Radio-TV Broadcast History
Don't have an account?
Register
Radio-TV Broadcast History
Advertisement
Register
in: Needs organizing, ABC network affiliates, ABC owned-and-operated stations,
and 10 more

Miscellaneous unorganized material/WABC-TV

Sign in to edit

This page is improperly set up.

Chronology data should be put on the appropriate chronology page ("Chronology of call letters WABC") .

Other material must be reorganized into appropriate categories of articles.


WABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in New York City. WABC-TV is best known in broadcasting circles for its highly successful version of the Eyewitness News format and for its morning show Live with Regis and Kelly, syndicated nationally by corporate cousin Disney-ABC Domestic Television.

WABC-TV
[1]
New York, New York
Branding ABC 7 (general)

Channel 7 Eyewitness News (newscasts)

Slogan Number One in New York
Channels Digital: 7 (VHF)

Virtual: 7 (PSIP)

Subchannels (see article)
Affiliations ABC
Owner Disney/ABC

(American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.)

First air date August 10, 1948
Call letters' meaning W

American Broadcasting Company

Former callsigns WJZ-TV (1948-1953)
Former channel number(s) Analog:

7 (VHF, 1948-2009) Digital: 45 (UHF, 1999-2009)

Transmitter power

26.9 kW

Height 405 m (1,329 ft)
Facility ID 1328
Transmitter coordinates 40°44′54.4″N 73°59′8.4″W / 40.748444°N 73.985667°W / 40.748444; -73.985667
Website www.7online.com

In the few areas of the eastern United States where ABC programming is not available over-the-air, WABC-TV is seen via satellite through DirecTV. As of March 4, 2009, WABC is once again available to Dish Network customers as part of All American Direct's distant network package.

History[]

The station signed on August 10, 1948 as WJZ-TV, the first of three television stations signed-on by the American Broadcasting Company during that same year, with WENR-TV (now WLS-TV) in Chicago and WXYZ-TV in Detroit being the other two. Channel 7's call letters came from its then-sister radio station, WJZ (770 AM, now WABC). In its early years, WJZ-TV was programmed like an independent station, as the ABC television network was still, for the most part, in the planning stages; the ABC-owned stations did air common programming during this period. The call letters were changed to WABC-TV on March 1, 1953, after ABC merged its operations with United Paramount Theaters, a firm which was broken-off from former parent company Paramount Pictures by decree of the U.S. government. The WJZ callsign has since been reassigned to the CBS owned station in Baltimore, Maryland, although that station was a former ABC affiliate by coincidence until 1995.

On September 11, 2001, the transmitter facilities of WABC-TV, as well as eight other local television stations and several radio stations, were destroyed when two hijacked airplanes crashed into and destroyed the World Trade Center towers. Transmitter maintenance engineer Donald DiFranco died in the attack. In the immediate aftermath, WABC-TV fed its signal to several UHF stations that were still broadcasting (notably WNYE-TV), before establishing temporary facilities at Armstrong Tower in Alpine, New Jersey. The station eventually established transmission facilities at the Empire State Building.

Studio Fire[]

[2][3]Upper West Side studioOn May 27, 2007, WABC-TV's studios at Columbus Avenue and 66th Street suffered major damage as the result of a fire that knocked the station off the air shortly before the start of the 11:00 p.m. newscast. According to preliminary reports, the fire may have been ignited by a spotlight coming into contact with a curtain inside the news studio; the WABC-TV website later reported the cause as an "electrical malfunction". The station's building was evacuated and the fire was brought under control, though there is said to have been "extensive damage", including smoke and water damage, to the studio. [3] WABC-TV resumed broadcasting at around 1:00 a.m. on May 28, 2007 (initially carrying the network's 10:00 p.m. West Coast feed of Brothers & Sisters, followed by the full version of World News Now).

Due to the fire, Channel 7 broadcast Eyewitness News from the newsroom's update desk, while Live with Regis and Kelly, whose set was also affected, moved to the set of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Starting with the 5:00 p.m. newscast on June 20, 2007, the station resumed Eyewitness News and Live... broadcasts from their main studios.

Digital television[]

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Digital channels

Channel Name Video Aspect Programming
7.1 WABC-HD 720p 16:9 Main WABC-TV/ABC programming
7.2 LivWell 720p 16:9 Live Well HD Network
7.3 Weather 480i 4:3 Eyewitness News Now

Analog-to-Digital Conversion[]

WABC-TV ended programming on its analog signal, over VHF channel 7, on June 12, 2009 at 12:30 p.m.[1] as part of the DTV transition in the United States. The station had been broadcasting its pre-transition digital signal over UHF channel 45, but returned to channel 7 for its post-transition operations.[2][3] Initially, over-the-air digital signals from WABC were difficult to receive in NYC. The explanation given is that WABC was requested by FCC to broadcast at less power; WABC is among many stations which have found it necessary to increase power to restore coverage to the same level as its old analog signal. On June 29, 2009, WABC did file an application to the FCC to increase power from 11.69 kW to 27 kW.[4] At this time, it has yet to be granted. On January 31, 2010, the FCC granted an STA for the station to increase power to 26.9 kW.[5]

2010 WABC-TV and Cablevision Dispute[]

On March 1, 2010, WABC-TV announced that it would likely end its services with Cablevision on March 7, 2010. WABC warned Cablevision that if they couldn't come up with a retransmission consent agreement by March 7th, the station would remove itself from Cablevision's services, which would affect up to 3 million Cablevision subscribers in the station's viewing area, currently on a subscription with iO Digital Cable and Cablevision services.

At 12:02 a.m. on Sunday, March 7, 2010, the station turned off its signal and was unviewable to Cablevision customers; the station's images were replaced by a black screen, or a looping video containing a message from Cablevision about the removal. To avoid interruption of programming, WABC urged viewers to begin switching to other services, such as Verizon FiOS and DirecTV or simply view the station over the air. Viewing the station over the air typically requires the purchasing an over the air digital antenna and if necessary, a digital to analog converter box, for older television sets. [6] [7] WABC's sister-station, WPVI-TV was also pulled from Cablevision service in Mercer County, NJ.[8]

At approximately 8:50 p.m. on Sunday, March 7, 2010, 20 minutes into the 82nd Academy Awards ceremony, Cablevision and ABC had reached a fair deal. WABC-TV and it's sister station WPVI-TV, came back on-the-air for Cablevision subscribers. The station had been off the air for nearly 21 hours. [9]

News operations[]

[4][5]WABC-TV's Eyewitness News at 11 p.m. open, 2008-present.WABC-TV is best known for popularizing the Eyewitness News format, in which reporters present their stories directly to the viewers. News director Al Primo brought the format to WABC-TV in 1968 from KYW-TV in Philadelphia, but added a twist—a degree of conversational chatter among the anchors, known as "happy talk." Primo used the "Tar Sequence" cue from the musical score from the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, composed by Lalo Schifrin, as the theme music. The score included a telegraphic-like melody appropriate for a newscast. The Eyewitness News format and theme music were quickly adopted by ABC's other four owned-and-operated stations at the time—WLS-TV in Chicago, WXYZ-TV in Detroit, KABC-TV in Los Angeles, and KGO-TV in San Francisco (though KGO-TV and WXYZ-TV did not use the Eyewitness News title for their programs).

The format quickly rejuvenated a station that had long been an also-ran to WCBS-TV and WNBC-TV. Within a year, channel 7 had shot to first place in the ratings for the first time in its history, displacing longtime leader WCBS-TV. It spent most of the decade going back and forth with WCBS-TV for first place. For a time in the 1980s, it fell into last place, but still fought with WNBC-TV for second place.

In 1985, the station lured WLS-TV's news director, Bill Applegate, from Chicago to New York. Applegate claimed credit for taking WLS-TV from last to first in only two years, and ABC hoped he could work the same magic at the flagship station. Their hopes were rewarded in 1987 when Channel 7 surged back into first place. It has been the ratings leader in New York since then, and has grown to become the most watched broadcast television station in the United States.[10]

For sixteen years starting in 1970, Roger Grimsby and Bill Beutel were the faces of Eyewitness News. Grimsby came to channel 7 in 1968 from KGO-TV, and was the station's lead anchor when Eyewitness News was introduced. He was known for his opening tagline, "Good Evening, I'm Roger Grimsby, here now the news", and his closing line, "Hoping your news is good news, I'm Roger Grimsby." Beutel had previously anchored at channel 7 from 1962 to 1968 (shortly before ABC moved Grimsby to New York) before spending two years as the network's London bureau chief. The duo were split up for the first ten months of 1975, as ABC had reassigned Beutel to its new morning show AM America. Upon its cancellation (and replacement with Good Morning America) he was re-teamed with Grimsby.

In the wake of declining ratings, Grimsby was fired on April 16, 1986, a move for which Applegate drew considerable fire, and Grimsby was quickly hired by rival WNBC-TV. Beutel stepped down from the anchor desk in 2001, two years before his retirement, which concluded the longest tenure for a main anchor in New York television history.

While banter among anchors is still part of the 5:00 a.m. and Noon weekday broadcasts, the modern-day Eyewitness News has abandoned much of the chattiness of its predecessors. WABC's news department is respected for its straight-forward presentation (especially during breaking news). For the last decade, it has waged a spirited battle for first place with WNBC, but for most of the time has held onto the lead, helped in part by lead-ins from highly-rated talk and entertainment shows. Since December 1986 the 5:00 PM Eyewitness News lead-in has been The Oprah Winfrey Show at 4:00 p.m., and its strong ratings at helps the 5:00 p.m. newscast.

WABC-TV cooperates with sister station WPVI-TV in Philadelphia—popularizer of the Action News format—in the production and broadcast of statewide New Jersey political debates. When the two stations broadcast a statewide office debate, such as for governor or U.S. Senate, they will pool resources and have anchors or reporters from both stations participate in the debate. Additionally, the two stations cooperate in coverage of news from New Jersey where their markets overlap, sharing reporters, live trucks, and helicopters.

Eyewitness News airs four and half hours daily, three hours on Saturdays and four hours on Sunday. The newscasts are replayed on one of channel 7's digital subchannels, which also carries a local weather and news channel. WABC-TV's website has a link for live streaming video of "Eyewitness News Now", which offers live local and national weather updated from AccuWeather. Local news headlines and updates are also provided. The format of "Eyewitness News Now" is similar to the defunct NBC Weather Plus.

On December 2, 2006, WABC-TV began broadcasting newscasts in High Definition, becoming the second station in the New York market to do so.

Personalities[]

(as of 2009)

  1. Anchors
  2. Bill Ritter – weeknights 6pm and 11pm
  3. Liz Cho – weeknights 6pm and 11pm
  4. Sade Baderinwa – weeknights 5pm
  5. Diana Williams – weeknights 5pm and host of Up Close with Diana Williams
  6. Ken Rosato – weekday mornings (5am-7am) and Noon
  7. Lori Stokes – weekday mornings (5am-7am) and Noon
  8. Joe Torres – weekend evenings 6pm and 11pm, host of Tiempo and weekday reporter
  9. Sandra Bookman – weekend evenings 6pm and 11pm and weekday reporter
  10. Phil Lipof – weekend mornings 6am-8am and weekday reporter
  11. Michelle Charlesworth – weekend mornings 6am-8am and weekday reporter
Weather
Sports
  • Scott Clark – sports director seen weeknights 6pm and 11pm
  • Rob Powers - Weekend sports anchor
Reporters
Medical
Politics
Investigative
Entertainment
Education
MetroTraffic
Newscopter 7 HD
  • John Del Giorno - AM Photojournalist
  • Ed Hughes - Fill-in Photojorunalist
  • Dan Rice - Fill-in Photojournalist
  • Shannon Sohn - PM Photojournalist
  • Gil Noble – host of Like It Is
News Management
  • Kenny Plotnik, News Director
  • Bill McFarland, Assistant News Director
  • Chad Matthews, Senior Executive Producer
  • John Antonio, Managing Editor
  • David Bloch, Executive Producer
  • John Stone, Executive Producer
  • Bill Bouyer, Manager-News Special Events
  • Kim Dillon, Assignment Manager


Notable alumni[]

A–L

*Roz Abrams - later at WCBS-TV NY, now retired

M–Z

*Sal Marchiano - later at WPIX-TV NY (until 2008)

News/station presentation[]

This section does not cite any references or sources.

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

Newscast Titles[]

  • John Daly with World News (1953–1956)
  • John Cameron Swayze & the News (1956–1962)
  • The Big News (1962–1965)
  • Channel 7 News (1965–1968)
  • Channel 7 Eyewitness News (1968–present)
  • ABC 7 Eyewitness News (1998–present, secondary)

Station slogans[]

  • Channel 7's the One, Still The One (1977–1978, 1979-1980; localized version of ABC campaign)
  • You and Me and Channel 7 (1980–1981; localized version of ABC campaign)
  • Now is the Time, Channel 7 is the Place (1981–1982; localized version of ABC campaign)
  • Come on Along with Channel 7 (1982–1983; localized version of ABC campaign)
  • That Special Feeling on Channel 7 (1983–1984; localized version of ABC campaign)
  • We're With You on Channel 7 (1984–1985; localized version of ABC campaign)
  • You'll Love It!, on Channel 7 (1985–1986; localized version of ABC campaign)
  • Together on Channel 7 (1986–1987; localized version of ABC campaign)
  • Something's Happening on Channel 7 (1987–1990; localized version of ABC campaign)
  • New York City's watching Channel 7 (1990–1991)
  • Number One in New York (1995–present)
  • The News Leader (only heard in news opens; 1995–present)

Other news theme music[]

In 1984, the station started using "News Series 2000", an updated version of the original Cool Hand Luke theme by Frank Gari, that had been originally commissioned by WLS-TV. The original Cool Hand Luke scores returned for a time from 1986 through 1988. In 1993, Schifrin raised his royalties for using his theme and its variations to a level that effectively priced it out of the local news market (though Australia's Nine Network still uses cuts from that theme). Gari was commissioned by WABC-TV to compose a new music package called "Eyewitness News". This package, based slightly on Cool Hand Luke, has been updated several times. As of 2009, WABC-TV uses the "Series 4" version, which was specifically updated for the station.

WABC-TV's version of the Eyewitness News Theme is reminiscent of a typewriter typing out a news story, while WABC's west coast sister KABC-TV Los Angeles and WEWS-TV in Cleveland use a more faster paced and more of a rock music version of the Eyewitness News Theme.

Movie umbrella titles[]

  • The Night Show (1956–1963)
  • The Goodnight Show (1961–1963)
  • Sunday Night Movie (1958–1960 & 1971–1987)
  • The Best of Broadway (1963–1971)
  • The Big Show (1963–1966 & 1968–1969)
  • The 6 O'Clock Movie (1966–1968)
  • The 4:30 Movie (1969–1981)
  • Saturday Night Movie (1971–1987)
  • Prize Movie (1969–1973)
  • The Morning Movie (1973–1977)
  • The Movie in the Morning (1977–1983)
  • Spring Cinema (1983)
  • The Movie Matinee (1971–1979)
  • Channel 7 Movie (1979–1998, primary & 2004–present, secondary)
  • ABC 7 Movie (1998–present, primary)

News Music Packages[]

Office locations[]

The original WABC-TV offices were located at 77 West 66th Street, with studios at 7 West 66th Street. There was an underground tunnel that links ABC studios at 7 West 66th Street to the lobby of the Hotel des Artistes, a block north on West 67th Street. There was another studio inside the Hotel des Artistes that was used for Eyewitness News Conference.

As part of ABC's expansion program, initiated in 1977, ABC built 7 Lincoln Square on the southeast corner of West 67th Street and Columbus Avenue, on a site of an abandoned moving and storage warehouse. At about the same time, construction was started at 30 West 67th Street, on the site of a former parking lot. Both buildings were completed in June 1979 and WABC-TV moved their offices from 77 West 66th Street to 7 Lincoln Square.

Live with Regis and Kelly[]

Main article: Live with Regis and KellyWABC-TV also produces the nationally syndicated talk show Live with Regis and Kelly, broadcast live at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern time). The program originates in the same ground-floor studio at 7 Lincoln Square as Eyewitness News, thus creating a situation which forces local news updates broadcast during Good Morning America and Live to be produced from the WABC-TV newsroom, and the morning show's presence also limits the size of the Eyewitness News set (WNBC-TV and WCBS-TV have comparatively large sets).

The show began as a local morning show in 1983, aptly titled The Morning Show (using the "Circle 7" logo in the actual text for one of the "o"s) and was originally hosted by Regis Philbin and Cyndy Garvey. In 1985, Kathie Lee Johnson (who would marry Frank Gifford a year later) became Philbin's co-host. Buena Vista Television (now Disney-ABC Domestic Television) began syndicating the show in 1988 as Live with Regis and Kathie Lee. Kathie Lee left the show in 2000 and was eventually replaced by current host Kelly Ripa. The franchise celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2008.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
  2. ^ FCC DTV status report for WABC
  3. ^ WWOR-DT FCC Form 387, Exhibit 4, September 15, 2008
  4. ^ https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101319333&formid=301&fac_num=1328
  5. ^ http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1347981&Service=DS&Form_id=911&Facility_id=1328
  6. ^ [1] Youtube- WABC Dropped By Cablevision as 1201am
  7. ^ [2] Cablevision Might Lose WABC-TV on March 7th.
  8. ^ http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=resources/inside_station/station_info&id=7314004
  9. ^ Cablevision, ABC reach deal; WABC-TV restored
  10. ^ Nielsen ratings

External links[]

  1. REDIRECT Chronology of call letters WABC
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
Advertisement