WSAZ-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WSAZ-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan = Comprehensive coverage of severe weather and breaking news
station_branding = WSAZ NewsChannel 3
MyZTV
analog = 3 (VHF)
digital = 23 (UHF)
other_chs = W16CE Charleston
subchannels = (see article)
affiliations = NBC
network =
founded =
airdate = October 24, 1949
location = Huntington - Charleston, West Virginia
callsign_meaning = Worst Station A to Z
(local legend)
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers = 5 (1949-1952)
owner = Gray Television
licensee = Gray Television Licensee, Inc.
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = All secondary:
CBS (1949-1954)
ABC (1949-1955)
DuMont (1949-1956)
effective_radiated_power = 42.7 kW (analog)
724 kW (digital)
HAAT = 388 m (analog)
401.6 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 36912
coordinates = coord|38|30|36.3|N|82|13|9.7|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.wsaz.com/ www.wsaz.com]
[http://www.myztv.tv/ www.myztv.tv]

WSAZ-TV, channel 3, is a television station in Huntington, West Virginia. Owned by Gray Television, it is the NBC affiliate for the Huntington-Charleston market, the second-largest television market (in terms of area) east of the Mississippi River. The station serves 61 counties that cover central West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and southeastern Ohio. WSAZ operates studios in both Huntington and Charleston, and its transmitter is located in Ona, West Virginia.

WSAZ-TV's programming can also be seen in the Kanawha Valley on translator W16CE (channel 16) in Charleston. This station is carried on the Suddenlink Communications cable system in the eastern part of the market.

The station is best known for its unique "split" newscasts. The main WSAZ-TV signal provides a newscast featuring stories from all three states in the market, while the Charleston translator provides a newscast focused solely on West Virginia.

History

WSAZ-TV, the oldest television station in West Virginia, began broadcasting on channel 5 on October 24, 1949, owned by the Huntington "Herald-Dispatch" along with WSAZ radio (930 AM, now WRVC). It carried programming from all four networks at the time -- NBC, CBS, ABC, and DuMont. However, it was a primary NBC affiliate due to WSAZ radio's long relationship with NBC. When WCHS-TV (channel 8) signed on from Charleston in 1954, it took over the CBS affiliation, and the two stations shared ABC programming until WHTN-TV (channel 13, now WOWK-TV) signed on from Huntington a year later. Later in 1955, WSAZ-TV dropped DuMont. It is the only commercial station in the market that has never changed its primary affiliation, making it NBC's longest continuously-affiliated station south of Washington, D.C.

One story of how WSAZ's call letters originated dates from WSAZ radio's origins in 1923. Radio engineer Glenn Chase applied to the Secretary of Commerce for a license to operate a small radio station in Pomeroy, Ohio (it moved across the Ohio River to Huntington in 1927). In the application he reportedly claimed that since he was building most of the station's equipment himself, "it would probably be the worst station from A to Z." He asked that appropriate call letters be assigned. His request was promptly granted and the call letters WSAZ were given to him meaning "Worst Station from A to Z." A more likely story was that the allocation of the call letters WSAZ were pure coincidence as they were assigned by the Department of Commerce in an alphabetical sequence just after WSAX in Chicago, and WSAY in Port Chester, New York. However, the myth persists that the calls stand for "Worst Station from A to Z" -- a myth WSAZ radio itself helped spread by using it as a slogan for many years.

In 1950, WSAZ-TV received FCC permission to build a private microwave link to Cincinnati, allowing viewers to get NBC programming live. The nation's first privately owned microwave system, it was a remarkable feat for one of the smallest cities in the country at the time to have a television station. The first live broadcast was scheduled for a Labor Day baseball game, but the system broke down for four hours and forced WSAZ to broadcast a fire at a nearby hotel. WSAZ ditched the Cincinnati link in favor of one from Columbus, Ohio in 1952.

Also in 1952, an FCC-dictated realignment of VHF channel assignments forced WSAZ-TV to move to its current location on channel 3. As part of the frequency switch, the FCC granted WSAZ a boost in broadcast power, which at the time was the highest ever authorized for a television station. This allowed the station to penetrate more of its huge viewing area, most of which is a very rugged dissected plateau. However, as the regulation of domestic television stations were normalized, WSAZ's signal strength was reduced to the same levels as other stations in 1956. The station's transmission tower was the tallest in North America until WIS-TV in Columbia, South Carolina activated a taller tower in 1959.

The "Herald-Dispatch" sold WSAZ-AM-TV to Goodwill Stations, owner of WJR radio in Detroit and WJRT-TV in Flint, Michigan, in 1961. Goodwill was merged into Capital Cities Communications in 1964. Capital Cities sold the radio station in Stoner Broadcasting in 1970, but kept channel 3 until 1971, when it was sold to Lee Enterprises. Emmis Communications bought the station in 2000 after Lee decided to bow out of broadcasting. Emmis then sold WSAZ to Gray Television in 2005. The Gray Television purchase made WSAZ a sister station to fellow NBC affiliate WTAP-TV (channel 15) in Parkersburg.

Being based in Huntington, WSAZ is located 50 miles (80 km) away from West Virginia's state capital, Charleston. As such, the station opened a branch studio there in 1956. It also opened a low-power station on channel 23 in Charleston to serve the Kanawha Valley soon after its signal was cut to standardized levels. However, despite WSAZ's effective radiated power of 42,700-watts on channel 3, most of the Kanawha Valley still can't receive its signal due to the area's rugged terrain. However, Charleston and its close-in suburbs receive the main WSAZ signal very well. The Charleston translator was moved to channel 16 in 2003 after WSAZ began using channel 23 for its digital broadcasts.

Since 1956, WSAZ's newscasts have featured two anchors, one at the main studio in Huntington and the other in Charleston. NBC studied the format and used it as the basis for the "Huntley-Brinkley Report", anchored by Chet Huntley in New York City and David Brinkley in Washington. All of the Big Three broadcast networks have used this approach at one time or another since then.

WSAZ uses its low-power translator in Charleston to provide viewers with a "split" newscast. At 6:00 and 11:00 p.m., the two anchors appear together on screen until a certain point (usually 10-15 minutes into the newscast) when the newscast will "split." Viewers in the 28 counties of the Kanawha Valley who watch channel 16 (and those on the Valley's main cable provider, Suddenlink Communications) will then see a newscast targeted specifically to them, while viewers in the other 33 counties will see a newscast featuring news from Kentucky and Ohio as well as West Virginia. WSAZ calls this concept "two-city news."

Largely because of its pioneering status in the state and its unique newscasts, WSAZ is one of the country's most dominant television stations. It has been the far-and-away market leader for as long as records have been kept. WCHS and WOWK have rarely come close, though for a brief period in the late 1990s WOWK overtook WSAZ for first place in the northern (Charleston) side of the market.

Since WSAZ-TV has traditionally been one of NBC's strongest affiliates, there has been speculation at times that NBC considered buying the station. Rumors also abounded soon after the Gray Television purchase that WTAP-TV would scrap its newscasts and simulcast WSAZ's newscasts instead. WSAZ has always covered Parkersburg events anyway, and has long been available on cable on the West Virginia side of that market. It should be noted that WTAP is the only commercial station in the Parkersburg market.

Digital Television

The station's digital channel is multiplexed.

WSAZ-DT 3.2 / My Z TV

On September 5, 2006, WSAZ-TV launched "My Z TV" on its second digital subchannel (3.2). This subchannel carries programming from My Network TV along with programs currently on WSAZ's main feed (like "The Oprah Winfrey Show") at different times, syndicated shows exclusive to the subchannel (such as "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Cheers") [http://www.wsaz.com/mntv/3563927.html] , local newscasts at 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., and other local programming. Although it is a digital subchannel, many local cable companies air "My Z TV" as a separate channel on their systems. [http://www.dailymail.com/news/Business/2006070617/display_story.php?sid=2006070617&format=prn]

Analog-to-digital conversion

After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf] , WSAZ-TV will remain on its current pre-transition channel number, 23. [http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101235159&formid=387&fac_num=36912 CDBS Print ] ] However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display WSAZ-TV's virtual channel as 3.

Notable alumni

* George Lewis, host of "Steamboat Bill" and original host of "Mr. Cartoon"
* Fred Briggs, originally "Fred Warlock" on WSAZ; went on to a 30-year career as a correspondent for NBC News

External links

* [http://www.wsaz.com WSAZ-TV Website]
* [http://www.myztv.tv/ MyZ Website]
* [http://www.wsaz.com/mntv/blog MyZ Blog]
* [http://jeff560.tripod.com/wsaz2.html History of WSAZ-TV]
*TVQ|WSAZ
**TVQ|W16CE
*BIA|WSAZ|TV|TV

References