WATE-TV
Encyclopedia
WATE-TV is the ABC
-affiliated television station
for Eastern Tennessee licensed to Knoxville
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 26 (or virtual channel
6.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Sharp's Ridge
in North Knoxville
. The station can also be seen on Charter
channel 6 as well as Comcast
and Knology
channel 13. Owned by New Young Broadcasting, WATE has studios in Camp House
on North Broadway/SR 33/SR 71
/US 441
. Syndicated
programming on the station includes Judge Judy
, The Insider
, The Rachael Ray Show, and Judge Joe Brown among others.
WATE-TV carried The Country Network on it's second subchannel until November 1, 2011, when WATE-TV's parent company, New Young Broadcasting terminated it's deal with TCN, and dropped the channel on all of its stations.
in Johnson City
collapsed a few months earlier. That station would have been first to sign-on, but WROL claimed the title by only 25 days. Its first studios were underneath the 800 feet (243.8 m) self-supporting tower on Sharp's Ridge which was one of the tallest man-made structures in Tennessee
at the time. It was owned by local businessman Paul Mountcastle and a small group of investors along with WROL-AM 950.
WROL-TV signed-on as a primary NBC
affiliate because of WROL-AM's longtime affiliation with NBC Radio and also shared ABC
programming with CBS
affiliate WSKT-TV which later changed its calls to WTVK (it is now WVLT-TV
). Although NBC held a firm grip on WROL, DuMont
tried unsuccessfully several times to get a secondary affiliation with the station when it was not broadcasting NBC and ABC. Channel 6 opted to fill its non-network schedule with local programming, an Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) mandate. DuMont was forced to join WTVK on a secondary basis. CBS also made many attempts to grab a primary affiliation with Knoxville's only VHF station, but the owners of WROL held firm despite many financial incentives from the other networks especially CBS.
The station changed its call letters to WATE-TV in 1955 with the new call letters not really standing for anything. The station's Program Director at the time stated "those call letters were the next available at the FCC
." In 1956, WATE dropped ABC when WBIR-TV
signed-on and took the CBS affiliation from WTVK, leaving WTVK the ABC station by default. At that time, all three networks had three affiliates in Knoxville. WROL-AM later changed its call letters to WATE-AM to correspond with the television station. WATE-TV had a role in the failure of WBIR to have its first antenna tower on Zachary Ridge next to House Mountain in 1965 for better coverage. This station used a rather ingenious way to force its chief rival station to build a 1751 feet (533.7 m) tower on Zachary Ridge instead of the much higher House Mountain. WATE simply purchased the top of House Mountain from the property owners. With no property for the tower base on the Mountain, WBIR had no choice but to build a much taller tower in the valley two years later.
As was broadcast tradition in the 1950s, the channel's sales offices moved to Downtown Knoxville and the studios were moved to a new building on North Broadway. In 1965, Mountcastle and his group sold WATE-TV to Nationwide Communications
of Columbus, Ohio
. That same year, the station moved into and renovated the historic 19th century Greystone Mansion that is now on the National Register of Historic Places
. At the same time, WATE-AM (which had changed frequency to 620 kilohertz) was sold off changing its call letters to WETE. It is now WRJZ
-AM 620. The self-supporting tower on Sharp's Ridge was dismantled in 1975 when the station built a 1153 feet (351.4 m) broadcasting tower alongside it. In September 1979, WATE swapped its NBC affiliation with WTVK and became an ABC affiliate.
The network had become the highest-rated in the country and wanted a stronger station in Knoxville. At the time, WATE was the market
leader with a strong VHF signal in Eastern Tennessee, Southwestern Virginia
, and Southeastern Kentucky
. WTVK's UHF signal on channel 26 was marginal at best in much of the Knoxville area and many viewers in Eastern Tennessee and Southeastern Kentucky had never seen ABC before. Coincidentally, seventeen years later, WATE's digital signal would be broadcast on digital channel 26.
During its first fifty years, WATE pioneered many locally-produced programs like The Homemaker Show hosted by Mary Starr. Housewives were glued to television sets as Mary showed them the latest recipes and homemaking tips. Star Time, hosted by local businessman Jim Clayton
, featured many local country music acts and The Cas Walker Show was a local country music show hosted by former Knoxville Mayor Cas Walker
who also owned a chain of grocery stores in Eastern Tennessee, Southwestern Virginia, and Eastern Kentucky. The show featured Dolly Parton
before she became famous. In 1981, the station premiered PM Magazine
with MayCay Beeler and Calvin Sneed. The popular syndicated show highlighted unusual people, places, and things from the East Tennessee/Southeastern Kentucky area.
In 1993, Nationwide sold its three ABC-affiliated television stations (WATE, WBAY-TV
in Green Bay, Wisconsin
, and WRIC-TV
in Richmond, Virginia
) to Young Broadcasting. Young Broadcasting emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2010, and the new company was renamed New Young Broadcasting, Inc. As a contingency of the reorganization plan, Young has a limited management Agreement with Gray Television
of Atlanta, Georgia
to allow that company management all of Young's stations except WATE, WLNS and KRON-TV
in San Francisco. Gray was not allowed to operate WATE or WLNS because it also owns WVLT in the Knoxville market and WILX in Lansing.
powerhouse in Eastern Tennessee, it has been the leader in other areas. In the late-1960s, it assembled the popular on-air team of news anchor Pete Gardener, weathercaster Margie Ison, and Sports Director
Mike Thurman. This move resulted in the station slowly making inroads into the ratings-dominant WBIR which was the overall market
leader at the time. In the early-1970s, Sam Brown
joined WATE as news anchor and the group of "Sam, Mike, and Margie" subsequently became the most well-known on-air personality team in Knoxville.
By the mid-1970s after the previous changes had been in place for awhile, all of the station's newscasts were ranked number one in their respective time periods. Also at this point, it was the first outlet to update its newsroom technology with a switch from film to videotape (i.e. electronic journalism
) as well as own-and-operating a live microwave truck to assist in newsgathering purposes.
The station was Knoxville's first to utilize a helicopter (known as "Chopper 6") for on-air coverage. In 1977, WATE debuted the market's first local newscasts seen on Saturday evenings featuring anchor Art Powell, Kay Elliott providing weather forecasts, and Calvin Sneed with sports headlines. This was followed in 1978 by the launch of Knoxville's original midday newscast at noon with Calvin Sneed adding the show to his anchoring duties. Later that year, he would be promoted to weekend news anchor in order to welcome the area's first local newscasts seen on Sunday nights.
In 1979, WATE promoted Sneed to become the first African-American to co-anchor weeknight broadcasts in Eastern Tennessee. At that time, the unofficial goal of the weeknight news crew was to regularly scoop the Knoxville Journal (a morning newspaper) which was in the process of gaining circulation over the Knoxville News Sentinel
(published in the afternoons). The stories seen on-air served as fodder for the next day's coverage assignments pioneering the "follow-up" concept of reporting in modern-day journalism
. WATE also hired the market's first AMS
-certified meteorologist in Knoxville and Eastern Tennessee in 1979 when Mark Mancuso
joined the team.
In 1998, a news share agreement was established with Fox affiliate WTNZ
(owned by Raycom Media
). This resulted in Knoxville's original prime time newscast to debut. Known as Fox 43 Ten O'Clock News, the nightly thirty minute show featured a similar format to broadcasts seen on this station except for WTNZ's logo being present in the graphics. At some point, it began to compete with another nightly newscast seen at 10 on CW affiliate WBXX-TV
. Produced by WBIR, this production offered as an alternative to WTNZ only aired for twelve minutes in an abbreviated format featuring the day's top stories along with an updated weather forecast. In early-March 2011, WTNZ terminated its outsourcing arrangement with WATE after entering into another contract with WBIR.
As a result, the latter station stopped producing the nightly update for WBXX. WBIR/WTNZ became the second news operation to upgrade to high definition on June 1 while WVLT was the first back on January 9, 2011. WATE's weekday noon show was cancelled on January 31, 2008 making the station Knoxville's only outlet without a newscast seen in the time period. On August 1, 2011 the station returned to the prime time newscast race with a new nightly 35 minute broadcast on WBXX (owned by the Lockwood Broadcasting Group
) through an outsourcing agreement. The broadcast is known on-air as The CW 20 News at 10.
On October 17, 2011, starting with their 5 p.m. newscast, WATE became the third station in the Knoxville market to broadcast in high definition. Along with the switch to HD, the station unveiled a new logo and new graphics.
WATE 6 News Storm Team
Sports team
Reporters
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...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for Eastern Tennessee licensed to Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
. It broadcasts a high definition
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...
digital signal on UHF channel 26 (or 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....
6.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Sharp's Ridge
Sharp's Ridge
Sharp's Ridge is a steep limestone ridge in Knoxville, Tennessee, north of the city's downtown. A area of the ridge is maintained as Sharp's Ridge Memorial Park, a city park dedicated to the honor of the area's war dead. The ridge also is the site of a transmitting antenna farm that serves most...
in North Knoxville
North Knoxville
North Knoxville is the section of Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, that lies north of the city's downtown area. It is concentrated around Broadway , Clinton Highway , Tazewell Pike , Washington Pike, and adjacent roads, and includes the neighborhoods of Fountain City, Inskip-Norwood, Oakwood-Lincoln...
. The station can also be seen on Charter
Charter Communications
Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...
channel 6 as well as Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
and Knology
Knology
Knology Inc. is a cable company that formed in 1994 by ITC Holding Company, Inc, a telecommunications holding company in West Point, Georgia that also founded Internet service provider Mindspring. In late 1994, shortly after Knology's inception, two employees made a $600,000 investment to make...
channel 13. Owned by New Young Broadcasting, WATE has studios in Camp House
Camp House
Greystone, also called the Camp House, is a prominent historic home in Knoxville, Tennessee. It is an imposing structure, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The mansion is located at 1306 Broadway....
on North Broadway/SR 33/SR 71
Tennessee State Route 71
State Route 71 is a north–south state highway in Tennessee. For most of the length it is a "hidden" route, as it coincides with U.S. Route 441 in all but a short section in Knoxville. The road begins at the North Carolina state line in Sevier County within the Great Smoky Mountains National...
/US 441
U.S. Route 441
U.S. Route 441 is a spur route of U.S. Route 41. It currently runs for 939 miles from U.S. Route 41 in Miami, Florida to U.S. Route 25W in Lake City, Tennessee. Between its termini, US 441 passes through the states of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee...
. Syndicated
Television 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...
programming on the station includes Judge Judy
Judge Judy
Judge Judy is an American court show featuring former family court judge Judith Sheindlin arbitrating over small claims cases in small claims court...
, The Insider
The Insider (TV series)
The Insider is an American tabloid television news program covering events and celebrities. It debuted on September 13, 2004 as a spinoff of Entertainment Tonight and started as a popular segment that took viewers "behind closed doors" and gave them "inside" information...
, The Rachael Ray Show, and Judge Joe Brown among others.
Digital programming
| Channel | Video | Aspect 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,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1 | 720p 720p 720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
Main WATE programming / ABC |
WATE-TV carried The Country Network on it's second subchannel until November 1, 2011, when WATE-TV's parent company, New Young Broadcasting terminated it's deal with TCN, and dropped the channel on all of its stations.
History
Channel 6 was East Tennessee's first television station, signing on the air at 8 PM on October 1, 1953 as WROL-TV. The race to be the first television station in the eastern part of the state was won by WROL-TV when the 300 feet (91.4 m) tower of WJHL-TVWJHL-TV
WJHL-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Tri-Cities area of Northeastern Tennessee and Southwestern Virginia that's licensed to Johnson City, Tennessee. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter on the southwest slope of Holston High Point...
in Johnson City
Johnson City, Tennessee
Johnson City is a city in Carter, Sullivan, and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, with most of the city being in Washington County...
collapsed a few months earlier. That station would have been first to sign-on, but WROL claimed the title by only 25 days. Its first studios were underneath the 800 feet (243.8 m) self-supporting tower on Sharp's Ridge which was one of the tallest man-made structures in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
at the time. It was owned by local businessman Paul Mountcastle and a small group of investors along with WROL-AM 950.
WROL-TV signed-on as a primary 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...
affiliate because of WROL-AM's longtime affiliation with NBC Radio and also shared 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...
programming with 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...
affiliate WSKT-TV which later changed its calls to WTVK (it is now WVLT-TV
WVLT-TV
WVLT-TV is the CBS television network affiliate station serving Knoxville, Tennessee, the 58th DMA in America according to Nielsen Media Research...
). Although NBC held a firm grip on WROL, 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...
tried unsuccessfully several times to get a secondary affiliation with the station when it was not broadcasting NBC and ABC. Channel 6 opted to fill its non-network schedule with local programming, an 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) mandate. DuMont was forced to join WTVK on a secondary basis. CBS also made many attempts to grab a primary affiliation with Knoxville's only VHF station, but the owners of WROL held firm despite many financial incentives from the other networks especially CBS.
The station changed its call letters to WATE-TV in 1955 with the new call letters not really standing for anything. The station's Program Director at the time stated "those call letters were the next available at the FCC
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...
." In 1956, WATE dropped ABC when WBIR-TV
WBIR-TV
WBIR-TV, channel 10, is the NBC affiliate television station in Knoxville, Tennessee. The station is licensed to the Gannett Pacific Corporation, a subsidiary of the Gannett Company...
signed-on and took the CBS affiliation from WTVK, leaving WTVK the ABC station by default. At that time, all three networks had three affiliates in Knoxville. WROL-AM later changed its call letters to WATE-AM to correspond with the television station. WATE-TV had a role in the failure of WBIR to have its first antenna tower on Zachary Ridge next to House Mountain in 1965 for better coverage. This station used a rather ingenious way to force its chief rival station to build a 1751 feet (533.7 m) tower on Zachary Ridge instead of the much higher House Mountain. WATE simply purchased the top of House Mountain from the property owners. With no property for the tower base on the Mountain, WBIR had no choice but to build a much taller tower in the valley two years later.
As was broadcast tradition in the 1950s, the channel's sales offices moved to Downtown Knoxville and the studios were moved to a new building on North Broadway. In 1965, Mountcastle and his group sold WATE-TV to Nationwide Communications
Nationwide Communications
Nationwide Communications Inc. was a media subsidiary of the Nationwide Insurance Company, which operated from 1946 until 1997. Based in Columbus, Ohio, Nationwide Communications owned and operated a variety of radio and television stations across the United States until it sold off all its radio...
of Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
. That same year, the station moved into and renovated the historic 19th century Greystone Mansion that is now on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. At the same time, WATE-AM (which had changed frequency to 620 kilohertz) was sold off changing its call letters to WETE. It is now WRJZ
WRJZ
WRJZ is a Christian talk radio station in Knoxville, TN that broadcasts on 620 AM. It is owned by Tennessee Media Associates.-Programming:Bob Bell hosts the morning show...
-AM 620. The self-supporting tower on Sharp's Ridge was dismantled in 1975 when the station built a 1153 feet (351.4 m) broadcasting tower alongside it. In September 1979, WATE swapped its NBC affiliation with WTVK and became an ABC affiliate.
The network had become the highest-rated in the country and wanted a stronger station in Knoxville. At the time, WATE was the market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
leader with a strong VHF signal in Eastern Tennessee, Southwestern Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, and Southeastern Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
. WTVK's UHF signal on channel 26 was marginal at best in much of the Knoxville area and many viewers in Eastern Tennessee and Southeastern Kentucky had never seen ABC before. Coincidentally, seventeen years later, WATE's digital signal would be broadcast on digital channel 26.
During its first fifty years, WATE pioneered many locally-produced programs like The Homemaker Show hosted by Mary Starr. Housewives were glued to television sets as Mary showed them the latest recipes and homemaking tips. Star Time, hosted by local businessman Jim Clayton
Jim Clayton
Jim Clayton is the co-leader, pianist and composer for The Clayton/Scott Group. The band won Group of the Year, 2005 and 2006 at the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards and Best Jazz Recording, 2004 Canadian Urban Music Awards....
, featured many local country music acts and The Cas Walker Show was a local country music show hosted by former Knoxville Mayor Cas Walker
Cas Walker
Orton Caswell Walker , better known as Cas Walker, was a Tennessee businessman, politician, and personality on television and radio. Walker founded a successful chain of small grocery stores that grew to include several dozen stores scattered throughout the Knoxville, Tennessee vicinity as well as...
who also owned a chain of grocery stores in Eastern Tennessee, Southwestern Virginia, and Eastern Kentucky. The show featured Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
before she became famous. In 1981, the station premiered PM Magazine
PM Magazine
PM/Evening Magazine was a television series with a news and entertainment format. It was syndicated to stations throughout the United States...
with MayCay Beeler and Calvin Sneed. The popular syndicated show highlighted unusual people, places, and things from the East Tennessee/Southeastern Kentucky area.
In 1993, Nationwide sold its three ABC-affiliated television stations (WATE, WBAY-TV
WBAY-TV
WBAY-TV is the ABC television affiliate in Green Bay, Wisconsin, broadcasting on UHF digital channel 23 from a transmitter located in the town of Ledgeview, Wisconsin, and master control based in its building in downtown Green Bay...
in Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
, and WRIC-TV
WRIC-TV
WRIC-TV, virtual channel 8 , is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Richmond, Virginia market. It is owned by Young Broadcasting. The station is licensed to nearby Petersburg, while its studios are just off the Powhite Parkway extension in the Arboretum office park in western...
in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
) to Young Broadcasting. Young Broadcasting emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2010, and the new company was renamed New Young Broadcasting, Inc. As a contingency of the reorganization plan, Young has a limited management Agreement with Gray Television
Gray Television
Gray Television, Inc. is a communications company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with administrative offices in Albany, Georgia.Established in 1946 by James H...
of Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
to allow that company management all of Young's stations except WATE, WLNS and KRON-TV
KRON-TV
KRON-TV, virtual channel 4 , is a television station in San Francisco, California, serving as the Bay Area affiliate of the MyNetworkTV programming service; the station is owned by Young Broadcasting...
in San Francisco. Gray was not allowed to operate WATE or WLNS because it also owns WVLT in the Knoxville market and WILX in Lansing.
News operation
Although WATE may not have always been a ratingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
powerhouse in Eastern Tennessee, it has been the leader in other areas. In the late-1960s, it assembled the popular on-air team of news anchor Pete Gardener, weathercaster Margie Ison, and Sports Director
Sports Director
A sports director is an individual at a television or radio station who is in charge of the sports department. In local news, the sports director is typically the station's primary sportscaster, and often anchors the primetime newscasts on weekdays. They are in charge of sports programming and...
Mike Thurman. This move resulted in the station slowly making inroads into the ratings-dominant WBIR which was the overall market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
leader at the time. In the early-1970s, Sam Brown
Sam Brown
Sam Brown may refer to:* Sam Brown , singer/songwriter, daughter of the singer, Joe Brown* Sam Brown , artist and author, noted for his explodingdog web site...
joined WATE as news anchor and the group of "Sam, Mike, and Margie" subsequently became the most well-known on-air personality team in Knoxville.
By the mid-1970s after the previous changes had been in place for awhile, all of the station's newscasts were ranked number one in their respective time periods. Also at this point, it was the first outlet to update its newsroom technology with a switch from film to videotape (i.e. electronic journalism
Electronic journalism
Electronic journalism or electronic news-gathering is most associated with broadcast news where television producers, reporters and editors make use of electronic video production recording devices for gathering and presenting information in telecasts and radio transmissions reaching the public...
) as well as own-and-operating a live microwave truck to assist in newsgathering purposes.
The station was Knoxville's first to utilize a helicopter (known as "Chopper 6") for on-air coverage. In 1977, WATE debuted the market's first local newscasts seen on Saturday evenings featuring anchor Art Powell, Kay Elliott providing weather forecasts, and Calvin Sneed with sports headlines. This was followed in 1978 by the launch of Knoxville's original midday newscast at noon with Calvin Sneed adding the show to his anchoring duties. Later that year, he would be promoted to weekend news anchor in order to welcome the area's first local newscasts seen on Sunday nights.
In 1979, WATE promoted Sneed to become the first African-American to co-anchor weeknight broadcasts in Eastern Tennessee. At that time, the unofficial goal of the weeknight news crew was to regularly scoop the Knoxville Journal (a morning newspaper) which was in the process of gaining circulation over the Knoxville News Sentinel
Knoxville News Sentinel
The Knoxville News Sentinel is a daily newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. It operates , an award-winning news website....
(published in the afternoons). The stories seen on-air served as fodder for the next day's coverage assignments pioneering the "follow-up" concept of reporting in modern-day journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
. WATE also hired the market's first AMS
American Meteorological Society
The American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
-certified meteorologist in Knoxville and Eastern Tennessee in 1979 when Mark Mancuso
Mark Mancuso
Mark Mancuso is an American meteorologist formerly employed by The Weather Channel in Atlanta, Georgia and now with AccuWeather in State College, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a B.S. in Meteorology.-Career:Mark was a meteorologist for WITN-TV in Washington,...
joined the team.
In 1998, a news share agreement was established with Fox affiliate WTNZ
WTNZ
WTNZ is the Fox-affiliated television station for Eastern Tennessee licensed to Knoxville. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 34 from a transmitter on Sharp's Ridge in the city's Arlington section. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 11 and in high definition...
(owned by Raycom Media
Raycom Media
- History :Although Raycom Media dates its birth to 1996, the core of the company was formed in 1992 when Atlanta native Bert Ellis formed Ellis Communications. He eventually controlled 13 television stations and two radio stations....
). This resulted in Knoxville's original prime time newscast to debut. Known as Fox 43 Ten O'Clock News, the nightly thirty minute show featured a similar format to broadcasts seen on this station except for WTNZ's logo being present in the graphics. At some point, it began to compete with another nightly newscast seen at 10 on CW affiliate WBXX-TV
WBXX-TV
WBXX-TV is the CW-affiliated television station for Eastern Tennessee licensed to Crossville. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 20 from a transmitter in unincorporated Southwestern Anderson County. The station can also be seen on Comcast and Knology channel 7 as well as...
. Produced by WBIR, this production offered as an alternative to WTNZ only aired for twelve minutes in an abbreviated format featuring the day's top stories along with an updated weather forecast. In early-March 2011, WTNZ terminated its outsourcing arrangement with WATE after entering into another contract with WBIR.
As a result, the latter station stopped producing the nightly update for WBXX. WBIR/WTNZ became the second news operation to upgrade to high definition on June 1 while WVLT was the first back on January 9, 2011. WATE's weekday noon show was cancelled on January 31, 2008 making the station Knoxville's only outlet without a newscast seen in the time period. On August 1, 2011 the station returned to the prime time newscast race with a new nightly 35 minute broadcast on WBXX (owned by the Lockwood Broadcasting Group
Lockwood Broadcasting Group
Lockwood Broadcasting Group is a television broadcasting company that owns four television stations. Three stations are CW affiliates. The third is a NBC affiliate which carries The CW and ABC on digital subchannels....
) through an outsourcing agreement. The broadcast is known on-air as The CW 20 News at 10.
On October 17, 2011, starting with their 5 p.m. newscast, WATE became the third station in the Knoxville market to broadcast in high definition. Along with the switch to HD, the station unveiled a new logo and new graphics.
Newscast titles
- Marlboro News (1954–1960)
- Dateline News (1960–1969)
- Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(1969–1980) - TV-6 Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(1980–1984) - Team Six Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(1984–1985) - TV-6 Live Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(1985–1991) - 6 Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(1991–2001) - Eleven at Eleven (11 p.m. newscast; 1991–2001)
- 6 News (2001–present)
Station slogans
- "Suddenly Complete" (1979, reflecting network switch to ABC)
- "The Area's Leading News Station" (1980–1987)
- "Coverage You Can Count On" (1991–2001)
- "The News Station" (2001–2010)
- "Expect More" (2010–present)
News team
Anchors- Jamie Lynn Drohan - weekend mornings; also weekday morning reporter/fill-in anchor
- Kristin Farley - weeknights at 5, 5:30 and 10 p.m.
- Gene Patterson - weeknights at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.; also Tennessee This WeekThis Week (ABC TV series)This Week is ABC's Sunday morning political affairs program.The Sunday morning talk show has aired on Sunday mornings on ABC since 1981; the program is initially aired at 9:00 AM ET, although many stations air the program later, especially those in other time zones...
host - Tearsa Smith - weekday mornings; also weeknight 5, 5:30 and 6 p.m. fill-in anchor, and weeknight reporter from 5 until 6:30; also heard on WWSTWWSTWWST is a radio station licensed to Sevierville, Tennessee, and serving the Knoxville market. It is owned by the Journal Broadcast Group...
-FM 102.1 - Bo Williams - weekday mornings
- Lori Tucker - weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.; also medical reporter and "6 News Nightline" segment producer
WATE 6 News Storm Team
- Matt Hinkin (AMS Certified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...
and 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...
Seals of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights - Julya Johnson - meteorologist; weekday mornings
- Ken Weathers - meteorologist; weekends
Sports team
- Jim Wogan - sports director; weeknights at 6, 10 and 11 p.m.
- Fallon Smith - sports anchor; weekends at 6, 10 and 11 p.m.
- Prentice Elliott - sports reporter and photographer
Reporters
- Josh Ault - videojournalist
- Don Dare - consumer and "Food for Thought" segment producer
- Erica Estep - education and special projects; also fill-in news anchor
- Hana Kim - also fill-in news anchor
- Jessa Lewis
- Jill McNeal
- Mona Nair
External links
- WATE-TV (can be entered into web-enabled mobile device for wireless access)
- WBXX-TV "CW 20"