WCVB-TV

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WCVB-TV
Boston, Massachusetts
Branding	Channel 5 (general) NewsCenter 5 (news)
Slogan	Local Live Coverage You Can Count On
Channels	5 (VHF) analog, 20 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	ABC (1957-61 and since 1972)
Owner	Hearst-Argyle Television
Founded	November 26, 1957 (current license dates from March 19, 1972)
Call letters meaning	Channel V(5 in Roman Numerals) Boston
Former callsigns	WHDH-TV (1957-72)
Former affiliations	CBS (1961-72)
Transmitter Power	61.7 kW/353 m(analog) 625 kW/390 m (digital)
Website	thebostonchannel.com

WCVB-TV is the ABC affiliate in Boston, Massachusetts. The station's transmitter is located at the CBS digital television facility in Needham, Massachusetts. The studios are located nearby along Interstate 95/Route 128. WCVB-TV is one of three flagship stations of Hearst-Argyle.

Contents 1 History 2 Newscasts 2.1 Weekdays 2.2 Saturdays 2.3 Sundays 3 Local programming 4 On-air talent 4.1 Anchors 4.2 Storm Trak 5 Meteorologists 4.3 Sports 4.4 Reporters 5 Logo 6 Coverage area 7 References 8 External links

[edit] History

The station first signed on November 26, 1957 as WHDH-TV, owned by the Boston Herald-Traveler along with WHDH radio. It was originally an ABC affiliate, but switched to CBS in 1961. [1] [2] In the latter years the FCC (according to some, at the behest of the Boston Globe) began investigating the media combination of the Herald Traveler and WHDH-AM-FM-TV. In 1969, a local group, Boston Broadcasters, won a construction permit for a new channel 5 after promising to air more local programming than any other station in America at the time. The Herald Traveler fought the decision in court but lost in 1972.

On March 18, 1972, WHDH-TV signed off for the last time, replaced by the new WCVB early the next morning. However, the Herald-Traveler refused to hand over its facilities to the new channel 5, forcing the station to rent tower space from WBZ-TV -- this has been said to be retaliation for the lost appeal.^{[citation needed]} For its studios, WCVB used an old International Harvester dealership in Needham, which the station continues to use today. CBS was not amused at the prospect of numerous preemptions in the nation's fifth-largest market and refused to have anything to do with WCVB. As a result, WCVB cut a deal with ABC. CBS then moved its programming back to WNAC-TV, which had been Boston's original CBS affiliate from 1948 to 1961. Ironically, WNAC-TV would also lose its license and is now known as (ironically again) WHDH-TV.

Making good on its promise, WCVB aired more local programming than any other television station in the nation throughout the 1970s and the 1980s. One of its local programs was Good Day!. This program, which first aired in 1973 (as Good Morning!), broke ground by taking its entire production on the road and broadcasting from locations outside the Boston area. Good Day!, along with The Morning Exchange on WEWS in Cleveland, served as a basis for the format of ABC's Good Morning America. Due to its commitment to local programming, the station was quick to preempt programs, including low-rated prime time ABC network programs. Most of the time these programs were picked up by an independent station such as WQTV (now WBPX) or WHLL (now WUNI-TV).

The station is also known for exceptional news coverage and has been consistently at the top of the news ratings since the 1980s. This trend continued as the station was sold by Boston Broadcasters to Metromedia in 1981 (for the biggest sale ever made for a local station at the time). In 1986, Metromedia sold their television stations to the News Corporation, who wanted to begin their own network. WCVB was, instead, sold to the Hearst Corporation, who had purchased KMBC-TV in Kansas City, Missouri from Metromedia in 1982. That station was sold to make room in Metromedia's group for WCVB (to comply with then-FCC limits on the number of commonly-owned VHF stations, which at the time was five per company), and it is believed that Metromedia gave Hearst a right-of-first-refusal offer if WCVB ever went up for sale again. News Corp. would get its Boston station in early 1987, when it purchased WXNE-TV Channel 25 (now WFXT) from the Christian Broadcasting Network.

Beginning in the early 1980s and through the next couple decades, the station boasted the boasted the most-watched news team of Chet Curtis and Natalie Jacobson, who married eachother while co-anchors. However, by the late 1990s and early 2000s, the station was in a period of transition as it saw major competition from a resurgent WHDH-TV. At the same time, the station, known for the longevity and stability of its on-air staff, saw the end of its longtime anchor team of Curtis and Jacobson, as well as their marriage, which ended in a bitter divorce at the same time. Natalie Jacobson is still anchoring at channel 5 while Chet Curtis is at cable news channel NECN.

In 2002, WCVB chief meteorologist Dick Albert was joined by former rival Harvey Leonard, who left WHDH to become co-chief meteorologist with Albert. Widely regarded as two of Boston's top meteorologists, Leonard and Albert were honored by the Associated Press in 2005 for Best Weathercast in New England[3].

Station timeline

• November 26, 1957: Channel 5 first goes on the air as WHDH-TV, an ABC affiliate owned by The Boston Herald-Traveler Corp.
• January 1, 1961: Affiliation changes to CBS.
• 1969: The FCC revokes the broadcasting license for WHDH.
• March 16, 1972: The US Supreme Court rejects the Herald-Traveler appeals. Three days later, WCVB goes on the air as an ABC affiliate and is owned by Boston Broadcasters Inc.
• 1981: Metromedia purchases the station for $220 million. The purchase price was the largest amount paid for a local television station at that time.
• 1986: The station is sold to The Hearst Corporation.
• 1997: WCVB's ownership transferred to Hearst-Argyle Television
• October 29, 1998: WCVB-DT, New England's first digital channel, goes on the air. The broadcast was of a space shuttle launch which marked pioneer astronaut John Glenn's first trip back into space since his legendary 1962 orbital flight.

[edit] Newscasts

WCVB operates a Bell JetRanger 206B entitled News Copter 5. However, as of 2005 the helicopter goes by the name Live Sky 5. The station's radar is called "Storm Trak 5 Live Doppler", and is located in Hopkinton. The station offers a live, non-audio broadcast of the doppler radar on its DT2 digital subchannel. [4] WCVB's newscasts use the popular News Center title. During the NFL season, WCVB produces a local sports program called Patriots All Access, which airs Sunday mornings at 10 AM. The program is hosted by WCVB sports director Mike Lynch. The previous week's edition of this program airs Sunday mornings at 1:35 AM on WPRI, the CBS affiliate for Providence, RI - New Bedford, MA.

[edit] Weekdays

• News Center 5 Eye Opener - 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m.

Ed Harding & Heather Unruh

• News Center 5 Midday - 12:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Susan Wornick

• News Center 5 at 5 - 5:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Anthony Everett Heather Unruh

• News Center 5 at 5:30 - 5:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Anthony Everett & Liz Brunner

• News Center 5 at 6 - 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Natalie Jacobson

• News Center 5 Tonight - 11:00 p.m. to 11:35 p.m.

Liz Brunner & Ed Harding

[edit] Saturdays

• News Center 5 Eye Opener Weekend - 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.

Steve Lacy, Shiba Russel

• News Center 5 at 6 - 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Pam Cross, Bob Halleron

• News Center 5 Tonight - 11:00 p.m. to 11:35 p.m.

Pam Cross, Bob Halleron

[edit] Sundays

• News Center 5 Eye Opener Weekend - 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Steve Lacy, Shiba Ruseel

• News Center 5 Midday Sunday - 12:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Steve Lacy, Shiba Russel

• News Center 5 at 6 - 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Pam Cross, Bob Halleron

• News Center 5 Tonight - 11:00 p.m. to 11:35 p.m.

Pam Cross, Bob Halleron

[edit] Local programming

Along with its newscasts, WCVB currently produces two other major programs:

• Chronicle, a local nightly newsmagazine started in 1982, is still broadcasting on weekdays as of 2006. It focuses on topics of special interest throughout New England, though at times the program focuses on subjects outside the region such as Ireland. The Main Streets and Back Roads, one of the program's longest running series, looks at life in New England, primarily in the rural areas. A New Hampshire version of the program is produced by WCVB's sister station WMUR. The WCVB edition began broadcasting in HD on October 25, 2006.
• CityLine, which usually airs on Sundays, looks at urban issues and interests within the Boston area.

While the station is no longer so involved in locally-produced programming as it once was, it has had some influential programs:

• Candlepin Bowling, which ran Saturdays at 12 noon for nearly four decades, and was hosted for nearly all of that time by legendary WCVB sports anchor Don Gillis.
• Good Day!, an inspiration for Good Morning America.
• Miller's Court, a dramatized mock-trial program with a live audience.
• Park Street Under, an influence for Cheers.
• The Baxters, a sitcom on an American family, which deals with various important issues of the day. Each episode was open-ended, giving a live studio audience and guests a chance to talk about the topic being presented. The Baxters began as a local program in 1977; it went national in 1979 after producer Norman Lear picked up the national rights. The national version ran for two years, from 1979 to 1981.

[edit] On-air talent

[edit] Anchors

• Jim Boyd - Midday weekdays
• Liz Brunner - 5:30 and 11 p.m.
• Anthony Everett - 5 and 5:30 p.m. and Chronicle
• Ed Harding - EyeOpener Weekdays and 11 p.m.
• Natalie Jacobson - 6 p.m.
• Steve Lacy - EyeOpener Weekends and Midday Sunday
• Shiba Russell - EyeOpener Weekends and Midday Sunday
• Heather Unruh - EyeOpener Weekdays and 5 p.m.

[edit] Storm Trak 5 Meteorologists

• Dick Albert - Chief Meteorologist 5 and 6 p.m.
• David Brown - weekend evenings and Sunday midday
• Dave Epstein - weekend mornings
• Harvey Leonard - 5:30 and 11 p.m.
• J.C. Monahan - mornings and noon, also environmental reporter
• Fawn Boyd-Vigil - fill-in

[edit] Sports

• Mike Dowling
• Bob Halloran - Weekends
• Mike Lynch - Sports Director

[edit] Reporters

• Amalia Barreda
• David Boeri
• Pam Cross - weekend evening and Sunday midday anchor
• Jack Harper
• Gail Huff - EyeOpener reporter
• Sean Kelly- investigative reporter
• Jorge Quiroga
• Rhondella Richardson - investigative reporter
• Mary Saladna - fill-in anchor
• Kelley Tuthill - investigative reporter
• Susan Wornick - noon anchor/consumer and investigative reporter
• Janet Wu - investigative reporter

[edit] Logo

The general design of the numeric portion of WCVB's logo has remained unchanged since 1972, making it the longest-lived numeric logo in New England television. It claimed that title in 2003. The previous holder of that record was WBZ-TV, whose "4" design lasted over 30 years (until 1995). When WCVB first went on the air, the anchor desk for its news broadcasts was in the shape of the 5 logo.

[edit] Coverage area

WCVB's signal covers Greater Boston, southern New Hampshire (with sister station WMUR), northern Rhode Island and northeastern Connecticut, although it has little cable coverage outside the Boston DMA. It is also one of six local Boston TV stations seen in Canada on the Bell ExpressVu satellite provider, and is carried on several cable systems in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

[edit] References

• WCVB's Station Timeline (2005). TheBostonChannel.com.
• WCVB Boston. The '80s TV Theme SuperSite.
• The Boston TV Dial: WCVB-TV, The Archives @ BostonRadio.org, 2006-04-02.

[edit] External links

• WCVB Website
• WCVB Wireless
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WCVB-TV