WEEK-TV

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WEEK-TV
Peoria, Illinois
Branding WEEK
News 25
Slogan Your Home Team
Channels

Digital: 25 (UHF)
Subchannels 25.1 NBC
25.2 Local Weather
Owner Granite Broadcasting Corporation
(WEEK-TV License, Inc.)
First air date February 1, 1953
Sister station(s) WAOE
WHOI
Former channel number(s) 43 (UHF analog, 1953-1964)
25 (UHF analog, 1964-2009)
57 (UHF digital, 2003-2009)
Former affiliations NBC Weather Plus
(on DT2)
Transmitter Power 452 kW
Height 211.6 m
Facility ID 24801
Transmitter Coordinates 40°37′46.3″N 89°32′52.5″W / 40.629528°N 89.547917°W / 40.629528; -89.547917
Website centralillinoisnewscenter.com

WEEK-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Peoria, Illinois. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 25 from a transmitter at its studios on Springfield Road in East Peoria. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 10 and in high definition on digital channel 906. Owned by the Granite Broadcasting Corporation, it operates ABC affiliate WHOI and its CW subchannel (that is owned by Barrington Broadcasting) through a joint sales agreement (JSA) and shared services agreement (SSA). WEEK-TV also operates MyNetworkTV affiliate WAOE (owned by Venture Technologies Group) through a JSA. Both stations are based at WEEK-TV's studios. Syndicated programming on the station includes: Seinfeld, Oprah, Dr. Phil, and Rachael Ray.

Contents

[edit] History

WEEK-TV became Peoria's first television station on February 1, 1953. It was owned-and-operated by Oklahoma City-based West Central Broadcasting Company[citation needed] whose president was E.K. Gaylord also president of the Oklahoma Publishing Company. The board chairman of directors was United States Senator Robert S. Kerr, the former governor of Oklahoma and the "Kerr" in Kerr-McGee. West Central also co-owned radio station WEEK-AM 1350 (now WOAM).[citation needed] The original Chief Engineer of WEEK-TV and WEEK-AM was Wayne Lovely who supervised the construction of the station's technical facilities and equipment installation in 1953. He was employed by the station until 1974. The station signed-on a satellite, WEEQ-TV, in La Salle on November 7, 1957 [1] to rebroadcast its signal. [2] This channel allocation is now used for WWTO-TV. WEEK-TV moved from channel 43 to channel 25 around 1964. [2] The channel 43 allocation was later moved from Peoria to Bloomington and used by the second WBLN (now WYZZ-TV) beginning in 1982.[citation needed] For several years during the 1970s and early-1980s, WEEK-TV was owned by Kansas City Southern Industries along with KRCG in Jefferson City, Missouri.

In 1985, the station was sold to Eagle Broadcasting. On October 31, 1988, it became one of the very first stations (along with KBJR-TV in Superior, Wisconsin) to be acquired by the newly-formed Granite Broadcasting Corporation. In 1997, WEEK-TV bought the station license for 98.5 in Eureka, gave it the call sign WEEK-FM, and nickname "Oldies 98.5". Granite Broadcasting divested itself of the radio station in 1999 and that station is now WPIA. WEEK-TV has been digital-only since February 17, 2009 [3] It was announced on March 2, 2009 that the station would take over the operations of WHOI and its CW subchannel through a joint sales agreement and shared services agreement. This resulted in that station closing its studios on North Stewart Street in Creve Coeur and moving to WEEK-TV's facilities. [4] This means all five of Peoria's full-power commercially-licensed television stations are now operated by two entities. A possible reason for this move was WHOI's long-time third-place showing in the local viewership ratings (behind WEEK-TV and WMBD-TV). Ironically, CBS affiliate WTVH in Syracuse, New York which took WHOI's original call sign also saw their operations merged with Barrington-owned NBC affiliate WSTM-TV on the very same day. [5].

[edit] Newscasts

On June 5, 2006, WEEK-TV started producing a weeknight 9 o'clock newscast on WAOE entitled News 25 at 9 on My 59. This is the area's second prime time news competing against WYZZ's FOX 43 News at 9 which is produced by WMBD. On weekday mornings from 5 to 7, WAOE airs a simulcast of WEEK-TV's broadcast that is known on WAOE as News 25 Express on My 59. The station offers a 24-hour local weather channel known as "WEEK Weather Plus" on its second digital subchannel and Comcast digital channel 431. This was once part of NBC Weather Plus. Before being consolidated with WEEK-TV, WHOI produced local newscasts weeknights at 5, 6, and 10. The weekday morning show, HOI News Daybreak, continues to air from 5 to 7 after America This Morning and before Good Morning America. The weekend newscasts were Saturday nights at 6 and 10 and Sunday nights at 5:30 and 10. After the merger, most WHOI personnel were let go. However, four personalities were merged with WEEK-TV's news department and continue to be seen on WHOI. Otherwise, that station uses other personalities from WEEK-TV for all other content. WHOI's weeknight 5 and 6 o'clock local news was replaced with one at 5:30. World News with Charles Gibson was then moved to 6. That station still airs a separate broadcast weeknights at 10. On weekends, the station simulcasts WEEK-TV's news. The weekday local broadcasts on WHOI air from a new secondary set at WEEK-TV's studios. This station does not air early evening news on Sundays.

+ denotes personnel not seen on WHOI

Anchors

  • + Garry Moore - Senior Producer seen weekday mornings
  • + Eric Shangraw - producer seen weekdays at 11:30 A.M. and Noon
    • weekly "You Gotta Eat" segment producer
  • + Mike Dimmick - Assistant News Director seen weeknights at 5, 9, 10
  • + Gina Morss - weeknights at 5 and 6
  • + Tom McIntyre - weeknights at 6 and 10
  • Denise Jackson - weekends and reporter

WEEK Weather Plus Meteorologists

  • Lee Ranson - weeknights
  • + Sandy Gallant (AMS Seal of Approval and NWA Member) - weekday mornings, 11:30 A.M., and Noon
  • Jeff Muniz - weekends and reporter

Sports

  • + Lee Hall - Director seen weeknights at 6, 9, and 10
  • Marc Strauss - weekends and reporter
  • Josh Simon - reporter

Reporters

  • Michelle Mantel - producer
  • Emily West
  • Gina Ford

[edit] Newscast titles

  • Your Esso Reporter (1953-1957)
  • WEEK-TV News (1957-1969)
  • Eyewitness News (1969-1977)
  • News 25 (1977-present)

[edit] Past personalities

[edit] References

  1. ^ November 7, 1957 on BrainyHistory
  2. ^ a b Quick, Doug. "Other Television History" on personal website.
  3. ^ FCC list of full-service US TV stations, February 16, 2009
  4. ^ Tarter, Steve (March 2, 2009). "Owners of WEEK taking over WHOI operations". Peoria Journal Star. http://www.pjstar.com/business/x1959832349/Owners-of-WEEK-TV-taking-over-operations-of-WHOI-TV. Retrieved on March 2, 2009. 
  5. ^ http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/03/the_staff_of_wtvh_laid.html

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Television Stations in North Central Illinois (including Peoria and Bloomington)

WHOI 19 (ABC, 19.2 CW) · WEEK (25.1 NBC) · WMBD (31.1 CBS) · WYZZ (43.1 Fox) · WTVP (47.1 PBS) · W50DD 50 / W51CT 51 (TBN) · WAOE (59.1 MNTV)
See also: Quad Cities, Champaign-Decatur-Springfield, Rockford, Quincy and Chicago TV
v • d • e
NBC Network Affiliates in the state of Illinois
See also: ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, ION, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS and Other stations in Illinois
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WEEK-TV"
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