WTVT, channel 13, is a television station in Tampa, Florida. It is an owned and operated station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of the News Corporation. WTVT's studios are located in Tampa, and its transmitter is located in Riverview, Florida.

History[link]

As a CBS affiliate[link]

The station first started broadcasting on April 1, 1955 as a CBS affiliate owned by Tampa Bay radio veteran Walter Tison and his Tampa Television Company. It was the third station in Tampa Bay, behind WSUN-TV (channel 38, frequency now occupied by WTTA) and WFLA-TV (channel 8). WTVT is also the second-oldest surviving station, behind WFLA. Although the call letters appear to stand for We're Television Tampa, they actually stand for the initials of Walter Tison and his wife Virginia. Like many other stations located on "unlucky" channel 13, WTVT used a black cat as its mascot for several years.

Originally, the Federal Communications Commission awarded the channel 13 license to the Tampa Times, a now-defunct newspaper which owned WDAE radio (then on 1250 AM). However, the FCC reversed itself and awarded the station to the Tison group, who intended to open a studio in nearby St. Petersburg. The Times appealed the FCC's decision, but lost.

In 1956, the Tampa Television Company merged with the Oklahoma Publishing Company of Oklahoma City. Oklahoma Publishing's broadcast subsidiary, the WKY Television System, would later be known as Gaylord Broadcasting, named for the family who owned the company. (Gaylord also owned what is now CBS-owned KTVT in Fort Worth, but the "TVT" base callsign was only a coincidence.)

The Gaylords beefed up channel 13's news operation. In 1958, WTVT became the second station in the country to introduce daily editorials, and was also the first station in the country [1] to run an hour-long news block, consisting of 45 minutes of local news (under the title Pulse) combined with the then-15-minute network newscast. By 1962, WTVT had overtaken WFLA-TV as the number-one station in the Tampa Bay market, retaining that position for over 25 years. This was largely because of the longevity of many of the station's personalities. For instance, Roy Leep was the station's weatherman from 1957 until 1997, and Hugh Smith was the station's main anchor from 1963 to 1991, spending most of that time doubling as news director. Channel 13 dropped the Pulse moniker from its newscasts in 1989, renaming the news branding Channel 13 Eyewitness News (later becoming Fox 13 Eyewitness News" [2] in 1996 before the Eyewitness News brand was dropped altogether in 1997).

The station's remote broadcast facilities were chosen for network pool coverage of Alan Shepard's (1961) and John Glenn's (1962) Mercury capsule splashdowns. [3] [4] The mobile unit recorded the recoveries on videotapes that were flown to the mainland.

In 1987, WTVT was sold to Gillett Communications. In the early 1990s Gillett restructured, changing its name to GCI Broadcast Services, Inc. In 1993, GCI filed for bankruptcy, and its stations (including WTVT) were sold to New World Communications. By that time, WTVT was pre-empting CBS This Morning for a locally-produced morning news show, as well as pre-empting all but one hour of Saturday cartoons.

As a Fox station[link]

In late 1993, the Fox Broadcasting Company won the rights to air the games of the National Football Conference of the National Football League from CBS, beginning in 1994. As a result, Fox began looking for more VHF affiliates, and signed a long term deal with New World, switching most of its stations, including WTVT, to Fox. WTVT dropped its CBS affiliation in December 1994, becoming a Fox affiliate. The former Fox affiliate, WFTS (channel 28), affiliated with ABC as part of a deal between ABC and WFTS' owners, the E.W. Scripps Company. The longtime ABC affiliate, WTSP (channel 10), then became a CBS affiliate.

The switch allowed WTVT to continue broadcasting the majority of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers games, as they were (and still are) part of the NFC. However, largely due to the team's poor play at the time, Buccaneers home games were rarely shown locally. Usually, the games failed to sell out in time to lift the local blackout; at most three home games were shown in a typical season. Once the Buccaneers began to build a winning team in the late 1990s, along with a new look and stadium, blackouts decreased and sellouts increased, thus increasing the number of games shown on WTVT (however, all home games in 2010 were blacked out, after a 3-13 season in 2009, and despite improving in 2010 to 10-6, just short of a playoff berth; in 2011, all five of the Bucs Sunday afternoon home games were blacked out as the team finished 4-12 ending the season on a 10-game losing streak).

After changing networks, WTVT began to broadcast almost 50 hours of local news a week. At one point, WTVT aired more hours of local news than any other station in the country. It chose not to renew the more expensive syndicated programming it had run while a CBS affiliate, running cheaper first-run syndicated talk and reality shows instead.

Fox bought most of the New World stations in 1997, making WTVT a Fox owned-and-operated station. Under Fox ownership the station added more high-budget syndicated shows and a few off-network sitcoms to its lineup, and changed its brand to Fox 13. WTVT is the third station in Tampa Bay to be affiliated with Fox, as WTOG had it first before reverting to independent status in 1988. However, the copyright still reads "New World Communications of Tampa Bay" at the end of WTVT's newscasts.

In June 2009, WTVT interviewed late television pitchman Billy Mays shortly before his death. His interview, which was conducted at the Tampa International Airport, is believed to have been his final appearance on live television.^[1]

Digital Television[link]

WTVT shut down its analog signal on June 12, 2009,^[2] as part of the DTV transition in the United States. The station remained on its pre-transition channel 12 ^[3] using PSIP to display WTVT's virtual channel as 13.

News operation[link]

WTVT broadcasts a total of 60 hours of local news a week (ten hours on weekdays and five hours each on Saturdays and Sundays), being among the top 5 stations in news airtime in the United States (Miami's FOX affiliate WSVN carries the highest in the country with over 63 hours a week). However as is standard with Fox stations that carry early evening weekend newscasts, WTVT's Saturday and Sunday 5 p.m. newscasts are subject to preemption or delay due to sports coverage.

Until December 2009, WTVT was one of two stations in the market to have two women regularly anchoring a newscast; Denise White and Kathy Fountain anchored the 5 p.m. news until Kathy Fountain's retirement on December 30. Wendy Ryan and Linda Hurtado, anchors of the 5 p.m. news on WFTS, were the other all-female anchor team. The station's morning newscast is Good Day Tampa Bay, which airs weekdays from 4:30–10:00 a.m. and weekends from 6:00–9:00 a.m.^[4] The show started on September 12, 1994, three months before WTVT became a Fox affiliate.^{[citation needed]}

WTVT began to adopt its current logo, which is similar to that of the Fox News Channel, on December 12, 2005 as part of NewsEdge at 11:00, although it did not completely switch to it until February 2006. The station was the first Fox O&O to use this logo style, which was gradually pushed to its sister stations as well. However, the current logo retains the numeric "13" which has been part of the station's logos since 1989.

WTVT and WFLA-TV are chief competitors for the number one newscast in the Tampa Bay Area. WTVT currently has the number one spot for Good Day Tampa Bay between 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. and has the number one newscast in the 5 to 6 p.m. timeslot. NewsEdge at 11:00 is statistically tied with WFTS for the lowest-rated newscast for that time period, although WTVT does have a 10:00 p.m. newscast with significantly higher ratings without any competition in the market. [5]

Until 2009, WTVT was also the only station in Tampa Bay to use two news helicopters. The first one, SkyFOX, is a Bell 206 and is painted black. The second, SkyFOX 2, is a Robinson R44 and is painted blue. This helicopter is used whenever SkyFOX is grounded for mechanical reasons. When warranted, both helicopters are used to cover significant news stories. However, this changed in late 2009 when Fox scrapped SkyFOX in favor of a share-lease agreement with WFTS as part of the Scripps/FOX news service. This allows WTVT, WFTS, and WTSP to utilize only one helicopter (Action Air One) to cover news events. [6].

Starting in March 2007, WTVT began upgrading its main studio. The new set debuted on April 23. Some aspects of the set include a 6' by 8' rear projection screen, a new anchor desk, a whole new weather center, and an area for the Lightning Round and a second anchor desk. There are also several plasma televisions behind the main news desk in the newsroom.

On March 20, 2009, the Florida News Center website received word from sources that Fox has chosen WTVT to produce graphics and media for Fox's owned-and-operated stations, beginning by summer 2009. While the position will create more jobs at WTVT, similar positions at Fox's other stations are likely to be eliminated.^[5]

In April 2009, Fox announced that its O&O stations in three markets (Tampa, Detroit, and Phoenix) will undergo a partnership agreement with E.W. Scripps Co.-owned TV stations. This venture will allow stations from both entities to combine news-gathering resources at general media events then distribute the video to participating stations within the market to use in their own reports. This means that some news-gathering resources of WTVT and WFTS will be combined. All other news operations at both stations will remain unchanged. [7]. WTSP joined in on the news service in June 2009 [8].

On June 30, 2009 starting with its 5 p.m. newscast, WTVT became the fourth broadcast television station in the Tampa DMA to broadcast its newscasts in high definition.

Weather coverage[link]

WTVT's weather team is the most experienced weather team in the State of Florida, with over 115 years of combined experience, with most of that experience spent at Channel 13 forecasting tropical weather. WTVT was the first TV news station in Florida to use radar in its weather presentation, and has made many advancements with the technology. Its newest advancement is SkyTower OMNI, combining the already existing SkyTower radar system with OMNI and VIPIR technology, which is also used by competitor WFLA-TV and the cable-only news channel Bay News 9.

On May 25, 2006, the station's radar was made even more powerful and is now "SkyTower HD VIPIR." [9] WTVT was also one of the first to use computer graphics in weather forecasts in the late-1970s, originally called "Weathervision" (no relation to the weather reporting company of the same name). The station also has the most meteorologists on a news team (in the market), with five meteorologists, and the only station (in the nation) with all of them American Meteorological Society certified. In addition, Andy Johnson has served since 1998 as the President of the West Central Florida Chapter of the American Meteorological Society.

Monsanto controversy[link]

In 1997, Steve Wilson and Jane Akre began work on a story regarding the agricultural biotechnology company Monsanto and recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), a milk additive that had been approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration but also blamed for a number of health issues. Wilson and Akre planned a four part investigative report on Monsanto's use of rBGH, which prompted Monsanto to write to Roger Ailes, president of Fox News Channel in an attempt to have the report reviewed for bias and because of the "enormous damage that can be done" as a result of the report.^[6]

WTVT did not run the report, and later argued in court that the report was not "breakthrough journalism." Wilson and Akre then claimed that Monsanto's actions constituted the news broadcast telling lies, while WTVT countered looking only for fairness. According to Wilson and Akre, they rewrote the report over 80 times over the course of 1997, and WTVT decided to exercise "its option to terminate their employment contracts without cause,"^[7] and did not renew their contracts in 1998. WTVT later ran a report about Monsanto and rBGH in 1998, and the report included defenses from Monsanto.^[8]

After Wilson and Akre's contracts were not renewed, they filed a lawsuit concerning WTVT's "news distortion" under Florida's whistleblower laws, claiming their termination was retaliation for "resisting WTVT's attempts to distort or suppress the BGH story."^[9] In a joint statement, Wilson claimed that he and Akre "were repeatedly ordered to go forward and broadcast demonstrably inaccurate and dishonest versions of the story," and "were given those instructions after some very high-level corporate lobbying by Monsanto (the powerful drug company that makes the hormone) and also ... by members of Florida’s dairy and grocery industries."^[10] The trial commenced in summer 2000 with a jury dismissing all of the claims brought to trial by Wilson, but siding with one aspect of Akre's complaint, awarding Akre $425000 and agreeing that Akre was a whistleblower because she believed there were violations of the Communications Act of 1934 and because she planned on reporting WTVT to the Federal Communications Commission. Reason magazine, referring to the case, noted that Akre's argument in the trial was that Akre and Wilson believed news distortion occurred, but that they did not have to prove this was the case.^[8]

An appeal was filed, and a ruling in February 2003 came down in favor of WTVT, who successfully argued that the FCC policy against falsification was not a "law, rule, or regulation", and so the whistle-blower law did not qualify as the required "law, rule, or regulation" under section 448.102.... Because the FCC's news distortion policy is not a "law, rule, or regulation" under section 448.102, Akre has failed to state a claim under the whistle-blower's statute."^[9] The appeal did not address any falsification claims, noting that "as a threshold matter... Akre failed to state a claim under the whistle-blower's statute," but noted that the lower court ruled against all of Wilson's charges and all of Akre's claims with the exception of the whistleblower claim that was overturned.^[9]

On-air staff[link]

[edit] On-air staff as of November 19, 2010)^[11]

Anchors

• Deborah Bowden - weekends at 6 and 10 p.m.; also weeknight reporter (1998–present)
• Tom Curran - weekday mornings "Good Day Tampa Bay" (4:30-7 a.m.) (1994–present)
• Anne Dwyer - weekday mornings "Good Day Tampa Bay" (7-9 a.m.) (1986–present)
• Laura Moody - weekday mornings "Good Day Tampa Bay" (4:30-7 a.m.) (2006–present)
• Kristin Wright - weekend mornings "Good Day Tampa Bay"; also reporter (2008–present)
• Russell Rhodes - weekday mornings "Good Day Tampa Bay" (7-9 a.m.); also Your Turn host (1994–present)
• Kelly Ring - weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m. (1985–present)
• Cynthia Smoot - weeknights at 11 p.m. (1997–present)
• Lloyd Sowers - weekends at 6 and 10 p.m.; also weeknight reporter (1987–present)
• Denise White - weekdays at noon and 5 p.m. (1990–present)
• John Wilson - weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m. (1993–present; sons are 11 p.m. anchor Mark Wilson and actor Patrick Wilson)
• Mark Wilson - weeknights at 5 and 11 p.m. (1997–present)

FOX13 Weather Team

• Paul Dellegatto (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 5:30, 6, 10 and 11 p.m. (1990–present; chief since 1997)
• Andy Johnson (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval and Certified Consulting Meteorologist) - Meteorologist; weekends at 6 and 10 p.m. (1979–present)
• Dave Osterberg (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekday mornings "Good Day Tampa Bay" (2003–present)
• Jim Weber (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekdays at noon (1995–present)
• Lindsay Milbourne (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekend mornings "Good Day Tampa Bay" (2012-present)

Sports team

• Chip Carter - Sports Director; Monday-Thursdays at 5, 5:30 and 11, and Sunday-Thursdays at 6 and 10 p.m. (1988–present) (also fill-in news anchor)
• Chris Field - Sports anchor; Fridays at 5, 5:30 and 11, and Friday-Saturdays at 6 and 10 p.m. (1998–present)
• Kevin O'Donnell - sports reporter and fill-in sports anchor (1988–present)

Traffic

• Jennifer Epstein - weekday morning traffic analyst (2006–present)

Reporters

• Tanya Arja - general assignment reporter (2001–present)
• Charley Belcher - "Charley's World" feature reporter and entertainment reporter (1998–present)
• Jeremy Campbell - general assignment reporter (2010–present)
• Chris Chmura - general assignment reporter (2007–present)
• Warren Elly - general assignment reporter (1982–present)
• Dr. Joette Giovinco ("Dr. Jo") - medical reporter (2005–present)
• Gloria Gomez - 11 p.m. reporter (2005–present)
• Liane Jackson - morning reporter (2006–present)
• April Kellogg - general assignment reporter (2006–present)
• Peter Linton-Smith - Pasco County reporter (2007–present)
• Doug Luzader - Fox News Washington D.C. correspondent (2002–present)
• Anthony Miller - general assignment reporter (2010–present)
• Steve Nichols - Pinellas County reporter (1990–present)
• Craig Patrick - general assignment reporter (2005–present)
• Alcides Segui - general assignment reporter (2008–present)
• Eric Seidel - consumer lawyer (1992–2011)
• Geoff Simon - financial advisor (1994–present)
• Doug Smith - investigative reporter (also fill-in anchor)
• Ken Suarez - Polk County reporter (1998–present)
• Alan "Captain Al" Taylor - helicopter pilot/reporter (2009–present, also with WFTS)

Notable former on-air staff[link]

• Bob Breck (1970s) meteorologist
• Joe Collum (1982–1984) reporter
• Bill Keneely (1980–1982) meteorologist
• Rod Challenger (1975–1978) 11pm news anchor
• Colin Cowherd - sports anchor (1994–1996; now at ESPN Radio)
• Tom Dunn - anchor/reporter (1962–1964; deceased)
• Roy Leep - chief meteorologist (1957–1997; retired)
• Tom Martino - reporter (1980s; now at KDVR in Denver)
• John Nicholson (1978–1982) 11pm news anchor
• Hugh Smith - anchor (1963–1991; deceased)
• Steve Wilson - investigative reporter (later at WXYZ in Detroit, now runs an investigative reporting service)
• Tony Zappone - news correspondent (1965 and 1976–1982)
• Don Harris - reporter (1964–1968)
• Frank Robertson - anchor (1988–2009)
• Kerry Sanders - reporter (1986–1991) now at NBC News
• Sharyl Attkisson - reporter (1988–1992) now at CBS News
• Jessica Yellin - reporter (1999–2001) now at CNN

External links[link]

• WTVT Fox 13
• Historical archives Old promos, show opens, and more from the WTVT archives
• MyFoxHurricane.com (Hurricane Season website)
• Local News Stations Wiki: WTVT
• WTVT Historical Site A historical site dedicated to WTVT's former CBS affiliation.
• Website about Monsanto controversy
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WTVT

References[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2009)

Michael Scott Shannon (born in 1947 in St. Louis, Missouri) is a radio disc jockey, current co-host of the "Scott and Todd in the Morning" show on WPLJ, host of The True Oldies Channel, and the official voice of The Sean Hannity Show.

Early Radio Career[link]

Born in St. Louis, Scott Shannon grew up an Army brat, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Scott started his radio career during his own Army stint at WFBS 1450 AM in Spring Lake, North Carolina (now WFBX). From there he moved to WCLS 1580 AM in Columbus, Georgia. After leaving the army, Shannon worked full-time in radio at WABB, where he acquired the name "Super Shan".^[1] After a short time at WMPS in Memphis, Scott moved to Nashville as the evening disc jockey at WMAK 1300 AM. Shannon later became program director of WMAK. Under his direction, the station became the market's top-rated station.

Record Promotion Career[link]

Shannon left Nashville to take a job as a record promoter with Casablanca Records and while there in 1977, recorded an album with Jack (Stack-A-Track) Grochmal. Calling themselves "Wildfire", they had a #49 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 remaking a Jerry Keller song from 1959 called "Here Comes Summer". Scott returned to radio in Washington, D.C. as program director of WPGC-FM, taking that station to the #1 spot in the Arbitron ratings. From there to WQXI in Atlanta. Then, in Tampa, Florida, Scott, along with partner Cleveland Wheeler, developed the morning zoo radio format while at WRBQ, known as Q105. Again, he shined in the ratings, this time making his station one of the most listened to in the United States. He was also primarily responsible for the renaissance of the musical career of vocalist Charlene, whose song "I've Never Been to Me" he revived by his programming of the long-dormant track.

Scott also had hosted a "where are they now?" radio program in 1989, where the subject of the day was the one hit wonder, Benny Mardones, who had the 1980 hit "Into The Night". Scott began putting the record in rotation in 1989, and soon after, many other DJs around the nation re-added the song to their playlists. The song re-entered the top 20 singles chart, prompting a resurgence in Benny Mardones's career including a new re-recording of the song, touring schedule, and new record.

The Z Morning Zoo[link]

Scott is perhaps most famous within the radio business for his work on Z100 in New York City in the mid to late 80's. Shannon, along with former disc jockey Ross Brittain of WABC's popular "Ross & Wilson Show", founded the "Z Morning Zoo." He was the driving force in helping Z100 become the top-rated FM station in New York City in just 74 days after signing on the air. Z100 capitalized on using a Top 40 radio format. During this period, Shannon also served as one of the original VJs on VH1.

Pirate Radio KQLZ[link]

In 1989, Shannon left Z100 in what was an emotional farewell to head to Los Angeles to start up Pirate Radio, KQLZ. Pirate Radio employed a similar Top 40 concept. As the 1990s started, Top 40 radio began to struggle and eventually Pirate Radio struggled as well, leading to Shannon's departure. He was known as "El Diablo" in Los Angeles because of a billboard image that made him look like the devil.

Back to New York[link]

In 1991 he returned to New York and resurfaced on Z100's biggest rival, WPLJ. WPLJ had also been struggling since its glory days of the mid 1980s, and Shannon became program director and morning drive co-host. At the outset, the station was aimed right at Z100 and used the slogan "Mojo Radio," downplaying the WPLJ call letters, but this approach was eventually changed. Shannon created a Top 40 format that was geared more toward the adult contemporary audience, brought in co-host Todd Pettengill to form "The Big Show," and the WPLJ call letters were re-emphasized. The "new" WPLJ has not generally equalled the ratings of Z100, but it has found a niche in the New York radio market.

True Oldies Channel[link]

In addition to his New York morning show, Scott can be heard across the country on The True Oldies Channel radio network.

Industry Recognition[link]

Scott is one of several disc jockeys honored in an exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.

In 2000, FMBQ, a radio trade magazine, named Shannon "Program Director of the Century."

In 2003, he was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in Washington, D.C., and in 2006 he was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago, Illinois.

Scott has also been a successful radio consultant in the 1990s for WPLY Philadelphia and WKCI-FM New Haven.

In September 2010, Scott was named Network/Syndicated Personality of the Year at the 2010 National Association of Broadcasters' Marconi Radio Awards.

Personal information[link]

Shannon lives in Westchester County, New York.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Scott Shannon biography
• Where Are They Now?

George Lowe in 2010
George Lowe
Birth name	George Lowe
Born	(1958-11-10) November 10, 1958 (age 53) Dunedin, Florida,  United States
Medium	Actor, Voice Actor, Writer, Executive Producer, Television, Films
Nationality	American
Years active	1994 – present
Genres	Television, Films
Influences	Gary Owens
Notable works and roles	Works: Space Ghost Coast to Coast Cartoon Planet The Brak Show Aqua Teen Hunger Force / Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1 Roles: Space Ghost Dad George Lowe

George Lowe (born November 10, 1958 in Dunedin, Florida) is an American voice actor/comedian. He is perhaps best known for his role as the voice of Space Ghost on the Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast, a role which he played for all 110 episodes spanning fourteen years before the series ended in 2008, along with its spin-off Cartoon Planet.^[1] He continued the role on Perfect Hair Forever.

Acting roles[link]

TBS and Cartoon Network[link]

Lowe did occasional voice-over work for TBS throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, as well as occasional voice-overs for Cartoon Network in the mid 1990s. Lowe's career as a voice actor officially began in 1994 with the premiere of Space Ghost Coast to Coast, in which he starred as the lead role of Space Ghost. Space Ghost Coast to Coast finished a ten year run of new episodes on Cartoon Network/Adult Swim in 2004, and was revived on Gametap for 2 seasons during 2006–2008 for an additional 16 episodes.

Lowe has performed Space Ghost's voice more than any other role in his acting career, and he has portrayed the character more often than any other actor. (Gary Owens is second and Andy Merrill is third.) In addition to Space Ghost Coast to Coast and its spin-off program Cartoon Planet, Lowe has made appearances as Space Ghost in Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters, The Brak Show (he was also a series regular, providing the voice for Dad), Robot Chicken (among various other characters), Perfect Hair Forever, and other Adult Swim series. As Space Ghost, Lowe has served as the voice of the Cartoon Network's merchandise phone sales line.

Lowe performed live and in costume as Space Ghost during the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters premiere webcast for adultswim.com; it can also be found among the extras of the ATHF Volume 5 DVD. He is set to make another Space Ghost appearance in the Aqua Teen movie sequel Death Fighter.

Minor roles[link]

Lowe appears as Dick, the chief executive officer of the fictional Bebop Cola company, in a live-action segment of the Sealab 2021 episode "All That Jazz."

Lowe is a recurring character on Aqua Teen Hunger Force where he plays himself. He has a different occupation in every episode.

Lowe is a recently recurring character in Artix Entertainment games. Lowe made a special guest voice appearance in the online game AdventureQuest Worlds for the Friday 13th event August 2010, in which he is revealed to be a park ranger who loves to tell campfire tales – in this case, telling ghost stories around a campfire. It was also eventually revealed that he is secretly not actually a park ranger but an ancient evil who feeds off of fear, and, after having gathered enough spooky vibes, transforms into the "George Lowe-viathan". He returned for the AQW birthday event, which he narrated. Throughout these events and other parts of the game that he narrates, Lowe refers to himself in the third person and as always shamelessly promotes himself which has become a recurring gag throughout his cameo appearances in games and television. Lowe has made another special guest voice appearance in the online game DragonFable for the Falconreach Idle event in November 2010, he voiced himself in a panel of three judges for the event. In the end Lowe is disgruntled by too many puns and transforms into "George Lowe-viathan". In December 2010, it was announced that Lowe would be a fightable character in EpicDuel, ArtixEntertainment's PvP MMO. It is now possible not only to fight Lowe, but you can hire him for mercenary work. Also, George Lowe aired at the RPG Mech Quest as GLaDERP, a super computer that operates an orbital station through the galaxy to spread the game Derizion, in which the loser gets his planet destroyed. After much trouble, the hero manages to free GLaDERP from an onboard virus. The station parodies the well known saga Tron, with the uniforms and several other extras.

Lowe has done announcing work for Sponsors vs. Freeloaders from Episode 2 forward.

Current work[link]

In early 2006, George Lowe joined the staff of popular Boston classic rock radio station WZLX/100.7. Lowe is the current "Voice of WZLX" and handles most of the station's imaging voiceover duties.

Other roles[link]

The embedded lists in this article may contain items that are not encyclopedic. Please help out by removing such elements and incorporating appropriate items into the main body of the article. (March 2012)

• Lowe can be heard in commercials aired during Atlanta Braves baseball radio broadcasts and on local Atlanta radio.
• Has been the voice of Dallas/Ft. Worth's MyNetworkTV station, KDFI TV 27, since 2004. Can also be heard occasionally on sister station KDFW.
• Was the voice of BridgeTown Grill's radio commercials in 1998–1999, in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Was the producer and announcer for the morning show on "Power 99" (WAPW-FM). At the end of each show, he would announce made-up sponsors, which were parodic and often quite ridiculous. His on-air name was "Don Lardo".
• Was the voice for Atlanta's MARTA transit system radio commercials in the late 1990s.
• Does the between song interludes and program openers and closers for Louisiana radio station 99.5 WRNO-FM (The Rock of New Orleans)
• Lowe is occasionally a guest on Mancow's Morning Madhouse, a syndicated radio program.
• Lowe performed multiple bumpers and station IDs for Chicago's "Q101" back in the days when that station hosted Mancow.
• Lowe grew up in Brooksville, Florida, where he began learning radio skills at WWJB AM 1450, a 1 kW/250 watt AM station, in the early 1970s.
• Lowe counts The Firesign Theatre as one of his predominant comedy influences.
• Lowe often made guest appearances at Jacon (Orlando Anime Convention).
• Similarly, Lowe continues to make appearances at other conventions, where he is, more often than not, very approachable, and welcoming towards his fans.
• Lowe did radio spots for Atlanta radio station WKLS (during its "96 Rock" era), mostly advertising for the morning show Regular Guys.
• He had worked at WUSF-TV in the late '70s and early '80s as the anchorman for the student produced show Weekend.
• Created voice content for WMAX-FM (Grand Rapids, MI) for their promotions and station identification.
• He's voicing Beaver Boy on the Fairly Odd Parents from 2010 to present. His episodes were supposed to start 2009, but they were pushed back to 2010.
• Lowe is a frequent guest during the Lightning Round segment on WTVT's NewsEdge at 11.
• Lowe's voice made an appearance on MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch as Willard Scott during a match-up between Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric.
• Lowe played the role of the Doctor in the Assy McGee episode "The Ballad of Blind Anthony".
• Lowe can be heard introducing and closing each episode of adult swim Central Presents Colon adult swim Swimcast Intended for the Internet.
• Lowe is the radio voice for MaC 93.1 & 94.7 (KMCS Muscatine and KMCN Clinton) two FM Adult hits radio stations that "MirrorCast" in Eastern Iowa.
• Lowe does the voice work for Fred's Southern Kitchen's radio advertisements in Lakeland, Florida
• Lowe voices promotions and station identification for 94.1 (KTSO The Sound) FM in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
• Lowe does commercials and promotions for WNCX/98.5.
• Lowe was in the AdventureQuest Worlds Friday the 13th event in August 2010
• Lowe voices commercials for the FX show The League starting in 2010.
• Lowe voices television commercials for Lego which began airing in November 2010 in the United States.
• Lowe appears in Adventure quest worlds as a park ranger
• Lowe will be voicing the Narrator/Announcer in the Nintendo 3DS game Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion.
• Lowe is the announcer on the GBTV political comedy show The B.S. of A. with Brian Sack.
• Lowe does promotion clips for Bay Area classic rock station 107.7 the Bone KSAN (FM).

Filmography[link]

References[link]

Notes

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (September 2011)

External links[link]

• George Lowe entry at the Internet Movie Database
• George Lowe Audio Interview
• Space Ghost Coast to Coast website

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Kerry Sanders is a correspondent for NBC News. ^[1] He worked as a general news reporter for a number of Florida television stations including: WTLV in Jacksonville, Fl (where he worked as a paid intern), WINK in Ft. Myers, WTVT, the CBS and later Fox affiliate in Tampa and WTVJ (NBC) in Miami. He is a 1982 graduate of the University of South Florida from which he received his Bachelors Degree and later, a Distinguished Alumni Award. In 1996, Sanders became a correspondent for NBC News, based in the network's Miami bureau. ^[1] He was immediately thrust into a major story, when the ValuJet crash occurred in the Everglades just days after he began with NBC.

He is a general assignment reporter and may be seen at news events throughout the world. He is regularly seen on Nightly News, the TODAY show, MSNBC and Dateline NBC.

Kerry Sanders is a Peabody Journalism Award winner, ^{[1] [2]} Emmy Award winner, ^[3] Columbia DuPont Award winner and National Headliner award winner. He is well known for his Hurricane coverage, including Hurricanes Andrew, Ivan and Katrina. He has also been on the front lines in both Desert Storm in 1991 and as an embedded reporter with the US Marines during the Iraq War in 2003. ^[4] He had previously worked with NBC reporter David Bloom at WTVJ in Miami, who died from an embolism caused by DVT while also covering the Iraq war along with Sanders.

In 2000, Sanders and an NBC cameraman had exclusive coverage of the Federal raid to free Elian Gonzalez, the six year old Cuban boy held by his relatives in Miami when the Federal Government ordered he be returned to his father in Cuba after his mother died in the waters off the coast of Florida while trying reach the USA. Sanders coverage as pool reporter(he is bilingual and fluent in Spanish) on that event was seen on competing networks such as Univision, Telemundo, and CNN.

Sanders is originally from the Boston metro area but while growing up, also lived in England and Peru. He resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with his wife, author Deborah Sharp.

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c} About Us on NBC Nightly News. Kerry Sanders: NBC News Correspondent accessed April 5, 2011
2. ^ WTVJ-TV, Miami, FL, “Hurricane Andrew: As It Happened.” Peabody Winners Book, p. 56 Accessed April 5, 2011
3. ^ NBC News Wins Five Emmy Awards. Outstanding Live Coverage of a Breaking News Story Long Form. NBC News Decision 2008 Election Night. Accessed April 5, 2011
4. ^ Kusnetz, Mark and Brokaw, Tom. (2003) Operation Iraqi Freedom: The Insider Story. Kansas City, Missouri. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 256 pages. A Google Book preview accessed April 5, 2011

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