wbir
| WBIR-TV | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Knoxville, Tennessee | |
| City of license | Knoxville |
| Branding | Channel 10 (general) 10 News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | Straight from the Heart. |
| Channel | Digital: 10 (VHF) |
| Subchannels | 10.1 NBC 10.2 WX+ |
| Affiliations | National Broadcasting Company |
| Owner | Gannett Company, Inc. (Gannett Pacific Corporation) |
| First air date | August 12, 1956 |
| Callsign meaning | We're Best In Radio |
| Former channels | Analog: 10 (VHF, 1956-2009) Digital: 31 (UHF) |
| Former affiliations | CBS (1956-1988) |
| Effective power | 40.9 kW |
| Height | 529.6 m |
| Facility ID | 46984 |
| Antenna coordinates | 36°0′12.8″N 83°56′34″W / 36.003556°N 83.94278°W (digital) |
| Website | www.wbir.com/ |
WBIR-TV channel 10 is the NBC affiliate in Knoxville, Tennessee. The station is owned and operated by Gannett. Its transmitter is located in Knoxville.
Contents |
History
WBIR-TV signed on the air on August 12, 1956 as an affiliate of the CBS television network, taking that affiliation away from WSKT-TV, Channel 26 (now WVLT-TV, Channel 8). During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.[1] WBIR-TV was owned and named after Jesse W. "Jay" Birdwell, who also owned WBIR radio (1240 AM, now WIFA and 103.5 FM, a frequency now occupied by WIMZ). WBIR's sign off was "We are the Best In Radio," which shared the first 3 letters of Birdwell's name as the origin of the call letters.
Birdwell had been one of the partners who had put WJHL-TV, the CBS affiliate in Johnson City, Tennessee 100 miles away, on the air in 1953. Shortly after signing Channel 10 on the air, Birdwell gave up his interest in WJHL-TV due to a fairly significant Grade A signal overlap of the two stations between Morristown and Greeneville, Tennessee. At the time, the FCC did not allow common ownership of two stations with overlapping signals, and Birdwell, who now had lesser partners in the ownership of WBIR-TV, wanted to keep the larger TV station. In 1963, Birdwell sold his Knoxville TV and radio stations to Southern Broadcasting Corporation, which merged with the News-Piedmont Publishing Company of Greenville, South Carolina in 1967 to form Multimedia.
In 1988, WBIR became an NBC affiliate, swapping affiliations with WKXT-TV (channel 8, now WVLT-TV). Ironically, channel 8 had been the original CBS affiliate in Knoxville (when it operated on channel 26). The switch means that no Knoxville VHF station that signed on the air, now has the original network it signed on with, except for WSJK-TV (now WETP-TV, Channel 2, Sneedville and its PBS afilliation.
Multimedia merged with Gannett in 1995.
Digital television
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:
Digital channel
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 10.1 | main WBIR-TV/NBC programming |
| 10.2 | NBC Plus |
National feeds for NBC Weather Plus ended December 2008
Analog-to-digital conversion
After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion on June 12, 2009, WBIR-TV moved its digital broadcasts back to its former analog channel number, 10.
Programming
The Heartland Series
The Heartland Series, hosted by Bill Landry, was a popular documentary series produced by WBIR from 1984 until 2009. It was conceived in 1984 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It continued to celebrate the people and the land of the entire Appalachian region, presenting re-enactments of historic events and feature stories about regional culture.[2] In February 2009, WBIR announced that it would suspend production of the series in September 2009, but would continue to show the hundreds of episodes already produced "for as long as the viewers like them."[2] The last episode was taped at the Museum of Appalachia in Norris on August 8, 2009 before an audience estimated at 10,000 people, one of the largest crowds in the museum's history.[3] [4]
During its 25-year history, The Heartland Series received several awards, including four Emmy Awards[5] United States embassies around the world keep tapes of The Heartland Series broadcasts as an information resource on life in Appalachia.[6]
Our Stories
In 2006, WBIR celebrated its 50th anniversary with a special report on some of the past stories captured on WBIR for the past 50 years. These reports were called "Our Stories" and included retrospectives on events such as U.S. Presidents visiting Knoxville and East Tennessee, major crimes and even the 25th Anniversary of the 1982 World's Fair.
News reporters and journalists
Current personalities
News anchors
- Robin Wilhoit (6pm and 11pm weekdays)
- John Becker (6pm and 11pm weekdays) Inside Tennessee
- LaSaundra Brown (Noon)
- Abby Ham (Weekday mornings)
- Russell Biven (Weekday mornings and Live @ Five @ four)
- Beth Haynes (Live @ Five @ four)
- Brittany Bailey (8am,7am and 9am Weekends)
- Sean Dreher (6pm and 11pm Weekends)
Sports
- Steve Phillips (Weekdays)
- Kris Budden (Weekends) Weekday fill-in
News reporters
- Brittany Bailey
- Sean Dreher
- Erin Donovan
- Jim Matheny
- Alison Morrow
- Stoney Sharp
- Emily Stroud
- Anthony Welsch
- Ken Schwall (Positively Schwall)
- Bill Williams (Monday's Child)
"Live at Five at Four" hosts
Prior to September 15, 2008, this show was aired at 5:00 p.m. on weekdays under the title "Live at Five." The program was moved to 4:00 p.m. and was temporarily renamed "Live at Five at Four" with WBIR asking for viewers' opinions on a new name. The quirky temporary name, however, was embraced by viewers and "Live at Five at Four" has remained the brand for the 4:00 p.m. program. Hosts are:
- Russell Bivens
- Beth Haynes
Weather
- Todd Howell
- Mike Witcher
- Cheryl Scott
Traffic
- Ed Rupp
Past personalities
- Cheryll Jones Last seen at CNN
- Bill Williams, anchor and reporter (retired from anchor duties in 2000 and 2006, but does weekly "Monday's Child" adoption segment)
- Lisa Cornwell, Weekday mornings and Noon (now at Big Ten Network)
- Moira Kaye, Style (retired from television)
- Dan Farkas, reporter and sports
- Ben Senger, anchor (now weekend anchor at WXII 12 News, Winston-Salem, NC
- Josh Roe, sports {now at WWMT-TV)
- Seth Grossman, anchor
- Mark Schnyder, anchor and reporter (now at KMOV-TV St. Louis)
- Teresa Woodard, anchor and reporter (now at KTVI-TV St. Louis)
- Ted Hall, anchor and reporter (now anchor at WXIA-TV Atlanta)
- Gary Loe, sports (now anchor of Hockey LoeDown WVLT-TV Knoxville)
- Steve Burgin, anchor
- Byron Webre, weather
- Jim Early, anchor and news director (D)
- Cassandra McGee, anchor
- Jennifer Mabe, reporter
- Rob Braun, anchor and reporter (now anchor at WKRC-TV Cincinnati)
- Scott Sams, weather and sports (now anchor at KTVT-TV Dallas)
- Rex Rainey, weather
- Carl Williams, anchor
- Marti Skold, weather (now at KTVX Salt Lake Utah)
- Terri Gruca [1], anchor (now 6pm/10pm anchor at KVUE-TV Austin)
- Bob Kesling, sports (now Voice of the Vols with Vol Network)
- Chip Carter, sports
- Doc Johnston, anchor
- Gene Patterson, anchor and reporter (now Anchor at WATE-TV Knoxville)
- Sara Allen, host of "Live at Five"
- Nicole Henrich, host of "Style"
- Jim Cline, sports
- Judy Jenkins, anchor and reporter
- Kristin Hoke, anchor and reporter
- Kim Carson, weather
- Larry Smith, reporter
- Todd Summers, sports
- Jim Holliday, sports
- Phil Rainey, sports
- Greeley Kyle, reporter
- JaQuitta Williams, anchor and reporter (now reporter/weekend anchor at WSB-TV Atlanta)
- Bret Dark, anchor
- Al Klensch, anchor and reporter
- Van Hackett, reporter
- Charles Thompson, reporter
- Steve Dean, reporter
- Pauletta Jackson, reporter
- Janet Cunningham, weather
- Sonja Smith, reporter
- Edye Ellis, anchor (retired)
- Margie Ison, weather (retired)
- Mark Packer, sports (now First at 4 anchor, Sports Overtime Anchor at WVLT-TV Knoxville)
- Greg Zorb, sports
- Mark Smith, sports
- Jennifer Broome, weather
- Missy Kane, reporter
- Valerie Hyman, reporter
- Lindsey Nelson, reporter (deceased)
- Tony Perkins, reporter
- Kim Stephens, anchor
- Faith Fancher, reporter
- Carol Marin, reporter (now with WMAQ-TV "NBC 5 Chicago" as political reporter)
- Deborah Roberts, reporter
- Bill Harris, weather
- Mark Nagi, sports (now at WATE-TV Knoxville)
- Adina Chumley, anchor and reporter
- Steve Oglesby, reporter, anchor, newscast producer
- Jim Acosta, reporter
- Renee Jameson, reporter
- Jennifer Leslie, reporter
- Mark Johnson, weather
- Alysiah Bond, sports
- Krista Goldhair, reporter
- Tom Poe, anchor
- Wallene Dockery, weather
- Cheryl Mazur, anchor
- Alan Williams, sports (now anchor at WVLT-TV Knoxville)
- Lori Perry, weather
- Tim Cox, anchor and reporter (now with WXIN-TV "Fox 59" Indianapolis as Gene Cox, which is his first name)
- Lance West, anchor and reporter
- Lisa Argen, weather
- David Nelson, anchor and reporter
- Mary Nelson, anchor and reporter
- Jason Pack, reporter
- Jim Ragonese, reporter
- Syan Rhodes, anchor and reporter (now weekday morning anchor at WESH 2 Orlando, Florida)
- Carmen Ainsworth, reporter
- Mary Loos, weather (now at NWCN)
- Stephanie Wines, reporter
- Chuck Denney, reporter
- Foster Arnett, reporter (Now Knox County Clerk in Knox County, Tennessee)
- Janice Williamson, reporter
- Ben Bailey, weather. Now at WJKB-TV Detroit.
- Gina Miller, sports
- Jay Beeler, reporter
- Laura Hatch, reporter
News/Station Presentation
Newscast titles
- The Esso Reporter (1956-1960)
- The Big News (1960-1970)
- 24 Hours (1970-1974)
- NewsCenter 10 (1974-1977)
- Action 10 News (1977-July 2004)
- 10 News (July 2004-present)
Station Slogans
- Straight from the Heart (1990-present)
This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.Newscast themes
- The Action News Theme by Unknown Composer (1970-1972)
- NBC TV-Radio Newspulse by NBC-TV (1974-1980)
- WBIR 1982 News Theme by Unknown Composer (1982-1983)
- Theme From Firepower by Gato Barbieri (1983-1985)
- Power News V.1 and V.2 by 615 Music (1985-1997)
- Newsmark by 615 Music (1997-2000)
- Heartland by 615 Music (2000-2008)
- Gannett News Music Package by Rampage Music (2008-present)
External links
- WBIR-TV
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WBIR
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WBIR-TV
References
- ^ "Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films", Boxoffice: 13, November 10, 1956, http://issuu.com/boxoffice/docs/boxoffice_111056-1
- ^ a b Terry Morrow, WBIR stops production of 'The Heartland Series', Tele-Buddy's Tinseltown Tales, knoxnews.com, February 12, 2009
- ^ Fred Brown, 'Heartland Series' says goodbye; Many turn out to celebrate longtime WBIR series, Knoxville News Sentinel, August 9, 2009
- ^ Terry Morrow, 10,000 fans turn out for last 'Heartland Series' taping, Knoxnews.com, August 12, 2009
- ^ Knoxville News / Knoxville Weather, KnoxvilleTennessee.com website, accessed October 6, 2009
- ^ WBIR-TV, Gannett website, accessed October 6, 2009
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|||||||||||
