WMAZ-TV
WMAZ-TV, channel 13, is the CBS affiliate television station in Macon, Georgia, United States. It is owned by Gannett.
History
The station signed on for the first time on September 27, 1953, owned by Southeastern Broadcasting Company along with WMAZ radio (AM 940, now WMAC; and FM 99.1, frequency now occupied by WDEN). It is the fourth-oldest station in the state and the oldest outside of Atlanta, beating WDAK-TV (now WTVM) in Columbus by only a day. Southeastern Broadcasting won a television license on its second try; it had previously made an unsuccessful bid for channel 7 a year earlier. The new station was one of the most powerful VHF stations in the country, providing at least secondary coverage from the southern Atlanta suburbs to the western suburbs of Savannah. It carried programming from all three major networks, but has always been a primary CBS affiliate owing to WMAZ-AM's long affiliation with CBS Radio.
WMAZ's callsign comes from its AM sister's roots as a physics project at Mercer University. The call letters stand for Watch Mercer Attain Zenith.
Southeastern Broadcasting sold WMAZ-AM-FM-TV to Southern Broadcasting Corporation in 1963, earning a healthy return on its 1935 purchase of WMAZ-AM. Southern Broadcasting merged with the News-Piedmont Company of Greenville, South Carolina to form Multimedia, Inc. in 1967. In 1974, WMAZ-AM-FM-TV moved to a new studio on Gray Highway in Macon.
Multimedia merged with Gannett in 1995, making WMAZ-TV a sister station to Georgia's third-oldest station, WXIA-TV in Atlanta.
WMAZ was the only station in town until 1968, when WCWB-TV (now WMGT-TV) started and took the NBC affiliation. WMAZ continued to carry selected ABC shows until WGXA began in 1982.
It is still the only VHF station in the market, in part because Macon is sandwiched between Atlanta to the north, Columbus to the west, Augusta and Savannah to the east. In part due to this, it has dominated central Georgia ratings for most of its history.
Its current image campaign, "Straight from the Heart," dates to 1983, based on Bryan Adams' song of the same name. Its sister station, WBIR-TV, an NBC affiliate in Knoxville, also uses the slogan and image campaign.
On November 4, 2011 WMAZ moved all their newscast to the "Law Call" Set with the normal Red and Black Newsroom/Control Room Backdrop. The next week on November 7, 13WMAZ announced in the 5 o'clock newscast that they will be upgrading to HD in the upcoming weeks. The first reporting of the transition was on Morning Anchors Stephanie Susskind's Facebook page where she wrote, "If things look a little different this morning, it's because we are getting ready to go HD! Stick with us for some temporary changes as we get our studio ready to broadcast in High Definition soon". There is no word on if the set is brand new or if the set is just a remodel. No date has been released for when the premiere will be.
On November 14, 2011 WMAZ premiered their newscasts in HD starting with their 5 p.m. newscast, becoming the first full power station in the Macon market to do so (behind WRWR-LD, a low power station in Warner Robins which began airing HD newscasts on September 17, 2010).
Digital television
On June 12, 2009, WMAZ-TV terminated its analog signal and moved its digital signal to channel 13.
News operation
News/station presentation
Newscast titles
- Your Esso Reporter (1950s)
- WMAZ-TV News (1957-1960s)
- The 11th Hour Report (1960s-1969)
- Pulse News (1969-1971)
- Channel 13 News (1971-1974)
- Eyewitness News (1979-1996)
- 13 WMAZ Eyewitness News (1996-present)
Station slogans
- Channel 13, Georgia's Color Station (1960s)
- Channel 13 is The Place To Be (early 1970s)
- The Best is Right Here on Channel 13/Channel 13 is Easy on the Eyes (1973-1974; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- See the Best...Channel 13 (1974-1975; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Catch the Brightest Stars on Channel 13 (1975-1976; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Channel 13, We're the Hot Ones (1976-1977; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- There's Something in the Air, on Channel 13 (1977-1978; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Channel 13, Turn Us On, We'll Turn You On (1978-1979; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Channel 13, You're Looking Good (1979-1980; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Looking Good Together, Channel 13 (1980-1981; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Reach for the Stars on Channel 13 (1981-1982; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Great Moments on Channel 13 (1982-1983; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Straight From The Heart (1983-present)
- We've Got the Touch, You and Channel 13 (1983-1984; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- You and Channel 13, We've Got the Touch (1984-1985; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- We've Got the Touch on Channel 13 (1985-1986; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Share the Spirit on Channel 13 (1986-1987; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Channel 13 Spirit, Oh Yes! (1987-1988; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- You Can Feel It on Channel 13 (1988-1989; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Get Ready for Channel 13 (1989-1991; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- The Look of Georgia is Channel 13 (1991-1992; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- This is CBS, on Channel 13 (1992-1994; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
Newscast music
- Move Closer to Your World by Mayoham Music (1972–1976)
- Where You Belong by TM Productions (1976–1978)
- WJZ 1975 News Theme by unknown composer (1978–1980)
- WMAZ 1980 News Theme by unknown composer (1980-19??)
- KSD 1981 News Theme by unknown composer (1990–1994)
- WWL News by Stephen Arnold Music (1994–2006)
- Seize The Day by 615 Music (2006–2008)
- Gannett News Music Package by Rampage Music New York, Inc. (2008–present)
This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.
News team
Current on-air staff
Current anchors
- Leah Johnson – weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
- Suzanne Lawler – weekend mornings Eyewitness News Mornin'; also fill-in sports anchor
- Lorra Lynch-Jones – weeknights at 5 p.m.
- Frank Malloy – weeknights at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.; also co-host of HighSchoolSports.net Football Friday Night and HighSchoolSports.net Full Court Press
- Stephanie Susskind – weekday mornings Eyewitness News Mornin' and noon
- Brittiny Barber or Eleanor Lissitzyn – weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.
Weather team
- Ben Jones (AMS Seal of Approval) – chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.
- John Boyer – meteorologist; weekend mornings Eyewitness News Mornin', and weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.
- Mike Fuller – meteorologist; fill-in
- David Enrst - weekday mornings Eyewitness News Mornin and noon
Sports team (all co-host of HighSchoolSports.net Football Friday Night and HighSchoolSports.net Full Court Press)
- Darnay Tripp – sports director; weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
- Marvin James – sports anchor; weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.
- Ben Jones – sports reporter
Reporters
Local program hosts
- Brooke Hawkins – Scene 13 co-host
- Annette St. Clair – Law Call host
- Del Ward – "Personal Profile" interviewer
Former on-air staff
- Helen Farmer Popejoy, Presenter/Interviewer (1953-?, deceased)
- Bill Powell, Chief Weather Forecaster (1958–1998, deceased)
- Doris Martin, Anchor/Reporter/Interviewer (1959–1990, deceased)
- Stan Carey, Anchor (1960–1972, deceased)
- Tim Dobbs, Political Editor/Reporter (1964-1977 deceased.)
- Bobby Pope, Sports Director/Sales Dept. (1968–1984, former Athletic Director Mercer University (retired))
- Ken Hill (1970s-1988)
- Tina Taylor Hicks, 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. Lead Anchor/Reporter (1972–1999, in 2001 anchored WPGA-TV, now lead news anchor at WBTV-TV in Charlotte))
- Joel Godard, Weather Anchor (early 1970s)
- George Jobin, News/Sports Director/Production Manager (1973–1990, now news diretor News Central Macon
- Christine Negroni, Reporter (1977-1980)
- Ben Sandifer, Sports Reporter/Anchor, (1977–1980, now owner of GMS Productions)
- Brandyn Briley, Anchor/Reporter (1977–1979, 1983–1986)
- Maureen Walsh, Reporter (1984–1987, now with Waterford Productions, Tallahassee FL)
- Jim Thomas, noon and 6 p.m. Anchor 1979-1980. Retired from broadcasting 2001.
- Ernie Johnson, Jr., News/Sports Anchor (1979–1981, now with Turner Sports)
- Brad Bibb, Sports Director/Reporter (1982–1994)
- David Chandley, Reporter/Meteorologist (1983–1986, now at WSB-TV)
- Karen Acar, Weekend/Morning/Midday Anchor/Reporter (late 1980s-1994)
- Chris Holcomb, Reporter/Meteorologist (1985–1990, now at WXIA-TV)
- Chuck Englund, 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. Anchor/Morning Anchor (1985–1993)
- Mary Therese Tebbe (known on the air as Mary Therese), Warner Robins Anchor/5 p.m. Anchor/Reporter (1988–2006)
- John Favole, Anchor (1989–1992, now with WPTV-TV)
- Karla Heath-Sands, Weathercaster/Community Service Director (1989–1997, now at WALB-TV)
- Raymond Tubb, General Assignment Reporter/Assignment Editor/Managing Editor (1989–2005)
- Al Zimmerman, General Assignment Reporter (1990–1996, later KENS-TV San Antonio then Bay News 9 in St. Petersburg, Florida Incarcerated in 2008).
- Phil Keating, General Assignment Reporter (1991–1993, now at Fox News)
- Scott McGrew (1991-1993, now at KNTV)
- Mike Maze, Meteorologist (1991–1994, now at WRAL-TV)
- Lawrence Mink, Mornin and Midday Anchor (Early 1980s-1989 when he became Public Relations Officer for Macon Mayor Lee Robinson and again 1992-1993)
- Matt Miller (1992-1995, now at WCPO-TV)
- Bill Gaines, Morning and Midday Anchor/Reporter (1993–1994, last seen at WGCL-TV)
- Arch Kennedy, Meteorologist (1994–1995, later worked for The Weather Channel, and CNN, now at WZTV)
- Lou Antoine, Sports Anchor (1994–1996)
- Allison Swann, Morning Anchor (1994–1997)
- Troy Bridges, News reporter 1995-1997 (now weeknight 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. meteorologist at WKMG-TV (CBS) in Orlando, Florida)
- Rachel English, Morning and Midday Anchor/Reporter (1996–2001)
- Edward McDonald, Sports Director (1996–2000, now at WLOS-TV)
- Chris Paul (Pisano), Wake-Up Call Team Reporter/Fill-in Anchor/Weathercaster (1996–1998, now at KCTV-TV)
- Chris Smith, Chief Meteorologist (1997–2005, now at WJHG-TV)
- Paul Chambers, Anchor/Reporter (1999-2001)
- Lori Johnson, 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. Anchor/Reporter (1999–2005)
- Charles Reid, Traffic Reporter (1999–2009)
- Maureen O'Boyle – morning anchor/reporter (1982-1987) later anchored A Current Affair, and Extra, now at WBTV-TV in Charlotte)
- Jack Melton Owens, Jack & Jolly
- Jerry Brown, Anchor/Reporter (?, now at WMBB-TV)
- Mary Jane Cason, (1978-?, Weather and News Anchor)
- Steve Cohen (1982-1987)
- LaVerne Knight (West) 1983-1990 1990-2002 Reporter, Promotion Producer, Host- Ebony Speaks (?)
- Kyle Collins, Reporter/Webmaster (?)
- Susan Christopher, Consumer Reporter (?)
- Draymon Clark, Weekend 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. Anchor/Reporter (?)
- Kimberly Daniel, Health Reporter (?)
- Bryce Jackson, Camerman (?)
- Vanessa Echols, Reporter (1983–1987, now at WFTV)
- Karen Eisle
- Stacy Ellison, Weekend 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. Anchor/Reporter (?, now at WKYT-TV)
- Shannon Espinosa (now Shannon Myers), Weekend 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. Anchor/Reporter (?)
- Liz Fabian, (formerly Liz Jarvis), Morning and Midday Anchor/Reporter (?, now with The Macon Telegraph)
- Nicole Foerschler, General Assignment Reporter/Consumer Reporter (Now co-owner of educational consulting firm)
- Jenny Geer, General Assignment Reporter/Fill-In Anchor (?-2004)
- Bill Greene, Reporter
- Jeff Hall, (Sports Director)
- Lloyd Harris, Anchor
- Yolanda Hawkins, General Assignment Reporter (?, now at WPXI-TV)
- Jennifer Hazelton, General Assignment Reporter (?)
- Michael Hockey
- Telly Hughes, Weekend Sports Anchor/Reporter (?-2003, now at FSN Wisconsin)
- Steve Jefferson (Now Crime Reporter/Anchor at WTHR-TV)
- Tom Johnston, Meteorologist (?, now at WFTX-TV)
- Jeanetta Jones, Reporter/Anchor
- Tricia Kean, Mornin' Anchor/Reporter (?, now at KTNV-TV)
- Aaron Lawrence, Meteorologist (?)
- John Marshall, Morning and Midday Anchor/Reporter/Weathercaster (?, now at WNBC-TV)
- Laura Minter
- Adam Murphy, General Assignment Reporter (?, now at WGCL-TV)
- Aungelique Proctor, General Assignment Reporter (?, now at WAGA-TV)
- Jim Ragonese, General Assignment Reporter (?)
- Jenny Ray
- Anne Marie Rogers, General Assignment Reporter (?)
- Steve Russell, Weekend Sports Anchor/Reporter (?)
- Carol Slark, Anchor/Reporter
- Bessie Swint
- Tami Tesch-Jerles, Substitute Meteorologist/Reporter (?-2008)
- Pesh Thomas, General Assignment Reporter (Real name Depelsha Thomas, now an Executive at MTV and BET)
- Bob Toy
- Bill Tribble, Managing Editor/Host of "Close-Up" (?)
- John Trout
- Rick Whimberly, Anchor/Reporter
- James Wieland, Meteorologist (?), now at WPTV-TV in West Palm Beach, Florida
- Ron Wildman
- Gary Wilson
- Derek Wing, General Assignment Reporter (?, now at KCPQ-TV)
- Scott Hartman, Sports Director (2000–2002, now with Atlanta PR firm Jackson Spalding)
- Carol Minn, Mornin' and Midday Anchor/Reporter (2001–2003, now at Bay News 9 in St. Petersburg, Florida)
- Rob Still (known as Chris Still to WBTW-TV viewers), Meteorologist (2000–2005, now at WBTW-TV)
- Leigh Spann, Weekend Meteorologist (2001–2004, now at WFLA-TV in Tampa, Fla.)
- Ken Jones, Weekend Sports Anchor/Reporter (2002–2003, incarcerated)
- Thanh Truong, General Assignment Reporter (2002–2003, now at NBC News, Atlanta)
- Jaime Raab (now Jaime McCutcheon), Weekend Anchor (2002–2006, now the weekend anchor at WOWT-TV in Omaha, NE)
- David Solano, Sports Director (2002–2006, now at KIAH-TV in Houston)
- Calandra Wright, Morning and Midday Anchor/Reporter (2003–2005)
- Ben Hoover, Morning and Midday Anchor/Reporter (2003–2006, now at WIS-TV)
- Tiffanie Wallace, General Assignment Reporter (2003–2006)
- Chris Porter, Sports Anchor/Reporter (2003–2009, now at First Coast News in Jacksonville, Fla.)
- Rodney Mull (2004)
- Robin Straws, Associate Producer (2004–2005, now Motivational Speaker at The RGLynn Group)
- Elise Roberts, Assistant Producer and Anchor of "Entertainment Scene" (2004–2006, now at WLOX-TV)
- Brittany Bailey, Weekend 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. Anchor/Reporter (2004–2006, now at WBIR-TV)
- Tenikka Smith, General Assignment Reporter/Fill-In Anchor (2004–2006, Now at WSOC-TV)
- Andy Wood, Meteorologist (2004–2006, now at WHNS-TV)
- Kandace Raymond, Warner Robins Anchor/5 p.m. Anchor/Reporter/"Middle Georgia Moms" Reporter (2004–2008)
- Hugh Zeitlin, Sports Anchor/Reporter (2004–2008)
- Kyle Burger, Sports Intern (2005, now at WAAY-31, Huntsville, AL)
- Autumn O'Neill, Weekend Meteorologist (2005–2007)
- Marilyn Peguero, General Assignment Reporter (2006–2008)
- Sheeka Strickland, Sunday 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. Anchor/Reporter (2006–2008, now at WGHP-TV)
- Yenu Wodajo, Saturday 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. Anchor/Reporter (2006–2008), now at ABC 33 40 in Birmingham, AL
- Evan Pinsonnault, News Reporter/Videojournalist/Sport Anchor (2006–2009, now at WLNS-TV)
- Grant Gilmore, Morning and Midday Meteorologist (2006–2009, now at WFMY-TV)
- Tyler Pearson, Morning and Midday Anchor (2006 - August 31, 2010)
- Carly Flynn Morgan, reporter and weekend anchor, (2007-2009, now 10 p.m. anchor/producer, Fox 61 in Chattanooga)
- Drew McCombs, Weekend Meteorologist (2007–2009)
- Jennifer Bellamy, Multi-media Journalist, 2008-2011, now at WLTX in Columbia, S.C.
- Bofta Yiman, Multi-media Journalist and weekend anchor, 2009-2011, now at Fox 13 in Memphis, TN.
- Lauren DiSpirito, Multi-media Journalist, 2009-2011, now at WBBH, Fort Myers, Fla.
References
External links
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See also: ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, ION, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS and Other stations in Georgia
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Annual revenue: US$8.03 billion (2004) • Employees: 49,675 • Stock symbol: NYSE: GCI • Website: gannett.com
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