WPTY-TV
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WPTY-TV | |
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| Memphis, Tennessee | |
| Branding | ABC24 |
| Slogan | Eyewitness News. Everywhere. Also: Uncovering. Investigating. Getting Results. |
| Channels | 24 (UHF) analog, 25 (UHF) digital |
| Affiliations | ABC (secondary in 70's and 80's, full time since 1995) |
| Owner | Clear Channel Communications (sale pending) |
| Founded | September 10, 1978 |
| Call letters meaning | We're PeTrY Television (Original owners) |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1978-1990), Fox (1990-1995), NBC & CBS (both secondary in 70's and 80's) |
| Website | www.abc24.com |
WPTY-TV "ABC24" is the ABC affiliate for Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The station is owned by Clear Channel Communications. Its transmitter is located in Brunswick, Tennessee.
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[edit] History
The station signed on the air on September 10, 1978 as the market's first UHF outlet and first independent television station. WPTY also served as the secondary network outlet for the other three stations in town whenever they passed on shows in favor of local fare.
The station was owned by Petry Television (Hence the call letters, sans the "e" and "r") and ran a general entertainment format of cartoons, movies, sitcoms, westerns, and drama shows.
By 1983 the station picked up competition when TVX's WMKW-30 signed on, sparking a rivalry between the two stations. TVX signed a deal to affiliate all their stations with Fox in 1987 -- resulting in WMKW 30 becoming the Fox affiliate. Fox pulled the affiliation from WMKW (now WLMT) in February 1990 and gave it to WPTY. This came because TVX's deal with Fox stating that if a station was sold, it could lose its Fox affiliation.
Clear Channel Communications bought WPTY in 1992 - a year later, a local marketing agreement between Clear Channel and WLMT would bring the two rival stations together.
In 1994 Fox Television Stations Group surprised the market by buying longtime ABC affiliate WHBQ-TV and announced that the station would become the new Fox affiliate. ABC in turn decided to go with WPTY as its new affiliate and on December 1, 1995, WPTY became the new home for ABC.
At that time, WPTY decided to completely re-brand itself and started a news department. The newscasts on WPTY (and WLMT) were branded as "NewsWatch" with an energetic, youthful, almost "grunge" look. After almost a year, the station re-branded as "ABC24 News", and began to modify its style to reach a broader audience. At this point ABC 24 began evolving into a traditional network affiliate, running mostly first run syndicated shows and a few sitcoms while UPN 30 ran cartoons, movies, sitcoms, and some reality/talk shows as well. In 2001 Clear Channel would buy 30 WLMT outright making the two stations sister stations.
The station's news operation, now branded Eyewitness News (which it shares with sister station WLMT), has shown tremendous growth. It was honored in 2005 with Associated Press Broadcasting awards for Best Breaking News, Best Newscast, Best Reporter and Best Sportscast. In the same awards in 2006, it was honored with 9 Awards including Best Overall Newscast. Eyewitness News also was honored in 2005 with an Edward R. Murrow award and a regional EMMY as the Best Weekend Newscast. WPTY does well with its current ABC lineup and syndicated fare.
On November 16, 2006, Clear Channel announced its intention to sell off all of its television stations, including WPTY,[1] after being bought out by a private equity firm.
[edit] Newscasts
- ABC24 Eyewitness News This Morning 5-7 a.m.
- ABC24 Eyewitness News Midday 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
- ABC24 Eyewitness News at 5 5-5:30 p.m.
- ABC24 Eyewitness News at 6 6-6:30 p.m.
- ABC24 Eyewitness News at 10 10-10:35 p.m.
[edit] News Anchors
Weekday Evenings:
- Cameron Harper
- Dee Griffin
Weekday Mornings:
- Terrance Bates
- Bonny Kinney
Weekends:
- Joyce Peterson
- Darryl Hood
[edit] Weather
- Brian Teigland
- Mark Walden
- Nicondra Norwood
- Henry Rothenberg
[edit] Sports
- Greg Gaston
- Kevin Jenks
- Rob Petrone
[edit] Former Personalities
- Tom Butler - Weekend Anchor (Now at KMSP in the Twin Cities)
- Dayna Devon - Weekday Evening Anchor (Now co-host of Extra)
[edit] References
- ^ "Clear Channel agrees to sale", The Cincinnati Enquirer, Gannett Company, 2006-11-16. Retrieved on 2006-11-17.
[edit] External links
| Broadcast television in the Memphis market (Nielsen DMA #44) | |||
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WREG 3 (CBS) - WMC 5 (NBC) (The Tube on DT3) - WKNO 10 (PBS) - WMAE 12 / WMAV 18 (PBS/MPB) - WPRQ-LP 12 (A1) - WHBQ 13 (Fox) - W18BL 18 (UBN) - WBII 20 (A1) - WPTY 24 (ABC) - WLMT 30 (The CW) - WBUY 40 (TBN) - W42BY 42 (3ABN) - WPXX 50 (MyNetworkTV/i) - W57CG 57 (Ind.) - WJRJ 59 (Daystar) |
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See also broadcast television in Jonesboro, Jackson TN, Greenwood / Greenville and Columbus/Tupelo/West Point markets |
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| ABC Network Affiliates in the state of Tennessee | |
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WKRN 2 (Nashville) - WATE 6 (Knoxville) - WBBJ 7 (Jackson) - WTVC 9 (Chattanooga) - WKPT 19 (Kingsport) - WPTY 24 (Memphis) |
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| See also: CBS, CW, Fox, i, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS and Other stations in Tennessee | |
| Clear Channel Communications, Inc. |
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Corporate officers: Lowry Mays | Mark Mays | Randall Mays | Tom Hicks |
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Radio / Television stations: (See List of broadcast stations owned by Clear Channel) |
