WDAM-TV

WDAM-TV

Laurel/Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Branding	WDAM (general) News 7 (newscasts)
Slogan	You've Got 7 On Your Side
Channels	Digital: 7 (VHF)
Subchannels	7.1 NBC 7.2 This TV
Owner	Raycom Media (WDAM License Subsidiary, LLC)
First air date	June 8, 1956
Call letters' meaning	David A. Matison
Sister station(s)	WLBT, WLOX
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 9 (1956-1959) 7 (1959-2009) Digital: 28 (UHF, 2001-2010)
Former affiliations	ABC (secondary, 1956-1962)
Transmitter power	75 kW
Height	155 m
Facility ID	21250
Transmitter coordinates	31°27′12″N 89°17′5″W
Website	wdam.com

WDAM-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Pine Belt area of Southeastern Mississippi that is licensed to Laurel and serves the Hattiesburg/Laurel metro communities as well as their surrounding counties. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter at its studios on US 11 in Moselle near the Jones and Forrest County line. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 4 and in high definition on digital channel 432. WDAM-TV transmits programming on three digital channels. In 2011, the station began broadcasting Raycom-produced programming in place of some syndicated shows.

Digital programming

On WDAM-DT2 and Comcast digital channel 217 is This TV. WDAM-DT3 and Comcast digital channel 243 broadcasts Bounce TV.

Channel	Video	Aspect	Programming
7.1	1080i	16:9	main WDAM programming / NBC
7.2	480i	4:3	This TV
7.3			Bounce TV

History

WDAM-TV signed-on June 8, 1956 airing an analog signal on VHF channel 9 and was affiliated with both NBC and ABC. During the late-1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network. In September 1959, it moved from channel 9 to channel 7 in order for WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to move from UHF channel 28 to VHF channel 9 and to protect Tupelo's WTWV (now WTVA) that also broadcasted on channel 9. Several years later in 1962, WDAM dropped its secondary ABC affiliation to become a sole NBC affiliate which it remains today.

The station was acquired by current owner Raycom Media in 1997 when it bought out previous owner Federal Broadcasting. However, Raycom owned CBS affiliate WHLT at the time and had to sell it to Media General in order to comply with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) duopoly rules. In 2008, the station added a new position, web manager, and updated its website to conform to modern standards. That same year, the station launched "wdamtogo.com", a site designed for internet-capable mobile devices. In 2010, the station launched news and weather smart phone applications along with a photo and video sharing service called Send It to Seven. In 2011, the station launched a secondary set of websites for each community of over 20,000 people in the station's viewing area called WDAM Neighborhoods. In early 2012, WDAM launched an iPad application.

Bobby Smith worked at the station since a week after it signed-on until 2011. Weathercaster Jim Gibbon was a staple of WDAM's weekday morning and noon shows for 43 years until his retirement in March 2007. He died nearly two months later on April 25. Sports Director Mitchell Williams retired in 2011 after 27 years at the station. In January 2012, William "Dubbie" White retired after 45 years with the station. News Director Randy Swan has been with the station for over three decades leaving for only a brief period when he served in the same position with WABG-TV in the Greenwood/Greenville, Mississippi market. Swan's father, Jimmy Swan, was a well known radio personality and country/bluegrass singer/bandleader during the late-1950s and 1960s who also ran for Governor of Mississippi. Current Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts was a sports anchor at WDAM in the early-1980s.

In 2001, WDAM signed-on its digital signal on UHF channel 28. By federal mandate on June 12, 2009, the analog transmitter of WDAM was shut down and the station began broadcasting exclusively in digital. With the digital television transition, the station added two new channels to its lineup on 7.2 and 7.3. On January 28, 2010, WDAM moved from UHF channel 28 to the pre-digital allotment on VHF channel 7. An early field test showed a dramatically improved signal in areas that were lost after the original digital transition.

News operation

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

• News 7 (1980s–present)

Station slogans

• "You've Got 7 On Your Side" (1990s–present; general slogan)
• "The Pine Belt's Choice For News" (2000–present; news slogan)

News team

Anchors

• Miranda Beard - weekday mornings and noon; also assistant news director
• Elizabeth Googe - weekend evenings; also weeknight reporter
• Karrie Leggett - weeknights at 5 p.m.; also reporter
• Sheri Falk - weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.; also Lamar County reporter
• Randy Swan - weeknights at 6 p.m.; also news director
• Dean Wade - weekday mornings; pharmaceutical consultant
• Steven Williams - weeknights at 5 and 10 p.m.

Weather team

• Nick Ortego - chief weather anchor; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
• Robert Whitehurst - weather anchor; Saturdays at 6 and weekends at 10 p.m., also weekday reporter
• Rex Thompson - weather anchor; weekday mornings and noon

Sports team

• Nathan Epstein - sports anchor; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
• Austin Simmons - sports anchor; Saturdays at 6 and weekends at 10 p.m., also sports reporter

Reporters

• Karrie Leggett - Petal and Marion County reporter
• Ontario Richardson - Jones and Jasper County, Laurel courts and political reporter
• Ashlea Surles - investigative reporter

Contributors

• Gary Bachman - Southern Gardening Show host
• Daniel Barton - Business Break
• Art Ginsburg - Mr. Food
• Walt Grayson - Mississippi Scene
• Mercer Morrison - Movie Madness; WDAM Neighborhoods critic

External links

• WDAM-TV channel 7
• WDAM-DT2 This TV
• WDAM-TV mobile
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WDAM-TV