WSYX
Encyclopedia
WSYX, channel 6, is an ABC
-affiliated television station
located in Columbus, Ohio
. WSYX is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group
, which also operates Fox
affiliate WTTE
(owned by Cunningham Broadcasting
) through a local marketing agreement
. The two stations share studios in Grandview Heights
, a suburb of Columbus.
-based attorney and investor Edward Lamb
, who also owned WICU-TV
in Erie, Pennsylvania
, which went on the air six months earlier. WTVN was an affiliate of the DuMont Television Network
at its inception, and was one of only three primary affiliates of that network. In 1953, it took on a secondary affiliation with ABC
. Channel 6 became an full-time ABC affiliate in 1955, after DuMont closed down its operations. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
. The station was first housed within the Lincoln-LeVeque Tower
in downtown Columbus until 1952, when it moved into a new facility on Harmon Avenue on Columbus' west side. Channel 6's present home, on Dublin Road in Grandview Heights, has been in operation since 1977.
In March 1953, Picture Waves sold WTVN to Radio Cincinnati, Inc., the broadcasting interests of the Taft family
of Cincinnati
. Radio Cincinnati would later become the Taft Broadcasting Company
. The following year Radio Cincinnati purchased WHKC radio (610 AM) from the publishers of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, renaming that station WTVN (AM)
and subsequently adding a -TV suffix to channel 6's call sign. Taft would launch a second radio station in Columbus, WTVN-FM (96.3 FM, now WLVQ
) in April 1960.
In the early 1970s, Taft's common ownership of WTVN-TV and WKRC-TV
(channel 12) in Cincinnati was given protection under a "grandfather clause
" by the Federal Communications Commission
from its newly-enacted "one-to-a-market
" rule. The ordinance prohibited television stations with overlapping signals from sharing common ownership while protecting existing instances. Ironically one of channel 6's competitors, Crosley/Avco
-owned WLWC (channel 4, now WCMH-TV
), was given grandfathered protection through a similar situation with sister stations in Dayton
and Cincinnati
.
In 1987, Cincinnati financier Carl Lindner acquired a majority of Taft's shares in a hostile takeover, renaming the company Great American Broadcasting, as a subsidiary of his Great American Insurance Company. However, as the FCC considered the restructuring as an ownership change, WTVN-TV lost its grandfathered protection and could not be retained by Great American. A group of former Taft Broadcasting shareholders, led by Texas
millionaire Robert Bass (who also participated in the hostile takeover), purchased WTVN-TV for their new company, called Anchor Media. The sale closed on August 31, 1987, and the new owners renamed the station WSYX. WTVN and WLVQ-FM remained owned by Great American for several years.
Anchor Media, who also purchased ABC affiliates WLOS
in Asheville, North Carolina
(in April 1987) and KOVR
in Stockton, California
(in January 1989), was purchased by River City Broadcasting
in 1993. River City was merged into the Sinclair Broadcast Group in 1996. Sinclair owned Columbus' Fox affiliate, WTTE, but could not keep both stations since the FCC did not allow common ownership of two stations in a single market
. Sinclair kept the longer-established WSYX and sold WTTE to Glencairn, Ltd. owned by former Sinclair executive Edwin Edwards. However, the Smith family (Sinclair's founding owners) controlled nearly all of Glencairn's stock. In effect, Sinclair now had a duopoly
in Columbus in violation of FCC rules. Sinclair and Glenciarn further circumvented the rules by merging WTTE's operations with those of WSYX under a local marketing agreement, with WSYX as the senior partner.
In 2001, after the FCC allowed duopolies, Sinclair tried to acquire Glencairn outright. However, the FCC would not allow Sinclair to repurchase WTTE for two major reasons. First, the FCC does not allow duopolies between two of the four highest-rated stations in a single market. Also, the Columbus market, despite its relatively large size, has only seven full-power stations--too few to legally permit a duopoly. Glencairn was renamed Cunningham Broadcasting but is still effectively owned by Sinclair because nearly all of its stock is owned by trusts controlled by the Smith family. This situation is one of many that has led to allegations that Cunningham is simply a shell corporation used by Sinclair to circumvent FCC ownership rules.
At one point, WTVN/WSYX was one of five ABC affiliates owned by Taft. WSYX is the only one of these stations still affiliated with ABC.
digital channel 189, and Time Warner Cable
digital channel 990 is the area's MyNetworkTV
affiliate. Known on-air as My TV Columbus, it also airs programming from This TV
.
In August 2006, WSYX launched a new second digital subchannel to carry programming from MyNetworkTV, a new programming service from News Corporation
, the parent company of Fox. This channel added programming from This TV in the daytime and overnight hours on November 1, 2008.
WSYX shut down its analog signal on June 12, 2009 as part of the DTV transition. It remained on channel 13 using PSIP
to display its virtual channel
as 6 on digital television receivers. On December 11, 2009 the FCC issued a Report & Order granting WSYX's petition to move from VHF channel 13 to UHF channel 48 to improve signal strength and to be consistent with other Columbus stations on the UHF dial. On Monday, August 30, 2010, WSYX began broadcasting on UHF channel 48.
, and during 1987-1992, channel 6 and WBNS traded second place ratings. Over the years, the station has featured high-profile Columbus anchors including Tom Ryan (who moved from WBNS to WTVN in 1979),Pat Lalama, I.J. Hudson, Lou Forrest (known as Louis de la Foret on CNN Headline News
), and Deborah Countiss. Liz Claman
(now an anchor on CNBC
) and Carol Costello (now an anchor on CNN
) were also one time reporters on WSYX.
The station became somewhat competitive again in the late-1990s and in the past several years has attempted to fight with WCMH for the runner-up position behind WBNS. WTTE began a 10 P.M. newscast in 1995 and was the second in Central Ohio after an attempt by WWHO
that was produced by WCMH. Former Fox 28 Kids Club host Yolanda Harris
was one of the original anchors and now serves as weeknight co-anchor on the two stations. By August 1999, WTTE's broadcast was absorbed into WSYX's news department which then began producing that channel's news programs under the NewsCenter branding that was used at the time. This title was eventually dropped.
Currently, WSYX's news programs are called "ABC 6 News" while programming on WTTE is branded "FOX 28 News at 10" and "Good Day Columbus". The news operation produces five hours of news each weekday on this channel and three hours of news on WTTE. On the weekends, the stations do not have a weekend morning show similar to WBNS and WCMH.
WSYX and WTTE did not participate in the wider implementation of Sinclair's now-defunct, controversial News Central
format for its newscasts but did air "The Point", a one-minute conservative political commentary, that was also controversial and a requirement of all Sinclair-owned stations with newscasts until the series was discontinued in December 2006 but damaged the credibility of the WSYX/WTTE newscasts. WSYX launched their newscasts in high definition
on May 10, 2008, making them the Last Columbus station to make the upgrade. The WTTE newscasts were included in the switch. In addition, this was the second Sinclair-owned station to launch local newscasts in HD.
and 'Spare Time' hosted by Gene Fullen & Sandy Hare from its in-studio bowling lanes at the Harmon Avenue studios. The bowling lanes were not relocated when WTVN-TV moved to its current studio facility at 1261 Dublin Road in 1977.
ABC 6 First Warning Meteorologists
Sports
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...
located in 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...
. WSYX is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group
The Sinclair Broadcast Group is an American telecommunications company that operates the largest number of local television stations in the United States. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, it owns a total of 57 stations across the country in 35 primarily small and medium markets, many of...
, which also operates 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...
affiliate WTTE
WTTE
WTTE is the Fox-affiliated television station for Columbus, Ohio. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 from a transmitter on Stimmel Road. The station can be seen on Insight, Time Warner, and WOW! channel 8. For high definition digital cable, it is offered on Insight...
(owned by Cunningham Broadcasting
Cunningham Broadcasting
Cunningham Broadcasting Corporation is an owner of television stations in the United States. The company currently owns six stations—four affiliated with Fox Broadcasting Company , one affiliated with MyNetworkTV and one affiliated with The CW Television Network.Cunningham has very close ties to...
) through a local marketing agreement
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
. The two stations share studios in Grandview Heights
Grandview Heights, Ohio
Grandview Heights is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,695 at the 2000 census.The city was originally part of Marble Cliff, one of the first suburbs of Columbus, which settled as a community in 1890 and incorporated as the "Hamlet of Marble Cliff" in 1901...
, a suburb of Columbus.
History
The station began operations on September 30, 1949 as WTVN, Columbus' second television station. It was owned by Picture Waves Inc., a company controlled by ToledoToledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
-based attorney and investor Edward Lamb
Edward Lamb
Edward Lamb was an American businessman, broadcasting executive and labor lawyer. He is best known for having defended striking workers during the Auto-Lite Strike in 1934 and for successfully resisting the federal government's attempt to strip him of his broadcasting licenses during the McCarthy...
, who also owned WICU-TV
WICU-TV
WICU-TV, channel 12, is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Erie, Pennsylvania, USA. WICU-TV is owned by SJL Broadcasting, which also operates CBS affiliate WSEE-TV and its CW subchannel through a local marketing agreement...
in Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...
, which went on the air six months earlier. WTVN was an affiliate of 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...
at its inception, and was one of only three primary affiliates of that network. In 1953, it took on a secondary affiliation with 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...
. Channel 6 became an full-time ABC affiliate in 1955, after DuMont closed down its operations. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
NTA Film Network
The NTA Film Network was an early American television network founded by Ely Landau in 1956. The network was not a full-time television network like CBS, NBC, or ABC. Rather, it operated on a part-time basis, broadcasting films and several first-run television programs from major Hollywood studios...
. The station was first housed within the Lincoln-LeVeque Tower
LeVeque Tower
The LeVeque Tower is a 47-story Art Deco-style building in Columbus, Ohio. Located at 50 West Broad Street, it was the tallest building in Columbus from 1927 until 1974 when the Rhodes State Office Tower was completed. The LeVeque Tower is tall, which at the time of its completion made it the...
in downtown Columbus until 1952, when it moved into a new facility on Harmon Avenue on Columbus' west side. Channel 6's present home, on Dublin Road in Grandview Heights, has been in operation since 1977.
In March 1953, Picture Waves sold WTVN to Radio Cincinnati, Inc., the broadcasting interests of the Taft family
Taft family
The Taft family of the United States hails from Cincinnati, Ohio, with historic origins in Massachusetts; its members have served Ohio, Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, Utah, and the United States in various positions, such as Governor of Ohio, Governor of Rhode Island, U.S. Senator , U.S...
of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
. Radio Cincinnati would later become the Taft Broadcasting Company
Taft Broadcasting
The Taft Broadcasting Company, also known as Taft Television and Radio Company, Incorporated, was an American media conglomerate based in Cincinnati, Ohio....
. The following year Radio Cincinnati purchased WHKC radio (610 AM) from the publishers of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, renaming that station WTVN (AM)
WTVN
WTVN is a full-service AM radio station in Columbus, Ohio located at 610 kHz. It has news, talk, and sports programs, is the dominant AM station in the Columbus market and is consistently rated either #1 or #2 by Arbitron...
and subsequently adding a -TV suffix to channel 6's call sign. Taft would launch a second radio station in Columbus, WTVN-FM (96.3 FM, now WLVQ
WLVQ
WLVQ is an FM radio station in Columbus, Ohio, United States, broadcasting on 96.3 MHz. Its brand identifier is Ohio's Best Rock, QFM 96. WLVQ is currently owned by Wilks Broadcasting and plays classic rock...
) in April 1960.
In the early 1970s, Taft's common ownership of WTVN-TV and WKRC-TV
WKRC-TV
WKRC-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Tri-State area of Southern Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and Southeastern Indiana that is licensed to Cincinnati. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 12 from a transmitter at its studios on Highland Avenue in the Mount...
(channel 12) in Cincinnati was given protection under a "grandfather clause
Grandfather clause
Grandfather clause is a legal term used to describe a situation in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations, while a new rule will apply to all future situations. It is often used as a verb: to grandfather means to grant such an exemption...
" by 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...
from its newly-enacted "one-to-a-market
Concentration of media ownership
Concentration of media ownership refers to a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media...
" rule. The ordinance prohibited television stations with overlapping signals from sharing common ownership while protecting existing instances. Ironically one of channel 6's competitors, Crosley/Avco
Avco
Avco Corporation is a subsidiary of Textron which operates Textron Systems Corporation and Lycoming.-Brief history:The Embry-Riddle Company created the Aviation Corporation in 1928 as a holding company tasked with acquiring small airlines...
-owned WLWC (channel 4, now WCMH-TV
WCMH-TV
WCMH-TV, channel 4, is a television station in Columbus, Ohio, affiliated with the NBC television network and owned by Media General. The station's studios and transmitter are located in Columbus. NBC-4 broadcasts from its studio and office complex near the Ohio State University on Olentangy River...
), was given grandfathered protection through a similar situation with sister stations in Dayton
WDTN
WDTN, virtual channel 2, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Ohio's Miami Valley. Licensed to Dayton, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 50 from a transmitter in the Frytown section of the city. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 2 and in...
and Cincinnati
WLWT
WLWT, virtual channel 5 , is an NBC-affiliated television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, the station is owned by Hearst Television...
.
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
millionaire Robert Bass (who also participated in the hostile takeover), purchased WTVN-TV for their new company, called Anchor Media. The sale closed on August 31, 1987, and the new owners renamed the station WSYX. WTVN and WLVQ-FM remained owned by Great American for several years.
Anchor Media, who also purchased ABC affiliates WLOS
WLOS
WLOS is the ABC-affiliated television station for Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina licensed to Asheville, North Carolina. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter on Mount Pisgah in North Carolina. The station can also be seen on Charter...
in Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville is a city in and the county seat of Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the 11th largest city in North Carolina. The City is home to the United States National Climatic Data Center , which is the world's largest active...
(in April 1987) and KOVR
KOVR
KOVR, channel 13, is an owned-and-operated station of the CBS Television Network located in Sacramento, California and licensed to Stockton. KOVR-TV shares its offices and studio facilities with sister station KMAX-TV in West Sacramento, California, and its transmitter is located in Walnut Grove,...
in Stockton, California
Stockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
(in January 1989), was purchased by River City Broadcasting
River City Broadcasting
River City Broadcasting L.P. was a major television and radio station operator in mid-sized markets in the United States, based out of St. Louis, Missouri....
in 1993. River City was merged into the Sinclair Broadcast Group in 1996. Sinclair owned Columbus' Fox affiliate, WTTE, but could not keep both stations since the FCC did not allow common ownership of two stations in a single 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...
. Sinclair kept the longer-established WSYX and sold WTTE to Glencairn, Ltd. owned by former Sinclair executive Edwin Edwards. However, the Smith family (Sinclair's founding owners) controlled nearly all of Glencairn's stock. In effect, Sinclair now had a duopoly
Duopoly (broadcasting)
In United States broadcast television and radio, duopoly is a term used to describe a single company which owns two or more stations in the same city or community....
in Columbus in violation of FCC rules. Sinclair and Glenciarn further circumvented the rules by merging WTTE's operations with those of WSYX under a local marketing agreement, with WSYX as the senior partner.
In 2001, after the FCC allowed duopolies, Sinclair tried to acquire Glencairn outright. However, the FCC would not allow Sinclair to repurchase WTTE for two major reasons. First, the FCC does not allow duopolies between two of the four highest-rated stations in a single market. Also, the Columbus market, despite its relatively large size, has only seven full-power stations--too few to legally permit a duopoly. Glencairn was renamed Cunningham Broadcasting but is still effectively owned by Sinclair because nearly all of its stock is owned by trusts controlled by the Smith family. This situation is one of many that has led to allegations that Cunningham is simply a shell corporation used by Sinclair to circumvent FCC ownership rules.
At one point, WTVN/WSYX was one of five ABC affiliates owned by Taft. WSYX is the only one of these stations still affiliated with ABC.
Digital programming
The station's signal is multiplexed. On WSYX-DT2, WOW! digital channel 141, InsightInsight Communications
Insight Communications is the 13th largest multiple system operator in the United States with approximately 692,000 customers in the three contiguous states of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio...
digital channel 189, and Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
digital channel 990 is the area's MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
affiliate. Known on-air as My TV Columbus, it also airs programming from This TV
This TV
This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....
.
| Virtual channel | Digital channel | Programming |
|---|---|---|
| 6.1 | 48.1 | main WSYX programming / ABC HD |
| 6.2 | 48.2 | WSYX-DT2 "My TV Columbus" |
In August 2006, WSYX launched a new second digital subchannel to carry programming from MyNetworkTV, a new programming service from News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
, the parent company of Fox. This channel added programming from This TV in the daytime and overnight hours on November 1, 2008.
WSYX shut down its analog signal on June 12, 2009 as part of the DTV transition. It remained on channel 13 using PSIP
Program and System Information Protocol
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
to display its 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....
as 6 on digital television receivers. On December 11, 2009 the FCC issued a Report & Order granting WSYX's petition to move from VHF channel 13 to UHF channel 48 to improve signal strength and to be consistent with other Columbus stations on the UHF dial. On Monday, August 30, 2010, WSYX began broadcasting on UHF channel 48.
News operation
Channel 6 is generally in last place in the local news ratings, except for two periods when the station was intensely competitive—from 1977 to 1983 (when ABC was either the number one or a close number two network), and from 1987 to 1992. During the 1977-83 era, channel 6 often passed WCMH for second place behind long-dominant WBNS-TVWBNS-TV
WBNS-TV, channel 10, is a television station in Columbus, Ohio, USA. The station is an affiliate of the CBS Television Network and is owned by the Dispatch Broadcast Group, a subsidiary of the Columbus Dispatch, along with WBNS radio...
, and during 1987-1992, channel 6 and WBNS traded second place ratings. Over the years, the station has featured high-profile Columbus anchors including Tom Ryan (who moved from WBNS to WTVN in 1979),Pat Lalama, I.J. Hudson, Lou Forrest (known as Louis de la Foret on CNN Headline News
CNN Headline News
HLN, formerly known as CNN Headline News and CNN2, is a cable television news channel based in the United States and a spinoff of the cable news television channel, CNN. Initially airing tightly-formatted 30-minute newscasts around the clock, since 2005, the channel has increasingly aired long-form...
), and Deborah Countiss. Liz Claman
Liz Claman
Elizabeth Kate "Liz" Claman is the anchor of the Fox Business Network show Countdown to the Closing Bell at 3pm ET and co-anchor at 2pm ET and 4pm ET of Fox Business on the Fox Business Network alongside co-anchor David Asman. She was previously the co-anchor of the CNBC morning television...
(now an anchor on CNBC
CNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
) and Carol Costello (now an anchor on CNN
CNN
Cable 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...
) were also one time reporters on WSYX.
The station became somewhat competitive again in the late-1990s and in the past several years has attempted to fight with WCMH for the runner-up position behind WBNS. WTTE began a 10 P.M. newscast in 1995 and was the second in Central Ohio after an attempt by WWHO
WWHO
WWHO is the Columbus, Ohio television affiliate for The CW Television Network. The station is licensed to Chillicothe, though it operates out of a facility in Columbus with its transmitter located in Williamsport, halfway between Columbus and Chillicothe...
that was produced by WCMH. Former Fox 28 Kids Club host Yolanda Harris
Yolanda Harris
Yolanda Harris anchors the news each week night on ABC 6 and on FOX 28 News at Ten.Harris, born and raised in Central Ohio, is featured in "Who's Who In Black Columbus" in 2007. She is on the Wall of Fame at Gahanna Lincoln High School, her alma mater...
was one of the original anchors and now serves as weeknight co-anchor on the two stations. By August 1999, WTTE's broadcast was absorbed into WSYX's news department which then began producing that channel's news programs under the NewsCenter branding that was used at the time. This title was eventually dropped.
Currently, WSYX's news programs are called "ABC 6 News" while programming on WTTE is branded "FOX 28 News at 10" and "Good Day Columbus". The news operation produces five hours of news each weekday on this channel and three hours of news on WTTE. On the weekends, the stations do not have a weekend morning show similar to WBNS and WCMH.
WSYX and WTTE did not participate in the wider implementation of Sinclair's now-defunct, controversial News Central
News Central
News Central was a primetime newscast on Sinclair television stations in the United States, mixing locally produced news with nationally produced news and an opinion segment from Sinclair's Hunt Valley, Maryland studios...
format for its newscasts but did air "The Point", a one-minute conservative political commentary, that was also controversial and a requirement of all Sinclair-owned stations with newscasts until the series was discontinued in December 2006 but damaged the credibility of the WSYX/WTTE newscasts. WSYX launched their newscasts 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...
on May 10, 2008, making them the Last Columbus station to make the upgrade. The WTTE newscasts were included in the switch. In addition, this was the second Sinclair-owned station to launch local newscasts in HD.
Newscast Titles
- 6-Star News (1960s)
- News Service (1970s)
- Action 6 News (1977-1987)
- Channel 6 News (1987-1992)
- 6 On Your Side News (1992-1995)
- 6 News (1995-1999)
- ABC 6 News (1999-present)
Live programming
Like most local stations during the "Golden Era" of television, WTVN-TV produced a wide range of live local news and entertainment programs. Earl Green, better known as Channel 6's news anchor and director in the 1970's, began his career at the station as a movie host. Gene Fullen and Sally Flowers also hosted shows during their careers. WTVN-TV also hosted various live bowling shows including Bowling for DollarsBowling 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' hosted by Gene Fullen & Sandy Hare from its in-studio bowling lanes at the Harmon Avenue studios. The bowling lanes were not relocated when WTVN-TV moved to its current studio facility at 1261 Dublin Road in 1977.
News team
Anchors- Pete Scalia - weekday mornings
- Carolyn Bruck - weekday mornings
- Yolanda Harris - weeknights
- Bob Kendrick - weeknights
- Terri Sullivan - weekdays at noon
- Walter Allen - weekends
ABC 6 First Warning Meteorologists
- Jerry Martz (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...
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...
Seal of Approval) - Chief seen weeknights and "Jerry's Garden" segment producer - Lisa Colbert - weekday mornings and noon
- Dana Turtle - weekends
- weather and science reporter
Sports
- Clay Hall - Director seen weeknights at 6, 10, and 11
- The Football Fever on ABC 6 host and "Beyond the Game" segment producer
- Matt Finkes - The Football Fever on ABC 6 host
- Obie Stillwell - The Football Fever on ABC 6 reporter
- Natalie Taylor - The Football Fever on ABC 6 & weekends
Reporters
- Tom Bosco
- Susan Burton - Health and Medical
- Johnny DiLoretto - Entertainment Weekday Mornings 7 to 9
- Dave Detling
- Maria Durant
- Dana Jay
- Chris Koebrel - Investigative Reporter
- Chelby Kosto
- Steve Levine
- Carol Luper
- Mike McCarthy - Multimedia Journalist
- AJ Ross - Multimedia Journalist
- Tom Sussi - Consumer Investigative Reporter
- Ashley Yore
Former on-air staff
- Jake WhittenbergJake WhittenbergJake Whittenberg is an American television news reporter. He began his career in newscasting at KTVQ-TV in Billings, Montana before moving in 2007 to Columbus, Ohio where he was a general assignment reporter for WSYX-TV and their sister station WTTE-TV...
– reporter (2007-2010; now at KING-TVKing- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...
in Seattle) - Adam Slinger - reporter (2007-2011; now with KNXV-TVKNXV-TVKNXV-TV, is an ABC-affiliated television station in Phoenix, Arizona, broadcasting in digital on UHF channel 15. Owned by The E. W. Scripps Company, its transmitter is located on South Mountain in Phoenix....
in PhoenixPhoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data... - Meghan McCorkell - reporter (2008-2011; now with WJZ-TVWJZ-TVWJZ-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...
in Baltimore)