NewsChannel 8 (cable channel)

NewsChannel 8 (briefly titled TBD TV) is a regional cable television network serving Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, and Suburban Maryland. The cable station is seen in more than 1.1 million cable television homes. NewsChannel 8 is owned by Allbritton Communications, along with ABC affiliate WJLA. The station shares broadcast studios and offices with WJLA and Politico in Rosslyn in Arlington, Virginia. In addition, the channel operates two Maryland news bureaus (in Rockville and Landover), and one in Washington, D.C. The network was renamed to TBD TV on August 9, 2010, but reverted back to NewsChannel 8 in February 2011^[1].

Through a fiber optic delivery system, the station targets programming and advertising to 3 separate geographical regions of the Washington Metro area. On September 5, 2006, Comcast moved NewsChannel 8, at their request, to channel 28 on some of their systems to be next to co-owned WJLA on channel 27. However, as of December 16, 2010, the station remains on channel 8 on Comcast's Prince George's County, Maryland cable system; this may be because WJLA remains on Channel 7.

Programming and live newscasts

When not airing newscasts, NewsChannel 8 shows ABC News programming including: Nightline (Tuesday - Saturday at 4:30 a.m., encore of previous night's show), ABC World News (encore daily at 9:30 p.m.), 20/20, and This Week (Sundays at 7 p.m.) Also, the stations airs various local programs, including "NewsTalk" (a live daily call-in show featuring prominent newsmakers), "Capital Insider", "Let's Talk Live", "SportsTalk", "The Arch Campbell Show", and "Capital Golf Weekly". During overnights and weekends, it airs some paid programming as well.

NewsChannel 8 was once known for airing specific "Zone Reports" on weeknights to three separate geographical regions of the Washington Metro area. They included: "The Washington Report", with news that affects the District; "The Virginia Report", news from Northern Virginia; and "The Maryland Report", news from communities in suburban Maryland. The appropriate edition was fed to each of the cable systems in the region. The newscasts were all the same, except for the second segment (between the first and second commercial breaks), which was specifically tailored to each "zone." However, in 2009, the station ended this practice.

NewsChannel 8's programming features its own anchors and weathercasters, while sharing reporters with WJLA. On weekends, NewsChannel 8 and WJLA share the same on-air news team for the evening newscasts for both stations.

On January 4 2012, NewsChannel 8 will began broadcasting in high definition.

On-air staff

Current on-air staff (as of May 2011)^[2]

+ denotes personnel also seen on WJLA
Current anchors/hosts

• Katherine Amenta - weekday mornings Morning Report (5-9 a.m.)
• Natasha Barrett - weekdays Let's Talk Live (11 a.m.-12 p.m., repeats at 5 p.m.)
• Arch Campbell - host of The Arch Campbell Show; also WJLA entertainment reporter +
• Bruce DePuyt - host of NewsTalk (10-11 a.m., repeats at 4 p.m.)
• Kendis Gibson - weekend evenings +
• Autria Godfrey (Thuman) - weekend evenings; also reporter +
• Pat Goss - host of Goss' Garage (Saturday mornings)
• Melanie Hastings - weekday mornings Morning Report (5-9 a.m.), Let's Talk Live (11-12 p.m., repeats at 5 p.m.)
• Morris Jones - weekdays NewsTrends (4:30 p.m.), NewsChannel 8 (7 p.m., 10 p.m., repeated throughout the overnight); also host of Capital Insider (8 p.m.)
• Dave Lucas - weekdays Afternoon News (9:30 a.m., 12 p.m., repeated throughout the afternoon); also host of Capital Golf Weekly
• Kathy Park - weekend mornings; also digital reporter

Weather team

• Steve Rudin (NWA Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend evenings +
• Brian Van De Graaff (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings and midday +
• Dave Zahren - meteorologist; weekend mornings +
• Joe Witte (AMS Seal of Approval)- staff meteorologist
• Devon Lucie - Afternoon/Evening Fill In Meteorologist

Sports team

• Horace Holmes - sports anchor; weekend evenings +
• Britt McHenry - sports reporter
• David Aldridge - host of SportsTalk (Sundays) and The Donovan McNabb Show
• Tim Brant - co-host of Sports Talk (Mondays) +
• Glenn Harris - co-host of Sports Talk (Wednesday-Fridays)
• Alex Parker - co-host of Sports Talk (Tuesdays)
• Julie Parker - co-host of Sports Talk (Tuesdays)

Reporters

• Natasha Barrett - general assignment reporter +
• Brad Bell - Prince George's County Bureau chief
• Brianne Carter - general assignment reporter +
• Mike Conneen - general assignment reporter +
• Rebecca Cooper - national correspondent +
• Bruce Depuyt - general assignment reporter +
• Jennifer Donelan - general assignment reporter +
• Ben Eisler - general assignment reporter +
• Lisa Fletcher - general assignment reporter +
• Sam Ford - DC Bureau chief +
• John Gonzalez - general assignment reporter +
• Glenn Harris - general assignment reporter + formerly with WHUR radio
• Melanie Hastings - general assignment reporter +
• Horace Holmes - general assignment and sports reporter +
• Suzanne Kennedy - general assignment reporter +
• Jay Korff - general assignment reporter +
• Dave Lucas - general assignment reporter +
• Jummy Olabanji - general assignment reporter +
• Kathy Park - general assignment reporter +
• Julie Parker - general assignment reporter +
• Gail Pennybacker - Fairfax County Bureau chief
• Courtney Robinson - general assignment reporter +
• Philip Stewart - general assignment reporter +
• Stephen Tschida - general assignment reporter +
• Kris Van Cleave - general assignment reporter +
• Jamee Whitten - weekday morning traffic reporter
• Tiffany Wilson - general assignment reporter +

References

External links

• Official Website of NewsChannel 8