WSPA-TV
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| WSPA-TV | |
|---|---|
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| Spartanburg/Greenville/Anderson, South Carolina/Asheville, North Carolina | |
| Branding | NewsChannel 7 |
| Slogan | On Your Side |
| Channels | Analog: 7 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | CBS |
| Owner | Media General (Media General Communications Holdings, LLC) |
| First air date | April 29, 1956 |
| Call letters’ meaning | SPArtanburg |
| Sister station(s) | WYCW |
| Transmitter Power | 265 kW (analog) 875 kW (digital) |
| Height | 676 m (analog) 657 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 66391 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | www.wspa.com |
WSPA-TV is the CBS television affiliate for the Spartanburg/Greenville, South Carolina/Asheville, North Carolina television market. Licensed to Spartanburg, it broadcasts its analog signal on VHF channel 7, and its digital signal on UHF channel 53. Its transmitter is located on Hogback Mountain near Tryon, North Carolina.
The station is owned by Media General, and is sister station to WYCW, the area's CW affiliate. WSPA-TV produces a 10pm newscast for WYCW and also shares some resources with WNEG-TV in Toccoa, Georgia, a fellow Media General station.
The station went on the air on April 29, 1956. It was owned by broadcasting pioneer Walter J. Brown and his company, Spartan Radiocasting, along with WSPA radio (AM 950, now WOLI-AM 910; and 98.9 FM). It has always been a CBS affiliate.
Spartan Radiocasting bought several other radio and television stations over the years, and was renamed Spartan Communications in 1995. The radio stations were sold off in 1998, but WSPA-TV remained the flagship of the company until it merged with Media General in 2000. Channel 7 was the last locally owned and operated station in the market.
The station's newscasts were known as Eyewitness 7 News until 1994, when they were re-branded as NewsChannel 7. Leeza Gibbons, Tricia Kean, Jane Robelot and Susan McGinnis have worked for the station in the past.
WSPA also used to produce a newscast for WHNS-TV, the area's Fox affiliate, before WHNS-TV launched its own news operation.
WSPA began broadcasting 24/7 in the mid-1990s after previously having signed off every Friday night/Saturday morning and Saturday night/Sunday morning, and being 24 hours on the other days.
On September 16th, 2007, WSPA began producing newscasts in high definition, and also adopted graphics similar to what is used at sister station WFLA-TV. It is the first TV station in South Carolina to produce local news in HD.
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[edit] Newscasts
NewsChannel 7 is the first station in the market and in the state of South Carolina to broadcast news in high definition. Furthermore, WSPA is currently the ratings leader in most timeslots, having surged ahead of longtime leader WYFF.
[edit] Chopper
The station operates the region's first aerial news gathering helicopter with a gyrostabilized camera, which is outfitted with a 72 power zoom lens and a motorized 2 power drop in extender. The camera system is manufactured by FSI or Flir Systems International and the helicopter is maintained by U.S. Helicopters Inc. of Charlotte, NC It is referred to on-air as "Air 7".
[edit] Preempted Programming
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This section does not cite any references or sources. (September 2007) Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
WSPA pre-empted several CBS shows through the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's, mostly game shows, these shows include:
- CBS Children's Film Festival
- Press Your Luck (was picked up in 1984, shortly after Michael Larson's record $110,237 win)
- Card Sharks (aired by WSPA-TV from 1986-1988; dropped September 1988-March 1989 and preempted by Wipeout)
- Now You See It (April-July 1989 CBS Daytime Game Show preempted by Wipeout)
- Wheel of Fortune (July-September 1989, hosted by Bob Goen; picked up by WSPA-TV September 1989; preempted by Wipeout)
- Family Feud Challenge (final few months??)
- Muppet Babies (1991-1993?; preempted by Jack Roper's Kidsizzle)
- Pee-Wee's Playhouse (final season?)
- Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures (the animated series) (final weeks?)
- The Late Show with David Letterman (for one week around the summer of 1998)
[edit] Current Personalities
- Dan Bickford Morning Meteorologist
- Jonathan Carlson Reporter/Fill-In Anchor
- Chris Cato Reporter
- Carmen Coursey Reporter
- Tom Crabtree Weekday Anchor (he has been with the station since 1983)
- Fred Cunningham Morning Anchor (formerly a weekend sportscaster)
- Diane Derby Weekend Anchor/Reporter
- Carrie Davis Anchor/Reporter
- Ken Griner Sportscaster
- Christy Henderson Chief Meteorologist
- Justin Cooper Weather
- Connie LeGrand Weekday Anchor
- Melissa Keeney Reporter
- Robert Kittle Reporter
- Kristen Nastasia Reporter
- Elizabeth Owens Reporter
- Jack Roper Talk Show Host(he has been with the station since 1986)
- Heather Sullivan Weekend Morning Anchor
- Todd Summers Weekend Sportscaster
- Amy Wood Weekday Anchor (she has been with the station since 1990)
- Pete Yanity Sports Director
[edit] Past Personalities
- Ken Bostic (Sportscaster/Meteorologist from 1969-1984 before moving to rival WLOS-TV)
- Bebe Burns (Reporter 1970s, later KTVI-TV, St. Louis, MO, KHOU-TV and KPRC-TV in Houston)
- Carl Clark (Anchor/Reporter from 1995-2003, now retired)
- Tony Dale (Meteorologist)
- Allen Denton (Anchor/Reporter, now at KNTV, San Jose, CA)
- Annette Estes (Weekday Anchor from 1977-1987, later moved to rival WYFF-TV in 1987)
- John Gallows (Meteorologist)
- Leeza Gibbons (Reporter, before she became a famous television personality)
- Pamela Graham (Weekday Anchor from 1990-2006)
- Terri Gruca (Anchor/Reporter, now at WCCO-TV, Minneapolis, MN)
- Brad Huffines (Chief Meteorologist, now at WAAY-TV, Huntsville, AL)
- Tricia Kean (Anchor/Reporter, now at KTNV-TV, Las Vegas, NV)
- Cherish Keats (Reporter)
- Jim Kirkpatrick (Meteorologist)
- Susan McGinnis (Reporter, now at CBS's The Early Show)
- David Morian (Meteorologist)
- Matthew Nordin (Anchor/Reporter, won station's first Edward R. Murrow Award)
- Stan Olenik (Sportscaster, later moved to rival WYFF-TV in the 1980s)
- Scott Palmer (Sports Director, later WPVI-TV, Philadelphia, PA)
- Julie Phillips (Morning Anchor)
- Melissa Rehberger (Anchor/Reporter, now at MSNBC)
- Jane Robelot (Weekday Anchor, later CBS network and now reporter at rival WYFF-TV)
- Craig Smith (Anchor/Reporter, later WNYT-TV and WRGB-TV, Albany, NY)
- Brian Washington (Anchor/Reporter)
- Diana Watson (Anchor/Reporter, now at rival WHNS-TV)
- Cordell Whitlock (Reporter, later KSDK-TV, St. Louis, MO)
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- History of WSPA-TV
- WSPA website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WSPA
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WSPA-TV
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