WKRG-TV

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WKRG-TV
Wkrg.jpg

MeTV WKRG.png
Mobile, Alabama/Pensacola, Florida
Branding WKRG News 5
Slogan Coverage You Can Count On
Channels Digital: 27 (UHF)
Virtual: 5 (PSIP)
Subchannels 5.1 CBS
5.2 Weather radar
5.3 Me-TV
Affiliations CBS
Owner Media General, Inc.
(Media General Communications Holdings, LLC)
First air date September 5, 1955[1]
Call letters' meaning Kenneth R. Giddens
(WKRG's founder)
Former channel number(s) Analog:
5 (VHF, 1955-2009)
Transmitter power 1000 kW
Height 499 m
Facility ID 73187
Transmitter coordinates 30°41′20.5″N 87°49′50.8″W / 30.689028°N 87.830778°W / 30.689028; -87.830778
Website www.wkrg.com

WKRG-TV, virtual channel 5 (digital channel 27), is the CBS-affiliated television station for Mobile, Alabama, Pensacola, Florida, and Pascagoula/Biloxi, Mississippi. The station is owned by Media General.

Contents

[edit] Digital television

The station's digital channel (UHF 27) is multiplexed:

Digital channel

Virtual
Channel		 Video Aspect Programming
5.1 1080i 16:9 Main WKRG-TV programming / CBS
5.2 480i 4:3 Doppler radar
5.3 Me-TV[2]

On June 12, 2009, WKRG-TV has left channel 5 and moved to channel 27 when the analog to digital conversion completed.[3]

WKRG replaced RTV with Me-TV, a digital broadcast network owned by Weigel Broadcasting and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, featuring sitcoms and dramas from the 1950s to the 1980s, which took the place of RTV on digital subchannel 5.3 on September 26, 2011, as part of a groupwide affiliation agreement with Media General; the channel replaced RTV on some Media General-owned stations in other markets.[4]

[edit] History

WKRG-TV went on the air September 5, 1955.[1] The station was founded by the architect and movie theater owner Kenneth R. Giddens, who also put WKRG radio (710 AM, now WNTM, and 99.9 FM, now WMXC) on the air. It has always been a CBS affiliate. The stations' studios were located on St. Louis Street in downtown Mobile until around 1980, when they were relocated to an area near the Bel Air Mall, which Giddens also had a hand in developing. WKRG-TV operates on the bottom floor and the radio stations operate on the second and third floors of the building.

For years, WKRG-TV was the only locally owned station in the Mobile-Pensacola-Pascagoula area. This changed after the death of Giddens in 1993. First, the radio stations were sold in 1994, though they remain housed in the same building as the television station. Spartan Communications purchased WKRG-TV in 1998, and Media General purchased Spartan in 2000.

The station debuted a new slogan in July 2004: News 5, Coverage You Can Count On, in conjunction with WKRG's 50th year in broadcasting.

In 2007, WKRG developed a radio partnership with Clear Channel Communications, in effect re-establishing ties with former sister stations WNTM and WMXC, as well as WKSJ-FM (94.9 FM) and WRKH (96.1 FM). The radio stations were previously partnered with WPMI-TV (channel 15), an association that ended as a result of Clear Channel selling its television stations (including WPMI) to Newport Television in 2008.

WKRG is also available to cable subscribers in Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi, and is usually the area's "B" CBS station behind WWL-TV in New Orleans.

[edit] Programming

Current programs broadcast by WKRG-TV, airing in addition to CBS programming include: Family Feud, The Big Bang Theory, The Andy Griffith Show, Cold Case Files, Heartland, Without A Trace, Cold Case, Today's Homeowner and The Unit.

Past shows that aired on WKRG include Woman's World,[5][6][7][8] The Popeye Show,[9] Rosie's Place and Small Fry News, a show featuring local fifth graders.[5] WKRG-TV was also the longtime home of Congressional Report from 1973 to 2006, billed as the longest running program of its kind in the nation, featuring local congressmen giving viewers a local perspective of Washington, D.C. and the central Gulf Coast from their congressman’s standpoint.

[edit] Awards

  • National Edward R. Murrow Continuing Coverage "Mobile's Makeover", the changing economic landscape of Mobile.
  • Crash of the Sunset Limited: 10 Years Later-Associated Press Large Market Best Documentary [5]
  • Rosie Seaman -Press Club of Mobile John Harris Lifetime Achievement Award [5]
  • Alan Sealls -Associated Press Large Market Best Meteorologist [5]

[edit] News operation

[icon] This section requires expansion with:
further information on the history of WKRG's news operation.

In 2002, the focus of the station switched to weather and news, and the channel's slogan was changed to reflect it: WKRG 5 became WKRG News 5 (based on the station's NewsCenter branding in the 1980s and 1990s), and it was touted as Mobile's "Weather Authority". On October 18, 2010, WKRG became the second television station in the Mobile-Pensacola market and the first Mobile-based station to launch local newscasts in High Definition starting with their 6pm show.

At one time, WKRG broadcast news at 7am on weekdays, pre-empting the first hour of The Early Show, as well as a 9am weekday news broadcast. The 7am newscast was cancelled in 2008 at CBS's request to air both hours of The Early Show, and the 9am show was cancelled in 2009 due to low viewership and staff reductions by parent company Media General.

[edit] News/station presentation

[edit] Newscast titles

  • NewsCenter 5 (1974–1997)
  • News 5 (early 1990s)
  • WKRG 5 News (1997–2002)
  • WKRG News 5 (2002–present)

[edit] Station slogans

  • The Gulf Coast's Leading News Station (1974–1990)
  • The Gulf Coast News Channel (1997–2000)
  • Coverage You Can Count On (1997–2002 and 2004–present)
  • Your Weather Authority (2002–2004)
  • The Gulf Coast's News Leader (2010–present)
Television.svg This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

[edit] News team

Anchors

  • Rose Ann Haven - weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
  • Bill Riales - weekday mornings; also weeknight reporter
  • Mel Showers - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
  • Lauren Vargas - weekend evenings; also weeknight reporter
  • Jessica Taloney - weeknights at 5 p.m.; also reporter
  • Devon Walsh - weekday mornings and noon

Weather team

  • Alan Sealls (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seals of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
  • John Nodar (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seals of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings and noon
  • Jonathan Owens (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend evenings

Sports team

  • Randy Patrick - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.

Reporters

  • Blake Brown
  • Pat Peterson - Baldwin County reporter
  • Chad Petri
  • Debbie Williams - Baldwin County reporter
  • Allen Carter
  • Avery Cotton (weekends)

Photojournalists

  • Gary Arnold
  • John Gleason
  • Brad Gunther
  • Arnell Hamilton
  • Tim Jones
  • Randy Lowe
  • Rodney Rocker
  • Mic Ward

[edit] Former on-air staff

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b (PDF) Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1999. 1999. p. B-51. http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1999/B-TV-BC-YB-1999..pdf. Retrieved February 24, 2012. 
  2. ^ Where to watch Me-TV: WKRG
  3. ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
  4. ^ Me-TV Beefs Up Roster With 10 New Stations, TVNewsCheck, September 15, 2011.
  5. ^ a b c d e http://www.mobilechamber.com/view/2005/5-2005.pdf page 7, 8 The Business View May 2005 Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce
  6. ^ Lanier, Kim. "Television cook Estella Payton dies at age 95." Mobile Press-Register [Mobile, Alabama] 16 December 1999: B1.
  7. ^ "The Mobile version of Julia Child and Martha Stewart. Had a long run cooking show on channel Five (formerly one of only two channels in the City)." Culture "Cul-cha"; How to Speak Mobile Connie Bea and Estelle Mobile Bay Convention and Visitor's Bureau
  8. ^ Herman W. Land Associates Inc. Television and the Wired City a Study of the Implications of a Change in the Mode of Transmission 1968, July (1111) ASIN: B000RL0X18
  9. ^ page 8 The Business View May 2005 Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce

[edit] External links


Local stations

WEAR 3 (ABC) • WKRG 5 (CBS) • WRBD 8 (Ind./A1) • WALA 10 (Fox) • WBQP 12 (A1/Youtoo TV) • WPMI 15 (NBC) • WMPV 21 (TBN) • WSRE 23 (23.1 PBS, 23.2 World, 23.3 WSRE Plus, 23.4 V-me) • W26BV (Ind.) • W30BX (HSN) • WDPM 31 (Daystar) • WHBR 33 (CTN) • WFGX 35 (MNTV/ThisTV) • W39BP (FN) • WEIQ 42 (42.1 PBS/APT, 42.2 APT IQ, 42.3 Create) • WJTC 44 (Ind.) • WFBD 48 (Ind.) • WPAN 53 (JTV) • WFNA 55 (CW) • WAWD 58 (Ind./Tourist) • WRBM 60 (Ind.)
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1 Both of these stations air programming from the Retro Television Network (RTV) outside of MyNetworkTV programming hours.
2 Media General operates this station owned by Schurz Communications.
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Other assets
Annual revenue: $80.2 million USD (FY 2004) · Employees: approximately 7,900 · Stock symbol: NYSE: MEG · Website: MediaGeneral.com
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