WQTV-LP
  | |
| WQTV: Murray, Kentucky WQWQ: Paducah, Kentucky | |
|---|---|
| Branding |
The Heartland's CW Me-TV Heartland Heartland News |
| Slogan |
TV to Talk About Live. Local. Latebreaking. |
| Channels |
Analog: WQTV: 24 (UHF) WQWQ: 9 (VHF) Digital: KFVS-DT 12.2 (VHF) Virtual: 12.2 (PSIP) |
| Affiliations |
The CW (primary) Me-TV (secondary) |
| Owner |
Raycom Media (KFVS License Subsidiary, LLC) |
| Founded |
WQTV: January 1, 1988 WQWQ: November 10, 1999 |
| Sister station(s) | KFVS-TV, KAIT |
| Former callsigns |
WQTV: W46BE (1988-1995) WQWQ: W52DC (1999-2000) |
| Former channel number(s) |
WQTV: 46 (UHF) WQWQ: 52 (UHF) |
| Former affiliations |
Independent (1988-1995) The WB (1995-2000) UPN (2000-2006) |
| Transmitter power |
WQTV: 9.97 kW WQWQ: 3 kW KFVS-DT2: 6.8 kW |
| Height |
WQTV: 167 m WQWQ: 89 m KFVS-DT2: 609 m |
| Facility ID |
WQTV: 31410 WQWQ: 19595 KFVS-DT2: 592 |
| Transmitter coordinates |
WQTV: 36°32′58″N 88°19′52″W / 36.54944°N 88.33111°W WQWQ: 37°2′55″N 88°35′41″W / 37.04861°N 88.59472°W KFVS-DT2: 37°25′44.4″N 89°30′14″W / 37.429000°N 89.50389°W |
WQTV-LP is a low-powered television station in Murray, Kentucky. It broadcasts an analog signal on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter on Midway Road along U.S. 641 in unincorporated Calloway County, Kentucky. WQWQ-LP is another low-powered television outlet in Paducah, Kentucky. This station broadcasts an analog signal on VHF channel 9 from a transmitter in Woodlawn-Oakdale, Kentucky along the Clarks River. Together, the two outlets serve as a primary CW and secondary Me-TV affiliate for the Missouri Bootheel, Southern Illinois, and Western Kentucky's Jackson Purchase.
WQTV/WQWQ can also be seen on Mediacom channel 2, Charter channel 12, Comcast channel 14, and Directv channel 9. The stations are co-owned with CBS affiliate KFVS-TV by Raycom Media and all three television stations share studios in the Hirsch Tower on Broadway Avenue in downtown Cape Girardeau, Missouri. For identification purposes, it is the WQWQ call sign that is used in the logo even though WQTV has more broadcasting power and was the first to sign-on.
Currently the two do not broadcast digital signals. However, viewers with digital television receivers can view WQTV-LP on KFVS's second digital subchannel. Syndicated programming on WQTV/WQWQ includes Everybody Loves Raymond, Cheers, How I Met Your Mother, and M*A*S*H among others.
History
WQTV-LP launched on January 1, 1988 as W46BE and was known on-air as "TV 46". It was designed to be a sister outlet for radio station WNBS-AM 1340 and had studios in downtown Murray's Court Square. During its infancy, the channel was affiliated at various times with the All News Channel, FamilyNet, and Channel America. After its corporate bankruptcy, the license was sold to Jackson Purchase Broadcasting owners of WSJP-AM 1130 and WBLN-FM 103.7. The call letters were changed to the current WQTV-LP on August 14, 1995, and it became a WB affiliate. The station was then sold to Murray State University which continued to operate it as a for-profit enterprise.
Eventually, the channel assignment was changed from 46 to 24 and MSU sold the station to current owner Raycom Media in 2004. In 2000, WQTV switched affiliations with WDKA and became a UPN affiliate. During this period, the station was known on-air as "UPN The Beat". On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced that they would end broadcasting and merge. The newly combined network would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of its corporate parents: CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner. On February 22, News Corporation announced that it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. This new service, which would be a sister network to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television.
MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming Independent. It was also created to compete against The CW. WDKA joined MyNetworkTV on September 5, while on September 18, WQTV became part of The CW. The channel re-branded as "Heartland's CW" and began to be offered on a second digital subchannel of KFVS. This was done to extend its broadcasting radius. It is unknown if WQTV and/or WQWQ will add digital signals of their own. By law, the two were not obligated to make the switch on June 12, 2009 due to their low-powered status. On September 12, 2011, WQWQ added Me-TV through a secondary affiliation agreement.
News operation
At one point in time, KFVS produced a nightly half-hour prime time newscast on WQTV/WQWQ. Known as Heartland News at 9, the show was specifically aimed at a Southeastern Missouri audience since the big three outlet traditionally focus on that state in its own news coverage. The WQTV/WQWQ program competed with another prime time broadcast at 9 on Fox affiliate KBSI that aired every night for thirty minutes. That newscast was produced by NBC affiliate WPSD-TV in Paducah through a news share agreement.
Unlike the WQTV/WQWQ show, KBSI's original local news at 9 regularly featured a regional summary of headlines and weather forecasts because the Fox station is based in Cape Girardeau. On its own newscasts, however, WPSD usually focuses its efforts on the Western Kentucky side of the market. On July 29. 2007, Heartland News at 9 was dropped from this station for an unknown reason.
On October 1, 2010, KFVS brought the program back after entering into a news share arrangement with KBSI and expanding the production to sixty minutes in length every night. Currently, WQTV/WQWQ offer several repeats of newscasts from KFVS. This includes the 6 a.m. hour of The Breakfast Show (every morning except Saturday from 7 until 8), Heartland News at Noon (weekdays from 1 to 1:30), and Heartland News at 10 (on weeknights from 11 until 11:35). In addition to its main facility in Southeastern Missouri, KFVS operates a Southern Illinois Newsroom on East Plaza Drive in Carterville.
During weather segments, KFVS uses live NOAA National Weather Service radar data from several regional sites. This system is known on-air as "Storm Team Digital Doppler". This outlet also features KFVS' own Doppler weather radar, called "Live StormTeam Radar", that is on top of the Hirsch building. It is a Collins radar sold by ADC in Bloomington, Indiana and is the only live radar source in the market since the National Weather Service data is delayed. In instances of severe weather, this station may also simulcast live coverage from the CBS outlet.
News team
Anchors
- Jim Burns - weekday morning news
- Jeff Cunningham - weeknight news
- Mary-Ann Maloney - weeknight news
- Carly O'Keefe - Sunday morning news and Southern Illinois Newsroom reporter
- Bob Reeves (AMS Seal of Approval) - Senior Meteorologist seen weeknights
- Brian Alworth (CBM Seal of Approval) - weekday mornings and weekdays at 1 meteorologist
- Laura Wibbenmeyer - Sunday morning meteorologist and news reporter
- Todd Richards - Sports Director seen weeknights
Reporters
- Crystal Britt
- Stephanie Byars - health
- Don Frazier - photographer
- Tim Ingram - Vice President and General Manager seen in editorials
- John Morgan - Chief Photographer
- Tyler Profilet - weekday mornings
- Randy Ray - "Heartland Business Break" segment producer
- Arnold Wyrick - Southern Illinois Newsroom
External links
- WQTV-LP/WQWQ-LP "The Heartland's CW"
- WQTV-LP/WQWQ-LP "Me-TV Heartland"
- KFVS-TV
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WQTV-LP
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WQWQ-LP
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