WBAL-TV
Encyclopedia
WBAL-TV is the NBC
-affiliated television station in Baltimore, Maryland. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on VHF channel 11. It is one of the flagship stations of Hearst Television, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation
, which also owns sister radio stations WBAL
(1090 AM) and WIYY (97.9 FM). The three stations share a studio and office facility on Television Hill in the Woodberry
section of Baltimore, near the transmitting tower WBAL-TV shares with WIYY and four other Baltimore television stations. Syndicated programming includes Live! With Regis and Kelly, The Nate Berkus Show
, Anderson
, The Dr. Oz Show
, The Ellen DeGeneres Show
, with Inside Edition
, and Access Hollywood
.
. It was owned by Hearst Corporation along with WBAL radio and two newspapers, the Baltimore News-Post and the Baltimore American (which later merged as the Baltimore News-American
before shutting down in 1986). It is one of two Hearst-owned stations to have been built from the ground up by the company (the other being Pittsburgh's WTAE-TV
), and the oldest to be continuously owned by Hearst through their various television subsidiaries through the years.
At its launch, WBAL-TV was an NBC affiliate. Early programming include Musical Almanac, Look and Cook, and Know Baltimore, along with news and sports productions. In the 1950s, the station introduced Romper Room
, Baltimore's first live morning variety show. This show eventually became a nationally franchised program. Another long-running show of the 1950s was the weekday Quiz Club, co-hosted by local personalities Brent Gunts and Jay Grayson. Baltimore Sun
columnist Jacques Kelly described it at the time of Grayson's death in June 2000, as "pure 1950s live television ... executed on a low budget ... the genial hosts ... ruled the 1 p.m. airwaves".
WBAL-TV produced several local bowling
shows in the 1960s and early 1970s, including Strikes and Spares, Pinbusters, Duckpins for Dollars, Bowling for Dollars
, and Spare Time. The station even went as far as building bowling alleys at its studios. It also launched several children's entertainment shows during this period, such as Rhea and Sunshine, Pete the Pirate, P.W. Doodle, Heads Up, and the teen-oriented Kirby Scott Show.
WBAL-TV's first stint as an NBC affiliate ended on August 30, 1981, when the station swapped affiliations with WMAR-TV
(channel 2), then owned by the Baltimore Sun, and became a CBS
affiliate. CBS was not pleased with WMAR-TV's frequent pre-emptions and low news ratings. As a CBS affiliate, however, channel 11 pre-empted an hour of the network's daytime schedule everyday, as well as half of its Saturday cartoon lineup. Channel 11 also did not run CBS's late night programming. Baltimore viewers who wanted to see the entire CBS line-up could do so through WDVM-TV/WUSA
in Washington, D.C.
, which was available over-the-air in most of the Baltimore area and pre-empted little network programming.
In 1994, the E.W. Scripps Company, the present owners of WMAR-TV, negotiated with ABC to affiliate with its Baltimore station as part of a multi-station deal. In response, CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting
formed a partnership (they later merged) resulting in the CBS affiliation moving from WBAL-TV to Westinghouse's WJZ-TV
(channel 13), Baltimore's longtime ABC
affiliate. Largely by default, channel 11 rejoined the NBC network on January 2, 1995, and has remained the market's NBC affiliate since then. It should be noted that WBAL-TV had been invited to switch affiliations to ABC in 1977 (when ABC was the number-one network in primetime), and turned them down out of concerns about the poor ratings for ABC's evening newscasts.
In August 2005, WBAL-TV launched a 24-hour local weather channel, WBAL-TV 11 Insta-Weather Plus, broadcast over-the-air on digital channel 11-2 and by cable in much of Maryland on Comcast channel 208.
The station was a prominent feature in the movie Diner
, set in Baltimore. One of the character's girlfriends works there, and another character watches College Bowl
, an NBC program aired on WBAL-TV.
WBAL-TV lent then-meteorologist Sandra Shaw to Hearst-Argyle sister station WDSU-TV in New Orleans on September 1, 2008, to assist with the Louisiana station's coverage of Hurricane Gustav.
WBAL is one of the few NBC affiliates that does not air the fourth hour of Today.
Excluding most regular season games (seen mostly on WJZ), WBAL is the official station of the Baltimore Ravens
, and aired most of their regular season games in 1996 and 1997. WBAL produces and airs the majority of the team's preseason games, but will use the NBC network feed if NBC picks up a Ravens preseason game for telecast
.
Digital channels>
Channel
Video
Aspect
Programming
11.1
1080i
16:9
main WBAL-TV programming / NBC HD
11.2
480i
4:3
WBAL Plus
channel 11, on June 12, 2009 , as part of the DTV transition in the United States
. The station had been broadcasting its pre-transition digital signal over UHF
channel 59, but returned to channel 11 for its post-transition operations. Several VHF
digital stations received permission for a power increase later that month after stations experienced signal problems as a result of changing their digital channel from UHF
to VHF. WBAL-TV chose to test its equipment before making a commitment.
WBAL Plus originally carried NBC Weather Plus
until it dissolved at the end of 2008. After that WBAL continued to broadcast 11 Insta-Weather Plus, which was the same as NBC Weather Plus
except without the national feed. In April 2009 WBAL 11 Insta-Weather Plus changed to WBAL Plus. Currently WBAL Plus still carries WBAL 11 Insta-Weather Plus, along with syndicated other special programming.
format to Baltimore. Characterized by short, usually 90 second, news "packages" and upbeat introductory news themes, Baltimore's Action News briefly replaced Channel 13 as the number one news station in Baltimore during the mid-seventies. The architect of the success was news director Ron Kershaw
, who had come to Baltimore from Texas and was considered somewhat ahead of his time. He brought in talented anchors like Sue Simmons
and Spencer Christian
and streamlined the news operation. Kershaw later brought other innovations to WNBC-TV in New York
and WBBM-TV
in Chicago
as news director at those stations. Since the late 1980s, it has been branded News 11, WBAL-TV 11 News, or just simply 11 News.
From the early 1960s through the 1970s, WBAL-TV was the ratings leader in Baltimore. WJZ-TV took the lead in the 1970s and held it for 30 years, but WBAL-TV was a strong runner-up for most of that time. In recent years, WBAL-TV's newscasts placed first at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. However, in the November 2009 Nielsen ratings
sweeps period—the first since the debut of The Jay Leno Show
--WBAL's 11 pm newscast fell precipitously from first to a distant second behind WJZ. (By contrast, the 11 pm newscast on WRC-TV in nearby Washington, DC was one of the least affected late-night newscasts of any NBC affiliate or O&O in the country; it continued to dominate its competitors.) WBAL still leads at 5 and 6 pm. With NBC taking Leno off of prime-time in February 2010, it could take some time before the 11 o'clock newscast would regain the lead.
On January 3, 2009, WBAL-TV became the second station in Baltimore (behind WBFF-TV) to launch local news and weather in high definition
. Only the in-studio cameras and the stations' helicopter were in HD at the time of the switch. For over a year, most field reports were still in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition. Most field reports are currently shot in 16:9 widescreen enhanced definition.
In addition, WBAL-TV became the first Baltimore TV station to win a Peabody Award
for local news coverage (and the first Baltimore television station to win the award in any category in more than fifty years). WBAL's "11 News" was also awarded as one of the top three Best Television Newscasts by the National Headliners Association, alongside WFAA-TV
in Dallas, and sister station WCVB-TV
in Boston
.
Other awards include:
InstaWeather+ Team
11 Sports
Reporters
Hearst Television Washington Bureau
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 in Baltimore, Maryland. 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 VHF channel 11. It is one of the flagship stations of Hearst Television, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation
Hearst Corporation
The Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...
, which also owns sister radio stations WBAL
WBAL (AM)
WBAL is a news-talk radio station located in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. WBAL broadcasts on a clear channel frequency with 50 kilowatts of power. Owned by the Hearst Corporation, WBAL's tri-mast transmitters are located in Randallstown, Maryland...
(1090 AM) and WIYY (97.9 FM). The three stations share a studio and office facility on Television Hill in the Woodberry
Woodberry, Baltimore
Woodberry is a neighborhood located in the north-central area of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. A largely residential, middle-class area, Woodberry is a historic community bordered on the north by Cold Spring Lane, on the south by Druid Hill Park, on the west by Greenspring Avenue, and on the east by...
section of Baltimore, near the transmitting tower WBAL-TV shares with WIYY and four other Baltimore television stations. Syndicated programming includes Live! With Regis and Kelly, The Nate Berkus Show
The Nate Berkus Show
The Nate Berkus Show, commonly referred to as The Nate Show, is a syndicated talk show hosted by interior designer Nate Berkus, which premiered on September 13, 2010....
, Anderson
Anderson
-People:* Anderson Cooper, American television personality, son of Gloria Vanderbilt* Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira, Manchester United football player-Places:In Canada:* Anderson, British Columbia* Anderson Bay, British Columbia...
, The Dr. Oz Show
The Dr. Oz Show
The Dr. Oz Show is an American syndicated television talk show, hosted by Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon and teaching professor at Columbia University who became famous for his appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show from 2004 until 2009....
, The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...
, with Inside Edition
Inside Edition
Inside Edition is a thirty-minute American television syndicated news program, first aired on CBS on October 9, 1988. It was originally similar to the programs Hard Copy and A Current Affair, but now more closely resembles a condensed version of breakfast television, exclusively with pre-recorded...
, and Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood is a weekday television entertainment news program covering events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created by former Entertainment Tonight executive producer Jim Van Messel, and is currently directed by Robert Silverstein. In previous years, Doug Dougherty and...
.
History
WBAL-TV began operations on March 11, 1948 from its original studios on North Charles Street in Downtown BaltimoreDowntown Baltimore
Downtown Baltimore is the section of Baltimore traditionally bounded by Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to the west, Mt. Royal Avenue to the north, President Street to the east and the Inner Harbor area to the south. It consists of four neighborhoods: Westside, City Centre, Inner Harbor, and...
. It was owned by Hearst Corporation along with WBAL radio and two newspapers, the Baltimore News-Post and the Baltimore American (which later merged as the Baltimore News-American
Baltimore News-American
The Baltimore News-American was a Baltimore, Maryland, broadsheet newspaper with a continuous lineage of more than two hundred years of Baltimore newspapers. Its final edition was published on May 27, 1986.-History:...
before shutting down in 1986). It is one of two Hearst-owned stations to have been built from the ground up by the company (the other being Pittsburgh's WTAE-TV
WTAE-TV
WTAE-TV is the ABC affiliated television station for Western Pennsylvania that is licensed to Pittsburgh, broadcasting on UHF channel 51 and identifying via PSIP as channel 4 . It also serves as an ABC affiliate for the Wheeling/Steubenville and Clarksburg/Weston, West Virginia market areas...
), and the oldest to be continuously owned by Hearst through their various television subsidiaries through the years.
At its launch, WBAL-TV was an NBC affiliate. Early programming include Musical Almanac, Look and Cook, and Know Baltimore, along with news and sports productions. In the 1950s, the station introduced Romper Room
Romper Room
Romper Room is a children's television series that ran in the United States from 1953 to 1994 as well as at various times in Australia, Canada, Japan, Puerto Rico, New Zealand and the United Kingdom...
, Baltimore's first live morning variety show. This show eventually became a nationally franchised program. Another long-running show of the 1950s was the weekday Quiz Club, co-hosted by local personalities Brent Gunts and Jay Grayson. Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....
columnist Jacques Kelly described it at the time of Grayson's death in June 2000, as "pure 1950s live television ... executed on a low budget ... the genial hosts ... ruled the 1 p.m. airwaves".
WBAL-TV produced several local bowling
Bowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
shows in the 1960s and early 1970s, including Strikes and Spares, Pinbusters, Duckpins for Dollars, Bowling for Dollars
Bowling for Dollars
Bowling for Dollars is a television game show on which people could play the sport of bowling to win cash and sometimes prizes based on how well they bowled....
, and Spare Time. The station even went as far as building bowling alleys at its studios. It also launched several children's entertainment shows during this period, such as Rhea and Sunshine, Pete the Pirate, P.W. Doodle, Heads Up, and the teen-oriented Kirby Scott Show.
WBAL-TV's first stint as an NBC affiliate ended on August 30, 1981, when the station swapped affiliations with WMAR-TV
WMAR-TV
WMAR-TV, channel 2, is the ABC affiliate television station in Baltimore, Maryland, owned by the broadcasting division of the E.W. Scripps Company...
(channel 2), then owned by the Baltimore Sun, and became a 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. CBS was not pleased with WMAR-TV's frequent pre-emptions and low news ratings. As a CBS affiliate, however, channel 11 pre-empted an hour of the network's daytime schedule everyday, as well as half of its Saturday cartoon lineup. Channel 11 also did not run CBS's late night programming. Baltimore viewers who wanted to see the entire CBS line-up could do so through WDVM-TV/WUSA
WUSA (TV)
WUSA is a television station broadcasting on channel 9 in Washington, D.C.. Owned by the Gannett Company, WUSA is an affiliate of the CBS television network, and the longest-tenured affiliate of that network...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, which was available over-the-air in most of the Baltimore area and pre-empted little network programming.
Westinghouse Broadcasting
The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndication....
formed a partnership (they later merged) resulting in the CBS affiliation moving from WBAL-TV to Westinghouse's WJZ-TV
WJZ-TV
WJZ-TV, channel 13, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Baltimore, Maryland. WJZ-TV's studios and offices are located on Television Hill in the Woodberry section of Baltimore, adjacent to the transmission tower it shares with four other Baltimore...
(channel 13), Baltimore's longtime 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...
affiliate. Largely by default, channel 11 rejoined the NBC network on January 2, 1995, and has remained the market's NBC affiliate since then. It should be noted that WBAL-TV had been invited to switch affiliations to ABC in 1977 (when ABC was the number-one network in primetime), and turned them down out of concerns about the poor ratings for ABC's evening newscasts.
In August 2005, WBAL-TV launched a 24-hour local weather channel, WBAL-TV 11 Insta-Weather Plus, broadcast over-the-air on digital channel 11-2 and by cable in much of Maryland on Comcast channel 208.
The station was a prominent feature in the movie Diner
Diner (film)
Diner is a 1982 comedy-drama film written and directed by Barry Levinson. Levinson's screen directing debut, Diner is the first in his "Baltimore films", which also include the subsequent Tin Men, Avalon and Liberty Heights.-Plot:...
, set in Baltimore. One of the character's girlfriends works there, and another character watches College Bowl
College Bowl
College Bowl was a format of college-level quizbowl run and operated by College Bowl Company, Incorporated. It had a format similar to the current NAQT format. College Bowl first aired on US radio stations in 1953, and aired on US television from 1959 to 1970...
, an NBC program aired on WBAL-TV.
WBAL-TV lent then-meteorologist Sandra Shaw to Hearst-Argyle sister station WDSU-TV in New Orleans on September 1, 2008, to assist with the Louisiana station's coverage of Hurricane Gustav.
WBAL is one of the few NBC affiliates that does not air the fourth hour of Today.
Excluding most regular season games (seen mostly on WJZ), WBAL is the official station of the Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...
, and aired most of their regular season games in 1996 and 1997. WBAL produces and airs the majority of the team's preseason games, but will use the NBC network feed if NBC picks up a Ravens preseason game for telecast
NBC Sunday Night Football
NBC Sunday Night Football is a weekly television broadcast of Sunday evening National Football League games on NBC that began airing on Sunday, August 6, 2006 with the pre-season opening Hall of Fame Game. Al Michaels serves as the play-by-play announcer, with Cris Collinsworth as the color...
.
Digital programming
The station's digital signal is multiplexed: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...
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 ...
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...
Analog-to-digital conversion
WBAL-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHFVery high frequency
Very high frequency is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency...
channel 11, on June 12, 2009 , as part of the DTV transition in the United States
DTV transition in the United States
The DTV transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of free over-the-air television programming...
. The station had been broadcasting its pre-transition digital signal over UHF
Ultra high frequency
Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
channel 59, but returned to channel 11 for its post-transition operations. Several VHF
Very high frequency
Very high frequency is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency...
digital stations received permission for a power increase later that month after stations experienced signal problems as a result of changing their digital channel from UHF
Ultra high frequency
Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
to VHF. WBAL-TV chose to test its equipment before making a commitment.
WBAL Plus
WBAL Plus is WBAL’s digital sub-channel. It is broadcast over the air on WBAL 11.2, on Comcast digital channel 208, and Verizon FiOS channel 460. Programming on WBAL Plus consists of WBAL 11 Insta-Weather Plus, news casts, and other special programming.WBAL Plus originally carried 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...
until it dissolved at the end of 2008. After that WBAL continued to broadcast 11 Insta-Weather Plus, which was the same as 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...
except without the national feed. In April 2009 WBAL 11 Insta-Weather Plus changed to WBAL Plus. Currently WBAL Plus still carries WBAL 11 Insta-Weather Plus, along with syndicated other special programming.
News operation
For many years, WBAL-TV had waged a spirited battle for first place in the ratings with WJZ-TV. For example, In 1974, WBAL introduced the Action NewsAction News
Action News is a local television newscast format in the United States. It was conceived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at WFIL-TV by then-news director Mel Kampmann in 1970 as a response to the "Eyewitness News" format used on rival station KYW-TV...
format to Baltimore. Characterized by short, usually 90 second, news "packages" and upbeat introductory news themes, Baltimore's Action News briefly replaced Channel 13 as the number one news station in Baltimore during the mid-seventies. The architect of the success was news director Ron Kershaw
Ron Kershaw
Ron Kershaw was an American television news executive responsible for several television news innovations. Considered somewhat a genius, Kershaw was the news director in several large cities across the United States including New York, Chicago and Baltimore.-News director:In 1974, Kershaw was hired...
, who had come to Baltimore from Texas and was considered somewhat ahead of his time. He brought in talented anchors like Sue Simmons
Sue Simmons
Susan "Sue" Simmons has been the lead female news anchor at WNBC television in New York City since 1980.-Background:Simmons grew up in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem; her father was John Simmons, a renowned jazz bassist whose compatriots included Louis Armstrong, Art Tatum, John...
and Spencer Christian
Spencer Christian
Spencer Christian is an American television broadcaster, best known as the former weather forecaster for ABC's Good Morning America from 1986 to 1998. He currently is the weather forecaster for ABC-owned KGO-TV in San Francisco. Christian is also the author of several children's...
and streamlined the news operation. Kershaw later brought other innovations to WNBC-TV in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV, virtual channel 2 , is the CBS owned-and-operated television station in Chicago, Illinois. WBBM-TV's main studios and offices are located in The Loop section of Chicago, as part of the development at Block 37, and its transmitter is atop the Willis Tower.-History:WBBM-TV traces its history...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
as news director at those stations. Since the late 1980s, it has been branded News 11, WBAL-TV 11 News, or just simply 11 News.
From the early 1960s through the 1970s, WBAL-TV was the ratings leader in Baltimore. WJZ-TV took the lead in the 1970s and held it for 30 years, but WBAL-TV was a strong runner-up for most of that time. In recent years, WBAL-TV's newscasts placed first at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. However, in the November 2009 Nielsen ratings
Nielsen 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...
sweeps period—the first since the debut of The Jay Leno Show
The Jay Leno Show
The Jay Leno Show is an American comedy show created by and starring Jay Leno, that aired from September 14, 2009 to February 9, 2010 on NBC following the May 29, 2009 conclusion of Leno's first tenure as host of The Tonight Show...
--WBAL's 11 pm newscast fell precipitously from first to a distant second behind WJZ. (By contrast, the 11 pm newscast on WRC-TV in nearby Washington, DC was one of the least affected late-night newscasts of any NBC affiliate or O&O in the country; it continued to dominate its competitors.) WBAL still leads at 5 and 6 pm. With NBC taking Leno off of prime-time in February 2010, it could take some time before the 11 o'clock newscast would regain the lead.
On January 3, 2009, WBAL-TV became the second station in Baltimore (behind WBFF-TV) to launch local news and weather in 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...
. Only the in-studio cameras and the stations' helicopter were in HD at the time of the switch. For over a year, most field reports were still in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition. Most field reports are currently shot in 16:9 widescreen enhanced definition.
Awards and achievements
WBAL-TV has boasted many television firsts, including:- the first Baltimore television station to broadcast in color;
- the first station in Maryland (and the eighth in the world) to acquire a videotape cartridge machine;
- the first station in Baltimore to acquire a mobile satellite news-gathering system (dubbed "NEWSTAR 11");
- the first Baltimore station to hire an African-American news anchor and an African-American news director.
In addition, WBAL-TV became the first Baltimore TV station to win a Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
for local news coverage (and the first Baltimore television station to win the award in any category in more than fifty years). WBAL's "11 News" was also awarded as one of the top three Best Television Newscasts by the National Headliners Association, alongside WFAA-TV
WFAA-TV
WFAA, channel 8, is an ABC-affiliated television station serving the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, one of the top ten media markets in North America. The station is the flagship of Belo Corporation and the largest ABC affiliate not owned and operated by the network...
in Dallas, and sister station WCVB-TV
WCVB-TV
WCVB-TV, channel 5, is a television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Hearst Television and affiliated with the ABC Television Network. WCVB-TV's studios and transmitter are co-located in Needham, Massachusetts. WCVB is also one of six Boston television stations seen in Canada by...
in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
.
Other awards include:
- regional Edward R. MurrowEdward R. MurrowEdward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
Awards, the George Polk Award and the American Bar AssociationAmerican Bar AssociationThe American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
Gavel Award - for excellence in reporting and journalism; - Outstanding television news operation in Baltimore (by the Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
and United Press InternationalUnited Press InternationalUnited Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
)
Current on-air staff
Anchor- Mindy Basara - weekday mornings "11 News Today" (5-7 a.m.) and 7 a.m. on WBAL Plus; also investigative reporter
- Rod Daniels - weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
- Donna Hamilton - weekdays at 5 and 6 p.m.; also "Health Alert" reporter
- Lisa Robinson - weekend mornings "11 News Saturday/Sunday Morning"; also host of "11 TV Hill" and investigative/general assignment reporter
- Stan Stovall - weekday mornings "11 News Today" (5-7 a.m.), 7 a.m. on WBAL Plus and weeknights at 5 p.m.
- Deborah Weiner - weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.; also investigative reporter
- Sarah Caldwell - morning traffic reporter ("Traffic Pulse 11"); also Noon Anchor
InstaWeather+ Team
- Tom Tasselmyer (AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe 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...
Seal of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights and 5, 6 and 11 p.m. - John Collins (AMS Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekends at 6 and 11 p.m. & Thursdays at Noon
- Ava Marie - Meteorologist; Sunday Mornings "11 News Saturday Morning", Monday-Thursday Mornings "11 News Today" & Monday-Wednesdays at Noon
- Tony Pann (AMS Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; Tuesday-Friday "11 News Today", Saturday Mornings "11 News Saturday Morning" & Fridays at Noon
11 Sports
- Gerry Sandusky - Sports Director; weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
- Pete Gilbert - Sports Anchor; weekends at 6 and 11 p.m., also sports reporter
- Keith Mills - Sports Anchor; weekday mornings "11 News Today"
Reporters
- Kerry Cavanaugh - general assignment reporter
- David Collins - investigative and general assignment reporter
- Kim Dacey - general assignment reporter; Fill-in Traffic Reporter ("Traffic Pulse 11")
- Sheldon Dutes - general assignment reporter
- Jennifer Franciotti - general assignment reporter
- George Lettis - general assignment reporter
- Lowell Melser - general assignment reporter
- Jayne Miller - chief investigative reporter
- Kai Reed - general assignment reporter
- Rob Roblin - general assignment reporter
- Barry Simms - investigative and general assignment reporter
- Roy Taylor - "SkyTeam 11" pilot reporter
- Tim Tooten - education reporter
Hearst Television Washington Bureau
- Kate Amara - Hearst Washington bureau reporter
- Sally Kidd - Hearst Washington bureau reporter
- Nikole Killion - Hearst Washington bureau reporter
Notable former on-air staff
- Curt AndersonCurt AndersonCurtis Stovall Anderson is an American politician, lawyer and former broadcast journalist. Anderson was first elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in 1983, is the chairman of the Baltimore City Delegation, and past chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland. After serving 12...
, now in the Maryland General AssemblyMaryland General AssemblyThe Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is a bicameral body. The upper chamber, the Maryland State Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber, the Maryland House of Delegates, has 141 representatives... - Sade BaderinwaSade BaderinwaFolasade Olayinka Baderinwa, known professionally as Sade Baderinwa , is an Emmy Award-winning news anchor at New York's WABC Channel 7. She co-anchors the weekday 5 p.m...
, now with WABC-TVWABC-TVWABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company located in New York City. The station's studios and offices are located on the Upper West Side section of Manhattan, adjacent to ABC's corporate headquarters, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State...
in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... - Marianne Bannister
- Campbell BrownCampbell BrownCampbell Brown is an American television news reporter and anchor. She previously hosted an eponymous primetime show on CNN and was formerly co-anchor of NBC's Weekend Today...
, formerly at CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States... - Ron CanadaRon CanadaRon Canada is an American actor. He began as a television newscaster during the 1970s in the Baltimore-Washington area mainly on WBAL-TV Channel 11 in Baltimore, until the early 1980s when he became an actor. He was a tour guide at NBC studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza...
, newscaster during the 70's and early 80's, who later became an actor - Spencer ChristianSpencer ChristianSpencer Christian is an American television broadcaster, best known as the former weather forecaster for ABC's Good Morning America from 1986 to 1998. He currently is the weather forecaster for ABC-owned KGO-TV in San Francisco. Christian is also the author of several children's...
, now with KGO-TVKGO-TVKGO-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, based in San Francisco, California...
in San Francisco - Carol CostelloCarol CostelloCarol Costello is a CNN national correspondent and anchor, working out of the network's New York City bureau. She was part of CNN's Peabody-winning coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the 2008 presidential election, and also covered the Virginia Tech shootings, the Obama inauguration and the Casey...
, now at CNN - Jay Grayson, co-host of the weekday Quiz Club in the 1950s
- Brent Gunts, on-air personality in the 1950s who became the station's vice president and general manager for 14 years, until 1973
- Mike HambrickMike HambrickMike Hambrick is an American television anchor and correspondent who has worked on network television stations such as WJLA-TV in Washington, DC, KTVT-TV in Dallas, KTAR-TV in Phoenix and WBAL-TV in Baltimore. Hambrick was also a news anchor for WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh where he also served as its...
- Al Herndon, pioneering 1950s weatherman who wore a gas station attendant's uniform while delivering the forecast
- Rolf Hertsgaard, evening news anchorman for 15 years in the 1950s–1960s
- Vicki MabreyVicki MabreyVicki Mabrey is currently an ABC News Nightline correspondent. From 1999 to 2005, Mabrey was a CBS News 60 Minutes II correspondent....
, now with ABC NewsABC NewsABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company... - Royal ParkerRoyal ParkerRoyal Pollokoff , better known by the stage name Royal Parker, is an American television personality. In a broadcasting career spanning the 1940s–1990s, he appeared in various roles, becoming a staple on television screens in the Baltimore, Maryland, area.-Early years:Born in Baltimore,...
, 1962–mid-1990s - Lisa SaltersLisa SaltersAlisia Salters is a journalist and former collegiate women's basketball player. She has been a reporter for ESPN and ESPN on ABC since 2000. Previously, she covered the O.J. Simpson murder case for ABC and worked at WBAL-TV in Baltimore, Maryland....
, now with ESPNESPNEntertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming.... - Sue SimmonsSue SimmonsSusan "Sue" Simmons has been the lead female news anchor at WNBC television in New York City since 1980.-Background:Simmons grew up in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem; her father was John Simmons, a renowned jazz bassist whose compatriots included Louis Armstrong, Art Tatum, John...
, now with WNBC-TV in New York City - Ron SmithRon Smith (radio host)Ron Smith is an American talk radio show host on WBAL in Baltimore, Maryland. His show now airs weekdays from 9 to noon ET. It formerly aired from 3 to 6 pm ET....
, now with WBAL radio - Julius WestheimerJulius WestheimerJulius Westheimer was a financial advisor from Baltimore, Maryland. He is best known for his radio and television work, having dispensed financial advice on WBAL Radio, WYPR, WMAR, WBAL-TV and PBS' Wall $treet Week, and in columns in the Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Evening Sun, and Daily Record...