KWQC-TV
Encyclopedia
KWQC-TV, virtual channel
6 (digital channel 36), is the NBC
-affiliated television station for the Quad Cities
television market (Davenport, Iowa
, Moline
and Rock Island, Illinois
). It is licensed to Davenport and is owned by Young Broadcasting
. Its former analog transmitter is located in Bettendorf, Iowa
; its digital transmitter is based in Orion, Illinois
.
KWQC-SD
can be seen in analog on Mediacom
cable
channel
5 in the Quad Cities area. KWQC-HD
can be seen on Mediacom digital cable
channel 705 in the Quad Cities area. KWQC-WX can be seen on Mediacom digital cable channel 108 in the Quad Cities area.
, founder of the Palmer College of Chiropractic
along with WOC radio (AM 1420 and FM 103.7, now WLLR-FM
). Some say that the WOC calls stood for Wonders of Chiropractic though the Palmer family never acknowledged the phase in print or otherwise. Originally on channel 5, WOC-TV moved to channel 6 in 1952 due to interference with WOI-TV
in Ames, Iowa
. It has the distinction of being Iowa
's and the Quad Cities' first television station, carrying programming from all four networks at the time (NBC, CBS
, ABC
and DuMont
). However, it has always been a primary NBC affiliate owing to WOC radio's long affiliation with NBC radio.
It lost CBS to WHBF-TV
in 1950, and the two stations shared ABC until WQAD-TV
signed on in 1963. The station was also affiliated with the short-lived Paramount Television Network
; in fact, it was one of that network's strongest affiliates, carrying programs such as Dixie Showboat, Hollywood Reel, and Hollywood Wrestling.
The WOC stations were sister stations to WHO-AM
-FM
-TV
in Des Moines. Channel 6 remained with the Palmer family after Dr. Palmer's death in 1961.
Original programming included the daily Show Boat children's show hosted by Cap'n Ernie
from 1964 to 1974.
In 1986, Palmer Communications sold its Quad Cities radio properties to Vickie Anne Palmer and her then husband J. Douglas Miller. Due to Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) rules of the time, channel 6 changed its calls to KWQC-TV so as not to confuse the two properties. KWQC was sold to Broad Street Television in 1989 and to Young Broadcasting in 1995.
The January 9, 2008 episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
featured a brief clip of a KWQC broadcast showing former KWQC anchor Mike Mickle's reaction to difficulties with a tape on a story about a Boise, Idaho
woman struck by lightning
.
The KWQC-TV Tower is a 1,381-foot (421 m) high guy-wired aerial mast for the transmission of FM radio and television programs in Bettendorf
, west of the Scott Community College
campus. (Geographical coordinates: 41°32′49"N 90°28′35"W). It was built in 1982. In addition to the former KWQC analog signal, WHBF-TV
and radio stations WOC, and WLLR-FM
, both former sister stations of KWQC-TV (as WOC-TV), as well as religious WDLM-FM
, and NPR member station WVIK
, transmit their signals from this site.
KWQC's digital transmission tower is located in Orion, Illinois
. The transmitter for KWQC-DT 56 had been operating at half of its assigned effective radiated power
(ERP) since 12:45 PM on December 16, 2008, due to the need to convert one of the Power Amplifier Cabinets from channel 56 to channel 36. At 12:02 AM on Friday June 12, 2009, the digital
over-the-air signal on channel 56 was turned off and this lasted for about an hour or so in order to change the transmitter-to-antenna connections from the remaining DT 56 cabinet to the newly converted DT 36 cabinet. KWQC returned to the air an hour later on KWQC-DT 36, and continued to operate at half-power on channel 36 for about a week or so while the other cabinet was converted from channel 56 to channel 36. KWQC estimated that the other power cabinet would be fully converted and that its new digital signal on channel 36 would be operating at its fully licensed ERP of 1 million watts around June 19, 2009, one week after the DTV transition was complete. It is not known when exactly the station returned to full power on digital channel 36. Cable viewers, particularly Mediacom
subscribers in the Quad Cities, did not notice any interruption to the KWQC analog or digital/HDTV signals on the cable systems as KWQC's signals have been sent to the cable companies via a direct fiber optic
link instead of the older and more traditional method of being picked up by the cable companies' over-the-air antennas ever since well before the 2009 digital TV transition.
Also, KWQC no longer transmits a signal from Bettendorf, as Orion is now its new permanent home for transmission facilities, as of June 12. KWQC's analog transmitter in Bettendorf was broadcasting the Quad City Market's "Nightlight" service around the clock until June 26, 2009, and during the two week 'nightlight period, none of the station's regular programming was broadcast on the analog signal. As of June 26, 2009, the analog signal is now permanently gone. The aforementioned radio stations in the top paragraph of this section, as well as WHBF-TV
, are continuing to transmit from Bettendorf
. WHBF is the only Quad Cities television station to transmit from Bettendorf, while KWQC and everybody else are transmitting from Orion, with the exception of KGCW. This means many viewers in and around the Quad Cities market need either a rotor or two separate antennas to receive all their local TV stations.
Digital television
KWQC-TV's signal is multiplexed:
Digital channels>
Virtual
Channel
Physical
RF
Channel
Video
Aspect
Name
Programming
6.1
36.1
1080i
16:9
KWQC-TV
Main KWQC Programming/NBC
HD
6.2
36.2
480i
16:9
KWQC-WX
KWQC 24-7 Weather Channel
After the shutdown of the KWQC-TV analog nightlight signal on June 26, 2009, the "KWQC-TV" callsign was legally transferred from the now-defunct analog channel 6 to the new digital channel 36 and the "KWQC-DT" callsign was officially discontinued. However, up until mid-November 2009, the PSIP
identifier continued to identify the main channel 6.1 as "KWQC-DT." This finally changed right before Thanksgiving Day in late November and the PSIP now identifies the main channel on 6.1 as the station's legal callsign, "KWQC-TV."
At 11:59 p.m. on Friday, June 12, 2009, KWQC-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal on channel 6. KWQC-DT shut off its pre-transition digital signal on channel 56 just after midnight on June 11–12. KWQC-DT returned to the air on channel 36 around 1 am on Friday June 12 using PSIP to be displayed on digital television receivers and converter boxes
as virtual channel
6. Most of the station's programming on the broadcast day of June 12, 2009 was actually broadcast both on analog channel 6 and the new digital channel 36, up until 11:59 p.m. when KWQC used analog channel 6 to provide a Nightlight
service to those remaining analog-only television viewers without a digital TV set or digital converter box
for the two weeks following the digital transition.
KWQC's audio signal transmitted on a frequency of 87.76 MHz (+10 kHz shift) and was picked up on the lower end of the dial on most FM radios
in most of the Quad Cities until 11:59 PM on June 12, 2009. As of 11:59 p.m. on June 12, 2009, the station's main programming is no longer heard on 87.75 MHz on FM radios.
, as well as a locally produced version by the station itself, was a joint effort between KWQC and the other broadcasters in the Quad Cities
, including WHBF
, WQAD
, WQPT
, and KLJB, to inform the remaining unprepared TV viewers about the need to take action in order to continue receiving over the air television broadcasting. The transmitter for KWQC analog channel 6 was shut down permanently at 11:59 pm on Friday June 26, 2009. Being broadcast as it was in analog on VHF channel 6, the KWQC "Nightlight Service" was being heard on FM 87.76 MHz on FM radios during the two week nightlight period instead of the KWQC main programming. Today, there is nothing but static
on 87.7 FM on radios as well as snow
on VHF channel 6 on analog TV sets.
6.2 over the air and on Mediacom Digital Cable channel 108 in the Quad Cities and surrounding areas, and is, similar to Young Broadcasting's other digital weather subchannel offerings on sister stations WBAY and WTEN. The weather conditions and radar displayed on the channel are fed direct from the station's computers; KWQC never affiliated with the defunct NBC Weather Plus
service or branded with Weather Plus.
The channel features local weather conditions on the right side of the screen, with a seven-day forecast below the video window, and a news ticker
on the bottom of the screen. Forecasts and weather maps are played on a 10-minute loop, with public service announcements and some local advertising a part of the station. The E/I
programs Critter Gitters and My Bedbugs air Monday-Saturday at 5 p.m. to suffice the E/I guidelines requiring three hours of E/I programming per week per subchannel.
As of Fall 2011, the KWQC 24-7 Weather Channel is now broadcast in widescreen
standard definition
, still being broadcast at a resolution of 480i
but with the 16:9 screen size that matches the aspect ratio of widescreen television receivers rather than the 4:3 screen size of traditional television receivers. Previously, the KWQC 24-7 Weather Channel had been broadcast in the 4:3 aspect ratio. Also, Paula Sands Live is now rebroadcast every weeknight at 7 pm in widescreen standard definition on the KWQC 24-7 Weather Channel.
programs on KWQC's schedule include Jeopardy!
, Wheel of Fortune, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
, Rachael Ray
, The Oprah Winfrey Show
, and Kim Possible
. Reruns of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
air during the weekends; the station also airs Cheers
, often on weekends or during telethons as part of a special marathon.
As of January 2008, in addition to airing NBC
network HDTV programs produced in high-definition, KWQC also airs two Syndicated programs in HD. Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune
are recorded and broadcast in high-definition every weekday and the Saturday evening reruns of Wheel of Fortune are also broadcast in high-definition as well. KWQC's local programs soon followed, converting their broadcasts into HD on October 27, 2010.
Paula Sands Live is a weekday show that airs on KWQC-TV. It stars Paula Sands, a lead news anchor. She talks about current events in the Quad Cities area and a variety of other segments.
The camera crews invite fans from each of the games they cover to participate in a skit related to the night's theme. The theme usually centers on a holiday (e.g., Valentine's Day) or local promotion (e.g., The Student Food Drive, an initiative by area high schools to collect food for the needy). The "Highlight Zone" started in the 1989-1990 season, and the format has since been copied by many TV stations.
On July 31, 2007, KWQC debuted a drastic change to its graphics and music, dumping the original "Hello News" music package that had been in use since 1990. KWQC added a "cube" (similar to that used by Fox News Channel
for its on-screen logo bug) which stirred up a lot of controversy. Eventually, KWQC slowed the cube down as a result of a vote by nearly 2000 people on its website. KWQC began using "U-Phonix", a syndicated music package produced by Stephen Arnold Music
. Just eight weeks later on September 24, KWQC switched back to the "Hello News" package, making KWQC the first station to use a syndicated music package for the least amount of time. KWQC remains the only station that continues to use the original "Hello News" package.
On September 25, 2008, KWQC introduced a new graphics package during its 5 p.m. broadcast. The new package brought major changes to all the news graphics as well as significant changes to the weather forecasts. The "First Alert Weather" team was able to interact more with technology, through by animation, finger-pointing, and with their wireless clicker, they can change and bring up graphics as well as information making for a much more interactive and flowing forecast for the viewers. KWQC also introduced a revised station logo, the first time it has done so since the early 1990s. While it was similar to the one previously used, the word "TV" was taken out and replaced with "DT" (an abbreviation for "Digital Television"). However, the station's official calls are still "KWQC-TV".
In mid-October 2010, the news set was reconstructed to be high definition-compatible. During its time, a compact newsdesk was temporarily placed in the newsroom, where only three people can be placed at the time (i.e. Metivier, Chornelis, Burchett). On October 27, 2010, the station became the first in the Quad Cities market and the first station owned by Young Broadcasting to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition, beginning with 5 p.m. newscast. The newscasts began broadcasting from its new set with the upgrade and logos, callsigns and on-air graphics were changed as well. The station is now referred to as "KWQC-HD News", but the legal callsign "KWQC-TV" can be seen in the new set.
First Alert Weather
Sports team
Reporters
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
6 (digital channel 36), is the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
-affiliated television station for the Quad Cities
Quad Cities
The Quad Cities is a group of five cities straddling the Mississippi River on the Iowa–Illinois boundary. These cities, Davenport and Bettendorf and Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline , are the center of the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area, which, as of 2010, had an estimated population of...
television market (Davenport, Iowa
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...
, Moline
Moline, Illinois
Moline is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, with a population of 45,792 in 2010. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The Quad Cities has a population of...
and Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island, Illinois
Rock Island is the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The population was 40,884 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities...
). It is licensed to Davenport and is owned by Young Broadcasting
Young Broadcasting
New Young Broadcasting Holding Co, Inc. is an owner of 14 television stations in 11 United States media markets. The company was formerly known as Young Broadcasting Inc. and was the outgrowth of the ad representation/invest firm Adam Young, Inc. which was founded in 1944 by Adam Young and is...
. Its former analog transmitter is located in Bettendorf, Iowa
Bettendorf, Iowa
Bettendorf is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Bettendorf is the fifteenth largest city in the U.S. state of Iowa and the fourth largest city in the "Quad Cities". As of the 2010 United States Census the population grew to 33,217. Bettendorf is one of the Quad Cities, along with...
; its digital transmitter is based in Orion, Illinois
Orion, Illinois
Orion is a village in Henry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,861 at the 2010 census. It is home of the Orion Chargers...
.
KWQC-SD
Standard-definition television
Sorete-definition television is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either enhanced-definition television or high-definition television . The term is usually used in reference to digital television, in particular when broadcasting at the same resolution as...
can be seen in analog on Mediacom
Mediacom
Mediacom is a cable television and communications provider in the United States. Founded in July 1995, it serves primarily smaller markets in the Midwest and Southern United States. Formerly a publicly traded firm, it went private in a $600.0 million transaction in March 2011 and is, as of 2011,...
cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
channel
Channel (broadcasting)
In broadcasting, a channel is a range of frequencies assigned by a government for the operation of a particular radio station, television station or television channel. In common usage, the term also may be used to refer to the station operating on a particular frequency.-See also:*Broadcast...
5 in the Quad Cities area. KWQC-HD
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
can be seen on Mediacom digital cable
Digital cable
Digital cable is a generic term for any type of cable television distribution using digital video compression or distribution. The technology was originally developed by Motorola.-Background:...
channel 705 in the Quad Cities area. KWQC-WX can be seen on Mediacom digital cable channel 108 in the Quad Cities area.
History
KWQC originally signed on the air on October 31, 1949, as WOC-TV. The station was founded by B. J. PalmerB. J. Palmer
Bartlett Joshua Palmer born in What Cheer, Iowa, was a pioneer of chiropractic. B.J. was son of Daniel David Palmer , the founder of chiropractic.- Early life :...
, founder of the Palmer College of Chiropractic
Palmer College of Chiropractic
Palmer College of Chiropractic is a chiropractic school located in Davenport, Iowa. It was established in 1897 by Daniel David Palmer and is considered "The Fountainhead" as it was the first school of chiropractic in the world. For many years, Palmer College of Chiropractic was the world's largest...
along with WOC radio (AM 1420 and FM 103.7, now WLLR-FM
WLLR-FM
WLLR-FM is a radio station licensed to Davenport, Iowa, whose format is modern country music. The station's frequency is 103.7 MHz, and broadcasts at a power of 100 kW....
). Some say that the WOC calls stood for Wonders of Chiropractic though the Palmer family never acknowledged the phase in print or otherwise. Originally on channel 5, WOC-TV moved to channel 6 in 1952 due to interference with WOI-TV
WOI-TV
WOI-DT, channel 5, is the ABC-affiliated television station licensed to Ames, and serving the Des Moines, Iowa market. Its studios are in West Des Moines...
in Ames, Iowa
Ames, Iowa
Ames is a city located in the central part of the U.S. state of Iowa in Story County, and approximately north of Des Moines. The U.S. Census Bureau designates that Ames, Iowa metropolitan statistical area as encompassing all of Story County, and which, when combined with the Boone, Iowa...
. It has the distinction of being Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
's and the Quad Cities' first television station, carrying programming from all four networks at the time (NBC, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
and DuMont
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
). However, it has always been a primary NBC affiliate owing to WOC radio's long affiliation with NBC radio.
It lost CBS to WHBF-TV
WHBF-TV
WHBF-TV, channel 4, is a television station licensed to Rock Island, Illinois, which serves as the CBS affiliate for the Quad Cities television market...
in 1950, and the two stations shared ABC until WQAD-TV
WQAD-TV
WQAD-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Quad Cities area of West-Central Illinois and Eastern Iowa that is licensed to Moline, Illinois...
signed on in 1963. The station was also affiliated with the short-lived Paramount Television Network
Paramount Television Network
The Paramount Television Network was a venture by American film corporation Paramount Pictures to organize a television network in the late 1940s...
; in fact, it was one of that network's strongest affiliates, carrying programs such as Dixie Showboat, Hollywood Reel, and Hollywood Wrestling.
The WOC stations were sister stations to WHO-AM
WHO (AM)
WHO is a clear channel radio station broadcasting 50,000 watts on 1040 AM with a news/talk format. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications and is located in Des Moines, Iowa. The station can be heard over most of the continental United States during nighttime hours...
-FM
KDRB
KDRB, "100.3 The Bus," is an adult hits radio station similar to Jack FM serving the Des Moines, Iowa, area in the USA. It broadcasts at 100.3 FM. The station's studios are located at 2141 Grand Avenue in Des Moines along with Clear Channel Communications' other Des Moines stations...
-TV
WHO-TV
WHO-DT is a television station that broadcasts on Channel 13 in Des Moines, Iowa. It is affiliated with the NBC television network and serves most of central Iowa. The station transmits from the WOI Tower in Alleman, Iowa, which is actually owned by WHO-DT's owners. WHO-DT brands itself as WHO-HD...
in Des Moines. Channel 6 remained with the Palmer family after Dr. Palmer's death in 1961.
Original programming included the daily Show Boat children's show hosted by Cap'n Ernie
Ernie Mims
Ernest Christopher Memos is an American television broadcaster known by his stage name Ernie Mims. He hosted the WOC-TV children's show Cap'n Ernie's Show Boat from 1964 to 1974.-Life and career:...
from 1964 to 1974.
In 1986, Palmer Communications sold its Quad Cities radio properties to Vickie Anne Palmer and her then husband J. Douglas Miller. Due to Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) rules of the time, channel 6 changed its calls to KWQC-TV so as not to confuse the two properties. KWQC was sold to Broad Street Television in 1989 and to Young Broadcasting in 1995.
The January 9, 2008 episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny...
featured a brief clip of a KWQC broadcast showing former KWQC anchor Mike Mickle's reaction to difficulties with a tape on a story about a Boise, Idaho
Boise, Idaho
Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...
woman struck by lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
.
Transmitter
Bettendorf, Iowa
Bettendorf is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Bettendorf is the fifteenth largest city in the U.S. state of Iowa and the fourth largest city in the "Quad Cities". As of the 2010 United States Census the population grew to 33,217. Bettendorf is one of the Quad Cities, along with...
, west of the Scott Community College
Scott Community College
Scott Community College is a community college in Bettendorf, Scott County and is part of the Eastern Iowa Community College District which also includes Clinton Community College and Muscatine Community College....
campus. (Geographical coordinates: 41°32′49"N 90°28′35"W). It was built in 1982. In addition to the former KWQC analog signal, WHBF-TV
WHBF-TV
WHBF-TV, channel 4, is a television station licensed to Rock Island, Illinois, which serves as the CBS affiliate for the Quad Cities television market...
and radio stations WOC, and WLLR-FM
WLLR-FM
WLLR-FM is a radio station licensed to Davenport, Iowa, whose format is modern country music. The station's frequency is 103.7 MHz, and broadcasts at a power of 100 kW....
, both former sister stations of KWQC-TV (as WOC-TV), as well as religious WDLM-FM
WDLM-FM
WDLM-FM is a non-commercial radio station licensed to East Moline, Illinois and serving the Quad Cities area with a Christian radio format. The station broadcasts at an Effective Radiated Power of 100 kilowatts...
, and NPR member station WVIK
WVIK
WVIK is the flagship National Public Radio station for the Quad Cities region of eastern Iowa and northwestern Illinois. It is licensed to Rock Island, Illinois and owned by Augustana College. Studios are located on Augustana's campus in Rock Island...
, transmit their signals from this site.
KWQC's digital transmission tower is located in Orion, Illinois
Orion, Illinois
Orion is a village in Henry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,861 at the 2010 census. It is home of the Orion Chargers...
. The transmitter for KWQC-DT 56 had been operating at half of its assigned effective radiated power
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
(ERP) since 12:45 PM on December 16, 2008, due to the need to convert one of the Power Amplifier Cabinets from channel 56 to channel 36. At 12:02 AM on Friday June 12, 2009, the digital
Digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals...
over-the-air signal on channel 56 was turned off and this lasted for about an hour or so in order to change the transmitter-to-antenna connections from the remaining DT 56 cabinet to the newly converted DT 36 cabinet. KWQC returned to the air an hour later on KWQC-DT 36, and continued to operate at half-power on channel 36 for about a week or so while the other cabinet was converted from channel 56 to channel 36. KWQC estimated that the other power cabinet would be fully converted and that its new digital signal on channel 36 would be operating at its fully licensed ERP of 1 million watts around June 19, 2009, one week after the DTV transition was complete. It is not known when exactly the station returned to full power on digital channel 36. Cable viewers, particularly Mediacom
Mediacom
Mediacom is a cable television and communications provider in the United States. Founded in July 1995, it serves primarily smaller markets in the Midwest and Southern United States. Formerly a publicly traded firm, it went private in a $600.0 million transaction in March 2011 and is, as of 2011,...
subscribers in the Quad Cities, did not notice any interruption to the KWQC analog or digital/HDTV signals on the cable systems as KWQC's signals have been sent to the cable companies via a direct fiber optic
Optical fiber
An optical fiber is a flexible, transparent fiber made of a pure glass not much wider than a human hair. It functions as a waveguide, or "light pipe", to transmit light between the two ends of the fiber. The field of applied science and engineering concerned with the design and application of...
link instead of the older and more traditional method of being picked up by the cable companies' over-the-air antennas ever since well before the 2009 digital TV transition.
Also, KWQC no longer transmits a signal from Bettendorf, as Orion is now its new permanent home for transmission facilities, as of June 12. KWQC's analog transmitter in Bettendorf was broadcasting the Quad City Market's "Nightlight" service around the clock until June 26, 2009, and during the two week 'nightlight period, none of the station's regular programming was broadcast on the analog signal. As of June 26, 2009, the analog signal is now permanently gone. The aforementioned radio stations in the top paragraph of this section, as well as WHBF-TV
WHBF-TV
WHBF-TV, channel 4, is a television station licensed to Rock Island, Illinois, which serves as the CBS affiliate for the Quad Cities television market...
, are continuing to transmit from Bettendorf
Bettendorf, Iowa
Bettendorf is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Bettendorf is the fifteenth largest city in the U.S. state of Iowa and the fourth largest city in the "Quad Cities". As of the 2010 United States Census the population grew to 33,217. Bettendorf is one of the Quad Cities, along with...
. WHBF is the only Quad Cities television station to transmit from Bettendorf, while KWQC and everybody else are transmitting from Orion, with the exception of KGCW. This means many viewers in and around the Quad Cities market need either a rotor or two separate antennas to receive all their local TV stations.
Digital televisionDigital televisionDigital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
KWQC-TV's signal is multiplexed:
Channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
RF
Radio frequency
Radio frequency is a rate of oscillation in the range of about 3 kHz to 300 GHz, which corresponds to the frequency of radio waves, and the alternating currents which carry radio signals...
Channel
Display resolution
The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by all different factors in cathode ray tube , flat panel or projection...
Aspect ratio
The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,...
1080i
1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels...
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
HD
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
480i
480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC...
After the shutdown of the KWQC-TV analog nightlight signal on June 26, 2009, the "KWQC-TV" callsign was legally transferred from the now-defunct analog channel 6 to the new digital channel 36 and the "KWQC-DT" callsign was officially discontinued. However, up until mid-November 2009, the PSIP
Program and System Information Protocol
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
identifier continued to identify the main channel 6.1 as "KWQC-DT." This finally changed right before Thanksgiving Day in late November and the PSIP now identifies the main channel on 6.1 as the station's legal callsign, "KWQC-TV."
At 11:59 p.m. on Friday, June 12, 2009, KWQC-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal on channel 6. KWQC-DT shut off its pre-transition digital signal on channel 56 just after midnight on June 11–12. KWQC-DT returned to the air on channel 36 around 1 am on Friday June 12 using PSIP to be displayed on digital television receivers and converter boxes
ATSC tuner
An ATSC tuner, often called an ATSC receiver or HDTV tuner is a type of television tuner that allows reception of digital television television channels transmitted by television stations in North America, parts of Central America and South Korea that use ATSC standards...
as virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
6. Most of the station's programming on the broadcast day of June 12, 2009 was actually broadcast both on analog channel 6 and the new digital channel 36, up until 11:59 p.m. when KWQC used analog channel 6 to provide a Nightlight
Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act
The Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act, or SAFER Act, is a U.S. law to require the Federal Communications Commission to allow the continuation of full-power analog TV transmissions in 2009 for 30 more days, for the purpose of broadcasting public service announcements regarding the...
service to those remaining analog-only television viewers without a digital TV set or digital converter box
ATSC tuner
An ATSC tuner, often called an ATSC receiver or HDTV tuner is a type of television tuner that allows reception of digital television television channels transmitted by television stations in North America, parts of Central America and South Korea that use ATSC standards...
for the two weeks following the digital transition.
KWQC's audio signal transmitted on a frequency of 87.76 MHz (+10 kHz shift) and was picked up on the lower end of the dial on most FM radios
Frequency modulation
In telecommunications and signal processing, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency. This contrasts with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant...
in most of the Quad Cities until 11:59 PM on June 12, 2009. As of 11:59 p.m. on June 12, 2009, the station's main programming is no longer heard on 87.75 MHz on FM radios.
Analog nightlight service
After June 12, KWQC continued using its analog channel 6 for the next two weeks strictly for the purpose of informing the public about the need to switch over to digital. This included the purchasing and installation of DTV converter boxes and television sets, as well as how digital TV works, and the need for those consumers who are still unprepared to switch over to digital. This service is known as "Nightlighting." The national PSAs, produced by the National Association of BroadcastersNational Association of Broadcasters
The National Association of Broadcasters is a trade association, workers union, and lobby group representing the interests of for-profit, over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the United States...
, as well as a locally produced version by the station itself, was a joint effort between KWQC and the other broadcasters in the Quad Cities
Quad Cities
The Quad Cities is a group of five cities straddling the Mississippi River on the Iowa–Illinois boundary. These cities, Davenport and Bettendorf and Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline , are the center of the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area, which, as of 2010, had an estimated population of...
, including WHBF
WHBF-TV
WHBF-TV, channel 4, is a television station licensed to Rock Island, Illinois, which serves as the CBS affiliate for the Quad Cities television market...
, WQAD
WQAD-TV
WQAD-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Quad Cities area of West-Central Illinois and Eastern Iowa that is licensed to Moline, Illinois...
, WQPT
WQPT-TV
WQPT-TV is the PBS member station for the Quad Cities region of northwestern Illinois and eastern Iowa, broadcasting on digital channel 23 . It is owned by Western Illinois University-Quad Cities, which is located in Moline, Illinois; where the station is licensed...
, and KLJB, to inform the remaining unprepared TV viewers about the need to take action in order to continue receiving over the air television broadcasting. The transmitter for KWQC analog channel 6 was shut down permanently at 11:59 pm on Friday June 26, 2009. Being broadcast as it was in analog on VHF channel 6, the KWQC "Nightlight Service" was being heard on FM 87.76 MHz on FM radios during the two week nightlight period instead of the KWQC main programming. Today, there is nothing but static
Noise (radio)
In radio reception, noise is the superposition of white noise and other disturbing influences on the signal, caused either by thermal noise and other electronic noise from receiver input circuits or by interference from radiated electromagnetic noise picked up by the receiver's antenna...
on 87.7 FM on radios as well as snow
Noise (video)
Noise, in analog video and television, is a random dot pattern of static displayed when no transmission signal is obtained by the antenna receiver of television set and other display devices...
on VHF channel 6 on analog TV sets.
KWQC 24-7 Weather Channel
On Monday August 13, 2007, KWQC started up a local digital weather service called 24/7 Weather. This new weather service is available to viewers via KWQC's digital subchannelDigital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
6.2 over the air and on Mediacom Digital Cable channel 108 in the Quad Cities and surrounding areas, and is, similar to Young Broadcasting's other digital weather subchannel offerings on sister stations WBAY and WTEN. The weather conditions and radar displayed on the channel are fed direct from the station's computers; KWQC never affiliated with the defunct NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus was a 24-hour, commercially sponsored, weather-oriented broadcast/cable television network jointly owned by NBC Universal and the local affiliates of the NBC network. It debuted on November 15, 2004 and shut down on December 31, 2008...
service or branded with Weather Plus.
The channel features local weather conditions on the right side of the screen, with a seven-day forecast below the video window, and a news ticker
News ticker
A news ticker resides in the lower third of the television screen space on television news networks dedicated to presenting headlines or minor pieces of news. It may also refer to a long, thin scoreboard-style display seen around the front of some offices or public buildings...
on the bottom of the screen. Forecasts and weather maps are played on a 10-minute loop, with public service announcements and some local advertising a part of the station. The E/I
E/I
E/I, which stands for "educational and informative," refers to a type of children's television programming shown in the United States. The Federal Communications Commission requires that every full-service Terrestrial television station in the U.S. show at least three hours of these television...
programs Critter Gitters and My Bedbugs air Monday-Saturday at 5 p.m. to suffice the E/I guidelines requiring three hours of E/I programming per week per subchannel.
As of Fall 2011, the KWQC 24-7 Weather Channel is now broadcast in widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
standard definition
Standard-definition television
Sorete-definition television is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either enhanced-definition television or high-definition television . The term is usually used in reference to digital television, in particular when broadcasting at the same resolution as...
, still being broadcast at a resolution of 480i
480i
480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC...
but with the 16:9 screen size that matches the aspect ratio of widescreen television receivers rather than the 4:3 screen size of traditional television receivers. Previously, the KWQC 24-7 Weather Channel had been broadcast in the 4:3 aspect ratio. Also, Paula Sands Live is now rebroadcast every weeknight at 7 pm in widescreen standard definition on the KWQC 24-7 Weather Channel.
Programming
SyndicatedTelevision syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programs on KWQC's schedule include Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
, Wheel of Fortune, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a television game show which offers large cash prizes for correctly answering a series of multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. The format is owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Television International. The maximum cash prize is one million pounds...
, Rachael Ray
Rachael Ray
Rachael Domenica Ray is an American television personality, businesswoman, celebrity chef and author. She hosts the syndicated talk and lifestyle program Rachael Ray and three Food Network series, 30 Minute Meals, Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels and $40 a Day...
, The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, and Kim Possible
Kim Possible
Kim Possible is an American animated television series about a teenage crime fighter who has the task of dealing with worldwide, family, and school issues every day. The show is action-oriented, but also has a light-hearted atmosphere and often lampoons the conventions and clichés of the...
. Reruns of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
air during the weekends; the station also airs Cheers
Cheers
Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...
, often on weekends or during telethons as part of a special marathon.
As of January 2008, in addition to airing NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
network HDTV programs produced in high-definition, KWQC also airs two Syndicated programs in HD. Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
are recorded and broadcast in high-definition every weekday and the Saturday evening reruns of Wheel of Fortune are also broadcast in high-definition as well. KWQC's local programs soon followed, converting their broadcasts into HD on October 27, 2010.
Paula Sands Live is a weekday show that airs on KWQC-TV. It stars Paula Sands, a lead news anchor. She talks about current events in the Quad Cities area and a variety of other segments.
News operation
KWQC is well-known by locals for the "Highlight Zone," an Emmy award-winning Friday night feature showcasing area high school football and basketball. The "Highlight Zone" airs during the 10 p.m. newscast from roughly late August through early March, with a break in December. Each member of the news anchor staff, along with whomever is giving the weather that night, take turns recapping a featured game.The camera crews invite fans from each of the games they cover to participate in a skit related to the night's theme. The theme usually centers on a holiday (e.g., Valentine's Day) or local promotion (e.g., The Student Food Drive, an initiative by area high schools to collect food for the needy). The "Highlight Zone" started in the 1989-1990 season, and the format has since been copied by many TV stations.
On July 31, 2007, KWQC debuted a drastic change to its graphics and music, dumping the original "Hello News" music package that had been in use since 1990. KWQC added a "cube" (similar to that used by Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
for its on-screen logo bug) which stirred up a lot of controversy. Eventually, KWQC slowed the cube down as a result of a vote by nearly 2000 people on its website. KWQC began using "U-Phonix", a syndicated music package produced by Stephen Arnold Music
Stephen Arnold Music
Founded in 1993 by Stephen Arnold, Stephen Arnold Music is a Dallas-based music production company, specializing in Television news music. With additional offices in San Diego, California and a studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the company services television networks, cable channels, TV stations,...
. Just eight weeks later on September 24, KWQC switched back to the "Hello News" package, making KWQC the first station to use a syndicated music package for the least amount of time. KWQC remains the only station that continues to use the original "Hello News" package.
On September 25, 2008, KWQC introduced a new graphics package during its 5 p.m. broadcast. The new package brought major changes to all the news graphics as well as significant changes to the weather forecasts. The "First Alert Weather" team was able to interact more with technology, through by animation, finger-pointing, and with their wireless clicker, they can change and bring up graphics as well as information making for a much more interactive and flowing forecast for the viewers. KWQC also introduced a revised station logo, the first time it has done so since the early 1990s. While it was similar to the one previously used, the word "TV" was taken out and replaced with "DT" (an abbreviation for "Digital Television"). However, the station's official calls are still "KWQC-TV".
In mid-October 2010, the news set was reconstructed to be high definition-compatible. During its time, a compact newsdesk was temporarily placed in the newsroom, where only three people can be placed at the time (i.e. Metivier, Chornelis, Burchett). On October 27, 2010, the station became the first in the Quad Cities market and the first station owned by Young Broadcasting to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition, beginning with 5 p.m. newscast. The newscasts began broadcasting from its new set with the upgrade and logos, callsigns and on-air graphics were changed as well. The station is now referred to as "KWQC-HD News", but the legal callsign "KWQC-TV" can be seen in the new set.
Ratings
KWQC has been the ratings leader in the Quad Cities for most of its history. It briefly lost the lead to WHBF in the mid-1970s, but regained it in 1980 and has held the lead ever since. According to the Des Moines Register in the November 2007 books, KWQC had the third highest, top 100 market newscast rating. A look at the latest 2011 ratings shows KWQC remains number one for total viewers in every time slot.Newscast titles
- NewsCenter 6 (1986–1990)
- KWQC-TV 6 News (1990–2010)
- KWQC-HD News (2010–present)
Station slogans
- Hello Quad Cities, TV-6 Cares for You (1990–1997; used during initial period station used Frank Gari's "Hello News")
- The Station That Cares For You (1990–present; general slogan)
- The Quad Cities' #1 Station for News (1990–1999; news slogan)
- Straight To The Point (2010–present; news slogan)
Current on-air staff
Anchors- Sharon DeRycke - weeknights at 4, 5 and 10 p.m.
- Elizabeth Goodsitt - weekend evenings; also weeknight reporter
- Marcia Lense - weekdays at noon
- Gary Metivier - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
- David Nelson - weekday mornings Quad Cities Today
- Paula Sands - weeknights at 6 p.m.; also host of Paula Sands Live
- Jessica Tighe - weekday mornings Quad Cities Today
First Alert Weather
- Erik Maitland (NWANational Weather AssociationThe National Weather Association is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities...
Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 4, 5, 6 and 10 p.m. - Greg Dutra - meteorologist; weekday mornings Quad Cities Today and noon
- Theresa Bryant - weather specialist; weekend evenings
- Kevin Phelps - meterologist; fil-in
Sports team
- Thom Cornelis - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
- Ben Rosehart - sports anchor; weekend evenings
Reporters
- Brian Boesen - general assignment reporter
- Erika Cervantes - general assignment reporter
- Bailey Dietz - general assignment reporter
- Lynnanne Nguyen - general assignment reporter
- Amber O'Brien - general assignment reporter
- Morgan Ottier - general assignment reporter
- Fran Riley - general assignment reporter
- Joe St. George - general assignment reporter
- Jim Victor - Quad Cities Today financial expert
Further reading
- KWQC On-Air accessed 2007-04-03