WTHR

WTHR, channel 13, is a full-service television station serving the Indianapolis, Indiana metropolitan area. An affiliate of the NBC television network, its studios at 1000 N. Meridian Street anchor the south end of Indy's Television Row. The station broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 13 from its transmitter located at 9799 Ditch Road in suburban Carmel (its antenna tower being a major landmark on the nearby north leg of the I-465 beltway). Since 1974, WTHR has been owned by the Dispatch Broadcast Group of Columbus, Ohio.

History

The station signed on October 30, 1957 as ABC affiliate WLWI (often rendered in print as WLW-I), owned by Crosley Broadcasting Corporation. It was one of five stations which made up the Cincinnati-based WLW television network. Other stations included in this network were WLWT in Cincinnati, WLWC (now WCMH-TV) in Columbus, WLWA (now WXIA-TV) in Atlanta and WLWD (now WDTN) in Dayton.

From 1957 to 1962, the station was tied up in one of the most heated licensing disputes in early television history. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) originally awarded the license to a group headed by Union Federal Savings and Loan president George Sadlier. However, after an appeal, the FCC reversed itself and awarded the license to Crosley. One of the other competitors, Richard Fairbanks, owner of WIBC-AM 1070 sued the FCC. Fairbanks claimed that the FCC had erred in awarding the last VHF license in Indianapolis to a company based in Cincinnati when there were viable potential licensees in Indianapolis. The suit, however, was filed too late to prevent WLWI from signing on.

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals overturned the FCC's decision in 1958, but allowed Crosley to continue running the station pending further FCC action. In 1961, the FCC awarded Fairbanks the channel 13 license, but Crosley appealed. A year later, Crosley and Fairbanks reached a deal in which Fairbanks bought WLWA in return for allowing Crosley to keep WLWI.

Amid this instability in ownership, WLWI found the going rather difficult. It was also dogged by a weaker network affiliation; ABC would not be on an equal footing with CBS and NBC until the 1970s. WLWI spent most of its first 17 years as an also-ran behind WFBM-TV (now WRTV) and WISH-TV. In some cases, it even fell to fourth place behind WTTV.

From last place to ratings leadership

Crosley/Avco poured a lot of money into WLWI, but eventually concluded that it was a third-rate operation and put it up for sale. The Wolfe family, owners of the Columbus Dispatch and WBNS-TV in Columbus, bought the station from Avco in 1974 and changed the calls to WTHR two years later. With new ownership in place, on-air quality began to improve, but WTHR was still rating third behind WISH and WRTV.

In the case of the ABC affiliation, the network rose to first place and was seeking out stronger local stations to affiliate with in many markets; NBC, meanwhile, was the lowest rated network. So in 1979, WTHR swapped affiliations with WRTV and became an NBC affiliate. Ratings were slow to improve until the mid-1990s, when WTHR hired former CBS News correspondent John Stehr to anchor its evening newscasts. WTHR quickly moved from third to second place after a botched relaunch at WRTV. Changes continued to be made, and in 1999, WTHR's Eyewitness News surged past then-dominant WISH in several key news timeslots, moving to first place for the first time in its history. By 2002, WTHR beat WISH in all news timeslots and changed its slogan to "Indiana's News Leader".

WTHR today

On September 2, 2007 WTHR celebrated its 50th anniversary like its sister station in Columbus, WTHR used the song "Carousels (Dreaming of Tomorrow)" by Columbus, Ohio rock band Alamoth Lane, which was also used on WBNS as a large marketing campaign to promote the launch of its newscasts in high definition.

WTHR also produces the Brain Game, a weekly televised quiz bowl competition for high school students. It has aired since 1972 and is currently hosted by meteorologist Chris Wright.

Digital television

{| class="wikitable" |- ! Channel ! Programming |- | 13.1 || WTHR-DT |- | 13.2 || SkyTrak Weather Network |- | 13.3 || Universal Sports |}

WTHR signed-off its analog signal on June 12, 2009 at 12:37 AM , and moved its digital broadcasts back to channel 13.

News operation

WTHR used to have a partnership agreement with then-UPN affiliate WNDY-TV (channel 23; now a MyNetworkTV affiliate). Under the partnership, WTHR produced a 10 p.m. newscast for WNDY. However, the partnership ended when WNDY was purchased by LIN TV Corporation, which also owned WISH-TV. WISH-TV then assumed responsibility of the production of WNDY's 10 p.m. newscast. WTHR now airs a short 8 minute "First Forecast" on the company-owned SkyTrak Weather Network, channel 50, in lieu of a 10 p.m. newscast. SkyTrak Weather Network also airs constant weather forecasts for Central Indiana and replays of WTHR's midday, 6 p.m. newscasts, and short five-minute news updates throughout the day.

Beginning with the 10 p.m. Eyewitness News Nightbeat newscast on November 12, 2006, WTHR became the first station in Indiana to broadcast local news in High Definition, making it one of only seven TV stations in the Midwest broadcasting news in HD (the others being fellow Indianapolis station WISH-TV, WKYC-TV in Cleveland, KSDK in St. Louis, KARE-TV in Minneapolis/St. Paul, WCPO-TV in Cincinnati, and sister station WBNS-TV in Columbus, Ohio). WTHR broadcasts its local newscasts in 1080i high definition, which is the same high definition resolution as NBC network programming.

On October 2, 2007 starting with the noon newscast, WTHR began shooting, editing and transmitting field live shots in widescreen. This change will eliminate the need for pillars on these elements. It is important to note the difference between widescreen and high definition, as these three elements are being shot in 1080i, but due to current editing, transmission and storage facilities they are converted to a lower resolution for broadcast.

After several NBC affiliates in markets larger than Indianapolis switched to a different network and/or dropped the Eyewitness News tagline in the past two decades, WTHR is now the largest NBC affiliate to use Eyewitness News continuously to date. This is based on the fact the branding was originally synonymus with most ABC-owned stations and the now-defunct Group W (Westinghouse) stations.

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

Eyewitness News (early 1970s-1976)

Eyewitness NewsCenter 13 (1976–1981) NewsCenter 13 (1981–1993) NewsChannel 13 (1993–1996) Channel 13 Eyewitness News (1996–present) :*Channel 13 Eyewitness News Sunrise (weekday morning newscast) :*Channel 13 Eyewitness News Weekend Sunrise (weekend morning newscast) :*Channel 13 Eyewitness News at Noon/Channel 13 Eyewitness News at 12:30 p.m. (midday newscasts) :*Channel 13 Eyewitness News at 5 (5 p.m. newscast) :*Channel 13 Eyewitness News at 5:30 (5:30 p.m. newscast) :*Channel 13 Eyewitness News at 6 (6 p.m. newscast) :*Channel 13 Eyewitness News NightBeat (11 p.m. newscast) :*13 Sports Jam (Sunday sports wrap-up program)

Station slogans

You're on Top of It All with 13 (1976–1979; image campaign composed by Al Ham)

Hello Indiana, Channel 13 Loves You! (1980–1987 and 1991; image campaign composed by Frank Gari, vocals mainly by Florence Warner)

Channel 13, Just Watch Us Now (1982–1983; localized version of NBC network slogan)

Channel 13, Be There (1983–1984; localized version of NBC network slogan)

This Is Indiana, and Proud to Call It Home! (also "Proud To Call It Home!"; 1987–1994)

Indiana's NewsChannel (1992–1996)

Indiana, 13's On Your Side (1994–1997; image campaign composed by Frank Gari)

Coverage You Can Count On (1994–2002; still appears on some WTHR-owned vehicles) Indiana's News Leader (2002–present)

Learn Things (summers 2006 and 2007)

Learn More (fall 2007-summer 2008)

Indiana's News Leader (2008 - present)

On-air staff

Current on-air staff (as of July 2010)

Anchors

Kris Kirschner - weekend mornings

Bruce Kopp - weekday mornings

Julia Moffitt - weekday mornings

Andrea Morehead - weeknights at 5 and 11 p.m.

Jennie Runevitch - weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.

John Stehr - weeknights at 5, 6, and 11 p.m.

Scott Swan - weekdays at noon and 5:30 p.m.

Anne Marie Tiernon - weeknights at 5:30 and 6 p.m.

SkyTrak Weather Team

Chris Wright (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seals of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.

Scott Akin (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekends at 11 p.m.

Chuck Lofton (NWA Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekday mornings

Nicole Misencik (AMS Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekend mornings, and weekends at 6 p.m.

Jude Redfield (NWA Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekdays at noon and weeknights at 5 p.m.

Sports Team

David Calabro - Sports Director; weeknights at 6 and Sunday-Thursdays at 11 p.m.

Eric Yutzy - Sports Anchor; weekends at 6 and 11 p.m., also sports reporter

Richard Nye - weeknight sports reporter

Dick Rea - sports reporter and fill-in anchor

Don Hein - sports reporter

Reporters

Cat Andersen - general assignment reporter

Jeremy Brilliant - general assignment reporter

Sandra Chapman - investigative reporter ("13 Investigates")

Lynsay Clutter - general assignment reporter

Richard Essex - general assignment reporter

Steve Jefferson - crime beat reporter

Captain Paul Kasey - morning traffic reporter ("SkyWatch Traffic")

Emily Longnecker - general assignment reporter

David MacAnally - general assignment reporter

Mary Milz - CityBeat reporter

Dave Patania - fitness contributor

Mimi Pierce - morning traffic reporter ("SkyWatch Traffic")

Chris Proffitt - North bureau reporter

Kevin Rader - political reporter

Jennifer Reyes - general assignment reporter

Bob Segall - investigative reporter ("13 Investigates")

Tom Walker - Washington, DC correspondent

Rich Van Wyk - money and education reporter

Notable former employees

Ross Becker (Anchor/reporter; now at KTVX in Salt Lake City)

Mary Ann Childers Co-Anchored NewsCenter 13 with Lew Choate before joining WLS-TV Chicago as co-anchor and subsequently WBBM-TV Chicago as a co-anchor.

Carol Costello (Reporter; now late night anchor at CNN)

Jerry Harkness (Sports anchor, 1970s)

Bill Jackson (Host of Mickey Mouse Club later renamed The Bill Jackson Show from 1963–65)

Dick Johnson (Reporter; now morning anchor at WMAQ-TV in Chicago)

David Letterman (Weekend weatherman, host of Freeze Dried Theater and Clover Power; now host of Late Show with David Letterman)

Paul Page (Former sports anchor/reporter; now with the ESPN sports networks)

Amanda Rosseter (Anchor/reporter; now at WSB-TV in Atlanta)

Alex Sanz (Reporter; now at KHOU-TV, Houston)

Mark Spain (Weekend anchor in the early 1990s, went to WJW-TV Cleveland, now at WAWS-TV/WTEV Jacksonville)

External links

WTHR.com

References

Category:Television stations in Indianapolis, Indiana Category:NBC network affiliates Category:Channel 13 digital TV stations in the United States Category:Television channels and stations established in 1957 Category:American Basketball Association flagship television stations