WTVW
Encyclopedia
Banam sold WTVW to Petracom Broadcasting in 1995. A 20-percent equity stake in Petracom was purchased by Fox
soon afterward, eventually leading to a three-way affiliation swap in which WTVW ended its 39-year ABC affiliation and joined Fox on December 3, 1995, with ABC moving to former CBS
affiliate WEHT and CBS moving to former Fox affiliate WEVV. (WTVW is one of three original ABC affiliates in the state of Indiana
to have switched affiliation to Fox, the other two being WAWV-TV in Terre Haute
and WSJV
in South Bend
).
Petracom sold its stations to Quorum Broadcasting in 1997. Quorum attempted to sell WTVW to GNS Media in 2003; GNS was owned by former Liberty Corporation executive Neil Smith, and if the deal went through WTVW would have been operated under a joint sales agreement by Liberty-owned WFIE. In the meantime, on December 31, 2003 Quorum merged with Nexstar Broadcasting, which announced in January 2004 that the sale to GNS had fallen through.
On May 11, 2011, Fox announced that it would leave WTVW and, as of July 1, 2011, affiliate with a subchannel of WEVV-TV
that already had an affiliation with MyNetworkTV
(WEVV's main channel will remain with CBS); the move comes as Fox has been aggressively seeking shares of retransmission earnings gained by its affiliates as part of affiliation agreements, an approach that has openly irked WTVW owner Nexstar. WTVW became an independent station branded as "Local 7", with primetime programming including Inside Edition
, The Insider
, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
during the week, western
s on Saturdays, and movies on Sundays.
The Western programming and overnight classic television programming (which consists of twenty-two hours per week of the station's schedule at present) is provided by Me-TV, a Weigel Broadcasting
network which mainly airs on digital subchannel
s in most of the network's markets, though in WTVW's case the programming is recorded from the national feed and aired later in the station's schedule to compensate for current-day syndicated rights. It is unknown at this time if WTVW will continue to air programs from Me-TV when Evansville's WTSN becomes a Me-TV affiliate in November 2011.
The station would also introduce increased local programming, including coverage of local high school and college sports. The shift made Evansville one of the only television markets in the United States with only four out of the six broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC
and The CW
) having primary affiliations in a five station-market, with the remaining two (Fox and the MyNetworkTV program service) as digital multicast channels, along with one of the few markets where an analog-era VHF station has no network affiliation while all the market's UHF stations do. Nexstar would subsequently be stripped of its Fox affiliations in Springfield, Missouri
(KSFX-TV) and Fort Wayne, Indiana
(WFFT-TV
) as well, and Nexstar decided to drop the Fox affiliation from its Terre Haute, Indiana
affiliate (WFXW), which will become an ABC
affiliate under the new callsign WAWV-TV. The last Fox network program to air on WTVW was a repeat of Glee
. All Fox programming moved to WEVV-DT2 when that show ended at 9 p.m. CDT.
On August 8, 2011, Nexstar announced it would purchase WEHT from Gilmore Broadcasting Corporation while selling WTVW to Nexstar's sister company Mission Broadcasting
, effectively placing WTVW under the co-management of the station that accepted the ABC affiliation that WTVW formerly carried prior to affiliating with Fox. As a result, Nexstar will operate two stations in the Evansville market, WEHT and WTVW; the two stations will be operated from the WEHT studios in Henderson, Kentucky
. Papers filed by Nexstar to the FCC have placed a requirement that news programming can amount to only 15% (equivalent to 25 hours per week) of WTVW's overall schedule (the recent expansions to the weekend 6 p.m. newscast, as well as the upcoming expansion of the weekday morning newscast would amount to news consisting of 21% of the station's schedule); this will be accomplished by eliminating newscasts in time periods in which WEHT airs newscasts. The transactions were completed on December 1, 2011.
, Northwestern Kentucky, and just about every county bordering these regions. Its viewing area consists of all ten Southeastern Illinois counties, all eleven Southwestern Indiana counties, all nine Northwestern Kentucky counties and two more in South Central Indiana
: Crawford and Orange, two more in North Central Kentucky
: Breckinridge
and Grayson
, along with Butler County, Kentucky
in south-central Kentucky
, as well as Crittenden County
and the adjacent Hardin County in Southern Illinois
.
. The two stations operate a Doppler
weather radar
across the street from the Henderson facility. Randy Moore, the station's general assignment reporter and former weeknight anchor, is the longest-serving member of WTVW's on-air news team, having been with the station since 1980; with the merger of WTVW and WEHT's news operations, Moore will now be seen on both stations, serving primarily as anchor for the 5-7 a.m. weekday newscast on WEHT.
Throughout its history, the station has always operated a local news department. Branded for years as Eyewitness News
until 1995 and again since 2011, the station changed branding to Fox 7 News following the affiliation switch. News was expanded to two hours on weekday mornings, plus the addition of a 5 p.m. newscast. Newscasts came and went, with the cancellation of the midday news in the late 1990s, then later the 5 p.m. and finally, the morning news. For a few years this left only the 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. newscasts (the 10 p.m. news had earlier been 'moved' into the 9 p.m. timeslot and expanded to an hour). However, in March 2002, the morning and midday newscasts made a return, under the names Fox 7 Morningside and Fox 7 Midday, respectively. In 2006, the morning news, now known as A.M. Evansville, expanded to three hours, the midday newscast moved to a later time slot and a 6:30 p.m. weeknight newscast was added to the schedule.
The news branding changed a number of times as well, from Fox 7 News to Fox 7 First News in 1998, then back to Fox 7 News in 2000. The station once briefly used WTVW NewsChannel 7 starting in 2004, before again returning to the Fox 7 News title in 2005. The branding was changed once more to Fox 7 WTVW News for a time in 2007 before again reverting to Fox 7 News. Just prior to the end of its Fox affiliation, in June 2011, the Fox 7 News branding was phased out; the station temporarily referred to its newscasts as News 7 in the last weeks of the affiliation, before changing it to Local 7 News on July 1. As an independent station, WTVW then expanded its 6 p.m. newscast to seven nights a week on July 9 (previously, the station's lone weekend early evening newscast was a half-hour 6 p.m. newscast on Saturdays, which expanded to one hour with the expansion), while A.M. Evansville added a fourth hour on September 19, 2011, under the name Local 7 News Lifestyles, while the 5-8 a.m. newscast was renamed Local 7 News This Morning.
With the sale of WTVW to Mission Broadcasting and WEHT to Nexstar Broadcasting and the consolidation of their news operations at WEHT's studios, WTVW no longer airs newscasts against WEHT's, resulting in the morning newscast having been shortened to two hours (the 8 a.m. hour will retain the Lifestyles format) and the 6 p.m. newscast being shortened to a half-hour 6:30 p.m. newscast (though the Sunday 6 p.m. newscast remains on WTVW, as WEHT airs ABC programming at that time). Existing evening anchors Randy Moore and Julie Dolan will be moved to the morning newscasts on both stations (with Dolan also co-hosting Local 7 Lifestyles with Stefanie Martinez and anchoring the noon newscast), while WEHT anchor Brad Byrd will anchor the 6:30 and 9 p.m. newscasts (co-anchoring at 6:30 with Shelley Kirk); other on-air staff members from WEHT were carried over to the newscasts on WTVW, and vice versa. The two stations rebranded their newscasts as Eyewitness News, the title WTVW had used as an ABC affiliate from 1974 to 1995, on December 1, 2011; as a result of the consolidation of WTVW and WEHT's news operations, this leaves the Evansville market with only two local news operations amongst three stations, the other belonging to NBC affiliate WFIE
(CBS
affiliate WEVV-TV, which began running newscasts starting in 1992, had shut down its news operation in 2001).
Eyewitness News First Warning Doppler Weather
Sports team
Reporters
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...
soon afterward, eventually leading to a three-way affiliation swap in which WTVW ended its 39-year ABC affiliation and joined Fox on December 3, 1995, with ABC moving to former 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 WEHT and CBS moving to former Fox affiliate WEVV. (WTVW is one of three original ABC affiliates in the state of Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
to have switched affiliation to Fox, the other two being WAWV-TV in Terre Haute
Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...
and WSJV
WSJV
WSJV is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Michiana area of Northern Indiana and Southwestern Michigan that is licensed to Elkhart. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 28 from a transmitter in Mishawaka, Indiana. Owned by Quincy Newspapers, the station has...
in South Bend
South Bend, Indiana
The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
).
Petracom sold its stations to Quorum Broadcasting in 1997. Quorum attempted to sell WTVW to GNS Media in 2003; GNS was owned by former Liberty Corporation executive Neil Smith, and if the deal went through WTVW would have been operated under a joint sales agreement by Liberty-owned WFIE. In the meantime, on December 31, 2003 Quorum merged with Nexstar Broadcasting, which announced in January 2004 that the sale to GNS had fallen through.
On May 11, 2011, Fox announced that it would leave WTVW and, as of July 1, 2011, affiliate with a subchannel of WEVV-TV
WEVV-DT2
WEVV-DT2 is the primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV television station for Evansville, Indiana. It is the second digital subchannel of CBS affiliate WEVV-TV, owned by Communications Corporation of America. Over-the-air, the station broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel...
that already had an affiliation 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...
(WEVV's main channel will remain with CBS); the move comes as Fox has been aggressively seeking shares of retransmission earnings gained by its affiliates as part of affiliation agreements, an approach that has openly irked WTVW owner Nexstar. WTVW became an independent station branded as "Local 7", with primetime programming including Inside Edition
Inside Edition
Inside Edition is a thirty-minute American television syndicated news program, first aired on CBS on October 9, 1988. It was originally similar to the programs Hard Copy and A Current Affair, but now more closely resembles a condensed version of breakfast television, exclusively with pre-recorded...
, The Insider
The Insider (TV series)
The Insider is an American tabloid television news program covering events and celebrities. It debuted on September 13, 2004 as a spinoff of Entertainment Tonight and started as a popular segment that took viewers "behind closed doors" and gave them "inside" information...
, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
during the week, western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
s on Saturdays, and movies on Sundays.
The Western programming and overnight classic television programming (which consists of twenty-two hours per week of the station's schedule at present) is provided by Me-TV, a Weigel Broadcasting
Weigel Broadcasting
Weigel Broadcasting is an American locally based television broadcasting company. The company is based in downtown Chicago, Illinois, alongside its flagship station WCIU-TV , at the apt address of 26 North Halsted Street in the Greektown neighborhood.- History :The company was founded by Chicago...
network which mainly airs on digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
s in most of the network's markets, though in WTVW's case the programming is recorded from the national feed and aired later in the station's schedule to compensate for current-day syndicated rights. It is unknown at this time if WTVW will continue to air programs from Me-TV when Evansville's WTSN becomes a Me-TV affiliate in November 2011.
The station would also introduce increased local programming, including coverage of local high school and college sports. The shift made Evansville one of the only television markets in the United States with only four out of the six broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, 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...
and The CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
) having primary affiliations in a five station-market, with the remaining two (Fox and the MyNetworkTV program service) as digital multicast channels, along with one of the few markets where an analog-era VHF station has no network affiliation while all the market's UHF stations do. Nexstar would subsequently be stripped of its Fox affiliations in Springfield, Missouri
Springfield, Missouri
Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. According to the 2010 census data, the population was 159,498, an increase of 5.2% since the 2000 census. The Springfield Metropolitan Area, population 436,712, includes the counties of...
(KSFX-TV) and Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Fort Wayne is a city in the US state of Indiana and the county seat of Allen County. The population was 253,691 at the 2010 Census making it the 74th largest city in the United States and the second largest in Indiana...
(WFFT-TV
WFFT-TV
WFFT-TV is an Independent station for Northeastern Indiana licensed to Fort Wayne. From the network's launch on October 9th, 1986 to July 31, 2011, WFFT was the Fox-affiliated television station for Fort Wayne. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 from a transmitter at...
) as well, and Nexstar decided to drop the Fox affiliation from its Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...
affiliate (WFXW), which will become 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 under the new callsign WAWV-TV. The last Fox network program to air on WTVW was a repeat of Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
. All Fox programming moved to WEVV-DT2 when that show ended at 9 p.m. CDT.
On August 8, 2011, Nexstar announced it would purchase WEHT from Gilmore Broadcasting Corporation while selling WTVW to Nexstar's sister company Mission Broadcasting
Mission Broadcasting
Mission Broadcasting, Inc. is a television station group that owns 15 television stations operated by Nexstar Broadcasting. The group's president is David S. Smith, who founded the company in 1998. In most areas where Mission owns a station, its arrangements allow Nexstar to control two of the top...
, effectively placing WTVW under the co-management of the station that accepted the ABC affiliation that WTVW formerly carried prior to affiliating with Fox. As a result, Nexstar will operate two stations in the Evansville market, WEHT and WTVW; the two stations will be operated from the WEHT studios in Henderson, Kentucky
Henderson, Kentucky
Henderson is a city in Henderson County, Kentucky, United States, along the Ohio River in the western part of the state. The population was 27,952 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Evansville Metropolitan Area often referred to as "Kentuckiana", although "Tri-State Area" or "Tri-State" are more...
. Papers filed by Nexstar to the FCC have placed a requirement that news programming can amount to only 15% (equivalent to 25 hours per week) of WTVW's overall schedule (the recent expansions to the weekend 6 p.m. newscast, as well as the upcoming expansion of the weekday morning newscast would amount to news consisting of 21% of the station's schedule); this will be accomplished by eliminating newscasts in time periods in which WEHT airs newscasts. The transactions were completed on December 1, 2011.
Broadcasting range
WTVW can be picked up by antenna in every county in Southeastern Illinois, Southwestern IndianaSouthwestern Indiana
Southwestern Indiana is a 11-county region of Indiana located at the southernmost and westernmost part of the state. As of the 2000 census, the region's combined population is 465,338. Evansville, Indiana's third largest city, is the primary hub for the region as well as the primary regional hub...
, Northwestern Kentucky, and just about every county bordering these regions. Its viewing area consists of all ten Southeastern Illinois counties, all eleven Southwestern Indiana counties, all nine Northwestern Kentucky counties and two more in South Central Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
: Crawford and Orange, two more in North Central Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
: Breckinridge
Breckinridge County, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 18,648 people, 7,324 households, and 5,309 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 9,890 housing units at an average density of...
and Grayson
Grayson County, Kentucky
Grayson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1810. As of 2000, the population was 24,053. Its county seat is Leitchfield. The county is named for William Grayson , a Revolutionary War colonel and a prominent Virginia political figure...
, along with Butler County, Kentucky
Butler County, Kentucky
Butler County is a county located in the US state of Kentucky. It was formed in 1810, becoming Kentucky's 53rd county. As of 2000, the population was 13,010. Its county seat is Morgantown, Kentucky. Butler is a prohibition or dry county.- History :...
in south-central Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, as well as Crittenden County
Crittenden County, Kentucky
Crittenden County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky.It was formed in 1842. As of 2000, the population was 9,384. Its county seat is Marion. The county is named for John J. Crittenden who was Governor of Kentucky 1848-1850...
and the adjacent Hardin County in Southern Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
.
News operation
The station currently carries 23½ hours of local newscasts per week (with four hours on weekdays, 1½ hours on Saturdays, and two hours on Sundays); in addition to its main studios, WTVW (through WEHT) also operates a news bureau in OwensboroOwensboro, Kentucky
Owensboro is the fourth largest city by population in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is the county seat of Daviess County. It is located on U.S. Route 60 about southeast of Evansville, Indiana, and is the principal city of the Owensboro, Kentucky, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's...
. The two stations operate a Doppler
Pulse-doppler radar
Pulse-Doppler is a 4D radar system capable of detecting both target 3D location as well as measuring radial velocity . It uses the Doppler effect to avoid overloading computers and operators as well as to reduce power consumption...
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...
across the street from the Henderson facility. Randy Moore, the station's general assignment reporter and former weeknight anchor, is the longest-serving member of WTVW's on-air news team, having been with the station since 1980; with the merger of WTVW and WEHT's news operations, Moore will now be seen on both stations, serving primarily as anchor for the 5-7 a.m. weekday newscast on WEHT.
Throughout its history, the station has always operated a local news department. Branded for years as Eyewitness News
Eyewitness 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...
until 1995 and again since 2011, the station changed branding to Fox 7 News following the affiliation switch. News was expanded to two hours on weekday mornings, plus the addition of a 5 p.m. newscast. Newscasts came and went, with the cancellation of the midday news in the late 1990s, then later the 5 p.m. and finally, the morning news. For a few years this left only the 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. newscasts (the 10 p.m. news had earlier been 'moved' into the 9 p.m. timeslot and expanded to an hour). However, in March 2002, the morning and midday newscasts made a return, under the names Fox 7 Morningside and Fox 7 Midday, respectively. In 2006, the morning news, now known as A.M. Evansville, expanded to three hours, the midday newscast moved to a later time slot and a 6:30 p.m. weeknight newscast was added to the schedule.
The news branding changed a number of times as well, from Fox 7 News to Fox 7 First News in 1998, then back to Fox 7 News in 2000. The station once briefly used WTVW NewsChannel 7 starting in 2004, before again returning to the Fox 7 News title in 2005. The branding was changed once more to Fox 7 WTVW News for a time in 2007 before again reverting to Fox 7 News. Just prior to the end of its Fox affiliation, in June 2011, the Fox 7 News branding was phased out; the station temporarily referred to its newscasts as News 7 in the last weeks of the affiliation, before changing it to Local 7 News on July 1. As an independent station, WTVW then expanded its 6 p.m. newscast to seven nights a week on July 9 (previously, the station's lone weekend early evening newscast was a half-hour 6 p.m. newscast on Saturdays, which expanded to one hour with the expansion), while A.M. Evansville added a fourth hour on September 19, 2011, under the name Local 7 News Lifestyles, while the 5-8 a.m. newscast was renamed Local 7 News This Morning.
With the sale of WTVW to Mission Broadcasting and WEHT to Nexstar Broadcasting and the consolidation of their news operations at WEHT's studios, WTVW no longer airs newscasts against WEHT's, resulting in the morning newscast having been shortened to two hours (the 8 a.m. hour will retain the Lifestyles format) and the 6 p.m. newscast being shortened to a half-hour 6:30 p.m. newscast (though the Sunday 6 p.m. newscast remains on WTVW, as WEHT airs ABC programming at that time). Existing evening anchors Randy Moore and Julie Dolan will be moved to the morning newscasts on both stations (with Dolan also co-hosting Local 7 Lifestyles with Stefanie Martinez and anchoring the noon newscast), while WEHT anchor Brad Byrd will anchor the 6:30 and 9 p.m. newscasts (co-anchoring at 6:30 with Shelley Kirk); other on-air staff members from WEHT were carried over to the newscasts on WTVW, and vice versa. The two stations rebranded their newscasts as Eyewitness News, the title WTVW had used as an ABC affiliate from 1974 to 1995, on December 1, 2011; as a result of the consolidation of WTVW and WEHT's news operations, this leaves the Evansville market with only two local news operations amongst three stations, the other belonging to NBC affiliate WFIE
WFIE
WFIE is the NBC-afifliated television station for the Tri-State area of Southwestern Indiana, Northwestern Kentucky and Southeastern Illinois that's licensed to Evansville, Indiana. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 46 from a transmitter in the Wolf Hills section of...
(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 WEVV-TV, which began running newscasts starting in 1992, had shut down its news operation in 2001).
Newscast titles
- Pulse (1956–1959)
- The Tri-State Report (1959–1962)
- The Big News on 7 (1962–1965)
- News 7 (1965–1968 and June 2011)
- EDGE (1968–1974)
- (Channel 7) 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...
(1974–1995 and December 2011–present; used with "The xx:00 Report" subtitle until 1995) - Good Morning Tri-State (morning newscast; 1991–1995)
- Fox 7 News (1995–1998, 2000–2004, 2005–2007 and 2007–June 2011)
- Fox 7 First News (1998–2000)
- WTVW NewsChannel 7 (2004–2005)
- A.M. Evansville (morning newscast; 2006–2011)
- Fox 7 WTVW News (2007)
- Local 7 News (July–November 2011)
- Local 7 (News) Lifestyles (8-9 a.m. extension of morning newscast; September 2011–present)
Station slogans
- The Tri-State's 24-Hour News Source24 Hour News SourceThe 24 Hour News Source brand was a common name used by American television stations starting in the early 1990s for brief hourly news updates, usually running 30 seconds to a minute in length. At its peak, dozens of stations across the U.S. were producing these brief news updates...
(1991–1995) - Fox 7 is On Your Side. (1998–2004)
- NewsChannel 7 is On Your Side. (2004–2005)
- The Most Local News. The Most Local Coverage. (2005–2009)
- Evansville's Original Primetime News (9 p.m. newscast; 2005–2009)
- On Your Side Through The Tri-State (2010–2011)
News music packages
- WNDU 1986 News Theme by Tuesday Productions (1986-1991)
- News 88 by Tuesday Productions (1991–1995)
- Good Morning AmericaGood Morning AmericaGood 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...
by Non-Stop Music (1991–1995; used for Good Morning Tri-State newscast) - WTVW 1995 News Theme (1994–1995)
- FOX '95 by Stephen Arnold (1995–1998)
- FOX 1998 Affiliate News Package by Killer Tracks (NJJ Music / HLC) (1998–2004)
- Eyewitness News by Gari CommunicationsFrank GariFrank Gari is a popular singer and songwriter from the late 1950s and early 1960s. His best known songs as a performer are "Utopia" , "Lullaby of Love" and "Princess" , all of which hit the U.S. Top 40 in 1961. He co-wrote with Roger McGuinn the song Beach Ball for Bobby Darin...
(2004–2005) - The Paramount by Gari Communications (2005–2009; still used for weather and primetime health news opens)
- Pinnacle by Stephen Arnold (2009–present)
News team
Anchors- Brad Byrd - weeknights at 6:30 and 9 p.m.
- Julie Dolan - weekday mornings Eyewitness News Daybreak (7-8 a.m.)
- Shelley Kirk - weeknights at 6:30 p.m.
- Stefanie Martinez - weekday mornings Eyewitness News Daybreak (7-8 a.m.) and noon; also co-host of Local 7 News Lifestyles
- Lindsay Merwin - Saturdays at 6:30, Sundays at 6 and weekends at 9 p.m.; also host of My Hometown and weeknight reporter
- Shalah Sasse - Saturdays at 6:30, Sundays at 6 and weekends at 9 p.m.; also weeknight reporter
Eyewitness News First Warning Doppler Weather
- Wayne Hart (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 6:30 and 9 p.m. - Ron Rhodes (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) - meteorologist; weekday mornings Eyewitness News Daybreak (7-8 a.m.) - David Heckard (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; Saturdays at 6:30, Sundays at 6 and weekends at 9 p.m.
- Drew Gardner - weather anchor; fill-in
- Tom Sandquist - meterorologist; fill-in
Sports team
- Drew Amman - sports anchor; weeknights at 6:30 and 9 p.m.
- Doug Kufner - sports anchor; Saturdays at 6:30, Sundays at 6 and weekends at 9 p.m.
- Randall Parmley - sports anchor; fill-in, also sports reporter
Reporters
- Corey Allan - Owensboro Bureau photographer
- Ryan Braschler - general assignment reporter
- Tabnie Dozier - general assignment reporter
- Drew Gardner - general assignment reporter
- Andrea Giczewski - general assignment reporter; also producer
- Ariza Miyagi - general assignment reporter; also web producer
- Kayla Moody - weekday morning reporter
- Randy Moore - general assignment reporter
- Melissa Payne - general assignment reporter
- Ian Preston - general assignment reporter
- David Shepherd - weeknight multimedia journalist
- Jordan Vandenberge - weekday morning reporter
Notable former staff
- David Goodnow - reporter (former anchor at HLN)
- Mark Potter - reporter (now network correspondent for NBC NewsNBC NewsNBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
) - Casey StegallCasey StegallCasey Stegall is a network correspondent for Fox News Channel, based in the Los Angeles bureau. Stegall joined FOX News after working as a general assignment morning reporter and substitute anchor at KDFW-TV; FOX 4 in Dallas, Texas. Prior to that, he was a city hall reporter at KVUE-TV; ABC 24 in...
- reporter (now network correspondent for Fox News ChannelFox News ChannelFox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
in Los Angeles) - Caroline Shively - weekend anchor (now network correspondent for Fox News Channel)
- Chris Cannon - weekday morning/midday anchor (now at WTVFWTVFWTVF is the CBS-affiliated television station for Middle Tennessee that is licensed to Nashville. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 5 from a transmitter north of downtown along I-24. Owned by Landmark Media Enterprises, the station has studios on James Robertson Parkway...
in Nashville) - Jill Carlson - sports anchor/reporter (currently sports anchor at WFLDWFLDWFLD, virtual channel 32 , is the Fox owned-and-operated television station, based in Chicago, Illinois; through its parent company News Corporation, the station is owned in a duopoly with area MyNetworkTV affiliate WPWR-TV...
in Chicago; was first daily female sports anchor in Chicago) - Jim Gavin (now communications director for Indiana Secretary of State Todd RokitaTodd RokitaTheodore Edward "Todd" Rokita is the U.S. Representative for . He is a member of the Republican Party. He is formerly the two term Secretary of State of Indiana...
) - Jennifer McGilvray (now working for Indianapolis Department of Parks and Recreation)
- Lauren Jones - weekend weather (now at WXIN-TV in Indianapolis)
- Ann Moore - deceased wife of current head anchor Randy Moore
- Jackie Monroe - anchor (2004-2009; now 9 and 10 p.m. anchor at WFIEWFIEWFIE is the NBC-afifliated television station for the Tri-State area of Southwestern Indiana, Northwestern Kentucky and Southeastern Illinois that's licensed to Evansville, Indiana. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 46 from a transmitter in the Wolf Hills section of...
) - Kelly Quinn - reporter/anchor (now at WSYR-TVWSYR-TVWSYR-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Central New York State that is licensed to Syracuse. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 17 from a transmitter on Sevier Road in Pompey. The station can also be seen on Time Warner channel 9 and in high definition on...
in Syracuse, NY) - Rob Spicker - weekend anchor (now morning anchor at WINK-TVWINK-TVWINK-TV, virtual channel 11, is the CBS-affiliated television station for Southwest Florida that is licensed to Fort Myers. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 50 from a transmitter north of Fort Myers Shores near the Lee and Charlotte County line in Punta Gorda. The...
in Fort Myers, FL, was at WFTS-TVWFTS-TVWFTS, virtual channel 28, is the ABC affiliate television station for the Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida market, owned by The E.W. Scripps Company. It broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 29. Its transmitter is located in Riverview, Florida.-History:...
in Tampa, also been on Good Morning AmericaGood Morning AmericaGood 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...
, The Weather ChannelThe Weather ChannelThe Weather Channel is a US cable and satellite television network since May 2, 1982, that broadcasts weather forecasts and weather-related news, along with entertainment programming related to weather 24 hours a day...
and ABC News RadioABC News RadioABC News Radio is the radio service of ABC News, a division of the ABC Television Network. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Cumulus Media Networks, newscasts on the hour to its more than 2,000 affiliates...
) - Cheryl White - weekday morning/midday anchor (now morning meteorologist/traffic analyst at WAGA-TVWAGA-TVWAGA-TV, virtual channel 5.1 is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Television Network and based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States...
in Atlanta)
News personnel
- Bob Walters - news director
- Warren Korff - assignment editor
- John Simpson - chief photojournalist
- Steffen Miller - 6:30 and 9 p.m. newscast director
- Aaron Carnal - weekday morning producer
- Jenny Goodman - 6:30 p.m. producer
- Christy Monroe - 9 p.m. producer