| WTVG | |
|---|---|
| File:Wtvg 13abc.jpg | |
| Toledo, Ohio | |
| Branding | 13 ABC (general) 13 ABC Action News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | Get Connected |
| Channels | Analog: 13 (VHF) Digital: 19 (UHF) |
| Subchannels | 13.1 ABC 13.2 local news 13.3 weather 13.4 Fuse TV |
| Owner | Disney/ABC (WTVG, Inc.) |
| Founded | July 21, 1948 |
| Call letters’ meaning | TeleVision Great Lakes |
| Former callsigns | WSPD-TV (1948–1979) |
| Former affiliations | NBC (primary 1948-1955, 1970-1995; secondary 1955-1970) CBS (secondary 1948-1955, primary 1955-58) ABC (secondary, 1948-1958, primary 1958-1970) DuMont (secondary, 1948-1955) |
| Transmitter Power | 316 kW (analog) 795 kW (digital) |
| Height | 305.4 m (analog) 221.5 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 74150 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | Template:Coord |
| Website | www.13abc.com |
WTVG, channel 13, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Toledo, Ohio. WTVG's studios and offices are located in Toledo, and its transmitter is located in Oregon, Ohio.
History[]
The station signed on the air on July 21, 1948 as WSPD-TV, owned by Storer Broadcasting along with WSPD radio (AM 1370 and FM 101.5, now WRVF). The studios were originally located at 136 Huron St. in downtown Toledo. WSPD-TV was the first television station in the Storer Broadcasting chain. Originally, the station carried programming from all four television networks: NBC, ABC, CBS and DuMont. With DuMont shutting down in 1955, the CBS affiliation moving to WTOL in 1958 (was a primary affiliate of CBS from 1955-58) and the ABC affiliation moving to WDHO (now WNWO-TV) in 1970, WSPD-TV became an exclusive NBC affiliate.
Storer also owned WJBK-AM-FM-TV in Detroit and WJW-AM-FM-TV in Cleveland. WSPD-TV's city-grade signal could be seen in the Detroit suburbs, while its grade B signal could be seen in Detroit and Cleveland. The FCC grandfathered this situation under its "one-to-a-market" rule in the 1970s. Storer sold off WSPD-FM in the early 70s and WSPD-AM in 1979, and channel 13 became WTVG.
The Storer stations were taken over by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) in 1985. As a result, WTVG lost its grandfathered protection and was not sold to Gillett Communications along with the other Storer stations in 1987. Instead, it was sold to a local employee/investor group called "Toledo Television, Inc." Toledo Television, in turn, was bought out by SJL Broadcast Management in 1991.
In 1994, New World Communications, the owner of most of WTVG's former sister stations, signed an affiliation deal with Fox Broadcasting Company, resulting in most of New World's stations switching affiliation to Fox. Among the stations due to switch was WJBK, Detroit's longtime CBS affiliate. To avoid being consigned to UHF in the 11th-largest market, CBS heavily wooed Detroit's longtime ABC affiliate, WXYZ-TV. WXYZ's owner, E.W. Scripps Company, then told ABC that unless it agreed to affiliate with Scripps-owned stations in four smaller markets, it would switch WXYZ to CBS. As a contingency, ABC approached SJL about buying WTVG and WJRT-TV in Flint, Michigan. Both stations' city-grade signals reached portions of the Detroit area, which would come in handy if ABC lost WXYZ to CBS. The deal closed on August 29, 1995. However, WTVG's affiliation contract didn't run out until November, so ABC had to run WTVG as an NBC affiliate for two months while NBC looked for a new affiliate in the area. On November 5, 1995, WTVG began airing ABC programming, sending the NBC affiliation to WNWO-TV. In 1996, Capital Cities/ABC was acquired by Disney. As it turned out, ABC had agreed to the affiliation deal with Scripps as well, and WXYZ retained its ABC affiliation. To date, WTVG is the only network owned and operated station in Toledo.
Digital TV[]
The station's digital signal, currently UHF 19, is multiplexed
Digital channels| Virtual Channel |
Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13.1 | 720p | 16:9 | WTVG / ABC HD |
| 13.2 | 480i | 4:3 | 13 ABC Plus (local news rebroadcasts) |
| 13.3 | 480i | 4:3 | 13 ABC WeatherNow/The AccuWeather Channel |
| 13.4 | 480i | 4:3 | Fuse TV |
In 2009, WTVG will return to channel 13 when the analog to digital conversion is complete.[1]
I-Team[]
The I-Team is WTVG's investigative reporting unit. The I-Team also produces the "Restaurant Report Card" segment, which has been one of Action News's most popular segments.
Ask the Expert[]
During the 12pm Newscast, local experts in different fields answer questions sent in by viewers on WTVG's website. One of 5 different experts is featured every day.
Weather & Traffic[]
13ABC has a team of five meteorologists:
- Stan Stachak: Chief Meteorologist/Weekday Evenings
- Jay Berschback: Mornings and Noon
- Kristin Emery: Weekend Mornings
- Blizzard Bill Spencer: Weekend Evenings
- Susan Ware: Fill-in Meteorologist
Resources
- 13ABC owns and operates a 350,000 Watt Doppler Radar named Live Doppler 13000
- Systems from Baron Services:
- VIPIR (Volumetric Imaging and Processing of Integrated Radar)
- FasTrac
- StormWarn
- Neighborhood IRIS (Internet Radar Imaging Server)
Traffic
- Shown every 10 minutes along with weather in the mornings 5am-7am
Time Saver Traffic Team:
- Andi McKay
Sports[]
13ABC Action News Sports Rob Powers and the Powers Pack
- Rob Powers: Weekday Evenings
- Joe Nugent: Weekend Evenings
- Dave Holmes: Weekend mornings
Football Friday-During Regular Season
- Showcases Northwest Ohio High school Football Games
Basketball Friday-During Regular Seasons
- Showcases Northwest Ohio Girls & Boys Basketball
The 13th Frame[]
Every year, WTVG holds a 35-week long bowling series called "The 13th Frame", hosted by Rob Powers, aired on Thursdays during the 11PM newscast. Players are given two balls, and win $1 for each pin knocked down. If the player gets 2 strikes, the player can go for a Turkey to win a $250 jackpot. During times when there have been losing streaks, the jackpot has been known to become progressive.
Personalities[]
Anchors[]
- Sashem Brey - 13abc Action News This Morning
- Jeff Smith - 13abc Action News This Morning & Noon
- Lee Conklin - 13abc Action News @ 5, 6 & 11
- Susan Ross-Wells - 13abc Action News @ Noon & 5:30
- Rob Powers - 13abc Action News @ 5:30/Sports Director @ 6 & 11
- Diane Larson - 13abc Action News @ 5, 6 & 11
- Efrem Graham - 13abc Action News This Morning Weekend & Sunday Midday
- Melissa Andrews - 13abc Action News This Morning Weekend & Sunday Midday
- Bill Hormann - 13abc Action News Weekend evenings
- Kristian Brown - 13abc Action News Weekend evenings
Reporters[]
- Greg Bilazarian
- Tony Geftos
- Lissa Guyton
- Jennifer Jarrell
- Christine Long
- Andi McKay - Traffic seen weekday mornings
- Sanaa Orra
- Zack Ottenstein
- Rebecca Regnier (People, Places and Things)
- Christina Williams
Weather Team[]
- Jay Berschback - 13abc Action News This Morning & Noon
- Kristin Emery - 13abc Action News This Morning Weekend & Sunday Midday
- Bill Spencer - 13abc Action News Weekend evenings
- Stan Stachak - 13abc Action News @ 5, 5:30, 6 & 11 (Chief)
- Susan Ware - 13abc Action News' Fill-in Meteorologist
Sports[]
- Rob Powers - 13abc Action News @ 5:30/Sports Director @ 6 & 11
- Dave Holmes - 13abc Action News This Morning Weekend & Sunday Midday
- Joe Nugent - 13abc Action News Weekend evenings
Past Personalities[]
- Elisa Amigo (WJW-TV)
- Jala Anderson (Elon School of Communications)
- Jerry Anderson (WTOL-TV)
- Gordon Boyd (WVLT-TV)
- Jeff Blanzy (WLS-TV)
- Sarah Bloomquist (WPVI-TV)
- Ryan Burr (ESPN)
- Anthony Cabrera (KVOA-TV)
- Jim Carey
- Dave Chudowsky (WKYC-TV)
- Ronnie Dahl (WJBK)
- Hakem Dermish (WRC-TV)
- Tim Gerber (KSAT-TV)
- Frank Gilhooley (retired)
- John Gillespie
- Efram Graham (left Jan. 4, 2009 plans not revealed)
- Katrina Hancock (WDIV-TV)
- Brenda Hines
- Steve Rudin (WJLA-TV)
- Jim Hill
- Erica Hurtt (Financial Services Forum)
- Jera Jackson
- Greg Jones (auto parts salesman)
- Jason Knowles (producer at WLS-TV)
- Jeannine Lauber (documentary producer in Maine)
- Sam Louie
- Jason Martinez (KFSN-TV)
- Jim Madaus (WWJ-TV)
- Michael Mota
- Sarah Oehler
- Theresa Pollick (Ohio Department of Transportation)
- Christa Quinn (WPSG-TV)
- Rebecca Regnier (People, Places, and Things segment only)
- Jim Rudes (retired)
- Adora Udoji (Court TV)
- Frank Venner (retired)
- Tom Waniewski (Toledo City Council member)
- Gordon Ward (retired)
- Jeanne Washko
- Kelli Wiese (KYTX-TV)
- Diane Wilson (WTVD-TV)
- Kareen Wynter (CNN)
Trivia[]
Template:Trivia
- Alexis Means won an Ohio Associated Press award for best spot news coverage for "Gunmen in the School," a breaking news story in which a gunman was allegedly seen walking into a Toledo Public School.
Jeep Liberty
- WTVG utilizes the Sony PDW510 XDCAM Camcorder
- All Toledo stations (WTVG, WTOL, WNWO, and WUPW) use the Jeep Liberty as an ENG vehicle, due to the fact that they are made locally by Chrysler. WTVG also uses another Jeep-brand vehicle, the Jeep Commander.
See also[]
- Circle 7 logo - WTVG's Circle 13 logo is a derivative of the Circle 7 logo
References[]
External links[]
BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WTVG-TV
Template:Toledo TV Template:ABC Ohio Template:Disney Template:Major U.S. TV O-O Stations