WBDT

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WBDT
city =
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding = Dayton's CW
analog = 26 (UHF)
digital = 18 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = The CW
network =
founded =
airdate = 1968
location = Springfield / Dayton, Ohio
callsign_meaning = WB DayTon
(previous WB affiliation)
former_callsigns = WSWO-TV (1968-1972)
WTJC (1980-1998)
WDPX (1998-1999)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = ACME Communications
licensee = ACME Television Licenses of Ohio, LLC
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = Independent (1968-1972, 1980-1998)
PAX (1998-1999)
The WB (1999-2006)
effective_radiated_power = 5,000 kW (analog)
35 kW (digital)
HAAT = 349 m (analog)
290.9 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 70138
coordinates = coord|39|43|28.6|N|84|15|17.6|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.daytonscw.com/ daytonscw.com]

WBDT, channel 26, is the CW-affiliated television station for Dayton, Ohio that is licensed to Springfield. Its transmitter is located in the Frytown section of Dayton. Owned by ACME Communications, the station has studios on Corporate Place in the Miamisburg section of the city. Syndicated programming on WBDT includes: "Everybody Loves Raymond", "King of Queens", "Two and a Half Men", "That '70s Show", and "Family Guy".

History

The station began operation in 1968 as WSWO-TV owned by Southwestern Ohio Broadcasting. It was an independent station but suddenly went dark in 1970 possibly due to financial difficulties. At one point during that time, the station ran a local live version of "Bozo the Clown" (locally portrayed by announcer Dave Eaton previously with the former WKTR-TV in Kettering now public station WPTD) and other local shows. It briefly returned to the air in the Summer of 1972 under a different ownership (Lester W. White) but fell silent again by year's end. White was later charged with equipment theft prompting the sudden demise of WSWO. The station remained off the air until September of 1980 when it returned to the air as a Christian station under the callsign WTJC (for "Witnessing 'Til Jesus Comes"). It was owned by Miami Valley Christian Television (MVCT). During the week, the station ran religious programming most of the day, some cartoons in the late afternoon, a few family type sitcoms in the early evening, and a local newscast. On Saturdays, it ran westerns, sporting / hunting shows, Lawrence Welk, and religious programming thereafter. It only ran religious shows on Sundays.

The station's religious lineup included: "The 700 Club", "PTL", "Jerry Falwell", and many others. Its secular lineup featured shows like: "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show", "Leave It to Beaver", "Great Space Coaster", "New Zoo Revue", "Porky Pig", "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon", "Lassie", "The Joy of Gardening", "Wild Kingdom", and others. MVCT decided to sell its programming inventory to WRGT when that station signed on in 1984. The company switched WTJC to an all-religious format with the exception of a few children's shows as well as sporting and hunting shows on Saturday mornings. However, several ministries which bought time on the station soon became involved in scandals and the station began to lose money as viewer donations declined.

The station's primary owner, Marvin Sparks, bought out his partners' shares in 1991 and in turn sold them to Video Mall Communications. WTJC then began to air home shopping and paid programming 18 hours a day while relegating religious programming to the rest of the broadcast day. In the mid-1990s, Abry (which had purchased Act III, WRGT's owners) approached MVCT with a proposal to manage WTJC for 18 hours a day. MVCT declined and chose instead to sell the station to Paxson Communications in 1995. Paxson kept a similar lineup for the station airing religious programming in early mornings, informercials for most of the day, and worship music overnight. The station became a charter affiliate of the PAX network (now ION) on August 31, 1998 running network programming from Noon to midnight. It also changed its call letters to WDPX. Paxson sold the station to current owner ACME Communications in 1999.

At that point, the station dropped half of Pax's programming from its lineup replacing them with more traditional general entertainment fare such as cartoons and classic sitcoms. The station also became an affiliate of The WB and changing its call letters to the current WBDT. On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced that they would end broadcasting and merge. The new combined network would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of its corporate parents: CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner. On March 9, it was announced that WBDT was going to become the CW affiliate in the Dayton market. In March of 2007, in recognition of the station's prime time ratings, The CW awarded WBDT the #1 CW affiliate in the nation designation. Also in that month, WBDT became the first station in the market (and one of the few in the entire country) to broadcast in a 1080i, high definition, 16:9 format, 24 hours a day. Original high definition shows are "passed through" for broadcast and all other programming, including advertising commercials, are upconverted to HD.

Newscasts

On September 16, 2002, the nationally syndicated morning show, "The Daily Buzz", premiered from WBDT's studios. The show remained based at the station until its move to WKCF in Lake Mary, Florida near Orlando in August of 2004. It airs on WBDT weekday mornings from 6 to 9. During the program, there are local news updates and Dayton area weather forecasts. On August 18, 2007, NBC affiliate WDTN began to produce a nightly 10 o'clock newscast on WBDT. This competes with the 10 P.M. newscast that airs on WRGT. The WDTN-produced news on WBDT beat WRGT's 10 P.M. newscast in Dayton's metered market household ratings on the 26th day of the broadcast.

"The Daily Buzz"
"(Weekday Mornings 6 to 9 A.M.)"
*Anchors:
**Andy B. Campbell
**Andrea Jackson
*News Updates:
**Kia Malone
*Weather:
**Mitch English

"2 News at 10 on Dayton's CW" "(10 to 10:30 P.M.)"
"Weeknights"
*Anchors:
**Mark Allan
**Michelle Kingsfield
*Weather:
**Jamie Jarosik
*Sports:
**Jack Pohl
*Reporter / Photojournalist:
**Jim Bucher

"Weekends"
*Anchor:
**Kennan Oliphant
*Weathert:
**Erik Zarnitz
*Sports:
**Hutch Konerman

"WBDT uses additional news personnel from WDTN. See that article for a complete listing."

External links

* [http://www.daytonscw.com/ WBDT "Dayton's CW"]
* [http://www.wdtn.com/ WDTN "Dayton's NBC"]
*

References