WOWT

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WOWT-TV, channel 6, is the NBC affiliate in Omaha, Nebraska. With its strong signal, it also serves the state capital 52 miles away in Lincoln.

History

Channel 6 signed on the air on August 29 1949 as WOW-TV, the first television station in Nebraska and one of the oldest in the Upper Midwest. It also claims to be the first television station in four other Midwestern states. Johnny Carson's first television job was at the station where he had a daily show called the The Squirrel's Nest where he told jokes.

The station was operated by Radio Station WOW, Inc., who also owned WOW radio (AM 590, now KXSP, and 92.3 FM, now KEZO) The owners operated under a United States Supreme Court ruling which had forced the station's original founder, the Woodmen of the World, to divest itself of the radio stations because they threatened the Woodmen's tax-exempt status. Former Secretary of the Navy Francis Matthews bought WOW-AM-FM-TV in 1954, and in turn sold the stations to Meredith Corporation in 1958.

The station was originally an NBC affiliate, but carried a secondary affiliation with ABC until 1953, when KOLN-TV signed on from Lincoln as an ABC affiliate. However, in 1954, Lincoln was broken off from the Omaha market, and WOW-TV resumed sharing ABC programming with KMTV until 1957, when KETV signed on as an ABC affiliate.

In 1956, after the radio stations dropped their longtime affiliation with NBC in favor of CBS, WOW-TV switched affiliations with KMTV and became Omaha's CBS television affiliate. When Meredith sold channel 6 to Chronicle Publishing Company of San Francisco in 1975, it changed its call letters to WOWT under special FCC approval. Channel 6 later rejoined NBC under a special agreement with KMTV in 1986. In 1999, Chronicle sold its media holdings and WOWT was sold to Benedek Broadcasting via LIN TV in a three-way deal for WWLP in Springfield, Massachusetts; three years later, Benedek Broadcasting was bought out by current owner Gray Television.

WOWT was the first station to broadcast locally in color, starting in the mid-1950s; it was the first station to provide live reports during its daily newscasts; it was the first of the three local stations to broadcasts three live daily newscasts, at 5, 6, and 10pm; and in 1993, WOWT was the first of all local stations to offer a web site.

In 1991, WOWT changed the name of its news division from "Action News 6" to its current moniker of "Channel 6 News". In 1995 Channel 6 began live simulcasts and taped replays of its daily newscasts on Omaha Cox Cable channel 1. The venture is known as "NEWS on ONE". That same year WOWT's sports division launched a weekly 30 minute sports news program titled "Channel 6 Sunday Sports Extra". It is the only program of its kind in Omaha, and it has been hosted since its inception by Sports Producer Ross Jernstrom.

WOWT was the most watched station for local news from 1996 until November, 2006 when rival KETV, a Hearst-Argyle station, overtook WOWT to become the ratings leader. In recent years, the two stations have been neck-and-neck for the top spot, with KMTV, operated by Journal Broadcast Group, lagging far behind in a distant third place.

The station's studios are located near 35th and Farnam streets, near downtown Omaha. Its transmitter tower is located on a "tower farm" near North 72nd and Crown Point.

Former employees of WOWT include The Tonight Show host Johnny Carson, who worked at WOW-TV in the early 1950s, and former ABC Good Morning America reporter Steve Bell, who worked for Channel 6 in the early and mid-1960s. He was the only local reporter to go to Dallas in November 1963 to cover the aftermath of the John F. Kennedy assassination. Bell left channel 6 in 1967 to join ABC News, where he stayed until 1986.

6₂O

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6₂O logo, since September 2006.

In October 2005, WOWT-DT launched UPN Omaha on digital sub-channel 6.2. The station became an independent station named 6₂O when The WB and UPN networks merged in September 2006. KXVO, formerly the local WB affiliate, now carries The CW, while KPTM, the local Fox affiliate, shows My Network TV on a digital subchannel of its own.

Programming

Programming on WOWT includes Dr. Keith Ablow, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, The Insider, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Jeopardy!, and Extra.

Channel 6 News Team

Daybreak (Weekdays)-5am to 7am & Midday @ 11:30am

Jim Siedlecki-News Malorie Maddox-News Michael Born-Weather

Channel 6 News Live at Four (Weekdays)

Brian Mastre-News Sheila Brummer-News Jeff Jensen-Weather

Channel 6 News at 5pm, 6pm, & 10pm (Weekdays)

John Knicely-News
Tracy Madden-News
Jim Flowers-Weather
Dave Webber-Sports

Weekend Daybreak (8am-9am)

Rachel Pierce-News Andrea Rich-Weather

Channel 6 News at 5pm & 10pm (Weekends)

Paul Baltes-News Jaime McCutcheon-News Jeff Jensen-Weather John Chapman-Sports

Notable Past Personalities

Pat Persaud (1986-2005; lead anchor)
Gary Kerr (1960s-1999; anchor/reporter; lead anchor from 1971-1991, 5 p.m. co-anchor from 1992 until 1998)
Byron Wood (1970s-early 1990s; anchor/reporter; later an anchor with KPTM in the late 1990s)
Dale Munson (1960s-1991; chief meteorologist/voice overs)
Brian Durst (1990s; chief meteorologist 1991-1992, later a meterologist for The Weather Channel in the 1990s-early 2000s)
Paul Bouchereau (1988-1989, Meteorologist,later with KETV, now with Feed The Children in Oklahoma City)
Bryce Anderson (1980s-1990s; midday agricultural news/weather)
Colleen Williams (Late 1970s; weekend anchor, now weekday co-anchor for KNBC in Los Angeles)

External links

• WOWT Official site
• 6₂O website
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