WRDQ

WRDQ
Orlando, Florida
Branding Central Florida's TV 27 (general)
Eyewitness News (during WFTV-produced newscasts)
Slogan It's About Family
Channels Digital: 27 (UHF)
Virtual: 27 (PSIP)
Subchannels 27.1 independent
27.2 Antenna TV
27.4 Grit TV
Affiliations Independent
ABC (alternate)
Owner Cox Media Group
(WFTV, Inc.)
First air date April 23, 2000[1]
Sister station(s) WFTV
Former channel number(s) Analog:
27 (UHF, 2000–2009)
Digital: 14 (UHF, –2009)
Transmitter power 1000 kW
Height 477 m
Facility ID 55454
Transmitter coordinates 28°34′7″N 81°3′16″W / 28.56861°N 81.05444°W
Website www.tv27.com

WRDQ, channel 27, is an independent television station located in Orlando, Florida, United States. The station is owned by the Cox Media Group division of Cox Enterprises, and is part of a duopoly with ABC affiliate WFTV (channel 9). The two share studios on East South Street in downtown Orlando, and its transmitter is located in Christmas. On cable, WRDQ is carried on Bright House Networks channel 10.

Digital television

Digital channels

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[2]
27.1 720p 16:9 WRDQ-HD Main WRDQ programming
27.2 480i 4:3 WRDQ-SD Antenna TV
27.4 16:9 Grit Grit TV
31.2 WTMO-SD Telemundo Orlando WTMO

On April 14, 2008, the station launched a new digital sub-channel 27.2 to carry the Retro Television Network. On September 5, 2011, WRDQ replaced RTV with Antenna TV on its second digital subchannel. The RTV affiliation in Orlando then moved to a sub-channel of competitor WKMG-TV and later onto WRCF-CD. In June 2013, WRDQ added a third sub-channel 27.3. In January 2014, 27.3 was remapped as virtual channel 31.2 and used for a simulcast of Telemundo Orlando affiliate WTMO. On April 10, 2015 a forth sub-channel 27.4 was added to accommodate the move of Grit TV from sister station WFTV.

Analog-to-digital conversion

WRDQ terminated its analog signal, on UHF channel 27, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[3] The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 14 to former UHF analog channel 27 for post-transition operations.

History

The station's original construction permit was issued as early as 1990. Channel 27 first signed on the air on April 23, 2000 under the ownership of Reece Associates Ltd., with WFTV (which has been owned by Cox since 1985) operating the station under a local marketing agreement (LMA); Reece was co-owned by former WFTV reporter/anchor Marsha Reece.[1] Several months before WRDQ signed on, in August 1999, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began allowing duopolies involving commercially-licensed television stations, allowing Cox to exercise an option to acquire the station outright on February 1, 2001.[4]

On May 24, 2011, Cox decided to use WRDQ to carry coverage of the Casey Anthony trial in full from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with WFTV airing the last hour from 4 to 5 p.m., pre-empting the station's weekday programming schedule.[5] High interest in the trial eventually led to coverage being increasingly shifted to WFTV (with WRDQ generally only airing "more procedural" and "more dry or technical" portions);[6] on June 8, coverage was moved to WFTV entirely, after ABC granted Cox permission to move ABC Daytime programming to WRDQ for remainder of the trial's duration.[7] It returned to WFTV upon the trial's conclusion. ABC Daytime was temporarily moved to WRDQ once more during WFTV's coverage of the George Zimmerman trial in 2013.[8]

Newscasts

Shortly after the station signed on, WFTV began producing a nightly half-hour 10 p.m. newscast for WRDQ (this resulted in the discontinuance of a primetime newscast in that same timeslot that WFTV had produced for then-UPN affiliate WRBW (channel 65) under a news share agreement); this program competes with an in-house newscast that runs for an hour on Fox owned-and-operated station WOFL (channel 35) and a newscast produced by NBC affiliate WESH that it produces for CW-affiliated sister station WKCF (channel 18).

In January 2007, WFTV also began producing a two-hour weekday morning newscast from 7:00-9:00 a.m. on channel 27. Prior to the debut of the morning newscast, the 10:00 p.m. news program was branded as Action News at 10. This title was derived from WRDQ's general station branding ("Action TV 27") at the time of the station's launch ("Action" had ceased to be used as an overall station branding term several years before the newscast was renamed). WRDQ also airs The Daily Buzz from 7:00-9:00 a.m. on digital subchannel 27.2, preempting feature films broadcast by Antenna TV that are seen on that slot nationally on that network's other affiliates. On two occasions, WRDQ has also aired early evening newscasts; a 7 p.m. newscast was produced for a time in March 2003 to present Iraq War coverage, and a 6:30 p.m. newscast was seen on the station from September 2010[9] until it was dropped in June 2013 in favor of a 4 p.m. newscast on WFTV.[10] On September 15th, 2014, WFTV expanded the weeknight 10:00 p.m. news on WRDQ to an hour, citing the ratings success of the broadcast in which has now able to tightly compete against long-time leader WOFL. [11] [12]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Abbott, Jim (April 21, 2000). "New TV station offers reruns and talk shows". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
  2. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for WRDQ
  3. ↑ List of Digital Full-Power Stations
  4. ↑ Boyd, Christopher (February 2, 2001). "Cox buys WRDQ, now has 2 area stations". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
  5. ↑ http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_tv_tvblog/2011/05/casey-anthony-wftv-expands-trial-coverage-drops-oprah-winfrey.html
  6. ↑ "Casey Anthony: WFTV keeps viewers guessing with fluid scheduling". The Orlando Sentinel. June 1, 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  7. ↑ "‘The View,’ ABC soaps to air on WRDQ starting today". The Orlando Sentinel. June 8, 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  8. ↑ Boedeker, Hal (June 21, 2013). "George Zimmerman trial to rearrange daytime lineup". The Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  9. ↑ Boedeker, Hal (June 17, 2010). "WFTV to add 6:30 p.m. newscast on WRDQ". The Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
  10. ↑ Boedeker, Hal (June 17, 2013). "WFTV drops 6:30 p.m. news on WRDQ". The Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
  11. ↑ WRDQ expands 10 p.m. news to hour. Orlando Sentinel September 16th, 2014.
  12. ↑ WFTV has expanded the WRDQ 10:00 p.m. news to an hour. The Changing Newscasts Blog, September 17th, 2014.

External links