WPBF is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Gold and Treasure Coasts of South Florida. Licensed to Tequesta, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 16 from a transmitter in Palm City southwest of I-95. Owned by Hearst Television, the station has studios on RCA Boulevard in the Monet section of Palm Beach Gardens. Syndicated programming on WPBF includes: Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Inside Edition, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

Digital programming[link]

On WPBF-DT2, Comcast digital channels 208 and 616 is the Spanish network Estrella TV. ^[1] Previously, WPBF-DT2 was part of The Local AccuWeather Channel and known locally as "Weather First TV". There was also a live video stream of that channel on its website.

History[link]

WPBF first went on-the-air January 1, 1989^[2][3] owned by Brenda Skipper and Sylvia Salinas. The original plans called for the station to be an Independent. However in mid-1988, CBS (which was due to lose its longtime Miami affiliate WTVJ to NBC) bought Fox affiliate WCIX (now WFOR-TV). That station only provided a Grade B ("rimshot") signal to Fort Lauderdale and Broward County because its transmitter was farther south than the other Miami stations.

CBS persuaded the longtime ABC affiliate in West Palm Beach, WPEC, to switch to CBS in order to get a city-grade signal in Fort Lauderdale. In Fall 1988, ABC made the decision to affiliate with WPBF rather than with former CBS affiliate WTVX.^[4] These changes occurred on the day of WPBF's sign-on. The station had bought a large inventory of classic sitcoms and cartoons but now had no time to air them. It sold this programming to WTVX a couple of months after signing-on when that station shut down its news department.

In 1993, WPBF was sold to Paxson Communications which at the time owned several FM radio stations as well as a few ABC and CBS affiliates. In 1997, Paxson sold their radio stations and network affiliates (including WPBF) in order to finance the acquisition of stations for PAX (now ION Television) with this channel going to the Hearst Corporation.^[5] As soon as the transaction was finalized, Hearst handed over control of WPBF to its majority-owned subsidiary, Hearst Television (formerly Hearst-Argyle Television). All Hearst ABC affiliates including WPBF preempted Saving Private Ryan in 2004. The station was one of three ABC affiliates in the state of Florida that preempted the movie. WPBF shut down analog transmissions at 11:59 p.m. on June 12, 2009. ^[6] The station began broadcasting from its pre-transition channel 16. ^{[7] [8]}

News operation[link]

Initially, WPBF had a small news department. After being purchased by Paxson Communications, the station added additional newscasts to its schedule. For a long time they struggled with ratings in their own market. This can be attributed to WPLG's very strong over-the-air signal in Palm Beach County and its availability on Comcast throughout the area. In recent months however, WPBF has been making great strides in the ratings and, in the May sweeps period, came in second place for the early weeknight time slots.

NBC affiliate WPTV regularly beats WPBF and WPEC in Nielsen ratings as the most watched in West Palm Beach and South Florida. Following the May 2009 sweeps period, WPTV retained its title as the most-watched television station in the state of Florida based on sign-on to sign-off household ratings in metered markets.

On July 12, 2006, it started airing a half-hour newscast called Weather First at 4 on weekdays becoming the first station in West Palm Beach to do so. While the main intention of the new broadcast was to cover West Palm Beach area weather, news updates and headlines were added after a short time. This production is streamed live on their website. On July 17, 2006, WPBF added thirty minutes to its weekday morning show which began airing at 5:30. It became a full two-hour broadcast on January 28, 2008. The station debuted a new traffic reporting system featuring data from Traffic.com on February 14 that included a new traffic segment, "Beat the Traffic", seen on weekdays.

Expansion of local news continued with the launch of a weekend morning newscast on March 8. On August 18, 2008, WPBF began broadcasting a broadcast at noon during the week which is also streamed live on its website. On September 14, 2009, the station debuted a new logo, set, and graphics package while expanding the 4 p.m. newscast to an hour. WPBF dropped weeknight newscasts in the 5 p.m. hour to make room for Dr. Phil which had moved to the station from WPTV; that change has since been reverted, as of September 12, 2011, The Dr. Oz Show replaced the 4 p.m. newscast.

Until October 4, 2010, WPBF was the only channel in the West Palm Beach market that did not offer newscasts in high definition or even 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen. However, WPBF was operating HD-ready studios and field cameras for its broadcasts. The shows were displayed in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition while showing the station's logo and "HD" in the left and right thirds of the screen. On October 4 starting with the weeknight 4 p.m. newscast, WPBF started broadcasting local news in high definition. Upon the upgrade, it began using an updated music package and slightly revised HD graphics previously used by sister station WESH in Orlando. However like another sister station, KSBW in Salinas, California, HD is not mentioned in the news openings. WPBF will also continue to display HD in the left and right thirds of the screen when video footage is shown in 4:3 standard definition. The station does not currently operate a sports department which is unusual for a big three network channel.

Newscast titles[link]

• NewsCenter 25 (1989–1995)
• PBF News (1995–1999)
• WPBF Eyewitness News 25 (1999–2004)
• WPBF News 25 (2004–2009)
• WPBF 25 News (2009–present)

Station slogans[link]

• "The Area's Most Honored News Team" (1989–1999)
• "If It's WPBF-TV, It Must Be ABC" (1992–1993; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• "Your Local News Source" (1999–2004)
• "Where You Come First" (2004–2006)
• "Weather First" (2006–2009)
• "The Fastest Growing Local News Station" (2009–present)

News team[link]

Anchors

• Victor Blackwell - weeknights at 5, 5:30, 6 and 11 p.m.
• Tiffany Kenney - weeknights at 5, 5:30, 6 and 11 p.m.
• Paul LaGrone - weekday mornings (5-7 a.m.) and noon
• Shelli Lockhart - weekday mornings (4:30-5 a.m.); also weekday traffic reporter
• Erin Guy - weekend evenings; also weeknight reporter
• Felicia Rodriguez - weekday mornings (5-7 a.m.) and noon
• Chris Emma - weekend mornings

WPBF 25 First Alert Weather

• Mike Lyons (NWA Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 5:30 and 6, and Sunday-Fridays at 11 p.m.
• Eric Burris (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend mornings
• Sandra Shaw - meteorologist; weekday mornings and noon
• vacant - meteorologist; weekend evenings

Reporters

• Kate Amara - weekday morning Washington Bureau reporter
• Art Ginsburg - "Mr. Food" segment producer
• Erin Guy - general assignment reporter
• Nikole Killion - Washington Bureau reporter
• Sally Kidd - Washington Bureau reporter
• Cathleen O'Toole - general assignment reporter
• Terri Parker - investigative reporter
• Angela Rozier - general assignment reporter
• Ted White - general assignment reporter

References[link]

External links[link]

• WPBF-TV channel 16
• WPBF-TV mobile
• ABC
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WPBF

Gary Carter
Carter on the field prior to Game 1 of the 2008 Golden Baseball League Championship Series.
Catcher
Born: (1954-04-08)April 8, 1954 Culver City, California
Died: February 16, 2012(2012-02-16) (aged 57) Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 16, 1974 for the Montreal Expos
Last MLB appearance
September 27, 1992 for the Montreal Expos
Career statistics
Batting average	.262
Home runs	324
Runs batted in	1,225
Teams
Montreal Expos (1974–1984) New York Mets (1985–1989) San Francisco Giants (1990) Los Angeles Dodgers (1991) Montreal Expos (1992)
Career highlights and awards
11× All-Star (1975, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988) World Series champion (1986) 3× Gold Glove Award winner (1980, 1981, 1982) 5× Silver Slugger Award winner (1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986) 2× MLB All-Star Game MVP (1981, 1984) 1989 Roberto Clemente Award Montreal Expos #8 retired
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	2003
Vote	78.02%

Gary Edmund Carter (April 8, 1954 – February 16, 2012^[1]) was an American professional baseball catcher whose 21-year career was spent primarily with the Montreal Expos and New York Mets. Nicknamed "Kid" for his youthful exuberance, Carter was named an All-Star 11 times, and was a member of one World Series championship team.

Known throughout his career for his hard hitting as well has his excellent defense behind the plate, Carter made a major contribution to the Mets' World Series championship in 1986, including a 12th-inning single against the Houston Astros that won Game 5 of the NLCS and a 10th-inning single against the Boston Red Sox to start the fabled comeback rally in Game 6 of the World Series. He is one of only three people ever to be named captain of the Mets, and he had his number retired by the Expos.^[2]

After retiring from baseball, Carter coached baseball at the college and minor-league level. He was inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.

Early life[link]

Carter was born in Culver City, California in 1954 to Jim Carter, an aircraft worker, and his wife, Inge. When Gary was 12, Inge died of leukemia. He attended high school at Sunny Hills High School, in Fullerton, CA, where he played football as a quarterback and baseball as an infielder. After receiving more than 100 scholarships for athletics,^[3] Carter signed a letter of intent to play football at University of California, Los Angeles, but instead signed with the Montreal Expos after they drafted him in the 1972 Major League Baseball Draft.^[3][4]

Montreal Expos[link]

Carter was drafted by the Montreal Expos as a shortstop in the third round of the 1972 Major League Baseball Draft. Carter got his nickname "Kid"^[5] during his first spring training camp with the Expos in 1974.

Rookie season[link]

The Expos converted Carter to a catcher in the minor leagues.^[6] In 1974, he hit 23 home runs and drove in 83 runs for the Expos' triple-A affiliate, the Memphis Blues. Following a September call-up, Carter made his major league debut in Jarry Park in Montreal in the second game of a double header against the New York Mets on September 16. Despite going 0–4 in that game, his finished the season batting .407 (11-27). He hit his first major league home run on September 28 against Steve Carlton in a 3–1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.^[7]

Carter split time between right field and catching his rookie season (1975), and was selected for the National League All-Star team as a right fielder. He did not get an at bat, but appeared as a defensive replacement for Pete Rose in the ninth inning, and caught Rod Carew's fly ball for the final out of the NL's 6–3 victory.^[8] He hit .270 with 17 home runs and 68 runs batted in, and finished second to San Francisco Giants pitcher John Montefusco for the National League Rookie of the Year award and receiving The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award.

Expos catcher[link]

Carter again split time in the outfield and behind the plate in 1976 while a broken finger limited him to 91 games. He batted .219 with six home runs and 38 RBIs. In 1977, young stars Warren Cromartie, Ellis Valentine and Andre Dawson became full-time outfielders. By June, starting catcher Barry Foote was traded, opening up a reqular starting position for Carter behind the plate. He responded with 31 home runs and 84 RBIs. In 1980, Carter clubbed 29 home runs, drove in 101 runs, and earned the first of his three consecutive Gold Glove Awards. He finished second to third baseman Mike Schmidt in NL MVP balloting, whose Phillies took the National League East by one game over the Expos.

Carter caught Charlie Lea's no-hitter on May 10, 1981,^[9] during the first half of the strike shortened season. The season resumed on Sunday, August 9, 1981 with the All-Star Game. Carter was elected to start his first All Star Game over perennial NL starting catcher Johnny Bench who had moved to play first base that year, and responded with two home runs and being named the game's MVP. Carter was the fifth and most recent player to hit two home runs in an All-Star Game.

MLB split the 1981 season into two halves, with the first-place teams from each half in each division meeting in a best-of-five divisional playoff series. The four survivors moved on to two best-of-five League Championship Series. The Expos won the NL East's second half with a 30–23 record. In his first post season, Carter batted .421, hit two home runs and drove in six in the Expos' three games to two victory over the Phillies in the division series. Carter's average improved to .438 in the 1981 National League Championship Series, with no home runs or RBIs, and his Expos lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.

[edit] 1984 season

Carter hit a home run in the 1984 Major League Baseball All-Star Game to give the NL a 2–1 lead that they would not relinquish, earning him his second All-Star game MVP award. Carter's league leading 106 RBIs, 159 games played, .294 batting average, 175 hits and 290 total bases were personal highs. The 1984 Expos finished fifth in the NL East, and the rebuilding Expos traded Carter at the end of the season to the Mets for Hubie Brooks, Mike Fitzgerald, Herm Winningham and Floyd Youmans.

New York Mets[link]

In his first game as a Met on April 9, 1985, he hit a tenth inning home run off Neil Allen to give the Mets a 6–5 Opening Day victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. The Mets and Cardinals rivaled for the National League East championship, with Carter and first baseman Keith Hernandez leading the Mets. The season came down to the wire as the Mets won 98 games that season, however, they lost the division to a Cardinals team that won 101 games. Carter hit a career high 32 home runs and drove in 100 runs his first season in New York. The Mets had three players finish in the top ten in NL MVP balloting that season (Dwight Gooden 4th, Carter 6th and Hernandez 8th).

A rivalry also developed between the Mets and Carter's former team, the Expos. On July 30 while facing the Expos at Shea, Montreal pitcher Bill Gullickson threw a pitch over Carter's head. Gooden did the same to Gullickson in the bottom of the inning. The Los Angeles Times speculated that Carter caught the ball as if he knew where the pitch was going to end up.^[10]

1986 World Series Champions[link]

In 1986, Carter's Mets won 108 games and took the National League East by 21.5 games over the Phillies. Carter suffered a postseason slump in the NLCS, batting .148. However, he hit a walk-off RBI single to win Game 5. Carter also had two hits in the next game which the Mets won in 16 innnings.^[11]

The Mets won the 1986 World Series in seven games over the Boston Red Sox. Carter batted .276 with nine RBIs in his first World Series, and hit two home runs over Fenway Park's Green Monster in Game Four. He is the only player to hit two home runs in an All-Star Game (1981) and two home runs in a World Series game. Carter started a two-out rally in the tenth inning of Game Six, scoring the first of three Mets runs that inning on a single by Ray Knight. He also hit an eighth-inning sacrifice fly that tied the game.^[12] Carter finished third on the NL MVP ballot in 1986.^[11]

300 career home runs[link]

Carter batted .235 in 1987, and ended the season with 291 career home runs. He had 299 home runs by May 16 1988 after a fast start, then slumped until August 11 against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field when he hit his 300th. During his home run drought, Carter was named co-captain of the team with Hernandez, who had been named captain the previous season.

Carter ended 1988 with 11 home runs and 46 RBIs—his lowest totals since 1976. He ended the season with 10,360 career putouts as a catcher, breaking Detroit Tigers catcher Bill Freehan's career mark (9941). The Mets won 100 games that season, taking the NL East by fifteen games, however the heavily favored Mets lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1988 National League Championship Series. Carter batted .183 in fifty games for the Mets in 1989. In November the Mets released Carter after five seasons, hitting 89 home runs and driving in 349 runs.

Return to Montreal[link]

After leaving the Mets, Carter platooned with catcher Terry Kennedy on the San Francisco Giants in 1990, batting .254 with nine home runs. He found himself again in a pennant race in 1991 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who finished one game behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League West.

At the end of the season, Carter returned to Montreal for his final season off waivers from the Dodgers. Carter was still nicknamed "Kid" by teammates despite his age. In his last at-bat, he hit a double over the head of Chicago Cub right-fielder Andre Dawson, the only other person to go into the Hall of Fame as an Expo.^[13] The Expos went 87-75 and finished second behind the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League East.

Carter had a .991 fielding percentage as a catcher and 11,785 career putouts. He ranks sixth all-time in career home runs by a catcher with 298.

Post-playing career[link]

After his retirement as a player, Carter served as an analyst for Florida Marlins television broadcasts from 1993 to 1996. He also appeared in the movie The Last Home Run (1998) which was filmed in 1996.^[14]

Hall of Fame[link]

Gary Carter's number 8 was retired by the Montreal Expos in 2003.

Carter was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 2001.^[15] In 2003, Carter was elected into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame along with Kirk McCaskill, and his number eight was retired by the Expos and is tacitly recognized on the facade of Nationals Park in Washington, D.C..

In his sixth year on the ballot, Gary Carter was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame along with Eddie Murray on January 7, 2003. Carter had originally requested to have the plaque as half an Expo and half a Met, and though the media took it as one of his jokes, there was legitimate debate as to with which team he would be associated.^[16] Carter himself had expressed a preference to be inducted as an Expo during his final season; however, given the uncertainty of the Expo franchise, and Carter's having worked for the Mets organization since retiring as a player, winning his only World Series title with the Mets, and becoming a media celebrity during his stint in New York, Carter was unsure.The final decision rested with the Hall of Fame, and Hall president Dale Petroskey declared that Carter's achievements with the Expos over twelve season had earned his induction, whereas his play during his five seasons with the Mets by itself would not have.^[17] Mets fans pointed to the induction of Reggie Jackson with a New York Yankees cap, despite playing the majority of his career with the Oakland A's as precedent, but Carter ultimately was inducted with the Expos cap. At the induction ceremony, Carter spoke a few words of French, thanking fans in Montreal for the great honor and pleasure of playing in that city, though he also took great care to note the Mets' 1986 championship as the highlight of his career.

After the Expos moved to Washington, D.C. following the 2004 season, a banner displaying Carter's number along with those of Andre Dawson, Tim Raines and Rusty Staub was hung from the rafters at the Bell Centre, home of the NHL's Montreal Canadiens. While the Mets have not retired number eight, it has remained unused since Carter's election to the Hall of Fame.

Coaching[link]

Carter was named Gulf Coast League Manager of the Year his first season managing the Gulf Coast Mets in 2005. A year later, he was promoted to the A-level St. Lucie Mets, and guided his team to the 2006 Florida State League championship, again earning Manager of the Year honors. In recent years, Carter has been criticized, most notably by former co-captain Keith Hernandez, for twice openly campaigning for the Mets' managerial position while it was still occupied by incumbents Art Howe in 2004, and in 2008 Willie Randolph.

In 2008, he managed the Orange County Flyers of the Golden Baseball League, and again guided his team to the GBL Championship and was named Manager of the Year. For the following season Carter was named manager of the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.^[18] The Ducks won the 2009 second half Liberty Division title, however, they were defeated by the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in the Liberty Division playoffs.^[19] The next season Carter was named head baseball coach for the NCAA Division II Palm Beach Atlantic University Sailfish.

Personal life[link]

Carter attended Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, California. He was married to his wife, Sandy, from 1975 until his death in 2012. They had three children.

His daughter Kimmy is the head softball coach at Palm Beach Atlantic^[20], and was a softball catcher for Florida State from 1999-2002.^[21]

Carter was an active philanthropist. Through The Gary Carter Foundation, of which Carter was the president, Carter and his staff support 8 Title I schools in Palm Beach County whose students live in poverty. Typically, these schools have 90% or more students eligible for free or reduced lunches. The Foundation seeks to "better the physical, mental and spiritual well being of children." To accomplish this, they advocate "school literacy by encouraging use of the Reading Counts Program, a program that exists in the Palm Beach County School District". Since its inception, The Gary Carter Foundation has placed over $622,000 toward charitable purposes, including $366,000 to local elementary schools for their reading programs.^{[citation needed]}

Illness and death[link]

In May 2011, Carter was diagnosed with four malignant tumors in his brain after complaining of headaches and forgetfulness. Doctors confirmed that he had a grade IV primary brain tumor glioblastoma multiforme, an extremely aggressive cancer. Doctors said that it was inoperable and Carter would undergo other treatment methods to shrink his tumor.^[22][23] On January 20, 2012, daughter Kimmy posted on her blog that an MRI had revealed additional tumors on her father's brain. Even as he battled an aggressive form of brain cancer, Carter did not miss Opening Day for the college baseball team he coached.^[24]

Carter died on February 16, 2012, having lost his battle with brain cancer. He was 57 years old.^[25]

On February 25, 2012, the Mets announced that they were adding a memorial patch to their uniforms for the entire 2012 season in honor of Carter. The patch features a black home plate with the number 8 and "KID" inscribed on it. ^[26] For the Mets' opening day on April 5, 2012, the Carter family unveiled a similar patch design on the center field wall of Citi Field (the wall design differs in that it has a thin white border around the black plate).

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	Baseball portal

• Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame
• List of Major League Baseball retired numbers
• List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
• List of major league players with 2,000 hits
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
• List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
• List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
• DHL Hometown Heroes

References[link]

External links[link]

• Gary Carter at the Baseball Hall of Fame
• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
• The Official Website of the Gary Carter Foundation
• Ultimate Mets Database: Gary Carter