AM, in 1977, and WLVA-TV changed its calls to WSET to coincide with its new branding, "NeWSET-13."

WSET long provided spotty coverage of Roanoke and the New River Valley, most likely because it is short-spaced to WLOS-TV in Asheville, North Carolina. However, it activated a new transmitter in Thaxton (halfway between Roanoke and Lynchburg) in 1983, providing a city-grade signal to Roanoke for the first time. An effort to move the transmitter had been rejected by the FCC in 1970.

WSET's main local news programming (ABC 13 News) is primarily aimed at the eastern half of the Roanoke-Lynchburg market, focusing on areas such as Lynchburg and Danville. In 2005, it was one of only two ABC affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone to air ABC's World News Tonight at 7 PM rather than 6:30; WSB-TV in Atlanta is the other. However, WSET has returned the national program to the 6:30pm time slot, shifting its regional broadcast to the 7:00pm viewing time.

[edit] Once And Again controversy

On March 11, 2002, WSET pre-empted an episode of Once and Again which contained a scene in which two female characters kiss one another, and ran a prime-time infomercial instead.[2] WSET was the only ABC affiliate to pre-empt the episode. The decision, which station management refused to explain, provoked condemnation from GLAAD[3] and praise from Jerry Falwell.[4]

[edit] News/Station Presentation

[edit] Newscast Titles

  • NewsSet 13 (1977-1987)
  • NewsCenter 13 (1987-1990)
  • News 13 (1990-2001)
  • ABC 13 News (2001-present)

[edit] Newscast Music

  • Tuesday13, Tuesday Productions (19??-1977)
  • WSET 1977 News Theme, Unknown (1977-1981)
  • WSET 1981 News Theme, Unknown (1981-198?)
  • Action News, Telesound (19??-19??)
  • The Image Leader, Soundtrack (198?-1990)
  • WSET 1990 News Theme, Unknown (1990-1992)
  • Image VII, Newsmusic Central (1992-1997)
  • Image IX, Newsmusic Central (1997-2000)
  • Overture, Stephen Arnold Music (2000-2003)
  • Production Music: WSET 2000 Night Team Theme, Unknown (2000-2004)
  • Pinnacle, Stephen Arnold Music (2003-2004)
  • Battery, 615 Music (2004-Present)
  • Always Worth Your Time, 615 Music (2007-Present)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Equity Media Holdings Corporation - RTN Announces Expansion to Roanoke
  2. ^ "ABC Affiliate Pulls 'Once and Again' Episode", zap2it.com, 2002-03-12. Retrieved on 2007-03-07.
  3. ^ "Lynchburg ABC Affiliate Refuses to Air Once and Again", glaad.org, 2002-03-13. Retrieved on 2007-03-07.
  4. ^ Jerry Falwell, "A hero in our midst", worldnetdaily.com, 2002-03-16. Retrieved on 2007-03-07.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Broadcast television in the Roanoke/Lynchburg market (Nielsen DMA #67)

WDRG 2 (TCT) - WDBJ 7 (CBS, MNTV on DT2) - W08CW 8 (PBS) - WSLS 10 (NBC) - WSET 13 (ABC, RTN on DT2, starting 04/08) - WBRA 15 (PBS) -
WFXR 27 / WWCW 21 (FOX, The CW on DT2) - WDRL 24 (Ind) - WPXR 38 (ION) - W40BM 40 (TBN) - WRKV 43 (Ind) - W49AP 49 (TBN) - WTLU 50 (Ind) 
v • d • e
ABC Network Affiliates in the state of Virginia
See also: CBS, CW, Fox, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS, and Other stations in Virginia
v • d • e
Allbritton Communications Company
KATV · KTUL · WBMA / WCFT / WJSU · WCIV · WHTM · WJLA · WSET · The Politico
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