WJZ-TV
Encyclopedia
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 television stations.
. Its studio was the first in Baltimore specifically designed for television. Channel 13 was originally an ABC
affiliate; it was the second primary affiliate of the fledgling network. Until 1956, it carried a secondary affiliation with the DuMont Television Network
, and originated many Baltimore Colts
games for DuMont.
The Westinghouse Electric Corporation
purchased WAAM in May 1957. Westinghouse took control of the station in August of that year, and renamed it WJZ-TV the following month. The WJZ call letters had previously resided on ABC's flagship radio/television combination in New York City
, which changed its calls to WABC-AM
-FM
-TV
in 1953. However, Westinghouse's history with that set of call letters went back even further, as it was the original owner of WJZ radio, the flagship station of NBC
's Blue Network
, which would eventually become ABC.
All of Baltimore's TV stations had fairly short TV towers in the 1940s-50s with WJZ's at just over 700 feet tall. But in 1959, WJZ-TV built the world's first three-antenna candelabra tower and at roughly 1000 foot above average terrain, at the time, it was the tallest free standing TV antenna in the U.S., shared with WMAR-TV
and WBAL-TV
. The 997 feet (303.9 m) tower significantly improved the station's coverage in central Maryland, and also added new viewers in Pennsylvania
and Delaware
and of course Washington, D.C. It still operates from this 997 feet (303.9 m) tower today, which can be seen from Interstate 83
in Baltimore, not to mention from many parts of Baltimore County. The Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) Antenna Structure Registration page gives the tower's height as 997 feet (304 meters).,
Over the years, WJZ-TV frequently pre-empted ABC programming in favor of local shows and syndicated content from Westinghouse's broadcasting division, Group W
(notably the former ABC daytime soap opera Dark Shadows
, which WJZ-TV pre-empted during the mid-1960s). However, ABC was more than satisfied with channel 13, which was one of its strongest affiliates. Additionally, Baltimore viewers could watch ABC programs on Washington, D.C.
's WMAL-TV/WJLA-TV
, whose signal decently covers most of the Baltimore area.
From 1957 to 1964, one of the station's highest-rated programs was The Buddy Deane Show, an in-studio teen dance show similar to ABC's American Bandstand
, which WJZ-TV also pre-empted in favor of the Deane program. Deane's program was the inspiration for the John Waters
1988 motion picture Hairspray and its subsequent Broadway musical version
, which in turn has been made into a film
.
In 1976, Oprah Winfrey
became an anchor for the station's 6:00 p.m. newscast. She also co-hosted channel 13's local talk show, People Are Talking with Richard Sher
, which premiered on August 14, 1978, and ran until she left for Chicago
in 1983. The segment continues to run on the morning newscasts.
In 1994, ABC agreed to an affiliation deal with the broadcasting division of the E.W. Scripps Company, which called for three of Scripps' television stations to become ABC affiliates. ABC agreed to the deal as a condition of keeping its affiliation on Scripps' two biggest stations, WXYZ-TV
in Detroit and WEWS in Cleveland. Both stations had been heavily wooed by CBS, which was about to lose its longtime Detroit and Cleveland affiliates to Fox
. One of the stations due to switch was Baltimore's then-NBC
affiliate, WMAR-TV. ABC was reluctant to include WMAR in the deal; it had been a ratings also-ran for over 30 years while WJZ-TV was one of the strongest ABC affiliates in the nation. However, not wanting to be relegated to UHF in two markets with few viable choices for a new affiliate, ABC opted to end its 47-year affiliation with channel 13 and move its affiliation to channel 2.
Group W felt betrayed by ABC after so many years of loyalty. At the time, channel 13 had been affiliated with ABC longer than any station not owned and operated by the network. As a safeguard, it began to shop for an affiliation deal of its own. Eventually, Westinghouse agreed to a longterm affiliation contract with CBS. As a result, WJZ-TV and sister stations in Philadelphia
and Boston
became CBS affiliates (Westinghouse's two other television stations, in Pittsburgh
and San Francisco, were already CBS affiliates, but had to stop pre-empting network programming as a condition of the deal). The affiliation switch, the second in Baltimore television history, occurred early on the morning of January 2, 1995. As a result, channel 13 became the third station in Baltimore to affiliate with CBS. The network had originally affiliated with WMAR-TV in 1948 before moving to WBAL-TV in 1981. Westinghouse then bought CBS on November 24, 1995, making WJZ-TV a CBS owned-and-operated station. Notably, this gave CBS its first wholly owned station in the Baltimore/Washington area; CBS had been a minority owner of WTOP-TV in Washington (now WUSA
) from 1950 to 1954.
WJZ-TV has used its current "Stylized 13" logo, using a font face exclusive to Group W, since 1967. The only real change came in May 1997, when it added the CBS Eye to its logo. WJZ currently does not brand under the CBS Mandate, preferring to use its call letters.
The CBS affiliation came with an added plus in 1998, when the network gained the rights
to air all afternoon National Football League
games wherein the visitors were part of the American Football Conference
. The NFL's current team in Baltimore, the Ravens
, play in the AFC, and so most of their games are seen on WJZ-TV. The Ravens' only Super Bowl
appearance also aired on the station, as the Ravens defeated the New York Giants
in Super Bowl XXXV
.
WJZ-TV is the Baltimore-area affiliate of the It's Academic
high school quiz competition. Channel 13 has also served two stints as the television home of the Baltimore Orioles
baseball team, and has been the over-the-air home of the Orioles since 1994. It is one of the few "Big Three" stations that airs baseball on a regular basis. It is also one of the few Big Three television stations to air Maury
every day.
channel 13, 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 38, but returned to channel 13 for its post-transition operations. Rival WMAR-TV
took channel 38 as WMAR-DT moved from channel 52 at the time as a result of the phaseout of channels 52-69.
The switch caused problems for some viewers, but WJZ-TV has been granted a power increase that helps some people.
In Maryland, the eastern shore communities of Cambridge, East New Market/Secretary, Pocomoke City, Ocean City, Salisbury and Snow Hill carry WJZ. These areas are in the Salisbury market which WBOC is carried. From Hagerstown and west towards Cumberland, WJZ is carried there as well in the far northwestern part of the Washington, DC market. Between Hagerstown and Cumberland, the towns of Hancock and Oldtown do not carry WJZ.
In Pennsylvania, it is carried in Greencastle which is part of the Washington DC market. It is also carried in Delta, Hanover, Rising Sun, Waynesboro and York County (but not in the city of York) which are in the Harrisburg-Lancaster-York market. In the Philadelphia market, it is carried in Oxford in Chester County.
In Virginia well west of Washington, DC in the far western end of their market, WJZ is carried on cable alongside with WUSA, the CBS affiliate for Washington, DC. It is carried on cable in the Shenandoah Valley in Elkton, Front Royal, Luray and Winchester.
In West Virginia, it is carried in the Martinsburg area. It is part of the Washington, DC market, which carries WUSA as well. In Keyser, Mineral County, WJZ is carried on cable.
During the 1970s and possibly the 1980s with CATV, WJZ was once on the cable lineups in Salem
and Cumberland
counties in southwestern New Jersey.
WJZ's former analog signal could be picked up via antenna as far west as Warrenton and Culpepper, Virginia and as far east as Salem County, New Jersey. There is no satellite coverage outside of the Baltimore market for WJZ.
format pioneered at sister station KYW-TV in Philadelphia. By the early 1970s, WJZ-TV had passed WBAL-TV for first place—a lead it held for over 30 years. In recent years, however, WBAL-TV has taken over the top spot at 5, 6 and 11 p.m., though WJZ-TV is still a strong second. However, in the official November 2009 Nielsen ratings
sweeps period, the first since the debut of The Jay Leno Show
(which aired on WBAL-TV), WJZ-TV has returned to a dominant position at 11 p.m. for the first time since the early 2000s. Both stations have since been in a virtual dead heat at that time slot.
WJZ-TV was the first station in Baltimore to hire a full-time consumer reporter, as well as the first station to organize an investigative reporting team. In 1965, shortly after it adopted the Eyewitness News format, Wiley Daniels became the first African-American anchor in Baltimore. He worked alongside Jerry Turner
, one of the most popular anchormen in Baltimore television history. Al Sanders
succeeded Daniels in 1977; he and Turner were the top news team until Turner's death. Denise Koch succeeded Turner upon his death in 1987; she remains at the anchor desk alongside Vic Carter, who succeeded Sanders following the latter's death in 1995. Like other CBS-owned stations, channel 13 offers a web only newscast, "WJZ At Your Desk", shown weekdays.
Since 1987, WJZ-TV's news theme has been "Chroma Cues" by Music Oasis, which was specifically written for the station.
Since September 2008, The Baltimore Sun
has been the newspaper partner of WJZ-TV; involving sharing content, story leads, and teaming up on stories. WJZ promotes Baltimore Sun stories in its news broadcasts. The Sun promotes WJZ's stories and weather team on its pages. (Coincidentally, The Baltimore Sun was the founder and original owner of WMAR-TV.)
On October 25, 2009, WJZ-TV became the third Baltimore station to begin airing newscasts in high definition. For several months after the upgrade, field reports were still presented in 4:3 standard definition until they switched over to 16:9 widescreen. As of September 2011, all of WJZ-TV's locally produced video footage, including remote field reports, are in HD, making it the first and so far only station in Baltimore to do so (the other stations in the market air most of their field footage in 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen).
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...
of the 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...
Television Network, located in Baltimore, Maryland. WJZ-TV's studios and offices are located 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, adjacent to the transmission tower it shares with four other Baltimore television stations.
History
Baltimore's third television station started on November 2, 1948 as WAAM, owned by brothers Ben and Herman Cohen. Its first broadcast was the 1948 presidential election returnsUnited States presidential election, 1948
The United States presidential election of 1948 is considered by most historians as the greatest election upset in American history. Virtually every prediction indicated that incumbent President Harry S. Truman would be defeated by Republican Thomas E. Dewey. Truman won, overcoming a three-way...
. Its studio was the first in Baltimore specifically designed for television. Channel 13 was originally an 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; it was the second primary affiliate of the fledgling network. Until 1956, it carried a secondary affiliation with the DuMont Television Network
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...
, and originated many Baltimore Colts
History of the Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional football team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They play in the AFC South division of the National Football League. They have won 3 NFL championships and 2 Super Bowls....
games for DuMont.
The Westinghouse Electric Corporation
Westinghouse Electric (1886)
Westinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
purchased WAAM in May 1957. Westinghouse took control of the station in August of that year, and renamed it WJZ-TV the following month. The WJZ call letters had previously resided on ABC's flagship radio/television combination in New York City
New York City
New 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...
, which changed its calls to WABC-AM
WABC (AM)
WABC , known as "NewsTalkRadio 77 WABC" is a radio station in New York City. Owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media, the station broadcasts on a clear channel and is the flagship station of Cumulus Media Networks...
-FM
WPLJ
WPLJ is a radio station in New York City owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media. WPLJ shares studio facilities with sister station WABC inside 2 Penn Plaza in midtown Manhattan, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State Building. The station currently plays a Hot Adult...
-TV
WABC-TV
WABC-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 1953. However, Westinghouse's history with that set of call letters went back even further, as it was the original owner of WJZ radio, the flagship station of 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...
's Blue Network
Blue Network
The Blue Network, and its immediate predecessor, the NBC Blue Network, were the on-air names of an American radio production and distribution service from 1927 to 1945...
, which would eventually become ABC.
All of Baltimore's TV stations had fairly short TV towers in the 1940s-50s with WJZ's at just over 700 feet tall. But in 1959, WJZ-TV built the world's first three-antenna candelabra tower and at roughly 1000 foot above average terrain, at the time, it was the tallest free standing TV antenna in the U.S., shared 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...
and WBAL-TV
WBAL-TV
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 and...
. The 997 feet (303.9 m) tower significantly improved the station's coverage in central Maryland, and also added new viewers in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
and of course Washington, D.C. It still operates from this 997 feet (303.9 m) tower today, which can be seen from Interstate 83
Interstate 83
Interstate 83 is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. Its southern terminus is in Baltimore, Maryland at the Fayette Street exit; its northern terminus is in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania at Interstate 81....
in Baltimore, not to mention from many parts of Baltimore County. The 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) Antenna Structure Registration page gives the tower's height as 997 feet (304 meters).,
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....
(notably the former ABC daytime soap opera Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...
, which WJZ-TV pre-empted during the mid-1960s). However, ABC was more than satisfied with channel 13, which was one of its strongest affiliates. Additionally, Baltimore viewers could watch ABC programs on 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....
's WMAL-TV/WJLA-TV
WJLA-TV
WJLA-TV, channel 7, is the ABC affiliated television station in Washington, D.C.. It is the flagship station of the Allbritton Communications Company, which also operates local cable station NewsChannel 8. The two stations share broadcast facilities in the Rosslyn section of Arlington, Virginia...
, whose signal decently covers most of the Baltimore area.
From 1957 to 1964, one of the station's highest-rated programs was The Buddy Deane Show, an in-studio teen dance show similar to ABC's American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
, which WJZ-TV also pre-empted in favor of the Deane program. Deane's program was the inspiration for the John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
1988 motion picture Hairspray and its subsequent Broadway musical version
Hairspray (musical)
Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
, which in turn has been made into a film
Hairspray (2007 film)
Hairspray is a 2007 musical film produced by Kolaja Productions and distributed by New Line Cinema. It was released in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on July 20, 2007. The film is an adaptation of the 2002 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on John...
.
In 1976, Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
became an anchor for the station's 6:00 p.m. newscast. She also co-hosted channel 13's local talk show, People Are Talking with Richard Sher
Richard Sher (newscaster)
Richard Sher is a longtime newscaster for WJZ-TV in Baltimore, Maryland. He plays a broadcaster in a cameo role in the 2006 Robin Williams movie Man of the Year....
, which premiered on August 14, 1978, and ran until she left for 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...
in 1983. The segment continues to run on the morning newscasts.
In 1994, ABC agreed to an affiliation deal with the broadcasting division of the E.W. Scripps Company, which called for three of Scripps' television stations to become ABC affiliates. ABC agreed to the deal as a condition of keeping its affiliation on Scripps' two biggest stations, WXYZ-TV
WXYZ-TV
WXYZ-TV, channel 7, is an ABC-affiliated television station in Detroit, Michigan, USA. WXYZ-TV is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company, and is the media company's largest-market TV station property...
in Detroit and WEWS in Cleveland. Both stations had been heavily wooed by CBS, which was about to lose its longtime Detroit and Cleveland affiliates to Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
. One of the stations due to switch was Baltimore's then-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, WMAR-TV. ABC was reluctant to include WMAR in the deal; it had been a ratings also-ran for over 30 years while WJZ-TV was one of the strongest ABC affiliates in the nation. However, not wanting to be relegated to UHF in two markets with few viable choices for a new affiliate, ABC opted to end its 47-year affiliation with channel 13 and move its affiliation to channel 2.
Group W felt betrayed by ABC after so many years of loyalty. At the time, channel 13 had been affiliated with ABC longer than any station not owned and operated by the network. As a safeguard, it began to shop for an affiliation deal of its own. Eventually, Westinghouse agreed to a longterm affiliation contract with CBS. As a result, WJZ-TV and sister stations in Philadelphia
KYW-TV
KYW-TV, virtual channel 3, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. KYW-TV shares a studio facility with its sister station, CW flagship WPSG just north of Center City Philadelphia...
and Boston
WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV, virtual channel 4, is a CBS owned-and-operated television station, located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WBZ-TV's studios and office facilities, shared with sister station WSBK-TV , are located in the Allston-Brighton section of Boston, and its transmitter is located in Needham,...
became CBS affiliates (Westinghouse's two other television stations, in Pittsburgh
KDKA-TV
KDKA-TV, channel 2, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. KDKA-TV broadcasts from a transmitter located in the Perry North neighborhood of Pittsburgh, and its studios are located in downtown Pittsburgh at Gateway Center....
and San Francisco, were already CBS affiliates, but had to stop pre-empting network programming as a condition of the deal). The affiliation switch, the second in Baltimore television history, occurred early on the morning of January 2, 1995. As a result, channel 13 became the third station in Baltimore to affiliate with CBS. The network had originally affiliated with WMAR-TV in 1948 before moving to WBAL-TV in 1981. Westinghouse then bought CBS on November 24, 1995, making WJZ-TV a CBS owned-and-operated station. Notably, this gave CBS its first wholly owned station in the Baltimore/Washington area; CBS had been a minority owner of WTOP-TV in Washington (now 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...
) from 1950 to 1954.
WJZ-TV has used its current "Stylized 13" logo, using a font face exclusive to Group W, since 1967. The only real change came in May 1997, when it added the CBS Eye to its logo. WJZ currently does not brand under the CBS Mandate, preferring to use its call letters.
The CBS affiliation came with an added plus in 1998, when the network gained the rights
NFL on CBS
The NFL on CBS is the brand name of the CBS television network's coverage of the National Football League's American Football Conference games, produced by CBS Sports.-Market coverage and television policies:...
to air all afternoon National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
games wherein the visitors were part of the American Football Conference
American Football Conference
The American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the National Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL....
. The NFL's current team in Baltimore, the 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...
, play in the AFC, and so most of their games are seen on WJZ-TV. The Ravens' only Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
appearance also aired on the station, as the Ravens defeated the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
in Super Bowl XXXV
Super Bowl XXXV
Super Bowl XXXV was played on January 28, 2001 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 2000 regular season. The American Football Conference champion Baltimore Ravens defeated the National Football Conference champion New York...
.
WJZ-TV is the Baltimore-area affiliate of the It's Academic
It's Academic
It's Academic is a televised academic quiz competition for high school students, currently airing on two NBC affiliates in Washington, D.C. and Central Virginia and one CBS affiliate Baltimore, Maryland . The show has been on the air since October 7, 1961, making it the longest...
high school quiz competition. Channel 13 has also served two stints as the television home of the Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
baseball team, and has been the over-the-air home of the Orioles since 1994. It is one of the few "Big Three" stations that airs baseball on a regular basis. It is also one of the few Big Three television stations to air Maury
Maury (TV series)
Maury is a syndicated American tabloid talk show hosted by Maury Povich.When the series first aired in 1991, the show was called The Maury Povich Show and was produced by MoPo Productions in association with Paramount Domestic Television...
every day.
Digital television
WJZ-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 13, 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 38, but returned to channel 13 for its post-transition operations. Rival 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...
took channel 38 as WMAR-DT moved from channel 52 at the time as a result of the phaseout of channels 52-69.
The switch caused problems for some viewers, but WJZ-TV has been granted a power increase that helps some people.
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 13.1 | Main WJZ-TV programming / CBS |
Out of market coverage
In Delaware, it is carried on Comcast in Sussex County. There is no coverage in most of Kent County except in the area of Chesapeake City for Atlantic Broadband cable subscribers. There is no coverage in all of New Castle County. New Castle and Kent counties are part of the Philadelphia market, which also carries KYW, the market's CBS affiliate. Only Sussex County is part of the Salisbury, Maryland market which carries its CBS affiliate, WBOC. In the beginning of CATV, almost if not all of Delaware once carried WJZ.In Maryland, the eastern shore communities of Cambridge, East New Market/Secretary, Pocomoke City, Ocean City, Salisbury and Snow Hill carry WJZ. These areas are in the Salisbury market which WBOC is carried. From Hagerstown and west towards Cumberland, WJZ is carried there as well in the far northwestern part of the Washington, DC market. Between Hagerstown and Cumberland, the towns of Hancock and Oldtown do not carry WJZ.
In Pennsylvania, it is carried in Greencastle which is part of the Washington DC market. It is also carried in Delta, Hanover, Rising Sun, Waynesboro and York County (but not in the city of York) which are in the Harrisburg-Lancaster-York market. In the Philadelphia market, it is carried in Oxford in Chester County.
In Virginia well west of Washington, DC in the far western end of their market, WJZ is carried on cable alongside with WUSA, the CBS affiliate for Washington, DC. It is carried on cable in the Shenandoah Valley in Elkton, Front Royal, Luray and Winchester.
In West Virginia, it is carried in the Martinsburg area. It is part of the Washington, DC market, which carries WUSA as well. In Keyser, Mineral County, WJZ is carried on cable.
During the 1970s and possibly the 1980s with CATV, WJZ was once on the cable lineups in Salem
Salem County, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 64,285 people, 24,295 households, and 17,370 families residing in the county. The population density was 190 people per square mile . There were 26,158 housing units at an average density of 77 per square mile...
and Cumberland
Cumberland County, New Jersey
Cumberland County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 Census, the population is 156,898. Its county seat is Bridgeton. Cumberland County is named for Prince William, Duke of Cumberland....
counties in southwestern New Jersey.
WJZ's former analog signal could be picked up via antenna as far west as Warrenton and Culpepper, Virginia and as far east as Salem County, New Jersey. There is no satellite coverage outside of the Baltimore market for WJZ.
News operation
Soon after Westinghouse bought WJZ-TV, it significantly beefed up the station's news department. Within a few years, it passed WMAR-TV for second place. Like the other Group W stations, WJZ-TV adopted the Eyewitness NewsEyewitness News
Eyewitness 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...
format pioneered at sister station KYW-TV in Philadelphia. By the early 1970s, WJZ-TV had passed WBAL-TV for first place—a lead it held for over 30 years. In recent years, however, WBAL-TV has taken over the top spot at 5, 6 and 11 p.m., though WJZ-TV is still a strong second. However, in the official 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...
(which aired on WBAL-TV), WJZ-TV has returned to a dominant position at 11 p.m. for the first time since the early 2000s. Both stations have since been in a virtual dead heat at that time slot.
WJZ-TV was the first station in Baltimore to hire a full-time consumer reporter, as well as the first station to organize an investigative reporting team. In 1965, shortly after it adopted the Eyewitness News format, Wiley Daniels became the first African-American anchor in Baltimore. He worked alongside Jerry Turner
Jerry Turner (anchorman)
Jerry Turner was an American television news anchorman at WJZ-TV in Baltimore, Maryland. He was from Meridian, Mississippi and started working at the Baltimore television station in 1962, starting the 6PM Newscast With Al Sanders in 1977.Prior to his arrival on Television Hill, WJZ's news was...
, one of the most popular anchormen in Baltimore television history. Al Sanders
Al Sanders
Al Sanders , was an American, award winning, television news anchorman at WJZ-TV in Baltimore, Maryland. He helped take a third place television newscast to first place, where it stayed throughout his career.-Background:...
succeeded Daniels in 1977; he and Turner were the top news team until Turner's death. Denise Koch succeeded Turner upon his death in 1987; she remains at the anchor desk alongside Vic Carter, who succeeded Sanders following the latter's death in 1995. Like other CBS-owned stations, channel 13 offers a web only newscast, "WJZ At Your Desk", shown weekdays.
Since 1987, WJZ-TV's news theme has been "Chroma Cues" by Music Oasis, which was specifically written for the station.
Since September 2008, The 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....
has been the newspaper partner of WJZ-TV; involving sharing content, story leads, and teaming up on stories. WJZ promotes Baltimore Sun stories in its news broadcasts. The Sun promotes WJZ's stories and weather team on its pages. (Coincidentally, The Baltimore Sun was the founder and original owner of WMAR-TV.)
On October 25, 2009, WJZ-TV became the third Baltimore station to begin airing newscasts in high definition. For several months after the upgrade, field reports were still presented in 4:3 standard definition until they switched over to 16:9 widescreen. As of September 2011, all of WJZ-TV's locally produced video footage, including remote field reports, are in HD, making it the first and so far only station in Baltimore to do so (the other stations in the market air most of their field footage in 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen).
Anchors
- Vic Carter - weekdays at 4:30, weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
- Denise Koch - weekdays at 4:30, weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
- Kai Jackson - weekdays at 4, and weeknights at 5 p.m.
- Mary Bubala - weekdays at 4, and weeknights at 5 p.m.; also reporter
- Don Scott - weekday mornings "Eyewitness News Morning Edition" and noon
- Jessica Kartalija - weekdays at noon; also reporter
- Adam May - weekends at 6 and 11 p.m.; also weekday reporter and weekday fill-in anchor
- Gigi Barnett - weekend mornings "Eyewitness News Morning Edition"; also weekday reporter
First Warning Weather Team
- Bob Turk - weeknights at 4, 4:30, 5, 6 and 11 p.m.
- Marty BassMarty BassMarty Bass is a television news reporter and weather man for CBS affiliate WJZ 13 in Baltimore, Maryland. Noted for his strong accent and ebullient personality, Bass is a twenty-five year veteran at WJZ and is the co-host of the Baltimore market's #1 rated morning show with Don Scott. The WJZ...
- weekday mornings "Eyewitness News Morning Edition" and noon - Bernadette Woods (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...
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,...
Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekends at 6 and 11 p.m; weekdays at noon. - Tim Williams (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekend mornings, and weekdays at noon.
Sports Team
- Mark Viviano - Sports Director; weeknights at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.
- Stan Saunders - Sports Anchor; weekends at 6 and 11 p.m., also sports reporter
Traffic
- Sharon Gibala - weekday mornings "Eyewitness News Morning Edition", also Sunday morning reporter
- Kristy Breslin - weekdays at 4 and 5 p.m.
Reporters
- Suzanne Collins - investigative reporter
- Alex DeMetrick - environmental and investigative reporter
- Andrea Fujii - general assignment reporter
- Mike Hellgren - general assignment reporter
- Weijia Jiang - general assignment reporter
- Ron Matz - general assignment reporter, also guest personality on the "Eyewitness News Morning Edition"
- Meghan McCorkell - general assignment reporter
- Kelly McPherson - general assignment reporter
- Captain Mike Perry - "SkyEye Chopper 13" pilot/reporter
- Mike Schuh - general assignment reporter
- Derek Valcourt - general assignment reporter
- Pat Warren - general assignment reporter
Notable former staff
- Randy Blair - sports (deceased; playing a basketball game for WJZ)
- Nick CharlesNick CharlesNicholas Charles Nickeas , better known as Nick Charles, was an American sportscaster and journalist. He was one of CNN's first on-air personalities and won three CableACE Awards for best sports program during his 17-year tenure as co-host of the network's Sports Tonight...
- sports, later of 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...
(deceased) - Boomer EsiasonBoomer EsiasonNorman Julius "Boomer" Esiason is a former American football quarterback and current network color commentator. He played for the National Football League's Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets, and Arizona Cardinals before working as an analyst for ABC and HBO...
- intern while attending the University of MarylandUniversity of Maryland, College ParkThe University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
) (http://www.enquirer.com/columns/kiese/1998/07/072798jki.html), now at CBS SportsCBS SportsCBS Sports is a division of CBS Broadcasting which airs sporting events on the American television network. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on West 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street.CBS...
, Westwood OneWestwood OneWestwood One was an American radio network and was based in New York City. At one time, it was managed by CBS Radio, the radio arm of CBS Corporation, and Viacom and was later purchased by the private equity firm The Gores Group...
and WFANWFANWFAN , also known as "Sports Radio 66" or "The FAN", is a radio station in New York City. The station broadcasts on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio... - Bob McAllisterBob McAllisterBob McAllister was an American television personality, magician and children's entertainer and a host of Wonderama. -Early career:...
- Keith McBee – news anchor in the 1950s, later ABC network weekend anchor in New York
- Michael OleskerMichael OleskerMichael Olesker was a columnist for the Baltimore Sun newspaper in Baltimore, Maryland. He resigned on January 4, 2006, after it was alleged that his columns contained passages plagiarized from articles at other newspapers. Olesker is known for his liberal viewpoints and for his criticism of the...
(Baltimore ExaminerThe Baltimore ExaminerThe Baltimore Examiner was a free daily newspaper, one of the two big dailies in Baltimore, Maryland . It was launched in 2006 by the Philip Anschutz-owned Clarity Media Group as part of a national chain that includes The San Francisco Examiner and The Washington Examiner...
columnist) - 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,...
- Al SandersAl SandersAl Sanders , was an American, award winning, television news anchorman at WJZ-TV in Baltimore, Maryland. He helped take a third place television newscast to first place, where it stayed throughout his career.-Background:...
- news anchor (deceased) - Richard SherRichard Sher (newscaster)Richard Sher is a longtime newscaster for WJZ-TV in Baltimore, Maryland. He plays a broadcaster in a cameo role in the 2006 Robin Williams movie Man of the Year....
- news anchor from 1975-2008 - Sally ThornerSally ThornerSally Thorner is a retired television news journalist who was a reporter and an anchor for several different markets over the course of 30 years. Although she worked in both Springfield, Massachusetts and Wichita, Kansas, Thorner is primarily known as an anchor in Baltimore, Maryland where she was...
- news anchor from 1993-2009 - Lou TilleyLou TilleyLou Tilley is a freelance anchor, reporter, and producer in multi-media.He recently partnered with Martin E Judge to form "Lou Tilley Media Enterprises" based in Conshohoken, Pa. "LTM" develops original visual content onall media platforms including traditional TV, internet, and digital display...
- Jerry TurnerJerry Turner (anchorman)Jerry Turner was an American television news anchorman at WJZ-TV in Baltimore, Maryland. He was from Meridian, Mississippi and started working at the Baltimore television station in 1962, starting the 6PM Newscast With Al Sanders in 1977.Prior to his arrival on Television Hill, WJZ's news was...
- news anchor (deceased) - Gerry Wheeler (Lorenzo the TrampThe Lorenzo ShowThe Lorenzo Show, also called Lorenzo and Friends and Lorenzo's Cartoon Festival, was a children's television program starring Gerry Wheeler that ran in several different American markets from the 1950s until the mid 1970s....
) - Oprah WinfreyOprah WinfreyOprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
(CEO of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, formerly host of The Oprah Winfrey ShowThe Oprah Winfrey ShowThe 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....
) - Wiley Daniels - first African American television anchor in Baltimore