WBRZ, virtual channel 2 (digital channel 13), is an ABC affiliate television station serving Baton Rouge, Louisiana, south-central and southeastern Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi. It is owned by the Manship family, who also publishes the Baton Rouge daily newspaper, The Advocate. Its transmitter is located in Sunshine, Louisiana. The station is seen via satellite through DirecTV and Dish Network and on cable Cox Communications and AT&T U-verse.

Digital television[link]

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Analog-to-digital conversion[link]

WBRZ-TV shut down analog transmissions on June 12, 2009. ^[1] The station remained on its current pre-transition channel 13. ^[2] However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display WBRZ-TV's virtual channel as 2.

History[link]

WBRZ signed on the air on April 14, 1955 as a primary NBC affiliate, sharing ABC with WAFB.

At first, the Manships wanted to call the station WBRA-TV, for Baton Rouge Advocate. However, they concluded that the call letters would cause confusion and controversy, as the letters "B-R-A" spelled "bra". Station founder Douglas L. Manship, Sr. still wanted "BR" in the station's calls, and decided to go to the other end of the alphabet for the fourth letter, picking "Z." He explained, "It was a good choice. 'Z' is a phonetically good sound on the air. It's distinctive." The "Z" was later expanded to mean "2" (similar to WGRZ-TV in Buffalo, New York), and the "W" was expanded to mean "We're". However, the WBRA call letters are currently used on the PBS member station in Roanoke, Virginia. Until 1989, WBRZ was a sister station to WJBO-AM and WYNK-FM, until the Manships sold both radio stations. As a matter of fact, from the late 1960s until the late 1970s, WYNK was considered an affiliate of WBRZ.^[3]

It dropped ABC in 1971 after WRBT-TV (now WVLA) signed on. This made WBRZ a sole NBC affiliate. Because ABC was seeking out new affiliates with stronger signal coverage at the time, WBRZ swapped affiliations with WRBT and became an ABC affiliate again on September 5, 1977. In that same timeframe NBC sunk to third and last place while ABC moved up to first place in the ratings.

In July 1987, the station started broadcasting 24 hours a day, except on Sundays. In September 1988, the station became the first in Louisiana to close-caption its newscasts. In 1991, Manship's son Richard took over the station as its new president, and would later be named "Broadcaster of the Year" by the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters. In 1993, WBRZ joined approximately 50 ABC affiliates in not airing the pilot episode of NYPD Blue due to local protests; the station decided on a week-by-week basis, at first, to air or not air episodes but eventually settled with airing episodes (including a rerun of the pilot). WBRZ began broadcasting in high definition on channel 13 on April 22, 2002.

In November 2004, WBRZ, along with many other ABC affiliates in the country, opted not to air the movie Saving Private Ryan when the network broadcast it uncut on Veterans Day. During Hurricane Katrina, the station worked with New Orleans ABC affiliate WGNO (channel 26) to provide coverage of the storm and its aftermath.

In late Summer 2007, the Manships acquired a low-powered, independent television station, KBTR-CA, from Veritas Broadcasting Company.

WBRZ launched its own Web site, WBRZ.com, on the week of September 14, 2009. Prior to that, WBRZ and The Advocate shared a website, 2TheAdvocate.com.

The station is a funding partner in The Cinderella Project of Baton Rouge, a charity that provides free prom dresses to public high school students who cannot otherwise afford them. The charity held its third annual prom dress giveaway in 2010.

Carriage controversies[link]

2008 Dish Network carriage dispute[link]

As of midnight, April 30, 2008, WBRZ was removed from Dish Network's local channel lineup for Baton Rouge.^[4]

The relationship between WBRZ and the Dish Network began to deteriorate in the fall of 2007, when WBRZ realized that fees collected from Baton Rouge subscribers had not been paid to the station since the inception of Dish Network’s local-into-local service in May 2006, in violation of the carriage agreement.

WBRZ asked for a raise of compensation to under five percent of what Dish charges for local channels - it had been previously two percent. This amount, less than a penny per subscriber per day, is significantly smaller than the 20 cents/subscriber/day rate WBRZ charges local cable companies.

In July 2009, after more than a year, Dish Network and WBRZ reached a new agreement, and WBRZ once again became part of Dish Network's Local Channels package for Baton Rouge area customers.^[5]

2011 DirecTV Carriage Dispute[link]

As of January 20, 2011 a notice on satellite receivers channel 2.1 says that the channel is in danger of being discontinued.

Programming[link]

The station airs syndicated programming, like Live with Regis and Kelly, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!, the latter of which however, aired on CBS affiliate WAFB (channel 9) prior to 1995. It also airs reruns of former prime-time network shows, such as the ABC sitcom Mork and Mindy and the classic CBS hit M*A*S*H. In September 2006, it began airing Dr. Phil. The station aired The Oprah Winfrey Show until 2002, and the Rosie O'Donnell Show. Other syndicated programming WBRZ aired in the past included: The Arsenio Hall Show (which preempted Nightline from 1989 until WGMB acquired the rights to Arsenio in April 1993), Who's the Boss, The Jerry Springer Show (now on WBRL), Dear John, Inside Edition (now on WBXH, and American Journal. Prior to the launch of LPB in 1975, WBRZ aired episodes of Sesame Street in the mornings. On Sundays, it airs the services from the Healing Place Church, a local Christian megachurch.

WBRZ currently airs all of ABC network programming in high definition and most of its syndicated programming such as Live with Regis & Kelly, Dr. Phil, Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, The Insider and Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen in HD.

News operation[link]

In 2004, the station dropped its twenty year slogan of "On Your Side" and started describing their news as "Balanced. Fair. Accurate," which was inspired by Fox News's "Fair and Balanced" slogan.

As of July 29, 2008, WBRZ morning show 2une In and its noon, 4, 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts can now be viewed in high-definition. WBRZ is the second station in the Baton Rouge area and the fourth in Louisiana to broadcast their newscasts in high definition.

WBRZ was Baton Rouge's "news leader" in the ratings for much of its early history until the mid-1990s. The station experienced a ratings decline when Ed Buggs, the first African-American anchor in Baton Rouge, left the station. This allowed CBS affiliate WAFB to overtake the lead in local news ratings^[6].

Awards[link]

WBRZ has been the recipient of numerous awards from the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters, a National Edward R. Murrow Award in 2000, plus other local awards:

• Louisiana Association of Broadcasters "Television Station of the Year" Award - 1990, 1991, 1994 and 1997
• Louisiana Association of Broadcasters - Baton Rouge Branch "Community Station of the Year" Award - 1996, 2002, 2005
• Louisiana Association of Broadcasters "Television Station of the Year" Prestige Award - 1999
• 1999 Sigma Delta Chi Awards

George Ryan won the award for "Silent Trust," a series that exposed student-on-student sexual misconduct at the Louisiana School for the Deaf in Baton Rouge, La.

• Louisiana Association of Broadcasters "Promotion of the Year" Award: "Buckle Up for Tony" - 2000
• National Edward R. Murrow Award - 2000
• Louisiana Association of Broadcasters "Community Service" Award - 2001
• Outstanding Philanthropist Award - 2001

Other awards won:

• Louisiana Association of Broadcasters Lifetime of Distinction Awards (2005)
• Ad Fed's Pete Goldsby Award (2005)
• YWCA's Women of Achievement Award (2005)
• American Women in Radio and Television's Broadcaster of the Year Award (2005)
• Baton Rouge Business Report's 25 Most Influential Women in Baton Rouge (2005)
• SME's Marketer of the Year Award (2005)

Won by Pat Cheramie, who retired after serving 39 years as General Manager of WBRZ-TV on January 31, 2005.

• Louisiana Association of Broadcasters Lifetime Achievement Award (2005)

Won by news anchor and reporter Andrea Clesi.

News/station presentation[link]

Newscast titles[link]

• Your Esso Reporter (1955–1961)
• The Bob Richards Report (1961–1964)
• Night Desk (1964–1971)
• WBRZ–TV News Service (1971–1974)
• TV–2 News (1974–1975)
• NewsCenter 2 (1975–1977)
• TV–2 Action News (1977–1979)
• Eyewitness News (1979–1996)
• WBRZ Channel 2 News (1996–2001)
• Ten at Ten (10 p.m. newscast; 1998–2001)
• News 2 Louisiana (2001–present)

Station slogans[link]

• "TV–2–day" (mid–1950s)
• "The Best in View is on TV–2" (early 1970s)
• "A Part of Your Life" (mid 1970s)
• "Still the One, WBRZ–TV 2" (1977, first slogan as an ABC affiliate)
• "Count on Us, When it Counts" (early 1980s)
• "The One to Watch" (mid 1980s)
• "The News Leader" (mid 1980s–mid 1990s)
• "Your 24–Hour News Source" (early 1990s)
• "2 is On Your Side" (1984–2001) (also used for PSAs and human interest news stores)
• "Balanced. Fair. Accurate." (2001–present)
• "Because Accuracy Matters" (2004–present; weather slogan)

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

News music packages[link]

• NBC TV–Radio Newspulse by Fred Weinberg Productions, Inc. (1974–1977)
• Part of Your Life by Mayoham Music (1977–?)
• On Your Side by Gari Communications (1984–1990, all newscasts; 1990–1992, weekend newscasts)
• Pride Inside by Gari Communications (1990–1992, weeknight newscasts, 1992–1997, all newscasts)
• Acroyali/Standing in Motion by Yanni (mid–1990s, used for Sports Sunday)
• WBRZ 1996 News Theme by Star Trak Music (1996–July 2007)
• Extreme by Stephen Arnold Music (July 2007–present, adopted when news started broadcasting in HD)^[7]

News team[link]

[edit] Current on-air staff^[8]

Anchors

• Michael Marsh - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
• Chris Nakamoto - weekend evenings; also weeknight reporter
• John Pastorek - weekday mornings 2une In and noon
• Sarah Rosario - weekdays at 4 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
• Whitney Vann - weekday mornings 2une In
• Sylvia Weatherspoon - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.

TrueView Weather Team

• Pat Shingleton (member, AMS; member, NWA) - chief forecaster; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m., also 4 p.m. anchor
• Ryan Davidson - meteorologist; weekend evenings
• Dave Nussbaum (AMS Seal of Approval; NWA member) - meteorologist; weekday mornings "2une In" and noon
• Keller Watts - meteorologist; fill-in

Sports team

• Michael Cauble - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
• Chad Sabadie - sports anchor; weekend evenings, also weeknight sports reporter
• Michael Kelly - sports reporter

Reporters

• Kristy Davis - general assignment reporter
• Rachel Frost - multimedia journalist
• Rob Krieger - multimedia journalist
• Louis Miller - gardening expert
• Ashley Rodrigue - general assignment reporter
• Stephanie Ryan - multimedia journalist
• Michael Shingleton - multimedia journalist
• Lori Steele - special projects reporter
• Mike Steele - State Capitol correspondent

Former on-air staff[link]

• Kip Holden - public relations specialist (now mayor-president of Baton Rouge)^[9]
• Jay Young - news anchor

See also[link]

• KRGV-TV (WBRZ's sister station in the Rio Grande Valley)

External links [link]

• WBRZ Homepage
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WBRZ
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WBRZ-TV

References[link]

Les Miles
Miles in June 2006
Sport(s)	Football
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	LSU
Conference	SEC
Record	75–18
Annual salary	$3.75 million annually, plus performance bonuses; signed through 2017[1]
Biographical details
Born	(1953-11-10) November 10, 1953 (age 58) Elyria, Ohio
Playing career
1974–1975	Michigan
Position(s)	Offensive lineman
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1980–1981 1982–1986 1987–1994 1995–1997 1998–2000 2001–2004 2005–present	Michigan (GA) Colorado (OL) Michigan (OL) Oklahoma State (OC) Dallas Cowboys (TE) Oklahoma State LSU
Head coaching record
Overall	103–39
Bowls	6–4
Statistics College Football Data Warehouse
Accomplishments and honors
Championships 1 National (2007) 2 SEC (2007, 2011) 3 SEC Western Division (2005, 2007, 2011)
Awards Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award (2011) Home Depot Coach of the Year Award (2011) Associated Press College Football Coach of the Year Award (2011) AFCA FBS Coach of the Year (2011) Walter Camp Coach of the Year (2011)

Leslie Edwin "Les" Miles, nicknamed "The Mad Hatter",^[2] (born November 10, 1953) is an American college football coach and the current head coach of the LSU football team. Prior to holding that position, he was head coach at Oklahoma State. He was formerly an assistant at Oklahoma State as well as Michigan, Colorado, and the Dallas Cowboys. Miles has held the head coaching position at LSU since January 2005 and coached the Tigers to a win in the 2008 BCS National Championship Game against Ohio State, 38–24. On 26 August 2011, his contract was extended to 2017.^[3]

Playing and assistant coaching career[link]

Miles earned all-state honors in football at Elyria High School in Ohio as well as letters in baseball and wrestling. He attended the University of Michigan where he was a two-year letterman under Coach Bo Schembechler from 1974 to 75. In 1980, Miles returned to Michigan as an assistant coach to Schembechler. He left Michigan in 1982 to coach at the University of Colorado where fellow Michigan assistant Bill McCartney had just been named head coach. Coincidentally, one of his fellow assistants on the Colorado staff was another future LSU head coach, Gerry DiNardo, who coached at LSU from 1995–99.

He returned to Michigan in 1987 where he helped lead the team to eight consecutive winning seasons and bowl appearances, including four Rose Bowl appearances. After Gary Moeller's resignation, Miles left Michigan again to join former Colorado assistant Bob Simmons staff at Oklahoma State as offensive coordinator. A rift with the University of Michigan occurred near the time of Moeller's resignation, forcing him to seek employment elsewhere. During the 1998 through 2000 seasons he was the tight ends coach for the NFL's Dallas Cowboys under head coaches Chan Gailey (1998–99) and Dave Campo (2000).

Head coaching career[link]

Oklahoma State[link]

Miles returned to Oklahoma State in 2001 as head coach. In the three years prior to Miles's arrival in Stillwater, the Cowboys finished 5–6, 5–6, and 3–8. Oklahoma State posted another losing record (4–7) in Miles's first season at the helm, but subsequently achieved winning records during each of the following three seasons - 8–5, 9–4, and 7–5, respectively. His last three seasons at Oklahoma State ended in invitations to the Houston, Cotton, and Alamo Bowls, respectively.

During the last game of Miles's first season as head coach, OSU faced Oklahoma, which was ranked #4 in the nation. Despite the fact that OSU was facing Oklahoma on the road, Miles led his team to a 16–13 upset victory over the Sooners (who ended up finishing the season ranked #6 after winning the Cotton Bowl Classic).

During Miles's second season, OSU again ended the regular season with a game against Oklahoma. This time Oklahoma was ranked the #3 team in the country. And yet again, Miles led his team to a 38-28 upset victory over the Sooners (who ended up finishing the season ranked #5 after winning the Rose Bowl). As a result of his team's performance during his second year, Miles was named the Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year by the Associated Press in 2002.

LSU[link]

Les Miles congratulates Trindon Holliday after a kickoff return against Ole Miss.

On January 2, 2005, Miles was named the 32nd head coach of Louisiana State University. He replaced Nick Saban, who had left LSU to take over the Miami Dolphins. In August 2005, days before Miles was to make his debut as the coach of LSU, Hurricane Katrina struck southern Louisiana. LSU's first game, a home date against North Texas, was postponed until later in the season. The Tigers second game, against Arizona State, was moved from Baton Rouge to Tempe because the LSU campus was still serving as an emergency center for Hurricane Katrina relief. The conference opener against the University of Tennessee was also delayed, this time because of Hurricane Rita. The game was played two days late, which he lost.

In his first season as coach LSU won the 2005 SEC Western Division title with a 10-1 regular season record – including wins over #15 Arizona State (9/10/05), #11 Florida (10/15/05), #16 Auburn (10/22/05) and #4 Alabama (11/12/05). LSU's only regular season loss was an upset at home to #10 Tennessee (9/26/05). In the Tennessee game, after building a 21–0 lead at halftime, the Tigers failed to score another touchdown and lost to UT 30–27 in overtime. In the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta, the #3-ranked LSU Tigers, though favored, lost to #13 Georgia 34–14. LSU recovered to win the 2005 Peach Bowl with a 40-3 rout of the #9-ranked Miami Hurricanes. Miles finished his first season at LSU with an 11-2 record, a #6 ranking in the USA Today Coaches Poll, and a #5 ranking in the AP Poll.

In 2006, LSU finished the regular season with ten wins (10-2), and ended the season with six straight wins. 2006 marked the first time in LSU history that the Tigers finished with back-to-back 10-win seasons. Miles was able to do this in spite of his team playing its four toughest games on the road. All four games were against teams ranked in the top eight when the game took place, with three of the teams in the top five (Auburn, Florida, Arkansas). LSU split those four games, losing to Auburn and Florida, but beating Tennessee and Arkansas. LSU did not win the SEC West title, finishing one game behind Arkansas. However, the Tigers were ranked ahead of Arkansas at the end of the regular season, and were rewarded with an invitation to face Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl where they defeated the Irish 41–14. LSU finished the 2006 season ranked #3 overall in both the AP and ESPN polls.

Les Miles celebrates his team's victory in the 2008 BCS National Championship Game.

In 2007, Miles gained national attention due to numerous unconventional play calls during nationally televised games. LSU was ranked #1 twice during the regular season, but lost at #17 Kentucky in triple overtime 43-37 before losing its final regular season game at home to unranked Arkansas 50-48, also in triple overtime. As of the end of the 2007 regular season, which featured victories over six different coaches with national championships, Miles' record as head coach at LSU was 34-6. Coincidentally, the 2007 regular season also ended with a loss to Arkansas in a game marked by several of Miles' hallmark unconventional calls. Despite the loss, LSU would go on to the SEC championship game. On the day of the SEC championship game, Kirk Herbstreit wrongly reported on ESPN's College GameDay that Les Miles had accepted an offer to succeed Lloyd Carr as the head coach at Michigan.^[4] Despite the media distractions, LSU won the 2007 SEC title, beating Tennessee 21–14. The night of LSU's SEC title victory, the teams then ranked #1 (Missouri) and #2 (West Virginia) both lost, allowing LSU to be ranked #2 in the AP, Coaches, Harris, and BCS polls. LSU beat Ohio State in the BCS National Championship Game 38-24, giving Miles his first national championship and LSU its third.

The 2008 lost several key players, but primarily junior quarterback Ryan Perilloux who was dismissed from the team after numerous off-the-field incidents. The Tigers also replaced defensive coordinator Bo Pelini, who left to become head coach for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The season was considered a disappointment, finishing unranked by going 7-5 during the regular season after beginning the season ranked #6. The dismissal of Perilloux left a lack of experience at the quarterback position, which was filled in first by Sophomore Andrew Hatch until he was injured, then Freshmen Jarrett Lee and Jordan Jefferson, who each started multiple games.

The 2009 saw an on defense improvement after returning most of their key players from the previous season including and bringing in John Chavis from Tennessee as defensive coordinator. The offensive production fell from being ranked 55th in the nation to 112th. They finished the regular season 9-3, losing in the Capital One Bowl to Penn State, and finished ranked #17.

The 2010 saw further improvement with a running led by converted fullback Stevan Ridley that averaged 185.7 yards per game finishing, and finished the season ranked #8 after a Cotton Bowl victory over #18 Texas A&M.

The 2011 had one of college football's best regular seasons starting 13-0 with wins over 8 ranked teams, including wins against non-conference foes Oregon and West Virginia, along with a highly anticipated regular season match up against then #2 Alabama. They finished the season with the #2 ranked defense in both yards and scoring behind only Alabama. For his efforts Miles was won the 2011 Associated Press College Football Coach of the Year Award becoming the second LSU coach, after Nick Saban in 2003, to win the award . However, the Tigers fell short, losing 21-0, in a rematch against the Crimson Tide in the 2012 BCS National Championship Game. The game will always be remembered for LSU posting the worst offensive production in BCS championship history. Miles also received tremendous criticism for his benching of an undefeated and SEC pass efficiency leading quarterback prior to this game.

Michigan head coach speculation, 2007[link]

Throughout the 2007 season, there was speculation that Les Miles would be a top candidate for the University of Michigan head coaching position if it became available. On the day of the SEC championship game Kirk Herbstreit incorrectly reported on ESPN's College GameDay that Les Miles had accepted an offer to succeed Lloyd Carr as the head coach at the University of Michigan.^[4] LSU officials quickly responded to Herbstreit's announcement and confirmed that Les Miles would not be taking the Michigan position and would be staying at LSU.^[5] Miles cleared up any confusion himself in a last minute press conference to reporters saying,

"There was some misinformation on ESPN and I think it's imperative that I straighten it out. I am the head coach at LSU. I will be the head coach at LSU. I have no interest in talking to anybody else. I've got a championship game to play, and I am excited about the opportunity of my damn strong football team to play in it. That's really all I'd like to say. It was unfortunate that I had to address my team with this information this morning. With that being done, I think we'd be ready to play. There will be no questions for me. I represent me in this issue. Please ask me after. I'm busy. Thank you very much. Have a great day."^[6]

The speculation resurfaced two weeks later when The Detroit Free Press reported that Michigan athletic director Bill Martin and university president Mary Sue Coleman spoke with Miles directly over the phone a few days after he signed a contract extension with LSU.^[7] In response to the report, Miles issued a statement acknowledging the conversation, but claimed that he was merely offering advice and assistance to Martin on Michigan's search and that he is not a candidate for the vacancy. Miles reaffirmed his commitment to stay at LSU, declaring "I'm going to be the coach at LSU next season." ^[8] Any remaining speculation that Miles would still consider the job ended on December 16, 2007 when West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez accepted the head coaching job at Michigan.^[9]

Michigan head coach speculation, 2011[link]

Miles was again mentioned as a candidate for the head job when Rodriguez was fired after the 2010 season. Michigan athletic director David Brandon, who was a teammate of Miles' at Michigan, reportedly flew to Baton Rouge to meet with Miles after LSU defeated Texas A&M in the 2011 Cotton Bowl Classic. An LSU spokesman confirmed that Miles was meeting with Michigan officials to discuss the vacancy, though Miles declined to identify whom he had met with or reveal the substance of the discussions.^[10] Though some sources indicated that Miles would accept the Michigan job if it were offered to him and Baton Rouge radio station WJBO reported that Miles had already accepted the position, Miles again ultimately decided to stay at LSU.^[11]

Personal life[link]

Miles is married, with four children. ESPN has positively cited him for the balance he maintains between his role as a head football coach and his role as husband and father.^[12] Miles is involved in churches with his family and has described himself as a "strong Christian."^[13]

Head coaching record[link]

Les Miles during the 2007 Auburn vs. LSU game.

References[link]

External links[link]

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