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WKBW-TV

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WKBW-TV, "Channel 7" is a television station in Buffalo, New York. It is the ABC affiliate for the Buffalo television market, and is one of many local Buffalo TV stations seen over-the-air and on cable in Canada. Its transmitter is located at 8909 Center Street in Colden, New York. The station is currently owned by the Granite Broadcasting Corporation, who also operates Equity Broadcasting-owned Retro Television Network affiliate WNGS under a local marketing agreement (LMA).

History

When WKBW-AM 1520 was granted a television license in 1957, it was originally intended to be an independent station. However, when NBC closed its owned and operated station, WBUF-TV, on September 30, 1958, then-ABC affiliate WGR-TV (now WGRZ-TV) went back to NBC. As a result of the network shuffle, WKBW-TV premiered as ABC's new Buffalo affiliate when it went on the air on November 30, 1958. The station was originally located at 1420 Main Street, and remained there until it moved to its current location at 7 Broadcast Plaza in downtown Buffalo in 1978.

WKBW-TV produced iconic children's programing such as Rocketship 7 and The Commander Tom Show from the 1960s through the 1980s. A staple of its morning programing for many years was Dialing for Dollars.

When WKBW-TV first signed on, it was locally owned. Capital Cities Communications purchased the WKBW combo in 1961, and kept the WKBW stations for 25 years. After Capital Cities merged with ABC in 1986, it sold WKBW-TV to Queen City Broadcasting instead of becoming an ABC O&O. At that point WKBW radio was sold to Price Communications and renamed WWKB (currently owned by Entercom Communications).

In 1995, Queen City Broadcasting merged with Granite Broadcasting. Granite has since remained WKBW-TV's owner.

Until 2000, lottery drawings were shown on WKBW-TV (they have since moved to WGRZ).

For many years, the station's logo was their interpretation of the famed circle 7 logo -- two straight lines, one straight, the other angled, forming a "7" within a circle. From February 1997 to 2003, the "circle 7" was placed over a black square, on top of a red tab reading WKBW-TV.

The logo was updated in 2003 as part of the station's new image. The numeral 7 in the circle is now angled differently, and the entire "circle 7" is now placed on a blue box.

News

For many years, WKBW called its news operation "Eyewitness News." However, it borrowed most of the basic elements of the "Action News" format used at longtime sister station WPVI-TV in Philadelphia. It even used Move Closer to Your World, the theme song made famous by WPVI.

Irv Weinstein was WKBW's main anchor from 1964 until his retirement in 1998, doubling as news director for most of that time. From 1965 to 1989, he was partnered with sports director Rick Azar and weatherman Tom Jolls (who did double duty as host of Commander Tom); the three formed the longest continuing anchor team in television history until Azar's retirement in 1989.

The station's morning show began in about 1987 as Good Morning Western New York, which started at 6 a.m. ET before moving up to 5:30 a.m. in 1996. It currently starts at 5 a.m.. Between 2000 and 2003, the morning show was known as Eyewitness News This Morning.

From the early 1990s until February 1997, the station identified itself as News Channel 7, but kept the "Eyewitness News" name for the newscasts, resulting in rather clumsy station announcements (eg. "From WKBW-TV News Channel 7, this is Eyewitness News at 5").

"Eyewitness News" had been the most-watched newscast in the Buffalo market for many years. However, in recent years, the ratings began to slip, and rival WIVB has overtaken the #1 spot. As a result, WKBW looked to adopt a new identity, and the "Eyewitness News" era came to an end. The move backfired. The station's newscast were rebranded as "7 News" in 2003, and "Move Closer to Your World" was dropped in favor of a more contemporary piece of news music ("Right Here, Right Now" by 615 Music). About this time, the newscast became known around the world thanks to the blockbuster film "Bruce Almighty." In the film, Jim Carrey works at WKBW. So far, the cosmetic changes do not appear to have restored the station to its former glory; in fact, the station has since fallen to a distant third, behind WIVB and WGRZ, according to Nielsen ratings [citation needed]. In March 2006 7 News at 5 and 5:30 were merged to an hour long 7 News at 5.

The station's current weekday newscast lineup is as follows:

  • 7 News This Morning - 5:00 - 7:00 a.m. ET
  • 7 News at Noon - 12:00 - 12:30 p.m. ET
  • 7 News at 5 - 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. ET
  • 7 News at 6 - 6:00 - 6:30 p.m. ET
  • 7 News at 11 - 11:00 - 11:35 p.m. ET

A two-minute sports segment, known as the "2 Minute Drill", is shown at the halfway mark of the 5:30 p.m. newscast. The weather segment at 5:40 p.m. is produced outdoors.

Local programming

  • Rocketship 7, a morning children's show, was hosted by weatherman Dave Thomas (born David Thomas Boreanaz, father of actor David Boreanaz) and "Promo the Robot" from 1962 until Thomas left the station for Philadelphia's WPVI-TV in 1978 (changing his on-air moniker to Dave Roberts in the process). Thomas also hosted Dialing for Dollars which became AM Buffalo in the mid-1970s. A revival of Rocketship 7 was hosted by "Captain Mike" and "Yeoman Bob" with guest appearances by "Commander Tom" Jolls from 1992 until 1993.
  • The Commander Tom Show was an afternoon children's show hosted by another WKBW weatherman, Tom Jolls from 1965 until budget cuts forced its cancellation in 1991. In its last decade, the show aired on weekends only.

Internet initiatives

WKBW has been proactive in its ventures on the Internet. The station was among the first in Western New York to launch a Web site in the mid-1990s. More recently, it was the first to offer RSS feeds and podcasts.

WKBW streams its noon newscasts via live video on the Internet, one of the few major network affiliates to offer a video stream. (Other WKBW programming is not available on the feed.) On demand video of newscasts is also available.

News reporters and journalists

7 News This Morning

  • Pete Kenworthy- News
  • Erika von Tiehl- News
  • Elizabeth Carey- Bussiness First
  • Dave Cash- 7 Traffic
  • Aaron Mentkowski- 7 Weather

7 News at Noon

  • Erica von Tiehl- News
  • Aaron Mentkowski- 7 Weather

7 News at Five

  • Bridget Blythe- News
  • Melanie Pritchard- News
  • Jim Nowecki- 7 Traffic
  • Mike Randall- 7 Weather

7 News at Six

  • Keith Radford- News
  • Joanna Pasceri- News
  • Mike Randall- 7 Weather
  • John Murphy- 7 Sports

7 News at 11

  • Keith Radford- News
  • Joanna Paceri- News
  • Mike Randall- 7 Weather
  • John Murphy- 7 Sports

7 News at Six Weekend

  • Julie Fine- News
  • Jennifer Stanonis- 7 Weather
  • Ginger Geoffery/Jeff Russo- 7 Sports

7 News at 11 Weekend

  • Julie Fine- News
  • Jennifer Stanonis- 7 Weather
  • Ginger Geoffery/Jeff Russo- 7 Sports

Sports

  • John Murphy - Sports Director
  • Jeff Russo - Weekend Anchor/Reporter & Host of Sunday Sports Final
  • Ginger Geoffery - Weekend Anchor/Reporter

News Reporters

  • Steve Barber
  • Aaron Baskerville
  • John Borsa
  • Elizabeth Carey
  • Julie Fine
  • Laura Gray

AM/PM Buffalo

  • Linda Pellegrino
  • Lorianne O'Donnell
  • Jon Summers

Weather

  • Mike Randall - Chief Meteorologist
  • Aaron Mentkowski - Weekday Morning/Noon Meteorologist
  • Jennifer Stanonis - Weekend Weather Anchor
  • Dave Cash - Weather Fill-In

Traffic

  • Dave Cash
  • Jim Nowecki
  • PJ Foxx

Former/Retired Long Time On Air Personalities

  • Tom Jolls, Weather Forecaster/Commander Tom Show (as Commander Tom - 1965-1991) (1965 - 1999)
  • Irv Weinstein, reporter/anchor (1964 - 1998)
  • Rick Azar, Sports (1958 - 1989)
  • Kathleen Leighton, News (1989 - 2001); now does work as a voice talent in political ads, primarily for the Republican Party.
  • Andy Parker, Meteorologist, Good Morning WNY, Eyewitenss News (1992 - 2000). Now at WGRZ.
  • Maria Genero, Co-anchor of 5PM Newscasts (2001 - 2004). Co-anchor of Eyewitness News This Morning, Eyewitness News at Noon/7 News This Morning, 7 News at Noon
  • Dave Thomas (Dave Thomas Boreanaz), Dialing for Dollars/Rocketship 7 (1960s - 1978)
  • Nolan Johannes & Liz Dribben, co-hosts, Dialing for Dollars (1960s - late 1970s)
  • Clip Smith (1971 - 1989) Sports/Weather - Died in a car crash in August 2004
  • Tim Flescher - Now with WABC in New York
  • Mark Thompson (TV) - Now a Fox announcer
  • Susan Banks - 1977-1981, 1990-December 13, 2006
  • Sheila Mahoney - first anchor of Good Morning Western New York. Went on maternity leave in the 1990s and never returned.
  • Jean Hill - longtime weekend anchor, later moved to mornings after the departure of Mahoney and Leighton. Left in the 1990s.
  • Phil Tronolone - 2001 - made one appearance on AM Buffalo, could handle the funny stuff but when the topic of cervical cancer arose his mind went blank. His favorite song is Love Plus One by Haircut 100.

Trivia

  • WKBW-TV was the first station to use the phrase, "Do you know where your children are?" Beginning the 11pm Newscast was the idea of a local news viewer, who proposed the idea to Irv Weinstein, who later approved of the idea. The viewer was not paid for the slogan that she came up with, which is now used by many stations across the country (although ironically, WKBW, since its 2003 image restructuring, no longer uses the phrase).
  • The station was featured in the movie Bruce Almighty, starring Jim Carrey and Jennifer Aniston. In the movie, Carrey's character was a reporter for Eyewitness News before getting fired, and was then reinstated as its main anchor. He finds a new meaning for the station's call letters as he is thrown out of building, Wimpy Kitty Baby Whiners. Additionally, WKBW sports reporter John Murphy was the only real member from the station featured in the movie; he was shown on Bruce's TV in the beginning. The owner of the TV station is also owned by the movie that produced Bruce Almighty (Universal Pictures).
  • Irv Weinstein, Tom Jolls and Rick Azar hold the record for the longest on air anchor team from 1965 - 1989.
  • Liz Dribben, in addition to being co-host of "Dialing for Dollars", was one of the first female journalists in the country. Dribben got her start at WKBW-TV in 1959 as a publicist.
  • Was once the top rated ABC-affiliated station in the country.
  • The Annual Variety Club Telethon is the longest running locally produced telethon in the country.
  • Irv Weinstein's first name is actually "Irwin".
  • The once-abandoned original studios for WKBW-TV (at 1420 Main Street) now house a Religious Organization. The broadcast tower remains atop the roof.
  • Many Canadian born stars grew up watching and have fond memories WKBW-TV and have mentioned it from time to time in various local and nation interviews including Mike Myers, Howie Mandel, John Candy and Jim Carrey (the aforementioned star of Bruce Almighty). WKBW anchorman Irv Weinstein was one of the inspirations for Eugene Levy's SCTV character Earl Camembert.

References

See also

External links

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