WREX-TV
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| WREX-TV | |
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| Rockford, Illinois | |
| Branding | 13 WREX (general) 13 News (newscasts) |
| Channels | |
| Subchannels | 13.1 NBC 13.2 The CW |
| Affiliations | National Broadcasting Company |
| Owner | Quincy Newspapers, Inc. (WREX Television, LLC) |
| First air date | October 1, 1953[1] |
| Call letters’ meaning | Rex, the first name of the son of one of the station's founders, L.E. Caster |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 13 (1953-2009) Digital: 54 |
| Former affiliations | Primary: CBS (1953-1965) ABC (1965-1995) Secondary: DuMont (1953-1955) ABC (1953-1965) |
| Transmitter Power | 18 kW |
| Height | 216 m |
| Facility ID | 73940 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | 42°17′47.9″N 89°14′22″W / 42.296639°N 89.23944°W |
| Website | http://www.wrex.com/ |
WREX-TV (Channel 13) is the NBC television affiliate serving the Rockford, Illinois area. It is the market's only full-powered VHF station and is Rockford's second oldest television station. Its studios and transmitter are located at Auburn and Winnebago Roads, west of Rockford and north of Winnebago. The station's call letters were selected in honor of Rex N. Caster, the son of the station's founding shareholder and president L.E. Caster. Rex Caster was a First Lieutenant in the United States Army who was killed in France during World War II. The station has been owned by Quincy Newspapers, Inc. of Quincy, Illinois since 1995.
WREX operates Stateline CW 14, a digital broadcast affiliate of The CW Television Network via The CW Plus. Stateline CW is seen on channel 14 on most Rockford area cable systems, as well as on WREX's digital subchannel 13.2. From 2004 until 2007, WREX produced a 9 o'clock newscast on the CW.
WREX-TV airs almost 22 hours worth of newscasts a week, with two hours weekday mornings at 5:00; 30 minutes on weekdays at noon, 5, and 6; 35 minutes weekdays at 10; 30 minutes Saturdays at 6 and 10, and 30 minutes Sunday at 10. Minute-and-a-half news/weather updates also air throughout the day weekdays on Stateline CW 14.
WREX-TV has a unique partnership with The Rockford Register Star, the city's daily newspaper. Staff of the newspaper appears on nearly all of WREX-TV's news programs. In return, the newspaper promotes upcoming news stories and programming on Channel 13.
WREX-TV also has a partnership with Maverick Media which owns five radio stations in the Rockford market. WREX-TV provides weather reports for the stations and in return the radio stations provide promotion for WREX-TV's programming.
WREX's signal reaches as far away as Madison, Milwaukee's southwestern suburbs, and northern Chicagoland.
Even though Congress delayed the mandatory analogue shutoff date to June 12, 2009, WREX discontinued its analogue service on the original deadline date of February 17, 2009, at 12:30 PM CT; at 1:26 PM, WREX-DT began transmitting over channel 13. [2]
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[edit] History
WREX began operation in Fall 1953, as an affiliate primarily of CBS and secondarily of ABC and DuMont. Besides serving its immediate area, WREX attracted viewers early on in its history from parts of the neighboring Madison, Wisconsin area. In fact, the two areas still share overlapping coverage among their television stations, especially in Rock County, Wisconsin (technically in the Madison television market). Until Madison's WISC-TV signed on in 1956, WREX was the only VHF station for both the Rockford and Madison areas. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.[3]
In 1963, the station was sold to the Gannett Company. WREX became a full-time ABC affiliate in 1965, when WCEE-TV signed on the air. In 1966, WREX became the first television station in Rockford to broadcast in color.
The station was sold in 1969 to the Gilmore Broadcasting Corporation, owner of WEHT in Evansville, Indiana. Gilmore served as WREX's longest-standing owner. In 1987, Gilmore sold the station to ML Media Partners, L.P.; under their new ownership, WREX created its own Eyewitness News format, and finally added the ABC soap opera All My Children to its daytime schedule.
In August 1995, Quincy Newspapers purchased WREX and switched network affiliations with WTVO.
[edit] News/Station Presentation
[edit] Newscast Titles
- Action News (1972-1974)
- Newservice 13 (1974-1978)
- Dateline 13 News (1978-1984)
- Newswatch 13 (1984-1987)
- 13 Eyewitness News (1987-1996)
- 13 News (1996-present)
[edit] On-air personalities
- Marissa Alter — evening reporter
- Justin Gehrts — weekend meteorologist
- Laura Gibbs — morning anchor; reporter
- Jeannie Hayes — weekend & noon anchor; reporter
- Dani Maxwell — evening anchor
- Mike Morig — evening sports
- Samantha Ptashkin — reporter; noon anchor
- Bob Schaper — reporter; fill-in anchor
- Eric Sorensen — chief meteorologist
- Jude Wilbers — weekend sports
- Eric Wilson — evening anchor
[edit] Former WREX-TV On Air Personalities
- Bret Baier (now at Fox News Channel)
- Michael Born (now at Weather Central)
- Steve Bridge (now at WFMB-AM)
- Michelle Chipalla (now at Amcore Bank)
- Roj Chohan (now at KCNC-TV)
- Mark Craft (now at Duke Energy)
- Patrick Crawford (now at KHBS/KHOG-TV)
- Katie Crowther (now at WTVO)
- Ryan Cummings (freelance at WITI)
- Nate Daugherty (now at CSN Chicago)
- Chad Franzen (now at WSAW-TV)
- Chris Frye (now at KAKE-TV)
- Mike Garrigan (now at WIFR)
- Jodi (Mueslin) Juhl (now at WBBM 780)
- Smita Kalokhe (now at WXMI)
- Brendan Keefe (now at WCPO-TV)
- Troy Kehoe (now at WSBT-TV)
- Lindsay Kus (now at WXMI)
- Jen Lada (now at WITI)
- Joanie Lum (now at WBBM-TV)
- Pat McCraney (now at WITI)
- Jo McKee (freelance)
- Eric Nefstead (now at WTVO)
- Katie Nilsson (now at LDR Construction)
- Steve Osunsami (now at ABC News)
- Adam Painter (now at KECI-TV)
- Jennifer Pascua (now at WZZM-TV)
- Heather Pick (later with WBNS-TV, died November 7, 2008 of breast cancer)
- Mike Robinson (retired)
- James Rosen (now at Fox News Channel)
- Gretchen Ross (now at WFIE)
- Barry Simms (now at WBAL-TV)
- Lot Tan (now at Ohio News Network)
- Mick Trevey (now at WTMJ-TV)
- Inggrid Yonata
- Paul Youngblood (now at WTVO)
[edit] External links
- WREX-TV website
- CW14 website
- 13 Weather Authority Blog
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WREX
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WREX-TV
[edit] References
- ^ Test transmissions began September 18, 1953. Regular programming began October 1, the date WREX uses to reference its anniversary.
- ^ http://www.wrex.com/Global/story.asp?S=9791969
- ^ "Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films", Boxoffice: 13, November 10, 1956, http://issuu.com/boxoffice/docs/boxoffice_111056-1
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