WTVD
Encyclopedia
WTVD, channel 11, is an owned-and-operated
television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company
, licensed to Durham, North Carolina
. The station serves the areas of Durham, Raleigh
, Chapel Hill
, and Fayetteville
, known as the Triangle. WTVD's main studios, offices and newsroom are located in downtown Durham, along with additional studio facilities in both Raleigh and Fayetteville. The station's transmitter is located in Garner, North Carolina
. It is seen on cable channel 9 in the Piedmont Triad area but in some areas it is seen on channels 6, 11, or 13.
On June 12, 2009 at 12:30 p.m., WTVD remained on channel 11 when the analog to digital conversion was completed. On September 23, 2009, the station filed an application to the Federal Communications Commission
to increase its effective radiated power
from 20.7 to 45 kilowatts.
as well as the owners of radio station WDNC) and Floyd Fletcher and Harmon Duncan, the then-owners of WTIK
radio. In December 1953, the two sides agreed to join forces and operate the station under the joint banner Durham Broadcasting Enterprises. Eight months later, on September 2, 1954, WTVD began broadcasting with a black-and-white film of the Star Spangled Banner, this was followed by You Bet Your Life
. It was originally a primary NBC
affiliate, with a secondary ABC affiliation. Its initial studios were located in a former tuberculosis
sanitorium at 2410 Broad Street, with a transmitter located atop Signal Hill in northern Durham County. Channel 11 is the Triangle's oldest surviving television station, having signed on a few months after CBS
affiliate WNAO-TV (channel 28).
On May 22, 1957, the station's original owners sold their interest in WTVD to Albany, New York
-based Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company, owners of WCDA-TV (now WTEN
), to form Capital Cities Television Corporation (predecessor of Capital Cities Communications
). Around 1958, WTVD built a 1500 feet (457.2 m) tower at its present transmitter site in Auburn to better serve the market. That same year, the station first began broadcasting in color, although it would be until 1966 before the same was true for local programming.
WRAL-TV
(channel 5), owned by local firm Capitol Broadcasting Company
, started in 1956 and took over as the Triangle's NBC affiliate. CBS then dropped its affiliation with the under-performing WNAO-TV and gave it to WTVD. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
. When WNAO-TV stopped broadcasting in 1959 due to financial difficulties, channel 11 began sharing ABC programming with WRAL-TV.
After WRAL took the ABC affiliation full-time in 1962, WTVD was forced to shoehorn CBS and NBC programming onto its schedule. This was a very unusual arrangement for what was then a two-station market. Although the market got a third commercial station six years later when channel 28 returned to the airwaves as WRDU-TV (now WRDC), WTVD "cherry picked" the most popular CBS and NBC programs, leaving WRDU with the lower-rated shows from both networks, until 1971. At that time the FCC, intervening on behalf of WRDU's owners and in the interest of protecting the development of UHF, ordered WTVD to select one network. Channel 11 decided to go with CBS full-time, allowing WRDU to become an exclusive NBC station (it is now affiliated with myNetworkTV
).
In 1978, WTVD attempted to expand its broadcast coverage to the Fayetteville area, which had been without a television station of its own for nearly two decades. Its studios were relocated to their current location on Liberty Street in downtown Durham on a parcel of land it shares with the Durham County Library; it also built its current 2000 feet (609.6 m) tower in Auburn. A fire on March 4, 1979 caused extensive damage to the newly built studio building; however, the newsroom and a number of other key components had been rebuilt within a month. By that time, much of WTVD's operations had returned to normal, although it had resorted to temporary setups during the interim such as holding the newscasts in one of the meeting rooms that survived the aforementioned crisis unscathed.
On March 18, 1985, WTVD's owner, Capital Cities, announced it was purchasing ABC. Five months later, on August 4, 1985, WTVD swapped affiliations with WRAL-TV and became an ABC affiliate. At that time, WTVD and WRAL-TV joined the small list of stations that have held primary affiliations with all of the "Big Three" networks. The transaction was finalized on January 3, 1986, making WTVD an ABC-owned station, the first network-owned television station in North Carolina. In 1996, the Walt Disney Company acquired Capital Cities/ABC.
On the night of December 6, 1991, a helicopter
carrying a pilot and three WTVD employees from a high school football game in Wilmington, North Carolina
crashed, killing three of the four members on board. Sports reporter Tony Debo was the only survivor.
On April 30, 2000, a dispute between Disney and Time Warner Cable
forced WTVD off cable systems within the Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville market for over 24 hours during the May sweeps period. Other ABC stations in markets served by Time Warner Cable, such as New York City
, Los Angeles
, and Houston
, were also affected by the outage as well before the FCC forced TWC to restore service to those areas on May 2. In July 2010, Disney announced that it was involved in another carriage dispute with Time Warner Cable which involved four ABC owned-and-operated stations (including WTVD), Disney Channel
and the networks of ESPN
. If a deal was not in place, the entire Disney cluster would've been removed from Time Warner and Bright House
cable systems across the country. On September 2, 2010, Disney and Time Warner Cable reached a long-term agreement to keep the Disney family of channels on its systems.
and Whiteville
which are part of the Wilmington market. In that city, WTVD used to be carried on the local access channel during newscasts, and was carried full time in Wilmington
until the early 1990s. In the Florence
/Myrtle Beach
/Lumberton
market, it is carried in Laurinburg
, Lumberton, and St. Pauls
. In the Greensboro
/High Point
/Winston-Salem
area, it is carried in Burlington
and Mebane
. In Virginia
, it is carried in South Boston
which is part of the Roanoke
/Lynchburg
market.
Until the mid-1990s, WTVD was carried on cable channel 2 in Lexington
and Thomasville
, one of two out-of-market TV stations carried on cable in Davidson County
along with WBTV
, which was carried on cable TV channel 8.
On DirecTV
, WTVD is carried in two North Carolina counties out of market in Alamance
and Northampton
Counties.
. In South Carolina, it was once carried in Bennettsville
.
Principal anchor Larry Stogner has been with the station since 1976 and a weeknight anchor continuously since 1982. His co-anchor for much of the 1990s, Miriam Thomas, abruptly left WTVD after nineteen years in November 2001. Notable former members of WTVD's news staff include musicians John Tesh
and John D. Loudermilk
, ESPN
personality Stuart Scott
, as well as former Good Morning America
co-host David Hartman
.
From 1973 until 1985, WTVD used the Eyewitness News name for its newscasts though its format was very similar to the Action News
format pioneered by sister station WPVI-TV
in Philadelphia. The arrangement was similar to then-sister station WKBW-TV
in Buffalo, New York
. During this time, both stations used the same theme song, Move Closer to Your World
, and the same opening sequence. WRAL was also using the Action News name during that time period. It called its newscasts simply WTVD 11 News for a time after the affiliation switch in 1985. WTVD called itself NewsChannel 11 from 1993 until 2000 when it changed back to Eyewitness News. WTVD was among the last stations to use the Cool Hand Luke
Tar Sequence theme in its broadcasts (which was also used on WRAL for a period in the 1970s). However, the station debuted the theme soon after the Capital Cities/ABC merger and retired it in 1993. Like sister stations WABC, KABC, and KGO-TV
, the theme was used only in the opens.
On June 26, 2006, WTVD debuted a new prime time newscast for WB affiliate WLFL
entitled Eyewitness News at 10 on WB 22. This happened after WLFL's owner, Sinclair Broadcast Group
, ended the controversial News Central
format on its stations. This newscast runs directly against the WRAL-produced show on WRAZ. On September 17 concurrent with that station's official affiliation switch to The CW, the newscast changed its name to Eyewitness News at 10 on CW 22. On April 21, 2008, WTVD became the second television station in the Triangle behind WRAL and the eighth ABC-owned station to produce its newscasts in HD.
WTVD added a 4PM newscast on May 26, 2011 to fill the void left by The Oprah Winfrey Show
, ending a long run in that time slot.
It subscribes to AccuWeather
for the weather portion of the broadcasts. It operates its own weather radar
, called "First Alert Doppler XP", at its transmitter. There are live streams offered on its website of every newscast (except the weeknight WLFL show) and "Eyewitness News Now". In addition to its main studios, the station operates bureaus in Fayetteville on Green Street and Raleigh
on Fayetteville Street. WTVD has a fleet of regular news vans and trucks as well as a yellow Toyota FJ Cruiser which is known as "Breaking News One". WTVD also leases a helicopter which it refers to as "Chopper 11 HD".
ABC 11 HD AccuWeather Team
Sports team
Reporters
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company
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...
, licensed to Durham, North Carolina
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
. The station serves the areas of Durham, Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
, Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...
, and Fayetteville
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville is a city located in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army post located northwest of the city....
, known as the Triangle. WTVD's main studios, offices and newsroom are located in downtown Durham, along with additional studio facilities in both Raleigh and Fayetteville. The station's transmitter is located in Garner, North Carolina
Garner, North Carolina
Garner is a town in Wake County, North Carolina, United States and a suburb of Raleigh. The population was 17,757 at the 2000 census and was 27,533 in 2009.-Geography:Garner is located at ....
. It is seen on cable channel 9 in the Piedmont Triad area but in some areas it is seen on channels 6, 11, or 13.
Digital programming
The station's signal is multiplexed:| Channel | Video | Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11.1 | 720p 720p 720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
Mmain WTVD programming / ABC |
| 11.2 | Live Well Network Letterbox on 11.3 |
||
| 11.3 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 |
On June 12, 2009 at 12:30 p.m., WTVD remained on channel 11 when the analog to digital conversion was completed. On September 23, 2009, the station filed an application to 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...
to increase its effective radiated power
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
from 20.7 to 45 kilowatts.
History
In 1952, two rival companies each applied for a license to build a television station in Durham on the city's newly allotted VHF channel 11 – Herald-Sun Newspapers (publishers of the Durham Morning Herald and the Durham SunThe Herald-Sun (Durham, North Carolina)
The Herald-Sun is a daily newspaper in Durham, North Carolina, published by the Paxton Media Group of Paducah, Kentucky.-History:The Herald-Sun began publication on 1 January 1991 as the result of a merger of The Durham Morning Herald and The Durham Sun.The Herald-Sun and The Durham Morning Herald...
as well as the owners of radio station WDNC) and Floyd Fletcher and Harmon Duncan, the then-owners of WTIK
WTIK
WTIK is a radio station broadcasting a Regional Mexican format. Licensed to Durham, North Carolina, USA, the station serves the Triangle area. The station is currently owned by Davidson Media Station Wtik Licensee, LLC....
radio. In December 1953, the two sides agreed to join forces and operate the station under the joint banner Durham Broadcasting Enterprises. Eight months later, on September 2, 1954, WTVD began broadcasting with a black-and-white film of the Star Spangled Banner, this was followed by You Bet Your Life
You Bet Your Life
You Bet Your Life is an American quiz show that aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio in October 1947, then moved to CBS Radio in September...
. It was originally a primary NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate, with a secondary ABC affiliation. Its initial studios were located in a former tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
sanitorium at 2410 Broad Street, with a transmitter located atop Signal Hill in northern Durham County. Channel 11 is the Triangle's oldest surviving television station, having signed on a few months after 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 WNAO-TV (channel 28).
On May 22, 1957, the station's original owners sold their interest in WTVD to Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
-based Hudson Valley Broadcasting Company, owners of WCDA-TV (now WTEN
WTEN
WTEN is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Capital District of New York State and Western New England that is licensed to Albany. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 26 from a transmitter southwest of the Voorheesville section of New Scotland...
), to form Capital Cities Television Corporation (predecessor of Capital Cities Communications
Capital Cities Communications
Capital Cities redirects here. For the article about the seat of a government, see Capital .Capital Cities Communications was an American media company best known for its surprise purchase of the much larger American Broadcasting Company in 1985...
). Around 1958, WTVD built a 1500 feet (457.2 m) tower at its present transmitter site in Auburn to better serve the market. That same year, the station first began broadcasting in color, although it would be until 1966 before the same was true for local programming.
WRAL-TV
WRAL-TV
WRAL-TV, virtual channel 5 , is a television station in Raleigh, North Carolina. WRAL-TV has been the flagship station of Capitol Broadcasting Company since its inception, and is currently the CBS affiliate for the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill/Fayetteville area, known collectively as the Triangle...
(channel 5), owned by local firm Capitol Broadcasting Company
Capitol Broadcasting Company
Capitol Broadcasting Company is a TV and radio broadcast company based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They also own and operate the minor league baseball team, the Durham Bulls.-TV:*WRAL-TV 5...
, started in 1956 and took over as the Triangle's NBC affiliate. CBS then dropped its affiliation with the under-performing WNAO-TV and gave it to WTVD. 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...
. When WNAO-TV stopped broadcasting in 1959 due to financial difficulties, channel 11 began sharing ABC programming with WRAL-TV.
After WRAL took the ABC affiliation full-time in 1962, WTVD was forced to shoehorn CBS and NBC programming onto its schedule. This was a very unusual arrangement for what was then a two-station market. Although the market got a third commercial station six years later when channel 28 returned to the airwaves as WRDU-TV (now WRDC), WTVD "cherry picked" the most popular CBS and NBC programs, leaving WRDU with the lower-rated shows from both networks, until 1971. At that time the FCC, intervening on behalf of WRDU's owners and in the interest of protecting the development of UHF, ordered WTVD to select one network. Channel 11 decided to go with CBS full-time, allowing WRDU to become an exclusive NBC station (it is now affiliated with myNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
).
In 1978, WTVD attempted to expand its broadcast coverage to the Fayetteville area, which had been without a television station of its own for nearly two decades. Its studios were relocated to their current location on Liberty Street in downtown Durham on a parcel of land it shares with the Durham County Library; it also built its current 2000 feet (609.6 m) tower in Auburn. A fire on March 4, 1979 caused extensive damage to the newly built studio building; however, the newsroom and a number of other key components had been rebuilt within a month. By that time, much of WTVD's operations had returned to normal, although it had resorted to temporary setups during the interim such as holding the newscasts in one of the meeting rooms that survived the aforementioned crisis unscathed.
On March 18, 1985, WTVD's owner, Capital Cities, announced it was purchasing ABC. Five months later, on August 4, 1985, WTVD swapped affiliations with WRAL-TV and became an ABC affiliate. At that time, WTVD and WRAL-TV joined the small list of stations that have held primary affiliations with all of the "Big Three" networks. The transaction was finalized on January 3, 1986, making WTVD an ABC-owned station, the first network-owned television station in North Carolina. In 1996, the Walt Disney Company acquired Capital Cities/ABC.
On the night of December 6, 1991, a helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
carrying a pilot and three WTVD employees from a high school football game in Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
crashed, killing three of the four members on board. Sports reporter Tony Debo was the only survivor.
On April 30, 2000, a dispute between Disney 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...
forced WTVD off cable systems within the Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville market for over 24 hours during the May sweeps period. Other ABC stations in markets served by Time Warner Cable, such as New York City
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...
, Los Angeles
KABC-TV
KABC-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, licensed to Los Angeles, California. KABC-TV's studios are located in Glendale, California...
, and Houston
KTRK-TV
KTRK-TV, channel 13, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Houston, Texas...
, were also affected by the outage as well before the FCC forced TWC to restore service to those areas on May 2. In July 2010, Disney announced that it was involved in another carriage dispute with Time Warner Cable which involved four ABC owned-and-operated stations (including WTVD), Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
and the networks of ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment 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....
. If a deal was not in place, the entire Disney cluster would've been removed from Time Warner and Bright House
Bright House Networks
Bright House Networks is a cable television company, the seventh largest cable operator and the sixth largest traditional multiple system operator in the United States owned by Advance/Newhouse, headquartered in Syracuse, New York...
cable systems across the country. On September 2, 2010, Disney and Time Warner Cable reached a long-term agreement to keep the Disney family of channels on its systems.
Out-of-market coverage
In North Carolina, it is carried out of market in ElizabethtownElizabethtown, North Carolina
Elizabethtown is a town in Bladen County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,698 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Bladen County.-Geography:Elizabethtown is located at ....
and Whiteville
Whiteville, North Carolina
Whiteville is a city in Columbus County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 5,148 at the 2000 census. It is the only city of Columbus County and is the county seat....
which are part of the Wilmington market. In that city, WTVD used to be carried on the local access channel during newscasts, and was carried full time in Wilmington
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
until the early 1990s. In the Florence
Florence, South Carolina
-Municipal government and politics:The City of Florence has a council-manager form of government. The mayor and city council are elected every four years, with no term limits...
/Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach is a coastal city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is situated on the center of a large and continuous stretch of beach known as the Grand Strand in northeastern South Carolina. It is considered to be a major tourist destination in the...
/Lumberton
Lumberton, North Carolina
Lumberton is a city in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 20,795 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Robeson County. Lumberton, located in southern North Carolina's Inner Banks region, is located on the Lumber River...
market, it is carried in Laurinburg
Laurinburg, North Carolina
Laurinburg is a mid-sized city in Scotland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Scotland County. Located in southern North Carolina near the South Carolina state border, Laurinburg is southwest of Fayetteville and is home to St. Andrews Presbyterian College...
, Lumberton, and St. Pauls
St. Pauls, North Carolina
St. Pauls is a town in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,137 at the 2000 census.-History:The town of St. Pauls was built up around St. Pauls Presbyterian Church which was built on land donated in 1799 by William Davis. St. Pauls grew slowly from a town of just the...
. In the Greensboro
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
/High Point
High Point, North Carolina
High Point is a city located in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina. As of 2010 the city had a total population of 104,371, according to the US Census Bureau. High Point is currently the eighth-largest municipality in North Carolina....
/Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...
area, it is carried in Burlington
Burlington, North Carolina
Burlington is a city in Alamance and Guilford counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the principal city of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Alamance County, in which most of the city is located. The population was 49,963 at the 2010...
and Mebane
Mebane, North Carolina
Mebane is a city located mostly in Alamance County, North Carolina, United States, with a part of it in Orange County, North Carolina. It is part of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The current population estimate is 10,624. According to the , the town was named for...
. In Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, it is carried in South Boston
South Boston, Virginia
South Boston is a town in Halifax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,142 at the 2010 census.- History :On December 8, 1796, the General Assembly authorized eight commissioners to establish at Boyd's Ferry on the south side of the Dan River the town of South Boston, named for...
which is part of the Roanoke
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...
/Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 75,568 as of 2010. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the banks of the James River, Lynchburg is known as the "City of Seven Hills" or "The Hill City." Lynchburg was the only major city in...
market.
Until the mid-1990s, WTVD was carried on cable channel 2 in Lexington
Lexington, North Carolina
Lexington is the county seat of Davidson County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 19,953. It is located in central North Carolina, twenty miles south of Winston-Salem. Major highways include I-85, U.S. Route 29, U.S. Route 70, U.S. Route 52 ...
and Thomasville
Thomasville, North Carolina
Thomasville is a city in Davidson County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 21,354 at the 2010 census. The city is notable for its furniture industry as are its neighbors of High Point and Lexington. This Piedmont Triad community was established in 1852 and hosts the state's...
, one of two out-of-market TV stations carried on cable in Davidson County
Davidson County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 149,331 people, 58,156 households, and 42,512 families residing in the county. The population density was 267 people per square mile . There were 62,432 housing units at an average density of 113 per square mile...
along with WBTV
WBTV
WBTV, channel 3 , is the CBS affiliate in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is one of two flagship stations of Raycom Media. WBTV's studios are located off Morehead Street just west of Uptown Charlotte, and its transmitter is located in north-central Gaston County, North Carolina...
, which was carried on cable TV channel 8.
On DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
, WTVD is carried in two North Carolina counties out of market in Alamance
Alamance County, North Carolina
Alamance County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It coincides with the Burlington, North Carolina, Metropolitan Statistical Area...
and Northampton
Northampton County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 22,086 people, 8,691 households, and 5,953 families residing in the county. The population density was 41 people per square mile . There were 10,455 housing units at an average density of 20 per square mile...
Counties.
CATV
In the 1970s and 1980s, WTVD was once carried in Brunswick County in North Carolina. In Virginia, it was once carried in EmporiaEmporia, Virginia
Emporia is an independent city located within the confines of Greensville County, Virginia, United States. The population was estimated to be 5,927 in 2010. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Emporia with surrounding Greensville county for statistical purposes...
. In South Carolina, it was once carried in Bennettsville
Bennettsville, South Carolina
Bennettsville is a city in and the county seat of Marlboro County, South Carolina, United States. and home to the Bennettsville Historic District...
.
News operation
For most of the last four decades, WTVD has been a solid second in ratings across the market. This is in contrast to most of its ABC stablemates, which dominate their markets' news ratings.Principal anchor Larry Stogner has been with the station since 1976 and a weeknight anchor continuously since 1982. His co-anchor for much of the 1990s, Miriam Thomas, abruptly left WTVD after nineteen years in November 2001. Notable former members of WTVD's news staff include musicians John Tesh
John Tesh
John Frank Tesh is an American pianist and composer of pop music, as well as a radio host and television presenter. His 10-year-old 'Intelligence for Your Life Radio Show' reaches 14.2 Million listeners/week, and is syndicated by Teshmedia on 400 stations in US, Canada, and the UK...
and John D. Loudermilk
John D. Loudermilk
John D. Loudermilk is an American singer and songwriter.-Biography:Born in Durham, North Carolina, Loudermilk grew up in a family who were members of the Salvation Army faith and was influenced by the church singing. His cousins Ira and Charlie Loudermilk were known professionally as the Louvin...
, ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment 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....
personality Stuart Scott
Stuart Scott
Stuart Scott is a sportscaster and anchor on ESPN's SportsCenter.-Early life and career:Scott attended Richard J. Reynolds High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and went to college at the University of North Carolina. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity...
, as well as former Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
co-host David Hartman
David Hartman (TV personality)
David Downs Hartman is an American journalist and media host who began his media career as an actor. He currently anchors and hosts documentary programs on cable TV's History and on PBS. Hartman is best known as the first host of ABC's Good Morning America, from 1975 to 1987. As an actor, he...
.
From 1973 until 1985, WTVD used the Eyewitness News name for its newscasts though its format was very similar to the Action News
Action 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 pioneered by sister station WPVI-TV
WPVI-TV
WPVI-TV, channel 6, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. WPVI has its studios located on the border between Philadelphia and Bala Cynwyd, and its transmitter is located in the...
in Philadelphia. The arrangement was similar to then-sister station WKBW-TV
WKBW-TV
WKBW-TV, channel 7, is the ABC affiliate for the Buffalo, New York television market, and is one of many local Buffalo TV stations seen over-the-air and on cable in Canada. Its transmitter is located at 8909 Center Street in Colden. The station is owned by the Granite Broadcasting Corporation, who...
in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
. During this time, both stations used the same theme song, Move Closer to Your World
Move Closer to Your World
Move Closer to Your World is a television news music package composed by jingle writer Al Ham under his Mayoham Music label. In the 1970s it was considered an anthem for local television news, and is considered the anthem of WPVI-TV in Philadelphia for its Action News programs to the current day...
, and the same opening sequence. WRAL was also using the Action News name during that time period. It called its newscasts simply WTVD 11 News for a time after the affiliation switch in 1985. WTVD called itself NewsChannel 11 from 1993 until 2000 when it changed back to Eyewitness News. WTVD was among the last stations to use the Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Paul Newman. The screenplay was adapted by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson from Pearce's 1965 novel of the same name. The film features George Kennedy, Strother Martin, J.D...
Tar Sequence theme in its broadcasts (which was also used on WRAL for a period in the 1970s). However, the station debuted the theme soon after the Capital Cities/ABC merger and retired it in 1993. Like sister stations WABC, KABC, and KGO-TV
KGO-TV
KGO-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, based in San Francisco, California...
, the theme was used only in the opens.
On June 26, 2006, WTVD debuted a new prime time newscast for WB affiliate WLFL
WLFL
WLFL is the CW-affiliated television station for North Carolina's Triangle licensed to Raleigh. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter located in Auburn, North Carolina. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 2 and in high definition...
entitled Eyewitness News at 10 on WB 22. This happened after WLFL's owner, 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...
, ended the 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 on its stations. This newscast runs directly against the WRAL-produced show on WRAZ. On September 17 concurrent with that station's official affiliation switch to The CW, the newscast changed its name to Eyewitness News at 10 on CW 22. On April 21, 2008, WTVD became the second television station in the Triangle behind WRAL and the eighth ABC-owned station to produce its newscasts in HD.
WTVD added a 4PM newscast on May 26, 2011 to fill the void left by The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, ending a long run in that time slot.
It subscribes to AccuWeather
AccuWeather
AccuWeather is an American media company that provides for-profit weather forecasting services worldwide.AccuWeather was founded in 1962 by Joel N. Myers, then a Penn State graduate student working on degrees in meteorology. His first customer was a gas company in Pennsylvania. While running the...
for the weather portion of the broadcasts. It operates its own weather radar
Weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type . Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the...
, called "First Alert Doppler XP", at its transmitter. There are live streams offered on its website of every newscast (except the weeknight WLFL show) and "Eyewitness News Now". In addition to its main studios, the station operates bureaus in Fayetteville on Green Street and Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
on Fayetteville Street. WTVD has a fleet of regular news vans and trucks as well as a yellow Toyota FJ Cruiser which is known as "Breaking News One". WTVD also leases a helicopter which it refers to as "Chopper 11 HD".
Newscast titles
- Your Esso Reporter (1954–1960)
- NewsBeat (1960–1961)
- The 11th Hour Report (1961–1962)
- 11 Now Report (1962–1973)
- Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(1973–1985) - WTVD 11 News (1985–1993)
- NewsChannel 11 (1993–1996)
- NewsChannel 11-ABC (1996–2000)
- ABC-11 Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(2000–present)
Station slogans
- 11 Together (late 1970s-early 1980s)
- The Heart of Carolina (1988–1993; still used to refer to the station's viewing area)
- The NewsChannel (1993–2001)
- Working for You (2001–2003)
- Live. Local. Up to the Minute. (2003–2004)
- Breaking News. Breaking Stories. (2006–present; news slogan)
- ABC-11 Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
. Start Here. (2007–2009) - Keeping you Connected (2010-)
Current on-air staff (as of September 16, 2011)
Anchors- Joel Brown - weekend evenings; also weekday evening reporter
- John Clark - weekday mornings and noon
- Caitlin Coyner - weekend mornings; also weekday morning reporter
- Shae Crisson - weekend evenings; also weeknight reporter
- Steve Daniels - weeknights at 10 (on WLFL) and 11 p.m.; also weeknights 5 and 6 p.m. breaking news reporter
- Barbara Gibbs - weekday mornings and noon
- Angela Hampton - host of "Heart of Carolina Perspectives"
- Tisha Powell - weeknights at 5, 10 (on WLFL) and 11 p.m.; also health reporter
- Amber Rupinta - weekday mornings; also traffic reporter
- Frances Scott - weeknights at 4 and 5 p.m.
- Fred Shropshire - weeknights at 4 p.m.
- Larry Stogner - weeknights at 6 p.m.
- Anthony Wilson - weekend mornings; also weekday morning reporter
ABC 11 HD AccuWeather Team
- Chris Hohmann (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) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 4, 5, 6, 10 (on WLFL) and 11 p.m. - Scott Dean (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend evenings
- Don Schwenneker (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seals of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings and noon
- Steve Stewart (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend mornings
Sports team
- Mark Armstrong - sports director; weeknights at 6, 10 (on WLFL) and 11 p.m.
- Joe Mazur - sports anchor; weekend evenings and weekday sports reporter
- Kerith Burke - sports reporter and fill-in sports anchor
- Jen Daniels - sports reporter
Reporters
- Gilbert Baez - Fayetteville Bureau reporter
- Greg Barnes - Fayetteville Bureau reporter
- Jon Camp - general assignment reporter
- Ed Crump - Raleigh Bureau senior reporter
- Tamara Gibbs - general assignment reporter
- Jennifer Kovaleski - digital journalist
- Alina Machado - general assignment reporter
- Mat Mendez - digital journalist
- Sheyenne Rodriguez - general assignment reporter
- Diane Wilson - consumer investigator
Notable former on-air staff
- Jimmy "The Greek" SnyderJimmy SnyderDimetrios Georgios Synodinos , better known as Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder, was an American sports commentator and Las Vegas bookie.-Life and career:...
- special sports correspondent (late 1970s-early 1980s; deceased)