WVLT-TV
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| Knoxville, Tennessee | |
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| Branding | Volunteer TV (general) Local 8 News (newscasts) MyVLT DT2 |
| Slogan | Taking Action for You |
| Channels | Digital: 30 (UHF, PSIP 8) |
| Subchannels | 8.1 CBS 8.2 MyNetworkTV |
| Affiliations | CBS |
| Owner | Gray Television (Gray Television Licensee, Inc.) |
| First air date | October 1, 1953 |
| Call letters' meaning | Tennessee VoLunTeers |
| Former callsigns | WSKT-TV (1953-1954) WTVK (1954-1988) WKXT-TV (1988-1997) |
| Former channel number(s) | 26 (UHF analog, 1953-1988) 8 (VHF analog, 1988-2009) |
| Former affiliations | Primary: CBS (1953-1956) ABC (1956-1979) NBC (1979-1988) Secondary: ABC (1953-1956) DuMont (1953-1956) DT2: UPN (2003-2006) |
| Transmitter power | 398 kW (digital) |
| Height | 551.3 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 35908 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 35°59′44″N 83°57′23″W / 35.99556°N 83.95639°W |
| Website | www.volunteertv.com/ |
WVLT-TV (VHF channel 8) is the CBS television network affiliate station serving Knoxville, Tennessee, the 58th DMA in America according to Nielsen Media Research. The station's owned and operated by Gray Television and has its transmitters located in Knoxville.
The station also operates a MyNetworkTV affiliate MyVLT (formally MyVLT2) on its DT2 digital sub-channel; before 2006, it was a UPN affiliate, branded as UPN Knoxville.
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[edit] History
WVLT-TV debuted on October 1, 1953 as WSKT-TV on channel 26. It was Tennessee's first UHF station, and the second television station in East Tennessee. The station was a CBS affiliate, but also shared ABC programming with WROL-TV, now WATE-TV, which signed on a few hours before WSKT.
Channel 26 found the going difficult at first, since television manufacturers weren't required to build in UHF tuning capability at the time. Viewers needed an expensive converter to watch WSKT, and even then the picture quality was marginal at best. In addition, most of eastern Tennessee is very mountainous, and UHF signals at the time usually did not carry very well over rugged terrain. In 1954, the station's original owners sold the station to South Central Communications, a radio company in Evansville, Indiana, who changed its calls to WTVK.
When WBIR-TV signed on in 1956 and took the CBS affiliation, WTVK became a full-time ABC affiliate. However, it spent most of the next 20 years as a very distant third in the ratings. While this was due in part to ABC being a much weaker network (it wouldn't be on par with CBS and NBC in terms of programming until the 1970s), another problem was the terrain issue. Many viewers didn't get a clear signal from channel 26 until cable arrived in Knoxville in the 1970s. In fact, many viewers got a better signal from WLOS-TV (channel 13) in Asheville, North Carolina; WLOS' transmitter is located almost 118 miles east of Knoxville.
In 1979, the station changed its affiliations from ABC to NBC, swapping affiliations with WATE-TV. By this time, ABC had become the highest-rated network in the country, and was seeking to affiliate with stronger stations. Under the circumstances, ABC jumped at the chance to move its programming to long-dominant WATE-TV. Even as NBC dominated the ratings in the 1980s, channel 26 stayed in the local ratings basement. However, it did win the rights to broadcast a daily one-hour show from the 1982 World's Fair, held in Knoxville. The program was hosted by Jim Hess and Jim Hampton and featured news updates with WTVK news anchors including Melinda Kramer.
In 1988, the station returned to CBS, swapping affiliations with WBIR-TV; shortly afterward the station changed its calls to WKXT-TV and moved to channel 8, one of the last remaining VHF channel allocations in the U.S. It became one of the few stations in America to have been a primary affiliate of all "Big 3" networks. Soon after the move to the VHF band, South Central sold the station to a local ownership group. Channel 8 changed its callsign again to WVLT-TV in 1997 after Gray Television bought the station in 1996.
In 1998, when CBS regained National Football League rights, they became the American Football Conference broadcaster. WVLT has aired Tennessee Titans (formerly Oilers) games since.
On January 9, 2011, their 11 p.m. newscast became the first in the Knoxville market to originate in high definition.[1]
[edit] Vol Network affiliation
In 2007, WVLT TV/MYVLT TV and the Vol Network, the broadcasting arm of the University of Tennessee's athletic department, entered into a new 10-year agreement for WVLT/MYVLT TV to be the exclusive home of all Vol TV Network programing in the Knoxville area. WVLT paid UT $4.95 million for the 10 year contract. This gives the two stations the exclusive rights to the weekly highlights shows featuring head football coach Derek Dooley, head men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl, head women's basketball coach Pat Summit, and other UT athletic-related programs in the Knoxville market. With this, the Vol TV Network ended a 10-year relationship with NBC affiliate WBIR-TV.[1]
[edit] Digital television
| Channel | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8.1 | 720p | 16:9 | Main WVLT-TV programming / CBS |
| 8.2 | MyVLT |
[edit] Analog to digital conversion
After the US analog television shutdown, which took place on June 12, 2009 [2], WVLT-DT remained on its current frequency, channel 30.[3] However, digital television with PSIP capability will display its virtual channel as 8.
[edit] News/station presentation
[edit] Newscast titles
[edit] Newscast titles
- The East Tennessee Report (1953-1957)
- News of The Night (1957-1960)
- The National News (1960-1965)
- City Camera News (1965–1970)
- First Edition News (1970-1977)
- Metro 26 News (1977–1981)
- NewsCenter 26 (1981–1986)
- WTVK NewsCenter (1986–1988)
- News 8 (1988–1997)
- NewsChannel 8 (1997–1998)
- Volunteer News (1998–2002)
- Volunteer TV News (2002–2011)
- Local 8 News (2011-present)
[edit] Station slogans
- Come Home to TV-26 (1986-1987; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- Come on Home to TV-26 (1987-1988; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- The Valley's Own, News 8 (1988-early 1990s)
- Get Ready for News 8 (1989-1991; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- In Touch with East Tennessee (1997–2002)
- Taking Action for You (2002–present)
This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.[edit] On-air staff
[edit] Current news anchors and reporters
[edit] News anchors
- Alan Williams (6:00/7:00/11:00)
- Amanda Hara (5:00/6:00/7:00/11:00)
- Lauren Davis (4:00)
- Bob Yarbrough (Early/Noon)
- Sara Shookman (Noon)
- Michelle Silva (Early)
- Mark Packer (4:00/5:00)
- Lorena Estrada (Weekends)
- Conroy Delouche (Weekends)
[edit] Sports
- Rick Russo (Sports Director)
- Daryl Hobby (Sports Anchor/Reporter)
- Mark Packer
- Wes Boling (Sports Anchor/Reporter)
- Austin Price
[edit] News reporters
- Amanda Hara
- Lauren Davis
- Gary Loe
- Amber Miller
- Sara Shookman
- Mario Boone
- Lorena Estrada
- Whitney Kent
[edit] Weather
- David Aldrich (Chief Meteorologist)[4]
- Mike Simon (Morning/Noon Meteorologist)
- Heather Haley (Weekend Meteorologist)
- Whitney Kent (Weather Specialist)
[edit] Miscellaneous
- Walter Lambert (TV Chef)
- Shirley Nash-Pitts (Consumer Expert)
- Kiley Yarbrough (Special Correspondent)
[edit] Former on-air staff
- Adele Arakawa, (Main news anchor for KUSA-TV in Denver.)
- Allison Kropff
- Angela Starke
- Ed Hooper (Author)
- Stacy McCloud (now with WZTV-TV "Fox 17" Nashville)[5]
- Charles Winters
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.volunteertv.com/home/headlines/WVLT_Volunteer_TV_announces_first-to-market_high_definition_news_and_local_programming_113190709.html
- ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
- ^ CDBS Print
- ^ http://www.davidaldrich.com/index.php?itemid=319
- ^ Morrow, Terry (March 24, 2009). "Stacy McCloud to leave WVLT, Channel 8". Knoxnews.com. http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/telebuddy/archives/2009/03/stacy_mccloud_t.shtml.
[edit] External links
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WVLT-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WVLT-TV
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