WTVJ

Call letters	WTVJ
Station logo
Location	Miami / Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Station branding	NBC Miami (general)NBC Miami News (newscasts)
Station slogan	South Florida's News Leader
Digital	31 (UHF)Virtual: 6 (PSIP)
Subchannels	6.1 NBC6.2 NBC Plus6.3 Universal Sports
Other chs	W44AC 44 Key West
Owner	NBCUniversal
Licensee	NBC Telemundo License, LLC
Airdate	March 21, 1949
Callsign meaning	TeleVision Journalism
Sister stations	WKAQ-TV, WSCV
Former channel numbers	Analog:4 (VHF, 1949-1995)6 (VHF, 1995-2009)
Former affiliations	Primary:CBS (1949-1989)Secondary:NBC (1949-1956)ABC (1949-1957)DuMont (1949-1956)
Effective radiated power	1000 kW
Haat	311 m
Facility id	63154
Coordinates
Homepage	nbcmiami.com

WTVJ, virtual channel 6 (physical 31), is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC television network, located in Miami, Florida. WTVJ shares its TV studio and office facility with co-owned Telemundo station WSCV (channel 51.1) in Miramar, Florida, and its transmitter is located near Sun Life Stadium in north Miami-Dade County.

Formerly the audio signal of analog TV channel 6 was located at 87.75 MHz, and the audio signal could be heard on 87.7 MHz on the FM dial in most parts of South Florida. This frequency assignment applies to all channel 6 television stations in countries using the NTSC-M standard. During the year, WTVJ promoted the use of 87.7 MHz for those listening in their automobiles, and during hurricanes as an emergency conduit of information for viewers unable to view on a television. With the June 12, 2009 digital mandate, the analog signal is no longer available, and it is likely that WTVJ will instead air their newscast audio over a traditional radio station in emergency situations.

Repeaters

In addition to its main signals, WTVJ is also carried on repeater W44AC channel 44 in Key West, which is owned by Miranda Broadcasting Company of Key West, LLC.

WTVJ was previously seen on two other translators, W58BU channel 58 in Hallandale (from a transmitter in Pembroke Park) and W52BB channel 52 in Big Pine Key. Prior to the analog shutdown and digital conversion, W58BU (originally W61AA until late 1992) was necessary because of WTVJ's former analog transmitter location in Redland, which is 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of downtown Miami. This location is farther south than other Miami television stations. As a result, Fort Lauderdale and the rest of Broward County received a grade-B signal from the analog tower. WTVJ shut off the analog transmitter for the last time on June 26, 2009, though W58BU remained on the air for nearly two years afterward; however, with WTVJ's digital transmitter now located in the same area as other major Miami television stations, the need for W58BU was diminished, and by April 5, 2011 the translator was closed down and NBC surrendered its license, with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) formally deleting it on June 2. W52BB remains in operation as a separate station, WGZT-LP channel 27 in Key West.

History

Florida's first television station

WTVJ went on the air at noon on March 21, 1949. It was Florida's first television station and the 16th in the country. Originally broadcasting on channel 4, WTVJ was owned by Wometco Enterprises, a national movie theater chain headquartered in Miami. The original studios were located in the former Capitol Theater in Downtown Miami, which was Wometco's first theater when the company was founded in 1926. The station carried programming from all four major networks of that era (ABC, NBC, CBS, and DuMont), but was a primary CBS affiliate. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.

WTVJ was the only commercial station in Miami until December 24, 1954, when WFTL-TV signed on from Fort Lauderdale as an NBC affiliate. However, WFTL had no success whatsoever against WTVJ, in part because television sets were not required to have UHF tuning until 1964. NBC continued to allow WTVJ to cherry-pick NBC programming until WCKT (now WSVN) signed on in 1956 and WFTL went dark. (By this time, WFTL had been purchased by Storer Broadcasting and changed its call letters to WGBS-TV in honor of George B. Storer, the company's president. Storer owned the station as an independent until it went dark sometime in 1956. The frequency which was used by WFTL-TV/WGBS-TV is now occupied by WLTV, whose only common tie to the earlier station is the fact that it was launched by the same company that took the earlier station off the air years before.) It continued to share ABC with WCKT until 1957 when WPST (now WPLG) signed on. It also doubled as the CBS affiliate for West Palm Beach until WTVX (now a CW affiliate) signed on in 1966.

Soon after WTVJ signed on, it hired Ralph Renick, who had just graduated from the University of Miami, as its first anchorman and News Director. Renick would be the face of WTVJ for nearly 36 years best known for his catchphrase at the end of every newscast, "Good night, and may the good news be yours". At the same time, the station also hired Bernie Rosen and Bob Weaver. One of the nation's first ever television news meteorologists, Weaver reported weather for the station for more than five decades. Rosen, who went on to run the station's award winning sports department for more than three decades, is the only remaining original employee still working at the station, and is currently in his 60th consecutive year at WTVJ. On February 6, 2008, Rosen was presented with the prestigious Golden Circle Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The Academy honored Rosen for his more than 50 years of service to the South Florida television community. While many of South Florida's veteran television personalities have received the Silver Circle Award for marking 25 years in the business, the Golden Circle Award has been given only once before in South Florida, in 2004 when it went to Bob Weaver, also a lifelong WTVJ employee.

WTVJ served as the producing station for CBS's Jackie Gleason Show after the comedian moved the program from New York City to Miami Beach in 1964.

Acquisition by KKR

Wometco founder and president Mitchell Wolfson died in 1983 and a long-rumored secret plan to run the company after his death was never found. Remaining Wolfson heirs had no desire to keep the company in the family, and it quickly unraveled, making it a ripe takeover target. Investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. took over Wometco in 1984 in a deal worth $1 billion, the largest corporate buyout ever to that date. In 1985, the FCC raised the television station ownership limit from seven stations with no more than five on VHF to twelve stations regardless of frequency. KKR sold most of Wometco's entertainment assets to Wometco chief operating officer Arthur Hertz in 1985. With the cash from this sale, KKR bought Storer Broadcasting. It bought the stations because values were rising rapidly and the goal was to sell the stations in a few years.

In 1986, KKR opted to put WTVJ and the Storer stations on the market. It had plans to sell WTVJ for a record price of close to half a billion dollars (as part of a $1.85 billion group deal with six of the Storer stations), although the station was actually worth far less. CBS saw a chance to get an owned and operated television station in the fast-growing Miami market. However, it lost a bidding war to television syndication firm Telepictures (now part of Warner Bros. Television). CBS then suggested that it intended to purchase WCIX, South Florida's Fox affiliate owned by Taft Broadcasting of Cincinnati. Such a deal would have made WTVJ the area's Fox affiliate. Although CBS only made a half-hearted bid for WCIX, Telepictures realized that the value of its purchase would be significantly depreciated with the loss of CBS. Also, while it was a major force in television syndication in its own right, Telepictures did not anticipate having to buy an additional 15 hours per day of programming (Fox had just debuted and would not air a full week's worth of programming for seven years). It walked away from the group deal in May 1986, and sold off its only other television station, WPGH-TV in Pittsburgh, to Renaissance Broadcasting.

Joining the Peacock

Over the next few months, the only offers for WTVJ came from companies that owned large groups of independent stations, such as Tribune Broadcasting, Pappas Telecasting Companies, and Chris-Craft Industries/United Television. These and other companies wanted to make WTVJ an independent station, or a Fox affiliate, for a price far lower than KKR's asking price. The only way that KKR could make such a large profit was to sell WTVJ to another network, as the only potential buyers who had no interest in keeping CBS while paying the asking price were ABC and NBC. A major network had never bought a VHF station affiliated with another network.

CBS did not believe that KKR would sell WTVJ to another network, so it returned with a very low offer. KKR turned the CBS offer down almost out of hand and then approached the other networks. ABC was not interested, since it was more than satisfied with its longtime affiliate, WPLG. However, NBC was very interested because its longtime affiliate, WSVN, pre-empted whatever shows NBC aired weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon, as well as an occasional primetime show. NBC was far less tolerant of preemptions than CBS and ABC at the time, and was particularly annoyed at losing valuable advertising in such a fast-growing market. This was not a problem at first since NBC was able to find alternate stations in the area to carry any programs that WSVN didn't air, plus, any programs pre-empted by WSVN aired on NBC's affiliate in West Palm Beach, WPTV, and WPTV's signal covered most of the Miami area, and was available on every cable system in the area. However, by 1985, WPTV had disappeared from most Miami cable systems to make way for new cable channels, resulting in some NBC programming preempted by WSVN being unavailable to some viewers. NBC realized that buying its own station with less restrictive ownership laws would guarantee that all of its shows would air. Hence, it made an offer almost as high as Telepictures did a few months before, and in 1987, KKR agreed to sell WTVJ to NBC.

NBC assumed control of WTVJ in mid-September 1987. However, both WTVJ's and WSVN's existing affiliation contracts lasted until December 31, 1988. As a result, NBC faced the prospect of having to run WTVJ as a CBS affiliate for over a year. This did not sit well with either NBC or CBS, and both approached WSVN's owner, Ed Ansin (Sunbeam Television), about ending his station's NBC affiliation early. However, Ansin refused because he wanted to air NBC's strong lineup that year, which included the Summer Olympics, the MLB World Series, along with the many hit shows airing on NBC at that time. He also wanted to take the CBS affiliation at the beginning of 1989. NBC did strip nearly all CBS branding from the station, and began airing all NBC programming preempted by WSVN. In turn, this resulted in some CBS shows being preempted on WTVJ, with those shows airing on WCIX.

CBS then formally approached WCIX, despite the fact that it would have provided a much weaker signal to Fort Lauderdale than that provided by WTVJ or WSVN. WCIX's transmitter was located near Homestead, 20 miles southwest of Downtown Miami. This gave Fort Lauderdale only a Grade B signal, which was weaker than all of the other television stations in the market. Accordingly, CBS persuaded West Palm Beach's longtime ABC affiliate, WPEC, in West Palm Beach to change its affiliation to CBS, so that it could continue to get a city-grade signal in Broward County. In the spring of 1988, CBS announced that it was purchasing WCIX from the TVX Broadcast Group (which would become ironic more than 10 years later when Viacom, the parent company of TVX's successor Paramount Stations Group, purchased CBS), who had purchased the station in 1987 as Taft was restructuring to become Great American Broadcasting. The changeover occurred on January 1, 1989, when WTVJ ended its 40-year affiliation with CBS and became the third station in Miami to carry NBC, as well as the first of two network-owned stations in Florida, the other being WCIX. CBS moved the rest of its programming over to WCIX, while WSVN became the new Fox affiliate for South Florida, and most of WCIX's syndicated programming—with the exception of --went to WDZL (channel 39, now WSFL-TV).

In 1992, when Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida, WTVJ was the only station to give complete coverage of the story non-stop with meteorologist Bryan Norcross. WTVJ won local Emmys for its coverage of Hurricane Andrew.

Changing channels

In 1994, Westinghouse and its broadcasting division Group W signed a long-term deal with CBS, in which the three Group W stations not already affiliated with CBS would become CBS affiliates; the other two stations had already been CBS affiliates. Westinghouse and CBS would merge later that year, making all the Group W stations CBS O&Os.; One of the stations was Philadelphia's longtime NBC affiliate, KYW-TV. CBS decided to sell off its longtime owned and operated television station in that same market, WCAU-TV. This led to a deal in 1995 between CBS and NBC, where CBS sold the channel 6 facility to NBC as compensation for the loss of KYW-TV and Westinghouse's other NBC affiliate, WBZ-TV in Boston. In return, CBS received the stronger channel 4 facility and cash as compensation for the loss of WCAU. (KCNC-TV in Denver and KUTV in Salt Lake City ended up switching to CBS in this deal, causing NBC to find new homes in both markets on KUSA-TV and KSL-TV respectively.)

On September 10, 1995, WTVJ and WCIX swapped dial positions. WTVJ's entire intellectual unit (calls, shows, NBC network, and staff) moved from channel 4 to channel 6, while the WCIX intellectual unit moved to channel 4 as WFOR-TV. However, both stations' studios remained the same. Due to the way the transfer was structured, the two stations were required to swap licenses in addition to the transmitting facilities. As a result, the FCC considers WTVJ to be legally the same station as the old WCIX. This move led to WPTV picking up NBC market share in Broward County from WTVJ, as WTVJ moved its transmitter from its longtime home on the Broward-Dade line to WCIX's old transmitter in Homestead. WPTV's signal in Fort Lauderale is actually closer to city-grade than WTVJ's (though still Grade B).

Most of WTVJ's archive from 1949 through 2004 (as well as other Florida television stations) are stored at the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives in downtown Miami.

On March 19, 2008, NBC Universal announced that it was putting WTVJ on the market for an estimated $350 million. On March 21, 2008, WTVJ celebrated its 59th anniversary and began its 60th year of continuous broadcasting. On July 18, long-time WTVJ anchor Bob Mayer made the official announcement live on the station's mid-day talk show (South Florida Today) that the station was being sold to Post-Newsweek Stations. The purchase would have created a duopoly between WTVJ and WPLG (currently owned by Post-Newsweek). An FCC rule allows the purchase of a station in the same market if "at least 1 of the stations in the combination is not ranked among the top 4 stations in terms of audience share". As of May 2008 ratings period, WTVJ ranked 6th overall in total-day Nielsen ratings and WPLG rated number one which allowed the possibility of a purchase. A TV Newsday published report indicates that in a July 25 FCC filing, Post-Newsweek bought WTVJ for $205 million. Industry experts had estimated the station would bring in up to $350 million. However, the sale did not include real estate. In this deal, the two stations would have merged their operations at WPLG's new studios on Hallandale Beach Boulevard in Pembroke Park. As part of this purchase, Post-Newsweek would have acquired all of WTVJ's new high definition production equipment that was installed in its Miramar sudios (including WSCV). Despite a formal petition having been filed with the FCC against the proposed sale, the sale was cleared by the Federal Trade Commission October 6.

Eventually, the sale of WTVJ was canceled on December 23, 2008, with NBC and Post-Newsweek parent The Washington Post Company citing poor economic conditions and the lack of FCC approval as the reasons for the cancellation.

Due to the sale attempt, WTVJ was the final NBC-owned station (other than its Telemundo stations) to continue to use the old format (powered by Internet Broadcasting) for its Web site. With NBC retaining ownership of WTVJ, this changed on March 16, 2009, when nbcmiami.com was launched.

On March 21, 2009, WTVJ celebrated its 60th anniversary and aired a half-hour special "WTVJ: The First 60 Years", which highlighted the station's history from its beginning on March 21, 1949 to the present .

Digital programming

WTVJ's digital signal, which has been operating at a maximum legal power of 1,000 kW since its sign-on in July 2003, is multiplexed:

On Wednesday February 25, 2009, WTVJ became the last O&O; station to have Universal Sports on its digital subchannel. WTVJ currently has Universal Sports on 6.3.

At noon on June 12, 2009, WTVJ terminated its normal programming on analog channel 6, and began transmitting "Nightlight" an educational videoloop explaining the Digital Transition and the installation and use of the digital to analog converter boxes. The Nightlight ceased to play on June 26 at which time, the channel 6 analog transmitter was shut down by the spirit of Ralph Renick who ends the analog by saying, "Good night... and may the good news be yours!". From that point, WTVJ continues broadcasting in digital format on channel 31 to complete its analog to digital transition. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers displayed WTVJ's virtual channel as "6".

After the digital transition, the station moved its transmitters from WCIX's old transmitter in Homestead to the Broward-Dade line, bringing WTVJ's transmission on par with the other Miami TV stations for the first time in fourteen years.

News operation

In 1997, WTVJ and the Sun-Sentinel began co-producing a nightly 10 o'clock newscast on WB affiliate WDZL known as WB 39 News at 10. After the station (by then renamed WBZL) became a CW affiliate on September 18, 2006 and became WSFL-TV, the newscast title changed to CW News at 10. The newscast was broadcast from a secondary set at WTVJ's studios and was a similar operation to other Tribune-outsourced newscasts that were (and still are) seen on KRCW-TV and WPHL-TV. The final WSFL newscast aired on August 31, 2008, as Tribune did not renew the partnership because of the then-pending sale of WTVJ to Post-Newsweek, a newspaper competitor to Tribune.

On September 10, 2007, in hopes of catching a new audience, WTVJ launched the market's first weeknight 7 o'clock news, a format NBC liked, and used with several other NBC owned stations including WNBC and KNSD. At the same time, WTVJ dropped its 5 p.m. newscast, opting to show The Ellen DeGeneres Show instead. This lasted until May 2011, when they reinstated their 5pm news, canceling the 7pm show.

On March 5, 2008, WTVJ began broadcasting its local news in high definition. It was the first television station in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale market and the fourth station in South Florida to have made the upgrade. Unlike most NBC stations, WTVJ does not air a midday newscast on weekdays; instead, it airs a local talk show at 11 a.m.

During weather segments, WTVJ uses two weather radar systems, "Weather Plus TITAN Radar" and "Weather Plus VIPIR Radar".

The station offered NBC Weather Plus on its second digital subchannel and on Comcast and Atlantic Broadband digital cable, but in conjunction with NBC/Comcast Universal's new campaign, it has been reformatted into a 24-hour local content channel, "NBC Miami Nonstop". A 9pm newscast has been instated every weekday.

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

Televiews of the News (6:15 p.m. newscast; 1949–1951)

The Ralph Renick Report (6 p.m. newscast; 1953–1984)

Newsnight with Dick Bate (11 p.m. newscast; 1965–1967)

News at Noon with Del Frank (1965–1985)

Twenty-Four Hours (11 p.m. newscast; 1967–1969)

The Prescott Robinson Report (11 p.m. newscast; 1969–1973)

The World Tonight With Jim Brosemer (11 p.m. newscast; 1973–1983)

Channel 4 News (mid 1970s-early 1980s and 1989–1995, shortened to "4 News" in graphics during latter period)

News Weekend With Bob Mayer (6 and 11 p.m. newscasts; 1974–1982)

News 4 (1983–1989; WFOR-TV returned title as News 4 South Florida in 1995)

News 4 With Ralph Renick (6 p.m. newscast; 1984–1985)

Today in South Florida (morning newscast; 1989–2011; WSVN uses similar title, Today in Florida, for its morning newscast)

Live at Eleven (11 a.m. news, talk and interview show; 1992)

Channel 6 News (1995–1997; used when the station moved to channel 6)

NBC 6 News (1997–2011)

NBC Miami News (2009–present)

South Florida Today (11 a.m. news/talk program; 2004–2011)

South Florida Nightly News (7 p.m. newscast; 2007–2011)

South Florida Tonight (11 p.m. newscast; 2006–present)

NBC Miami Today (morning newscast; 2011–present)

Live Miami at 11 a.m. (news/talk program; 2011–present)

NBC Miami at 5 (5 p.m. newscast; 2011–present)

NBC Miami at 6 (6 p.m. newscast; 2011–present)

Station slogans

On the Spot Coverage of Florida (1949-mid 1960s)

South Florida's Largest Daily Circulation (mid 1960s-early 1970s)

Friends You Can Turn To (early 1970s-1984)

We've Got The Touch, You and Channel 4 (1983–1984; localized version of CBS ad campaign)

We're 4 for You, Friends You Can Turn To (1984–1986; used in image campaign using Tuesday Productions' "Tuesday16")

South Florida's News Leader (1984–1986; 2005–present)

We're on Your Side (1986–1988)

The Heart of South Florida (1988–1990)

Come Home To The Best, Only on Channel 4 (1989-1990; first localized version of NBC ad campaign)

Watch Our Team Work (1990-1992; used in image campaign using news theme of the same name)

Your 24-Hour News Source (1990–1992; news slogan)

Stay with Us (1992–1995)

This is the Year to Be on NBC6 (September 1995; produced by NBC, to promote the affiliation switch)

Where The News Comes First (1995–2005)

We are Miami (2010–present)

News team

Anchors

Kevin Corke – weeknights at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.

Pam Giganti – weekday mornings NBC Miami Today (5-7 a.m.)

Jackie Nespral – weeknights at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.

Nathalie Pozo – co-host of Live Miami at 11 a.m.; also weekday morning traffic reporter

Trina Robinson – co-host of Live Miami at 11 a.m.; also fill-in meteorologist and weather reporter

Amara Sohn – weekends at 6 and 11 p.m. and weeknights at 9 on (NBC Miami Nonstop); also weekday reporter

Roxanne Vargas – co-host of Live Miami at 11 a.m.; also weekday morning features reporter

NBC 6 Weather Channel Team

John Morales (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) – chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.

Shiri Spear (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) – meteorologist; weekday mornings NBC Miami Today (5-7 a.m.)

Ryan Phillips (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) – meteorologist; weekend evenings

Trina Robinson – meteorologist; weekdays Live Miami at 11 a.m.; also fill-in meteorologist and weather reporter

Sports team

Joe Rose – sports director; weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.; also heard on WQAM-AM 560

Adam Kuperstein – sports anchor; weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.; also host of Fins TV

Reporters

Jeff Burnside – special projects reporter

Claudia Decampo – freelance reporter

Diana Gonzalez – health reporter

Victoria Langley – freelance journalist based in Tallahassee

Sharon Lawson – general assignment reporter

Steve Litz – general assignment reporter

Ari Odzer – general assignment reporter

Willard Shepard – investigative reporter; also fill-in anchor

Hank Tester – general assignment reporter

Notable former staff

(1985)]]

David Bloom – (1991–1993; promoted to NBC News, died in March 2003 of deep vein thrombosis while covering the start of the Iraq War)

Joel Connable – (2005–2009; now president of Travel TV News Inc.)

Katie Couric – (1984–1986; later co-anchor of NBC's Today, anchor of the CBS Evening News until 2011)

Paul Deanno – (2003–2009; chief meteorologist, now morning and midday meteorologist at KOMO-TV in Seattle}

Jose Diaz-Balart - (early 1990s; anchor) (now at Telemundo)

John Hambrick – (1985–1990; later went to rival WCIX, now retired to Texas - doing commercials and movies)

Larry King – (now at CNN as host of Larry King Live, retired but will produce specials for CNN)

Alycia Lane – (2001–2003; weekend anchor and reporter, later 6 and 11 p.m. anchor at KYW-TV in Philadelphia; now weekday morning anchor for KNBC-TV in Los Angeles)

Tom Llamas – (2005–2009; now a reporter at WNBC)

Chris Myers – (1980–1982; now a Fox Sports sportscaster)

Bryan Norcross – (1990–1996; meteorologist, moved to WFOR-TV and CBS News, retired, now storm specialist for The Weather Channel)

Nancy Humphries (O'Dell) – (1993–1995; co-host of Access Hollywood until 2009, now with Entertainment Tonight)

Jerry Penacoli – (host of PM Magazine; now correspondent for the syndicated news-magazine Extra)

Lonnie Quinn – (now weekday meteorologist at WCBS-TV in New York City and weather anchor for CBS's Saturday Early Show)

Ralph Renick – (1949–1985; later with WCIX from 1987–1990; died July 11, 1991)

Rick Sanchez – (2003–2006)

Charlie Van Dyke – (now a radio and television announcer)

Jennifer Valoppi – (1994–2006; founder of Women of Tomorrow Mentor and Scholarship Program)

Bob Weaver – (1949–2003; "Weaver the Weatherman," died of cancer in June 2006)

References

External links

Category:Television stations in Florida Category:Channel 31 digital TV stations in the United States Category:Channel 6 virtual TV stations in the United States Category:Television channels and stations established in 1949 Category:NBC owned-and-operated television stations