| Terre Haute, Indiana | |
|---|---|
| Branding | NBC 2 (general) NBC 2 News (news) |
| Channels | Digital: 36 (UHF) Virtual: 2 (PSIP) |
| Affiliations | NBC |
| Owner | Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc. (Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.) |
| First air date | September 1, 1965 |
| Call letters' meaning | channel TWO |
| Sister station(s) | WAWV-TV |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 2 (1965-2009) |
| Transmitter power | 1000 kW (digital) |
| Height | 248 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 20426 |
| Website | www.mywabashvalley.com |
WTWO, virtual channel 2 (digital channel 36), is the NBC-affiliated television station in Terre Haute, Indiana. The station is owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group of Irving, Texas, which operates local ABC affiliate WAWV (channel 38), through a joint sales agreement with owner Mission Broadcasting. Its transmitter and studios are located in Farmersburg, Indiana.
Contents |
WTWO-DT broadcasts on digital channel 36.
Digital channels
| Virtual channel |
Digital channel |
Video | Aspect | Name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | 36.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WTWO-DT | Main WTWO-TV programming / NBC HD |
WTWO's digital signal is on channel 36.1 (PSIP virtual channel 2.1), and switched to full-power digital in mid-December 2008. In June 2008, WTWO-DT began to air HD-available programming from the network.
The station's callsign was originally assigned to a television station in Bangor, Maine, which changed its call letters to WLBZ-TV in 1958.
WTWO first signed on the air on September 1, 1965 at 7 a.m., a fairly late date for a fully affiliated VHF outlet. The first program WTWO aired was The Today Show. A primary NBC affiliate, the station also carried ABC network programs either on tape delay or by occasionally preempting NBC programs (the most famous being a preemption of Star Trek). Local primary CBS affiliate WTHI-TV (channel 10) also carried some ABC programs in the same way.
This practice ended by 1973, when Terre Haute finally obtained a full-time ABC affiliate, WIIL-TV, channel 38 (before Fox affiliate WFXW now returned-to-ABC affiliate WAWV-TV). Beginning in 1995, ABC became available to Terre Haute-area viewers only on stations from adjoining markets.
In the spring 2006, the station dropped reference to its analog channel number, using the call letters only. WTWO brought back reference to (PSIP virtual) channel 2 with "NBC 2" branding, starting on October 18, 2010.
WTWO-TV switched to using digital camera gear in May 2007, with every field reporter and photographer equipped with digital gear. On December 10, 2007, the Friday-only local lifestyle–entertainment program The Valley Showcase expanded to five days a week at 11 am, including local news and weather. This marked a return to 'midday' news on WTWO for the first time since 2002. In 2009, the program reverted to airing on Fridays only.
WTWO made national news in early 2006 by declining to air the controversial and short-lived NBC program The Book of Daniel, citing protesting calls and emails from viewers as the rationale for its decision. "Our relationship with NBC always provided for the right to reject programming. I am reaffirming that right to let them know I will not allow them to make unilateral decisions affecting our viewers", WTWO General Manager Duane Lammers said in a statement on the WTWO website.[1] Due to poor ratings and several other affiliates following suit with WTWO, NBC canceled the show after only three episodes. A plotline on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip about the NBC affiliate in Terre Haute refusing to air the show because of a sketch called "Crazy Christians" was probably loosely based on this incident.
Also in 2006, WTWO aired a controversial one-minute promotion criticizing rival WTHI over its weather coverage. The commercial claimed that WTHI's Doppler weather radar was inferior to WTWO's because WTHI's radar was located within downtown Terre Haute; thus, its "dead zone" sat over thousands of residents, instead of WTWO's, whose "dead zone" sat over a corn field. The ad also mentioned that the combined experience of WTWO's weather team was more than that of WTHI's staff, and that WTHI's power had multiple points of failure in contrast to WTWO's. [3] The promotion, though technically accurate, became a source of amusement on Comedy Central's The Daily Show because of its use of hyperbole and techniques reminiscent of political "attack ads".[2] After WTWO's general manager called the Daily Show "hard-up for material" in a local newspaper,[3] Jon Stewart[4] mocked the station further in the following night's opening.
A response video to The Daily Show and Stewart that was supposed to be for internal uses at the station was leaked on YouTube; it has since been removed, but has sprung up once more on iFilm.
Syndicated programming featured on WTWO includes Jeopardy!, Rachael Ray, Divorce Court, Dr. Phil, The People's Court, How I Met Your Mother and Wheel of Fortune. WTWO does not currently broadcast its locally-produced newscasts or syndicated programming in high definition.
"W-2 News" was the first newscast, running with that title until early 1968. When Illiana Telecasting sold channel 2 to Booth Newspapers, some on-air and branding changes occurred. That year, the station became "TV-2" (while retaining a hyphen in the callsign, "W-TWO"), and the local news adopted the name "Total News Tonight" (later amending the title to "Total News at Twelve" with the addition of a noon news broadcast and "Total News Today" for the 6 p.m. newscast). "TV-2 News" was used in addition to "Total News" from 1971 until January 1972, when "Total News" branding was dropped.
Full color newscasts premiered in 1971, anchored by Johnny Palmer, (who continued as a co-anchor until his retirement in 1992). In 1973, the newscast rebranded from "TV-2 News" to TV-2 Eyewitness News, the title it held until 1994. NewsChannel 2 was then adopted. After the sale of the station in 1997 to Nexstar Broadcasting from TCS Television Partners, the station amended the title to WTWO NewsChannel 2, then again in 2007 as WTWO NewsChannel. In 2010, branding was changed to NBC 2 News; along with the change, a new set, graphics and music package premiered.
Through its joint sales agreement with WAWW, WTWO produces local news broadcasts and news updates. From 2004 to September 1, 2011, WTWO produced a 10 p.m. weeknight newscast for then-Fox affiliate WFXW, in addition to a rebroadcast at 7 a.m. of WTWO's morning news. This ended when WFXW switched network affiliation from Fox to ABC under the callsign WAWV. WTWO's Live at Five newscast, which had been seen on the station since 1998, moved to WAWV (becoming the only weeknight newscast on that station). The 10 p.m. newscast became a live streaming broadcast exclusive to WTWO/WAWV's shared website. In addition to the 5 p.m. broadcast and 10 p.m. webcast, WTWO will still produce local weather updates during AgDay and Good Morning America, as well as news updates twice a day during that latter program.[5]
Current anchors
Weather team
Sports team
Reporters
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