WWL-TV

WWL-TV, virtual channel 4 (UHF digital channel 27), is a CBS-affiliated television station licensed to New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The station is owned by Tegna Inc., as part of a duopoly with Slidell-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WUPL(channel 54). The two stations share studios on Rampart Street in the historic French Quarter district and transmitter facilities on Cooper Road in Terrytown, Louisiana.

On cable, the station is available on Cox Communications channel 3 in both standard and high definition (Cox's local origination channel YurView Louisiana is carried on channel 4). WWL-TV formerly served as the CBS affiliate of record for the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi, until ABC affiliate WLOX (channel 13) in Biloxi launched a CBS-affiliated digital subchannel in 2012.

History
 Early History 

The station first signed on the air on September 7, 1957. Coincidentally, it was the fourth television station to sign on in the New Orleans media market, behind WDSU-TV (channel 6)—which signed on in December 1948, WJMR-TV (channel 61, now WVUE-DT on channel 8)—which signed on in November 1953, and WYES-TV (channel 8, now on channel 12)—which signed on in April 1957, five months before WWL-TV's launch. It was originally owned by Loyola University of the South (now Loyola University New Orleans; it was one of a very few handful of commercial TV stations owned by a university), which also owned radio station WWL 870 AM. WWL-TV has been an affiliate of the CBS television network since its inception, as WWL radio had been (and still is) an affiliate of the CBS Radio Network (now CBS News Radio) since 1935. Channel 4 competed head-to-head with NBC affiliate WDSU for first place during the 1960s and 1970s. However, after Edgar B. Stern, Jr. sold WDSU to South Carolina-based Cosmos Broadcasting in 1972, it began deemphasizing local features in favor of its highly regarded newscasts. By comparison, WWL-TV, as the only locally owned station, heavily stressed its local roots. By the early 1980s, WWL-TV had emerged as the market's ratings leader.

In 1988, WWL-TV and Cox Cable, the major cable provider serving areas of Greater New Orleans located south of Lake Pontchartrain, entered into a joint venture to form a cable-only news channel called NewsWatch 15 (named after the cable slot on Cox where the channel is carried). It debuted on October 20, 1989. NewsWatch 15 was one of the first regional cable news channels in the United States at the time. The channel airs rebroadcasts and live simulcasts of local newscasts seen on WWL-TV, along with breaking news coverage that does not necessarily warrant extended coverage on channel 4.

In 1989, Loyola sold its media properties to different owners. WWL radio and its FM sister station, WLMG (101.5) were purchased by Keymarket Communications, while WWL-TV's employees formed a group called Rampart Broadcasting (named after the road, Rampart Street, where the station's studio facility is located). Led by general manager J. Michael Early and longtime news director and station editorialist Phil Johnson, the employees group bought the station. It was the first (and thus far, only) time that an employee-investor group acquired a U.S. television station. (CHEK-TV in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada was similarly acquired by an employee-led group in 2009, which narrowly avoided the station's shutdown.)

In 1990, WWL-TV began running one of the most successful station image campaigns in the United States with the debut of its "Spirit of Louisiana" promotions. The one-minute spots focus on the region's musical and cultural heritage, and also showcase life in southeastern Louisiana. Many of the ads in the campaign, which continues to this day, feature well-known area musicians and singers.[4]

 Belo Ownership 

The station's local ownership came to an end in 1994, when the station was bought by the Dallas-based Belo Corporation. That year, channel 4's status as the unofficial "home" station of the New Orleans Saints came to an end after CBS lost the broadcast rights to the National Football Conference television package to Fox in December 1993. WWL-TV had aired most of the Saints' games since the team's inception in 1966, when CBS was the broadcast rightsholder for the pre-merger NFL, and continued upon the merger of the American Football League and the National Football League in 1970 with CBS becoming the NFC rightsholder. After CBS lost the NFC broadcast rights, the Saints telecasts moved to then-Fox affiliate WNOL-TV (channel 38) for the 1994 and 1995 seasons, before moving again to WVUE-TV (channel 8) upon that station's switch from ABC to Fox in January 1996. Today, WWL-TV only carries select games televised by CBS, primarily those in which the Saints play host to an AFC opponent at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome although NFL cross-flexing procedures established in 2014 now allow for road games or NFC home games to be carried by CBS. The station also aired the Saints' victory in Super Bowl XLIV. WWL also provided local coverage of 5 New Orleans hosted Super Bowls, including IV and VI which were played at local Tulane Stadium, as well as Super Bowls XII, XXIV, and XLVII which were played at the Superdome.

In 2005, Viacom—which owned UPN station WUPL-TV (channel 54, now a MyNetworkTV affiliate) at the time through its Paramount Stations Group subsidiary—had made an offer to acquire WWL-TV, which would have created a duopoly with WUPL and turned channel 4 into a CBS owned-and-operated station (Viacom owned CBS from its 1999 merger with the network, which ironically traces the former company's history back to its existence as a syndicator of CBS programming, until December 2005, when shared parent National Amusements decided to split Viacom and CBS into two separate companies). However, after Belo rejected Viacom's purchase offer for WWL, Viacom instead reached a deal to sell WUPL to Belo in July of that year for $14.5 million. The deal was slated to close by the end of 2005, but was placed on hold when Hurricane Katrina devastated the Greater New Orleans area in late August. As a result, on February 9, 2006, CBS filed a breach of contract lawsuit against the Belo Corporation over the failure to finalize the sale of WUPL to Belo. The litigation was later settled on February 26, 2007, with Belo announcing that it would complete its purchase of WUPL. The deal had already received Federal Communications Commission approval, and was finalized on February 26, 2007; Belo moved WUPL's operations into WWL's Rampart Street studio facility in mid-April 2007.

Hurricane Katrina
Two days prior to Hurricane Katrina's landfall, WWL-TV began 24-hour continuous coverage of the storm on August 27, 2005 from its Rampart Street facility. Following a meeting between chief meteorologist Carl Arredondo and then-news directorSandy Breland on enacting a plan to evacuate station staff, at 10:45 p.m. on August 28, the station moved its operations to the Manship School of Mass Communications at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge—which had agreed the year prior to allow WWL to use the journalism school as a backup facility in the event that a major hurricane forced the station to evacuate from New Orleans. 20 employees were evacuated to the LSU campus, 20 more were moved to the transmitter site in Gretna and an additional 28 staffers remained at the Rampart Street facility (those staffers eventually evacuated to the Hyatt RegencyHotel as conditions worsened). LSU students and staff helped produce the telecast with WWL-TV staff in a "bare bones" fashion.

The station briefly returned to its Rampart Street studios in New Orleans on August 29 at 4:00 p.m. Flooding forced the station to again move operations back to the LSU campus in Baton Rouge, as well as a foyer used as a makeshift studio at the Gretna transmitter site, which did not sustain significant damage as the facility—built in 2000—was constructed to withstand 140-mile-per-hour (230 km/h) winds with the transmitter building positioned 15 feet (4.6 m) above ground on concrete; the transmitter site was evacuated on August 30 due to looting concerns. WWL was the only New Orleans station that was able to provide coverage of the storm and its aftermath uninterrupted, as it relayed its signal via fiber optic relay and used a satellite truck loaned to the station by Houston sister KHOU-TV to provide live field reports and helicopters loaned from KHOU and Dallas sister station WFAA. Due to overcrowding with WWL and other Belo station staffers at the Manship School building, on September 1, the station moved operations again, this time to the studios of Louisiana Public Broadcasting station WLPB-TV in Baton Rouge. This provided WWL with a much larger facility and expanded its audience to include LPB's statewide network; the station's coverage was also carried by many PBS stations in Louisiana and Mississippi as well as by KHOU and WFAA. WWL's operations returned to New Orleans about six weeks later.

WWL-TV's extensive coverage of Hurricane Katrina earned the station its sixth Peabody Award in early April 2006, as well as a duPont–Columbia Award in 2007; it was also recounted in an episode of The Weather Channel documentary series Storm Stories.

Post-Katrina
After Hurricane Katrina, some of the station's most visible talent—including weekend anchor/reporter Josh McElveen and reporter Stephanie Riegel—left channel 4 to pursue other opportunities. 10:00 p.m. anchor Karen Swensen also left WWL to work at Boston-based regional news channel New England Cable News; meteorologists David Bernard and John Gumm also left the station (Bernard was already scheduled to leave the station before the storm struck).

Following the storm, WWL-TV brought back a station editorial segment. Modeled after the editorials presented for many years until the 1990s by longtime news director and station manager Phil Johnson, editorials seen in the present day (which air during the station's 6:00 p.m. newscast on Tuesday nights) are read via script by WWL-TV political analyst Clancy Dubos, who discusses current political issues related to the post-Katrina redevelopment of New Orleans.

In 2004, WWL-TV and Belo announced plans to construct a new multimillion-dollar broadcasting facility for the station and WUPL at 700 Loyola Avenue in downtown New Orleans. The complex—to have been named the J. Michael Early Broadcast Center, after the station's former general manager—was originally scheduled to be completed in late 2007 or early 2008. Groundbreaking of the new facility occurred on July 25, 2005 (just over one month before Katrina hit on August 29); however, its construction has been delayed (as of recently, the site is still a parking lot). As a result, WWL-TV and WUPL will remain at the existing Rampart Street studio location for the foreseeable future. WWL-TV celebrated its 50th anniversary of broadcasting on September 7, 2007; it observed its 55th anniversary half a decade later, in 2012, and its 60th in 2017.

Hurricane Gustav
The same agreement for the use of Louisiana Public Broadcasting's studio facilities and the simulcast on LPB's stations statewide that was enacted following Hurricane Katrina was also utilized for coverage of Hurricane Gustav, when the storm hit southern Louisiana in early September 2008.

WWL-TV's coverage also carried on the second digital subchannels of fellow Belo sister stations WFAA-TV in Dallas and KHOU-TV in Houston for the convenience of evacuees who relocated to Texas to avoid the storm.

 Sale to the Gannett Company and Gannett-Tegna Split 

On June 13, 2013, the Gannett Company announced that it would acquire Belo's television properties, including WWL-TV and WUPL, for $1.5 billion. The sale received FCC approval on December 20, and was formally completed on December 23, 2013.

On June 29, 2015, Gannett split in two with one side specializing in print media and the other side specializing in broadcast and digital media. WWL-TV and WUPL were both retained by the latter company, named Tegna.

Digital television
The station's digital channel on UHF 36, is multiplexed:

Digital channels On September 8, 2010, former owner Belo signed an agreement with the Disney–ABC Television Group to carry the Live Well Network on WWL-TV and four other stations (WFAA, KMOV in St. Louis, WVEC in Norfolk, Virginia and WCNC-TV in Charlotte). The network began to be carried on digital subchannel 4.2 on November 8. After ABC announced the discontinuation of the Live Well Network in late 2014, WWL-DT2 (as well as other Tegna O&O stations) switched affiliations to the new Justice Network in 2015. In May 2016, Tegna launched Weigel's Decades network on WWL-DT3.

 Analog-to-digital conversation 

WWL-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 4, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre-transition UHF channel 36. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 4.

As part of the SAFER Act, WWL-TV kept its analog signal on the air until July 12 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters.

Programming
Syndicated programs broadcast by WWL-TV include Daily Blast Live, Dr. Phil and Inside Edition. The latter two programs are distributed by CBS' corporate cousin, CBS Television Distribution. WWL-TV carries the majority of the CBS network schedule, although the station splits the CBS Dream Team block over two days (the first two hours of the block air on Saturday mornings, while the final hour airs on Sundays).

WWL-TV preempted moderate amounts of CBS programming from the 1960s to the 1980s—including most notably, programs that the network aired weekdays during the 9:00 a.m. hour, as well as CBS' late night lineup, prior to the debut of Late Show with David Letterman in 1993. During the 1970s, WWL-TV preempted the last hour of the network's Saturday children's programming, between 12:00 and 1:00 p.m., with local programming. Prior to 2015, WWL-TV would air The Late Late Show on a half-hour delay at 12:07 a.m., with syndicated programming (including The Insider) filling the program's 11:37 p.m. network timeslot on weeknights. WWL-TV now airs The Late Late Show in its current 11:37 p.m. slot after The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

In the late 1980s,[specify] WWL-TV dropped CBS' weekday morning news program CBS This Morning, instead airing a two-hour morning newscast from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. It was the first New Orleans station whose morning newscast ran after 7:00 a.m., predating the launch of WVUE's morning newscast by about 15 years. WWL-TV's morning news was followed by Live with Regis and Kathie Lee. The station eventually expanded its weekday morning newscast, Eyewitness Morning News, into the 8:00 a.m. hour. CBS reached agreements with other area stations to carry its morning shows: LeSEA owned-and-operated station WHNO (channel 20) picked up This Morning in 1998; its successor, The Early Show, moved from WHNO to WUPL in January 2005. Despite preempting the weekday edition, WWL-TV did air the Saturday edition. On December 5, 2016, WWL-TV began carrying CBS This Morning weekdays for the entire two hours (likely due to a corporate mandate from Tegna in order to satisfy their CBS affiliation agreements), while WUPL now carries the 7–9 a.m. block of Eyewitness Morning News.

News operation
WWL-TV presently broadcasts 27 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 4½ hours each weekday, 2½ hours on Saturdays and two hours on Sundays). In addition, the station produces the half-hour sports highlight and discussion program 4th Down on 4, which airs Sunday nights at 10:35 p.m. The station also operates a Northshore bureau located on North Causeway Boulevard in suburban Mandeville.

The station implemented the Eyewitness News format on February 26, 1968, having rebranded its newscasts from the Evening News title it had been using for the previous two years. WWL-TV has been the top-rated station among the New Orleans market's local newscasts for nearly 30 years, according to Nielsen Media Research. During the November 2007 sweeps period, the first major ratings period in New Orleans reported to Nielsen since Hurricane Katrina, the results affirmed that WWL-TV continued to lead its nearest competitors, WDSU and WVUE, by a wide margin.

Tom Moore, Karen Gadbois, Lee Zurik and Dominic Massa accept award for NOAH Housing Program Investigation at the 68th Annual Peabody Awards

In March 2006, WWL-TV began producing a half-hour newscast called I-News, featuring more in-depth reporting on topics important to viewers. The program also featured live interviews with local, state and national officials. The newscast aired weekday evenings on the station's website, WWLTV.com, after its 6:00 p.m. newscast and was rebroadcast on channel 4. (The webcast has since been canceled.)

On June 4, 2007, WWL-TV began producing a half-hour primetime newscast each Monday through Friday evening at 9:00 p.m. for MyNetworkTV-affiliated sister station WUPL. Titled My54 Eyewitness News at 9, it was anchored by Lucy Bustamante and Mike Hoss—who also anchored the station's 10:00 p.m. newscast, Eyewitness News Nightwatch—until Bustamante departed WWL-TV for sister station WVEC in Norfolk on October 1, 2010. Bustamante was replaced by Karen Swensen—whom Bustamante replaced as evening co-anchor—as anchor of the 9:00 p.m. newscast on WUPL and the 10:00 p.m. newscast on channel 4 on February 24, 2011; in the interim, Hoss anchored the newscast on WUPL with a rotating series of co-anchors. The 9:00 p.m. newscast on WUPL was discontinued on April 26, 2013, as a result of consistently low ratings.

Since the anchor changes, WWL-TV has lost its significant ratings lead over WDSU, WVUE and WGNO, according to Nielsen Media reports, but its newscasts remain the highest-rated among the New Orleans market's news-producing stations. WWL-TV had once doubled the ratings of each of its competitors in every time period, but its lead gradually declined, reaching as close a margin as one household rating point ahead of second place WDSU (in the 6:00 p.m. timeslot) during the July 2011 sweeps period. At 5:00 p.m., WWL-TV led WDSU by only two ratings points, while claiming ratings wins in key demographics at both 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.—marking the first time in about 25 years that a station other than WWL-TV had placed first in the 25-54 demographic. At 10:00 p.m., WWL-TV led WVUE by 1.9 ratings points. Newscasts in less competitive time periods of 4:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. also scored wins in key demographic categories, as well as in household ratings.

In April 2010, WWL-TV became the second station in the market to install an HD-based weather system. Former WDSU morning anchor Melanie Hebert joined channel 4 in January 2012, however she did not appear on-air until that July due to a non-compete clause in her previous WDSU contract. (Hebert left WWL-TV in July 2013, after a year at the station.) In September 2010, WWL-TV began broadcasting its local newscasts in 16:9 widescreen standard definition; the WUPL newscast was included in the upgrade. Then WWL-TV switched to full HD on October 1, 2014. Presently, WGNO and WDSU continue to broadcast their local newscasts in widescreen SD rather than in true high definition; the first news-producing station in the market to have upgraded their news production to HD was WVUE, which had broadcast its local news programming in the format since April 2007). On October 25, 2012, WWL-TV introduced a new state-of-the-art news set designed by FX Group that includes the station's first full-size weather center to be integrated with the main set (it replaced a set that debuted in 1997, which had been refreshed a few times during its lifespan).

On August 9, 2014, WWL-TV debuted hour-long weekend editions of its Eyewitness Morning News broadcasts on Saturdays at 8:00 a.m. and Sundays at 6:00 a.m. On September 9, the station restored an evening newscast on WUPL's schedule with the debut of a half-hour 6:30 p.m. newscast on weeknights.

Newscast titles

 * Shell News (1957–1959)
 * Newsroom (1959–1963)
 * TV-4 News (1963–1966)
 * News 4 (1966–1968)
 * Eyewitness News (1968–1984)
 * Channel 4(‘s) Eyewitness News (1984–present)

News Packages


 * WWL 1970 Theme unknown (1970-1973)
 * Action News Theme by Tom Sellers (1973-1977)
 * Home Country by Mayoham Music (1977-1978)
 * The Best Things In Life by TM Productions (1978-1984)
 * WWL-TV by Tuesday Productions (1984-1985)
 * WWL News by Jim Kirk (1984-1989)
 * WWL News by Stephen Arnold Music (1989-2003)
 * WWL Spirit of Louisiana by Stephen Arnold Music (2003-2006)
 * Battery by 615 Music (2006-2014)
 * This is Home by Frank Gari (2014-2018)
 * C-Clairty by Sixième Son (2018-present)

Station slogans
Anchors Weather team Sports team Reporters
 * The South's Most Complete and Comprehensive Coverage of News, Sports and Weather (1970-1976?)
 * The Best is Right Here on Channel 4/Channel 4 is Easy on the Eyes (1973-1974; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * See The Best...Channel 4 (1974-1975; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Catch The Brightest Stars on Channel 4 (1975-1976; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Channel 4, We're The Hot Ones (1976-1977; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * There's Something in Air, on Channel 4 (1977-1978; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Channel 4, Turn Us On, We'll Turn You On (1978-1979; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * The Best Things in Life Are Here on 4 (1978–1985)
 * Channel 4, We’re Looking Good (1979-1980; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Looking Good Together on Channel 4 (1980-1981; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Reach For The Stars on Channel 4 (1981-1982; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Great Moments on Channel 4 (1982–1983, localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * We Got The Touch, You and Channel 4 (1983-1984, localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * You and Channel 4, We Got The Touch (1984-1985, localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * News you depend on. From the People You Trust. (1984-1986)
 * Louisiana's News Leader (1986–present; news slogan)
 * We Got The Touch on Channel 4 (1985-1986; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Share The Spirit of Channel 4 (1986-1987; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Channel 4 Spirit Oh, Yes! (1987-1988; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * You Can Feel It on Channel 4 (1988-89; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Get Ready for Channel 4 (1989-1991; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * The Spirit of Louisiana (1990–present; general slogan)
 * The Look of New Orleans is Channel 4 (1991-1992; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * This is CBS, on Channel 4 (1992-1994; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Around the Clock News (early 1990s)
 * Eric Paulsen - weekdays on Eyewitness Morning News (4:30-7am on WWL-TV) and (4:30-9am on WUPL)
 * Sheba Turk - weekdays on Eyewitness Morning News (4:30-7am on WWL-TV) and (4:30-9am on WUPL)
 * Lesile Spoon - weekdays on Eyewitness Morning News (4:30-7am on WWL-TV) and (4:30-9am on WUPL)
 * Jade Cunningham- weekdays at noon; also an general assignment reporter
 * Karen Swensen - weeknights at 5 and 6pm (previously from 1993-2005)
 * Katie Moore - weeknights at 6 and 10pm; also an investigative reporter
 * Charisse Gibson - weeknights at 5 and 10pm
 * Devin Bartolotta - weekend anchor; Saturdays at 5, 6, and 10pm and Sundays at 5:30 and 10pm
 * Paul Dudley - weekend morning anchor; Saturdays at 8am and Sundays at 6am; also a reporter
 * Chris Franklin - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6, and 10pm
 * Payton Malone - weekdays on Eyewitness Morning News (4:30-7am on WWL-TV) and (4:30-9am on WUPL); and weekdays at noon
 * Alexandria Cranford - weekend meteorologist; Saturdays at 5, 6, and 10pm; Sundays at 5:30 and 10pm
 * Michelle Morgan - weekend meteorologist; Saturdays at 8am; Sundays at 6am
 * Doug Mouton - sports director; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 pm
 * Ricardo LeCompte - sports reporter
 * TBD - weekend sports anchor; Saturdays at 5, 6, and 10pm; Sundays at 5:30 and 10pm
 * Duke Carter - general assignment reporter
 * Erika Ferrando - general assignment reporter
 * David Hammer - investigative reporter
 * Mike Perlstein - investigative reporter
 * Paul Murphy - general assignment reporter
 * Meghan Kee - general assignment reporter
 * Meg Farris - general assignment/medical watch reporter
 * Don Dubuc - outdoors reporter
 * April Dupre - traffic reporter
 * Thanh Throng - reporter (previously from 2004-2006)
 * Donald ”Chick” Foret - legal analyst
 * Clancy DuBos - political analyst
 * Kevin Belton - chef of “In the Kitchen” on the Eyewitness Morning News

 Miscellaneous 


 * Bill Rather - voiceover

Notable former on-air staff

 * Jason Allen (now at WGCL-TV in Atlanta)
 * Carl Arrendondo - chief meteorologist (1991-2019) (retired)
 * Dave Barnes - chief meteorologist (1984-1997); later a commissioner for the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Agency, deceased)
 * Jim Basquil - sports anchor/reporter (?-2007; now with ESPN Radio)
 * David Bernard - meteorologist (1999-2005; later at WFOR-TV, now chief meteorologist at WVUE-TV)
 * Jonathan Betz - reporter (2004-2008, now at WFAA-TV)
 * Krystal Boothe - Traffic, weekday mornings (left in 2008 to become teacher at Chalmette High School)
 * Sandy Breland - (1997-2008; now at WAFB-TV Baton Rouge; married to Dave McNamara)
 * Dawn Brown - weekend meteorologist (2005-2009; later at WVUE-TV)
 * Laura Butchtel - meteorologist (2005-2016)
 * Lucy Bustamante - anchor/reporter (2004-2010) (later at WVEC-TV in Norfolk; now at WCAU-TV in Philadelphia)
 * Len Cannon - weekend anchor (1991-1995; now at KHOU-TV in Houston)
 * Bill Capo - reporter (1980-2017) (retired)
 * Karen Carlson - weekend anchor/reporter (2001-2003)
 * Wayne Carter - morning news anchor (2010-2011)
 * Scott Cody - sports anchor (2007-2012)
 * Doug Darby - reporter
 * Frank Davis - longtime feature reporter “Fishin Game Report”, “In the Kitchen“, and “Natural N’Awlins” (1981-2011) (deceased)
 * Jean Doherty - station's first female weathercaster (1967)
 * Albert W. "Al" Duckworth - first chief meteorologist (1968-1984; also worked at WDSU, later went to WVUE, died August 17, 2001 at age 71)
 * Joe Duke - news director (1986-1995, later at KHOU-TV, CBS News, now at Loyola University)
 * Henry Dupre (a.k.a. "Uncle Henry") - first host of Popeye and Pals (deceased)
 * Brian Durst - former WWL-TV weekend meteorologist
 * Susan Edwards - reporter (2008-2010) (deceased)
 * Jeremy Eisenzopf (now Jeremy Eisen) - meteorologist (2005-2007) (later at WXYZ-TV, now at WBBH-TV)
 * Bill Elder - anchor/investigative reporter, nicknamed the "Mike Wallace of Louisiana" (1966-2000) (deceased)
 * Patrick Evans - weekend anchor (1996-2003; later at WVUE-DT until his deployment to Iraq as a Public Affairs Officer for Operation Iraqi Freedom, currently on active duty with the Navy and assigned to a submarine base in Connecticut)
 * John Ferguson - weekend sportscaster (1970s; also broadcast LSU sports over WWL radio from 1946-1987, died December 16, 2005 at age 86)
 * Tom Foreman - now at CNN
 * Lloyd A. "Hap" Glaudi - sports anchor (1961-1978) (later at WWL Radio) (deceased)
 * Bob Greene - reporter (2005-2006)
 * Janet Gross - reporter; later at WVUE-TV and later WWL-AM/WWL-FM, now at K-TV
 * John Gumm - weekend meteorologist (2002-2005) (now at WKRC-TV in Cincinnati)
 * Janet Lawhon
 * Melanie Hebert - morning news anchor (2012-2013)
 * Monica Herdendez - reporter (now at WFAA-TV)
 * Jim Henderson - sports director (1978-2012) (later at WVUE-DT) (now retired)
 * Taylor Henry - reporter (1981-1986)
 * Jill Hezeau - traffic reporter
 * Angela Hill - longtime anchor (1975-2013) (retired)
 * Paul Hornung - sportscaster (1967)
 * Mike Hoss - anchor/reporter (1988-2017) (retired)
 * Ginny Hostetler - "Miss Ginny" on WWL's version of Romper Room
 * Dana Howard - Reporter (1988-1992; now at KXTV in Sacramento)
 * Jennifer Huntley - morning news anchor (2000-2006, now external relations coordinator at Washington State Department of Personnel)
 * Ron Hunter - anchor/reporter (1967-1972; later at WGRZ-TV in Buffalo, WMAQ-TV in Chicago, WVUE, WTIX-AM and WSMB-AM; also hosted New Orleans' Most Wanted on WGNO-TV from 1988-89; retired to Las Vegas in 1998, died June 24, 2008 at age 70)
 * Rosemary James - station's first female anchor/reporter (1968-1976); previously reported for The New Orleans States-Item; now cofounder of The Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society, author of Plot or Politics, and owner of Faulkner House Books with her husband
 * Jennifer John - reporter/anchor (1998-2003)
 * Ken Johnson - reporter
 * Lyn Johnson - morning anchor (early 1970s)
 * Phil Johnson - editorialist/news director/station manager (1960-1999, deceased)
 * Bob Jones - anchor (1960s)
 * Terry Jones - (1979-2006; now at Sat-Link of Arkansas)
 * Derek Kevera - meteorologist (2009-2013; now at WJBK-TV)
 * Jim Kincaid - anchor (1960s) (later at KMOX-TV, WCBS-TV, ABC News, and WVEC-TV) (deceased)
 * Juan Kincaid - sports anchor (2001-2015) (now at WVUE-DT)
 * Hoda Kotb - anchor/reporter (1992-1997; now with NBC News as a co-host of The Today Show)
 * Bob Krieger - sportscaster (also worked at WDSU and WVUE; died August 13, 1996 at age 62)
 * Dr. Janet Lawhon - anchor/medical reporter (now a board certified psychiatrist and clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas)
 * Tamica Lee - traffic reporter (now at WGNO-TV)
 * Ben Lemoine - Reporter, also covered Hurricane Katrina (2005-2007; now at KTVK in Phoenix)
 * Mike Longman - investigative reporter (1984-1997) (later at WVUE-TV; arrested for child pornography in 2000 and sentenced to four years in prison)
 * Ed Marten - action reporter (1982-1984; died August 9, 2010 at age 72)
 * Josh McElveen (now with WMUR-TV)
 * Dave McNamara - feature reporter (now at WVUE)
 * Rachel McNeil - anchor/reporter (now at KPRC-TV)
 * Larry Matson - sports anchor (1979?-1985?; later at WGNO-TV; then play-by-play man for the Tulane ISP Sports Network, next WJBO in Baton Rouge, morning sportscaster for Z-100 (KLRZ) in LaRose, and after that St. Charles Parish Recreation Department)
 * Jim Metcalf - anchor/reporter; A Sunday Journal (1966-1977; died March 8, 1977 at age 49, the Jim Metcalf Memorial Award is named in his honor)
 * Michelle Miller - anchor/reporter (1994-2003; now with CBS News)
 * Miles Muzio - meteorologist (now at KBAK in Bakersfield, California)
 * Chris Myers - sports anchor/featured reporter (1982-1988; now with Fox Sports)
 * Jonathan Myers - meteorologist (2008-2012)
 * Rob Nelson – weekday mornings "Eyewitness Morning News", 5-6 a.m. (2007-2010) (later at ABC News, WABC-TV, now at NewsNation)
 * Dave Nussbaum - meteorologist (2014-2020, now at WIAT-TV)
 * Brad Panovich - meteorologist (1999-2003) (now at WCNC-TV in Charlotte)
 * John Pela - host of The John Pela Show, a dance show styled after American Bandstand (1961-1972; also the first replacement host of Popeye and Pals in the wake of Henry Dupre's retirement; provided voiceovers)
 * Cindy Poulet - traffic reporter (early 1980s)
 * John Quaintance - reporter/morning news anchor (1979-1984; now syndicated radio host)
 * Larry Ray - weekend anchor (1976-1977)
 * Stephanie Riegel - political/investigative reporter (1993-2005)
 * Susan E. Roberts - anchor/reporter (1995-1997; later at WDSU-TV, now with CBS News)
 * Nash C. Roberts Jr. - longtime meteorologist/hurricane analyst (1978-2001) (deceased)
 * Sally Ann Roberts - morning news anchor/reporter (sister of Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts (1977-2018) (retired)
 * Garland Robinette: Anchor/reporter (1970-1990; married to co-anchor Angela Hill from 1978-1987; now at WWL-AM/WWL-FM) (now retired)
 * Norman Robinson - reporter (1979-1989) (later at WDSU-TV, now retired)
 * Maya Rodriguez- reporter
 * Mike Ross - reporter (1988-2006) now anchor at KTUU-TV, Anchorage, Alaska
 * Nancy Russo - station's first female meteorologist (March 1993 - January 1998)
 * Bryan Salmond - weekend sports anchor (now at KSNV)
 * Shauna Sanford - anchor/reporter (2003-2006; now a project advisor at the Louisiana Department of Education/Recovery School District)
 * Scott Satchsfield - reporter (2007-2013) (later at WVUE-DT)
 * Natalie Sheppard - anchor (2013-2018)
 * Dan Simon - (now with CNN)
 * Lea Sinclair - hosted local version of PM Magazine with Eric Paulsen; now director of communications for the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation)
 * John Snell - anchor/reporter (1983-1994) (now at WVUE-DT)
 * Jim Stone - morning anchor (early 1970s)
 * Judy Storch - anchor/reporter (1984-1992)
 * Joel Thomas - reporter
 * Roger Thompson - longtime voiceover for WWL-TV (1984-2006)
 * André Trevigne - morning news anchor (later at WGNO and WRNO-FM; deceased)
 * Frank Turner - reporter (1980s; later an anchor for WXYZ-TV, now an author and traveling preacher)
 * Ronnie Virgets - feature reporter
 * Don Westbrook - longtime meteorologist/staff announcer (1960-1999, simultaneously with Phil Johnson) (deceased)
 * Dennis Woltering - anchor/reporter (1977-1984 and 1995-2014) (retired)
 * Rachel Wulff - weekend morning news anchor (2014-2017)
 * Charles Zewe - anchor/reporter (later at WDSU and CNN; now vice president of communications for the Louisiana State University System)
 * Lee Zurik - weekend anchor/sports reporter (2001-2009) (now at WVUE-TV)

Former Programming on WWL-TV
 * 9 to 5
 * American Journal
 * Access Hollywood


 * The Angela Show
 * Blue Blood
 * Bonanza


 * Dukes of Hazzard
 * Entertainment Tonight
 * Family Feud
 * Tic Tac Dought
 * T.D. Jakes
 * Hollywood Squaues
 * The Jokers Wild
 * Jeopardy!
 * M*A*S*H
 * The Mary Tyler Moore Show
 * Northern Exposure
 * NYPD Blue
 * The Oprah Winfrey Show
 * The Six Million Dollar Man
 * Scandal
 * Perry Mason
 * The Rockford Files
 * Pyramid
 * Wheel Of Fortune