WHBF-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WHBF-TV
station_
station_slogan = News For The Quad Cities
station_branding = CBS 4
analog = 4 (VHF)
digital = 58 (UHF)
affiliations = CBS
subchannels = (see article)
founded = July 1, 1950
location = Rock Island/Moline, Illinois/
Davenport, Iowa
callsign_meaning = Where
Historic
Black Hawk
Fought
(a reference to Chief Black Hawk, whose tribe once occupied the area that is now the Quad Cities)
owner = Citadel Communications
licensee = Coronet Communications Company
former_affiliations = ABC (secondary, 1950-1963)
DuMont (secondary, 1950-1956)
effective_radiated_power = 100 kW (analog)
1000 kW (digital)
HAAT = 408 m (analog)
378 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 13950
coordinates = coord|41|32|48.8|N|90|28|37.7|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.whbf.com/ www.whbf.com]

WHBF-TV, channel 4, is a television station licensed to Rock Island, Illinois, which serves as the CBS affiliate for the Quad Cities television market (comprised of Rock Island and Moline, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa). WHBF-TV is owned by Citadel Communications (no relation to the Citadel Broadcasting Corporation), with studios located in the Telco Building in downtown Rock Island, and transmitter located in Bettendorf.

History

WHBF-TV signed on the air on July 1, 1950. It is the fifth-oldest surviving station in Illinois and the oldest outside Chicago. It was owned by the Potter family, publishers of the "Rock Island Argus," along with WHBF radio (1270 AM, now WKBF; and 98.9 FM, now WLKU).

WHBF-TV has been a CBS affiliate since its inception, but carried secondary affiliations with ABC and the DuMont Television Network. After DuMont's demise in 1956, WHBF shared ABC programming with WOC-TV (channel 6, now KWQC-TV) until WQAD-TV (channel 8) signed on as an ABC affiliate in 1963.

The Potters broke up their media holdings in 1986, and the radio stations moved out of the Telco Building. Citadel bought it in the mid-1990s.

On January 29, 2007, WHBF-TV rebranded the station as "CBS4". It also adopted a version of the circle logo. Coronet's other stations adopted a similar branding identity.

WHBF-TV was the first station in the area to use color radar, and now uses the state-of-the-art weather system known as ESP: Live. This allows the station to alert the Quad Cities about any potential weather hazards.

Ratings

WHBF was a solid-runner-up to rival WOC-TV until the mid-1970s, when it surged to first place. It lost the lead to WOC-TV around 1980. The station was able to hold up the number 2 spot for the first part of the 80's, until WQAD took that spot. Since then, WHBF has clearly been the 3rd ranked station in the Quad Cities market.

Personalities

Anchors
*Tambrey Laine- weekdays
*Brandy Auterson- weekday morning updates for The Early Show
*Andrea Stankevych- weekends

Reporters
*Elizabeth Fields
*Nava Ghalili
*Andrea Medeiros
*Angie Mitchum

ESP:Live Weather
*Andy McCray- Chief Meteorologist
*Ted McInerney- Weekend Meteorologist

Sports
*Jay Kidwell- Sports Director
*Mike Laskasky- Weekend Sports Anchor

Notable alumni

* WLS-TV General Assignment Reporter, Paul Meincke anchored the news at WHBF from 1976 to 1981. Meincke began his reporting career at WHBF-AM/FM/TV in 1972 where he served as a radio reporter for news and high school sports play-by-play.
* WTHR General Assignment Reporter/Fill-in anchor Chris Proffitt was weather anchor until 1990.
* Former Illinois 17th District Republican candidate Andrea Zinga was a former anchor and reporter for WHBF-TV.
* Former "Good Morning America" weather anchor Mike Barz was once an anchor at WHBF, while former ESPN personality and original Big Ten Network studio host Dave Revsine was a weekend sports anchor there in 1995-1996.

tation Identifications

*"Channel 4 Action News" - 1977-1985
*"4 News" - 1985-1990
*"Channel 4 News" - 1990-1998
*"News 4" - 1999-2002
*"Channel 4 Eyewitness News" - 2002-2007
*"CBS4 News" - 2007-present

Digital television

In 2009, WHBF-TV will remain on channel 4 when the analog to digital conversion is complete.http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf]

References

External links

* [http://www.whbf.com/ WHBF-TV website]
*TVQ|WHBF-TV

* [http://www.captainerniesshowboat.com/grandpahappy The Unofficial Grandpa Happy Website]