WJLA-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WJLA-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan = On Your Side
station_branding = "ABC 7" (general)
"ABC 7 News" (newscast)
analog = 7 (VHF)
digital = 39 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = ABC
RTN
subchannels = (see article)
network =
founded =
airdate = October 3, 1947
location = Washington, D.C.
callsign_meaning = Joseph L. Allbritton
(owner of the station)
former_callsigns = WTVW (1947)
WMAL-TV (1947-1977)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Allbritton Communications Company
licensee = ACC Licensee, Inc.
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = CBS (1947-1949, secondary from 1948)
effective_radiated_power = 316 kW (analog)
1000 kW (digital)
HAAT = 235 m (analog)
254 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 1051
coordinates = coord|38|57|1.2|N|77|4|45.5|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.wjla.com/ www.wjla.com]

WJLA-TV, channel 7, is the ABC television affiliate in Washington, D.C.. It is the flagship station of the Allbritton Communications Company, which also operates local cable station News Channel 8. The two stations share broadcast facilities in the Rosslyn section of Arlington, Virginia. WJLA-TV shares a tower with WUSA in the Tenleytown section of Washington.

History

The District of Columbia's second television station began broadcasting on October 3, 1947 as WTVW, owned by the "Washington Star" along with WMAL radio (630 AM) and WMAL-FM (107.3 MHz., now WRQX). It was the first Band III VHF station (channels 7-13) in the United States. A few months later, the station renamed itself WMAL-TV after its radio sisters.

WMAL radio had been an affiliate of the NBC Blue Network since 1933, and remained with the network after it was spun-off by NBC and evolved into ABC. However, channel 7 started as a CBS station since ABC hadn't gotten into television yet. When ABC launched its television network in 1948, WMAL-TV became ABC's third primary affiliate. It continued to carry some CBS programming until WOIC-TV (later WTOP-TV and now WUSA) signed on in 1949.

In 1976, Texas businessman Joseph L. Allbritton, the owner of Washington-based Riggs Bank, purchased the "Star" along with the WMAL stations. As a condition of the purchase, Allbritton had to break up the newspaper/broadcast combination, which the Federal Communications Commission was seeking to prohibit under its "one-to-a market" rule. WMAL-TV was separated first from its radio sisters when ABC purchased WMAL-AM-FM in March 1977. Upon the radio transfer, channel 7 changed its call letters to the current WJLA-TV, after Allbritton's initials. Allbritton then sold the "Star" to Time, Inc. in February 1978.

Rumors abounded from the mid-1990s onward that ABC might buy WJLA-TV, thus reuniting it with its former radio sisters. However, ABC sold most of its radio properties, including WMAL and WRQX, to Citadel Broadcasting Corporation in June 2007. Even so, WJLA is still an ABC affiliate to this day under Allbritton because the company has an exclusive affiliation deal with the network. After WJZ-TV in Baltimore switched to CBS in 1995, WJLA became ABC's longest-tenured affiliate.

In December 2007, WJLA began simulcasting WTOP-FM on its "Weather Now" digital sub-channel.

Ratings

Prior to 2001, WJLA's newscasts had long rated third in the market, behind WUSA and NBC-owned WRC-TV.

The station scored a major coup in 1999, when it hired Maureen Bunyan, former longtime anchorwoman at WUSA. In 2003, Leon Harris, formerly of CNN, joined the station as an anchor. In 2004, WJLA hired Bunyan's former anchor desk partner, Gordon Peterson; they have since been reunited for the 6:00 p.m. news.

These personnel moves, combined with WUSA's recent troubles, have led to a resurgence in the ratings, and it currently leads at 5:00 p.m. It currently has the largest news team in the Washington area. As the flagship station of the Allbritton chain, WJLA provides national news headlines for other Allbritton-owned stations.

Shows

WJLA airs Clean Skies Sunday, a program on energy issues produced by the American Clean Skies Foundation [http://cenvironment.blogspot.com/2008/06/clean-skies-sunday-energy-environmental.html] , a non-profit run by natural-gas billionaire Aubrey McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy. [http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS210568+22-Feb-2008+PRN20080222]

Logos and idents

Since 1970, WMAL-TV/WJLA has used a variation of the "Circle 7" logo, which has long been associated with ABC affiliates. From 1970 to 2001, WMAL/WJLA used its own version of the logo, with the "7" modified to accommodate the circle. This version was probably the longest continuously used numeric logo in Washington's television history. The only real modification came in 1998, after it began calling itself "ABC 7" on-air and added the ABC logo to the left. In 2001, WJLA adopted the standard version of the "Circle 7" logo, which looks strikingly similar to WABC-TV in New York City, re-fueling speculation that ABC would buy the station. Ironically, WJLA-TV is the largest ABC affiliate to use the "Circle 7" that is not an ABC owned-and-operated station. In addition, sister station KATV in Little Rock, Arkansas has used the standard "Circle 7" since the 1960s, longer than all WJLA versions combined.

Digital television

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Digital subchannels

WJLA operates two digital subchannels: Doug Hill's Weather Now, which shows weather radar and carries a simulcast of WTOP-FM, and another channel that shows programming from the Retro Television Network, as "RTN on ABC7". RTN7 replaced "Local Point TV" at 10:00am on July 28th, 2008. [ [http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6534231.html WJLA Going Retro with Retro Television Network] ] Both subchannels are carried locally by Comcast and Verizon FiOS.

Local Point TV was a local version of current.tv, featuring short five minute video segments created by area residents. Abby Fenton, the station's Director of Community Relations said in an interview with [http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6581823.html Broadcasting & Cable] that "the station likes the Local Point programming and is pondering where else it might fit".

Analog-to-digital conversion

After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009 http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf] , WJLA-TV will move its digital broadcasts back to its present analog channel number, 7. [http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101231371&formid=387&fac_num=1051 CDBS Print ] ]

On-Air Personalities

Anchors

*Maureen Bunyan - Weeknights 5, 6 and 11 p.m.
*Leon Harris - Weeknights 5 and 11 p.m.
*Doug McKelway - Good Morning Washington and Noon
*Gordon Peterson - Weeknights 6 p.m. and "Inside Washington" Host
*Cynné Simpson - Weekends 6 and 11 p.m.
*Alison Starling - Good Morning Washington and Noon

Reporters

*Alisa Parenti - General Assignment Reporter
*Natasha Barrett - General Assignment Reporter
*Roberta Baskin - I-Team Reporter
*Brad Bell - Prince George's County Bureau Chief
*Matt Brock - General Assignment Reporter
*Pamela Brown - General Assignment Reporter
*Mike "Buck" Buchanan - Opinion Reporter
*Arch Campbell - Entertainment Reporter
*Brianne Carter - Montgomery County Reporter
*Jackie Congedo - Montgomery County Reporter
*Rebecca Cooper - National Correspondent
*Jennifer Donelan - General Assignment Reporter
*Sam Ford - DC Bureau Chief
*Kathy Fowler - Medical Reporter
*John Gonzalez - - General Assignment Reporter
*Horace Holmes - Fill-In Anchor/Choose to Save Reporter
*Suzanne Kennedy - General Assignment Reporter
*Greta Kreuz - Montgomery County Bureau Chief
*Jay Korff - General Assignment Reporter
*Sarah Lee - Morning Reporter
*Caroline Lyders - Reporter/Fill-In Anchor
*Andrea McCarren - I-Team Reporter
*Ross McLaughlin - 7 On Your Side Investigator
*Julie Parker - General Assignment Reporter
*Gail Pennybacker - General Assignment Reporter
*Conor Powell - Community Politics Reporter
*Kuren Redmond - Charles/Calvert Counties Reporter
*Emily Schmidt - General Assignment Reporter
*Philip Stewart - - General Assignment Reporter
*Scott Thuman - Weekend Morning Anchor
*Stephen Tschida - General Assignment Reporter
*Kris Van Cleave - General Assignment Reporter

Weather Department

*Adam Caskey - "Neighborhood Weather"/Fill-In Morning Meteorologist
*Doug Hill - Chief Meteorologist (AMS Certified)
*Chris Naille - Meteorologist (AMS Certified)
*Brian van de Graaff - Morning Meteorologist (AMS Certified)
*Dave Zahran - Weekend Morning Weatherman
**All Meteorologists are heard on Washington area radio station WTOP

ports Department

*Tim Brant - WJLA-TV Weeknight Sports Anchor/Sports Director
*Gregg Mace - Fill-in WJLA-TV Weekend Sports Anchor/Reporter
*Greg Toland - WJLA-TV Weekend Sports Anchor/Reporter
** Gregg Mace primarily works at sister station WHTM-TV as their Sports Director

Traffic Department

*Lisa Baden - Morning Traffic Reporter
*Rich Hunter - Evening Traffic Reporter
*Jim Russ - Fill-In Morning Traffic Reporter

Notable WJLA Alumni

*Donald Allen - Anchor/Reporter (1969-1974, deceased)
*Louis Allen - Chief Meteorologist (1955-1974), deceased) (Was the first meteorologist to appear on television) Fact|date=July 2008
*Lauren Ashburn - Reporter/Anchor (1996-2000, now at USA Today Live)
*Gary Axelson - Reporter (1972-1984)
*Ric Barrick - Weather Anchor (1991-1995, now at WTVR-TV in Richmond)
*Jim Berry - Sports Anchor/Reporter (1981-1988, now at WFOR-TV in Miami)
*Paul Berry - Anchor/Reporter (1971-1999, now in [http://www.paulberry.biz public relations] )
*Rea Blakey - Health Reporter (1988-2001, recently at CNN, now with Discovery Health Channel)
*James Brown - Sports Reporter (1984, now at CBS Sports)
*Jack Bowden - Reporter/Anchor - MD Bureau Chief 1990-1998 (retired)
*Mike Cairns - Sports Reporter/Anchor (1992-2000, now a sports announcer for Cleveland State University in Cleveland)
*Jim Clarke - Special Correspondent (1964-2003, retired)
*Jack Conaty - National Correspondent (1980-1986, now at WFLD-TV in Chicago)
*Leslie Cook - General Assignment Reporter (?-2008, left in September 2008, moved to native Texas)
*Carol Costello - Morning Anchor (1996-2001, now appears on CNN's Situation Room)
*Chris Curle Farmer - Anchor/Reporter (1977-1980, retired in Florida)
*Elliott Francis - Weekend Anchor/Reporter (1997-2007)
*Charles Gibson, Anchor/Reporter (1970-1973, now an anchor for ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson")
*Jeff Gilbert - Meteorologist (1991-2001)
*Chris Gordon - Anchor/Reporter (1980-1983, now at WRC-TV in Washington, DC)
*Jason Gough - Meteorologist (now at WNYT in Albany, New York)
*Mike Hambrick - Co-anchor (1992-1995, now with the National Association of Manufacturers
*Jim Harriott - Anchor (1989-1990, deceased)
*John Harter - Reporter (1974-2006, retired)
*Dan Henry - Meteorologist (1997-2002, now at KDFW-TV in Dallas)
*Frank Herzog - Sports Director/Reporter (1983-1992, now at WTOP Radio)
*Don Hudson - Morning Anchor (?-2003, now at WTVQ)
*Kerri Kazarba - Anchor/Reporter (1993-1994, now at KCPQ-TV in Seattle)
*Dennis Ketterer - Meteorologist (1988-1995, now at WBOC-TV in Salisbury, Maryland)
*Susan King - Anchor/"Cover Story" Reporter (1987-1997)
*Nancy Weiner (now Nancy Cordes) - Reporter (1990's-2002, now at CBS News)
*Christianne Klein, Weekend Anchor/Reporter (2005-2006, now an anchor and correspondent for ABC News)
*Rene Knott - Sports Director (1992-2003, now at KSDK-TV in St. Louis)
*Dan Lewis - Anchor (1981-1987, now at KOMO-TV in Seattle)
*Josh Mankiewicz - Reporter (1980-1982, now at NBC News)
*Elizabeth Manresa - Consumer Reporter (2001-2004, now at CNN Newsource)
*Kathleen Matthews - 5 p.m. Anchor/"Capitol Sunday" Co-Host/Reporter (1982-2006, wife of MSNBC's Chris Matthews, now works for Marriott Hotels but still an occasional contributor)
*Melissa McDermott - Weekend Anchor/Reporter (1998-1999) (now a reporter/anchor for CBS News)
*Lark McCarthy - Anchor/Reporter (1976-1984, formerly of WTTG)
*Derek McGinty - Anchor/Reporter (1998-2000, now at WUSA-TV)
*Chris McKendry - Sports Reporter/Anchor (1994-1996, now in same position for ESPN's "SportsCenter")
*Marilyn Mitzel - Health/Investigative Reporter (1984-1986)
*Monica Pellegrini - Sports Reporter/Anchor (1992-1993, most recently in same position at WWOR-TV in New York)
*Renee Poussaint - Anchor/Reporter (1978-1992)
*Gary Reals - General Assignment Reporter (1983-1990, now in same position at WUSA-TV)
*Susan Roberts - Reporter (2000-2003, now at CBS News)
*Dan Ronan - Reporter (1982-1989, now at WFAA-TV in Dallas)
*Nancy Russo - Meteorologist (1987-1989)
*Angela Russell - Weekend Anchor/Reporter (2003-2005, now at KYW-TV in Philadelphia)
*Wes Sarginson - Anchor (early 70s and 1985-1988, last WXIA-TV in Atlanta, now retired)
*Jim Schaefer - Reporter/Producer (1993-2003)
*David Schoumacher - Anchor/Reporter (1976-1988)
*Kevin Schultze - Reporter (1996-2005, now at "Soapbox Consulting" in Northwest DC)
*Gary Shore - Meteorologist (1981-1983, chief meteorologist at KCAU-TV in Sioux City, Iowa from 2001 until his death Feb. 25, 2008)
*Dale Solly - Anchor/Reporter (1988-1993 and 1997-2002, deceased)
*Alexandra Steele - Meteorologist (1999-2003, now in same position at The Weather Channel)
*Lori Stokes - Anchor/Reporter (1992-1996, now with WABC-TV in New York
*Dave Sweeney - Meteorologist (1985-1987, now at The Oregonian website [http://www.oregonlive.com/ OregonLive.com] )
*Henry Tenenbaum - Reporter (1987-1990, now at KRON-TV in San Francisco)
*Fred Thomas - Anchor/Reporter (1967-1975)
*Ruth Todd - Meteorologist/Anchor (1990-1992, now semi-retired in Salt Lake City)
*Steve Udelson - Meteorologist (1988-1990, now at WSOC-TV in Charlotte, NC)
*Mary Jo Walsh - Anchor/Reporter (1994-2000)
*Del Walters - Co-Anchor/Investigative Reporter (1985-2003, now a documentary producer/director)
*Fred Weiss - Meteorologist (1963-1988, deceased)
*Dave Willingham - Traffic Reporter (?-2008, unknown)
*Joe Witte - Weekend Meteorologist (2003-2008, unknown)

ee also

* Circle 7 logo

References

External links

* [http://www.wjla.com/ WJLA-TV Official Website]
* [http://www.localpointtv.com/ Local Point TV Official Website]
*TVQ|WJLA-TV
*BIA|WJLA|TV|TV