WSPA-TV
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| Spartanburg-Greenville-Anderson, South Carolina-Asheville, North Carolina | |
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| Branding | WSPA CBS 7 HD |
| Slogan | 7 On Your Side |
| Channels | Digital: 7 (VHF) Virtual: 7 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 7.1 CBS 7.2 Me-TV |
| Translators | (see article) |
| Owner | Media General (Media General Communications Holdings, LLC) |
| First air date | April 29, 1956 |
| Call letters' meaning | We're in SPArtanburg, South Carolina |
| Sister station(s) | WYCW |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 7 (1956-2009) Digital: 53 (-2009) |
| Former affiliations | The WB (secondary, 1995-1997) |
| Transmitter power | 25.7 kW (digital) |
| Height | 667 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 66391 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 35°10′12″N 82°17′27″W / 35.17°N 82.29083°W |
| Website | WSPA.com |
Coordinates: 34°58′17″N 82°00′18″W / 34.9714°N 82.0049°W
WSPA-TV, channel 7, is the CBS-affiliated television station for western North Carolina and South Carolina. It is licensed to Spartanburg, South Carolina with its transmitter is located on Hogback Mountain southwest of Tryon, North Carolina. Owned by Media General, the station is sister to CW affiliate WYCW. The two stations share studios on International Drive in Spartanburg. Syndicated programming on WSPA includes Judge Judy and Dr. Phil. WSPA serves as master control for Media General's CBS network affiliates.
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[edit] History
The station went on the air on April 29, 1956. It was owned by broadcasting pioneer Walter J. Brown and his company, Spartan Radiocasting, along with WSPA radio (AM 950, now WOLI at AM 910; and 98.9 FM). It has always been a CBS affiliate. Spartan Radiocasting bought several other radio and television stations over the years, and was renamed Spartan Communications in 1995. The radio stations were sold off in 1998, but WSPA-TV remained the flagship of the company until it merged with Media General in 2000. Channel 7 was the last locally owned-and-operated station in the market.
WSPA began broadcasting 24/7 in July 1995, after previously having signed off every Friday night/Saturday morning and Saturday night/Sunday morning.
The station shared some resources with WNEG-TV in Toccoa, Georgia while that station was co-owned with WSPA; this included a CBS affiliation. This arrangement was terminated after the sale of WNEG to the University of Georgia; that station became WUGA-TV in May 2011.
Due to its transmitter location—just over 2,200 feet (670 m) above average terrain—WSPA enjoys one of the largest coverage areas on the East Coast. WSPA's digital signal is picked up as far north as Watauga County, NC, including Boone and Blowing Rock. In fact, WSPA's signal often comes in better than the two CBS affiliates both available on cable, WBTV in Charlotte (even though Watauga County is part of the Charlotte DMA) and WJHL-TV in Johnson City, TN. In the Boone area, WJHL's transmitter is only 28 miles (45 km) away, WBTV's is 65 miles (105 km) and WSPA's transmitter is almost 80 miles (130 km) away. Blowing Rock is 5.5 miles (8.9 km) south of Boone at the height of the Blue Ridge spine, with a greater line of sight to Hogback Mountain at about 75 miles (121 km) away. Despite how well the signal is picked up in that area, WSPA is not available on cable in Watauga County. WSPA used to be carried in the western Union County town of Weddington, long before it became a suburb of Charlotte. Prior to the March 2009 tower collapse, WSPA provided grade B coverage as far east as Charlotte itself. WSPA appeared in the Charlotte Observer television listings well into the 1990s.
[edit] Digital programming
| Channel | Name | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.1 | WSPA-HD | 1080i | 16:9 | Main WSPA-TV programming / CBS |
| 7.2 | ME-TV | 480i | 4:3 | Me-TV |
[edit] Post-analog shutdown
WSPA-TV shut down analog transmissions on June 12, 2009,[1] and moved its digital broadcasts back to its previous analog channel number, 7. On WSPA-DT2 and Charter digital cable channel 247 was a 24-hour local weather channel known as "Storm Team 24/7". In 2009, WSPA Channel 7.2 became an affiliate of RTV, but was replaced with Me-TV on September 26, 2011.[2]
[edit] March 2009 tower collapse
On March 1, 2009, WSPA's analog & digital tower at Hogback Mountain in Spartanburg County near the North Carolina/South Carolina border collapsed due to ice and high winds, hitting the main back-up tower as it fell. WSPA's digital signal was restored using a digital subchannel of sister station WYCW; while the station received a replacement Channel 7 antenna on March 4, it was without its analog signal for one week after the accident. A new tower was built, in September 2009.
[edit] Out-of-market cable carriage
In recent years, WSPA has been carried on cable in multiple areas outside of the Greenville media market. That includes cable systems within the Aiken and Columbia markets in South Carolina, the Charlotte market in North Carolina and South Carolina, and the Atlanta market in Georgia.[3]
[edit] Programming
[edit] Preempted programming
WSPA pre-empted several CBS shows through the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s.
- CBS Children's Film Festival
- Press Your Luck (was picked up in 1984 shortly after Michael Larson's record $110,237 win)
- Card Sharks (aired by WSPA from 1986–1988, dropped from September 1988 to March 1989 and preempted by Wipeout; returned to lineup on March 6, 1989 until end of run)
- Now You See It (April–July 1989, CBS daytime game show preempted by Love Connection)
- Family Feud Challenge (final few months)
- Muppet Babies (1991–1993, preempted by Jack Roper's Kidsizzle)
- Pee-Wee's Playhouse (final season)
- Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures (the animated series, final weeks?)
- The Late Show with David Letterman (for one week around the Summer of 1998)
[edit] News operation
The station's newscasts were known as Eyewitness 7 News until 1994 when they were re-branded as NewsChannel 7. Leeza Gibbons, Jane Robelot, and Susan McGinnis are notables who have worked for the station in the past. Annette Estes was WSPA's first female news anchor in 1977. She left the station in 1987 to anchor the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts with Carl Clark at WYFF. WSPA also used to produce a newscast for Fox affiliate WHNS before that station launched its own news operation.
On September 16, 2007, WSPA began producing newscasts in high definition and adopted the new Media General HD graphics. It was the first television station in the western Carolinas to upgrade local news broadcasts to HD.
In addition to its main studios, WSPA operates two news bureaus and shares a third with its sister stations. The Greenville Bureau is located on Villa Road and the Anderson Bureau is located on South Main Street. There is one in Columbia as well, with costs of operating the bureau shared between Media General's stations in South Carolina - WSPA, WBTW, and WCBD. WSPA produces newscasts for its local sister station WYCW that air in high definition. This includes weekday mornings and evenings as well as on the weekends. The station operates an aerial news gathering helicopter with a gyrostabilized camera that is outfitted with a 72 power zoom lens and a motorized two power drop-in extender. The camera system is manufactured by Flir Systems International and the helicopter is maintained by U.S. Helicopters Inc. of Charlotte. It is referred to on-air as "Air 7".
"News Channel 7" and its popular "On Your Side" brand, has the reputation for being the most "aggressive" news operation in the market, when it comes to breaking stories, and breaking news, on-air and online.
WSPA is currently either #1 or #2 in most timeslots. The 11 p.m. weekday newscast was nominated for a 2010 Emmy Award for Best Newscast. The station won a 2010 Emmy for its breaking news coverage.
[edit] News/station presentation
[edit] Newscast titles
- Your Esso Reporter (1956–1958)
- The Six O'Clock News Final (1958–1966)
- TV-7 News (1966–1974)
- Eyewitness 7 News (1974–1979)
- 7 Eyewitness News (1979–1994)[4]
- NewsChannel 7 (1994–2011)[5]
- 7 On Your Side (2011–present)[6]
[edit] Station slogans
- "Great Moments on Channel 7" (1982–1983; local version of CBS campaign)
- "We've Got the Touch" (1983–1986; local version of CBS campaign)
- "Channel 7 Spirit, Oh Yes!" (1987–1988; local version of CBS campaign)
- "We're The Team!" (1988–1990)
- "In the Center of It All" (1990–1994)
- "News From Where You Live" (1994–late 1990s)
- "Putting South Carolina First" (2001–mid 2000s)
- "On Your Side" (1986–1988 and mid 2000s–present)
This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.[edit] News team[7]
Anchors
- Tom Crabtree - weeknights at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.; also "Voice of the Viewer" feature reporter
- Chris Cato - weeknights at 5:30, 7 p.m.; also "Community Watchdog" reporter
- Fred Cunningham - weekday mornings Daybreak and noon
- Gordon Dill - weekend evenings; also education reporter
- Tracey Early - weeknights at 5:30 and 7 p.m.; also "Problem Solver" reporter
- Diane Lee - weekday mornings Daybreak; also consumer reporter
- Laura Thomas - weekend morning anchor/general assignment reporter
- Amy Wood - weeknights at 5, 6, 10 (on WYCW) and 11 p.m.; also interactive anchor and social media reporter
Storm Team 7 HD
- Christy Henderson (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 5:30, 6, 7, 10 (on WYCW) and 11 p.m.
- Dan Bickford (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings Daybreak and noon
- Judy Booker - meteorologist; weekend mornings
- Justin Cooper (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend evenings
Sports team
- Pete Yanity - sports director; weeknights at 6, 10 (on WYCW) and 11 p.m.
- Todd Summers - sports anchor; weekend evenings, also sports reporter
Reporters
- Robin Kanady - Anderson bureau reporter
- Melissa Keeney - Greenville bureau reporter
- Rachel Kent - Greenville bureau reporter
- Robert Kittle - Capitol bureau political reporter
- Graeme Moore - general assignment reporter
- Emily Pace - digital journalist
- Christine Scarpelli - digital journalist
[edit] Former on-air staff
- Leeza Gibbons - reporter (later host of Leeza and Extra, now co-host of America Now)
- Terri Gruca - anchor/reporter (2001–2003; now 6 and 10 p.m. anchor at KVUE-TV in Austin, TX)
- Jane Robelot - anchor/reporter (later host of CBS This Morning; now contributing reporter at WYFF-TV and founder of Carolina Zoom Productions)
[edit] Translators
In addition to its main signals, WSPA operates a network of 14 translator sites throughout the mountains of western North Carolina. Some translators have applications and/or construction permit to flash-cut from analog to digital remaining on their current VHF channel.
| City of license | Callsign | Transmitter location |
|---|---|---|
| Burnsville | W02AT | Phillips Knob |
| Brevard | W02AG | Rich Mountain |
| Mars Hill | W02AH | Middle Mountain |
| Asheville | W08BP | Busbee Mountain |
| Canton | W08AO | Chambers Mountain |
| Cherokee | W08AT | Jenkins Mountain |
| Marshall | W08AX | Roberts Mountain |
| Spruce Pine | W08BF | Woody's Knob |
| Sylva | W09AF | Kings Mountain |
| Franklin | WO9AG | Winespring Bald |
| Weaverville | W09AR | Baird Mountain |
| Black Mountain | W10AD | Allen Mountain |
| Greenville | W10AJ | Paris Mountain |
| Bryson City | W11AN | Fry Mountain |
[edit] References
- ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
- ^ Where to Watch Me-TV:WSPA
- ^ http://svtvstations.webs.com/svtvstations.htm
- ^ WSPA Channel 7 Eyewitness News 1987
- ^ WSPA June 1996 Weekend 6pm Montage
- ^ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS7JROJa8BI WSPA 11pm Open (weekend) - 9/04/11 HD
- ^ News Team Bios
[edit] External links
- WSPA.com (Official Website)
- WSPA - Looking Back"
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WSPA-TV
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