WTOK-TV

WTOK-TV

Meridian, Mississippi
Branding	Channel 11 (general) NewsCenter 11 myTOK2 (on DT2) Meridian CW 8 (on DT3)
Slogan	Your News Leader for Eastern Mississippi and Western Alabama
Channels	Digital: 11 (VHF) Virtual: 11 (PSIP)
Subchannels	11.1 ABC 11.2 MyNetworkTV 11.3 The CW
Affiliations	Jewelry Television (overnight on DT2)
Owner	Gray Television (Gray Television Licensee, Inc.)
First air date	September 27, 1953
Former callsigns	WTOK (1953-1979)
Former channel number(s)	11 (VHF analog, 1953-2009) 49 (UHF digital)
Former affiliations	CBS (1953-1980) DuMont (secondary, 1953-1955) NBC (secondary, 1953-1972) Fox (secondary mid-1990s, primary on DT2 2006-2009) The Sportsman Channel (overnight on DT2, 2006-2009)
Transmitter power	40 kW
Height	160 m
Class	DT
Facility ID	4686
Transmitter coordinates	32°19′39.5″N 88°41′28″W
Website	wtok.com

WTOK-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Meridian, Mississippi. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter south of Meridian on Crestview Circle (along MS 145/Roebuck Drive) in unincorporated Lauderdale County. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 431. Owned by Gray Television, WTOK has studios on 23rd Avenue in Meridian's Mid-Town section. Syndicated programming on the station includes Wheel of Fortune, The Dr. Oz Show, Judge Judy, and Jeopardy! among others.

Digital programming

It operates the area's MyNetworkTV affiliate on a second digital subchannel. Known on-air as myTOK2, this is also offered on Comcast channel 2. Syndicated programming on this station includes Family Guy, Two And A Half Men, Friends, and Family Feud along with others. WTOK operates the market's CW affiliate on a third digital subchannel. Known on-air as Meridian CW 8, this service is offered on Comcast channel 8 (hence the branding). WTOK-DT3 receives all of its programming through The CW Plus.

Channel	Name	Video	Aspect	Programming
11.1	WTOK-HD	720p	16:9	main WTOK programming/ABC (HD)
11.2	WTOK-DT2	480i	4:3	"myTOK2" (SD)
11.3	WTOK-DT3	480i	4:3	"Meridian CW 8" (SD)

History

It began broadcasting on September 27, 1953 as the second television station in Mississippi and the first on the VHF band. WJTV in Jackson had started broadcasting in January of that year on a UHF frequency. WTOK started as a primary CBS affiliate but carried programming from ABC, NBC, and DuMont as well. DuMont folded in 1955 and NBC went to WHTV (now WMDN) in 1972 (via its status as a satellite of Tupelo's WTWV now WTVA). It became an exclusive ABC affiliate in 1980 sending CBS to WHTV. ABC had become the highest-rated network in the nation by this time and wanted a station that would clear all of its programming.

WTOK also served as a partial Fox affiliate in the mid-1990s carrying NFL broadcasts as well as selected Fox programming in late night time-slots. At one point, WTOK was co-owned with KARK-TV in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1988, then-owner United Broadcasting was taken over by investment firm Merrill Lynch who then sold its three stations off to separate buyers. That year, Benedek Broadcasting bought WTOK. When Benedek's parent company went bankrupt in 2002, current owner Gray Television bought most of the Benedek stations including WTOK.

In early-2006, WTOK began broadcasting a Fox affiliate (known as "Fox Meridian") on a new second digital subchannel. For Meridian viewers, WTOK-DT2 replaced Foxnet and WDBB in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on cable. Starting September 5, 2006, it began airing programming from Fox's new sister network MyNetworkTV. Shows from that network aired Monday through Saturday nights from 9 to 11. Gray Television signed a deal to add The CW (the other new network created by the merger of The WB and UPN) on new digital subchannels of four company-owned stations including WTOK. WTOK-DT3 began airing The CW on the network's launch of September 18.

After WGBC acquired the Fox affiliation in late-2008, WTOK-DT2 was rebranded "myTOK2" to reflect the channel's shift to primary MyNetworkTV affiliation. It also moved from Comcast channel 10 to channel 2. After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion that took place on June 12, 2009 at 9 in the morning, WTOK moved its digital broadcasts back to its present analog channel number.

Newscasts

News open.

It has long been the dominant station in Eastern Mississippi due to its status as the only VHF station in the area. For a time in the early-1990s, WTOK was even the only over-the-air commercial station in town by default after both of its rivals went off-the-air. After WMDN shut down its news department in 2005, WTOK became the only station in the market to offer local news. Unlike most ABC affiliates, it does not air full two-hour morning or midday newscasts during the week. WTOK-DT2 rebroadcasts the 6 a.m. hour of Good Morning Meridian weekday mornings at 7:30 and NewsCenter 11 at 10 every night at midnight. Like all CW Plus affiliates in the Central Time Zone, WTOK-DT3 airs the nationally syndicated morning show The Daily Buzz on weekdays from 5 until 8.

Newscast titles

• Your Esso Reporter (1953-early 1960s)
• Newsnight (late 1960s-early 1970s)
• TV 11 News (late 1970s-early 1980s)
• NewsCenter 11 (late 1980s-present)

News team

News anchors

• Andrea Williams - weekday mornings and reporter (also weekday morning producer)
• Wade Phillips - Executive Producer seen weeknights at 5 and occasional reporter (also producer weeknights at 5)
• TBD - weeknights at 6
• John Johnson - Director of News and Community Relations seen weeknights at 10
• Nick Adam - weekends and reporter

Other anchors

• Stephen Bowers - Chief Forecaster seen weeknights also science and environmental reporter
• Brian Hutton Jr. - weekday morning forecaster
• Lindsey Hall - Sports Director seen weeknights at 6 and 10 (also Football Friday host)
• Emily Gagnon - weekend sports and sports reporter (also Football Friday host)

Reporters

• Rebecca Ward - weekday morning photographer and producer
• Chip Scarborough - Saturday through Wednesday at 6 and 10
• Sidney Luvene - Chief Photographer
• Christian Monsour - photographer

Contributors

• Joel Payne - Joel's Outdoor Adventures
• Gary Bachman - Southern Gardening
• Ralph Henson - Life Skills
• Art Ginsburg - Mr. Food

Notable former staff

• Charles Daniel - weekday morning meteorologist and news reporter (now at WIAT in Birmingham, Alabama)
• George McDonald - reporter and photographer (now at WAKA in Montgomery, Alabama)
• Josh Johnson - Chief Meteorologist (now at WSFA in Montgomery)
• Bill Evans - now at WABC-TV in New York City
• Stan Torgerson - reporter (deceased)

External links

• WTOK-TV "Channel 11"
• WTOK-TV mobile
• WTOK-DT3 "Meridian CW 8"
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WTOK-TV