WTVY (TV)

WTVY or WTVY News 4 is a CBS-affiliated television station broadcasting on channel 4 in Dothan, Alabama, owned by Gray Television. The station's signal, originating from a transmitter in Bethlehem, Florida, reaches portions of Alabama, Georgia and Florida. WTVY is also the designated CBS affiliate for the Panama City, Florida market, where Gray also owns that city's NBC affiliate, WJHG-TV. In exchange, WJHG is available in Dothan on cable since Dothan does not have its own NBC affiliate. In fact, WTVY's transmitter is located in the Panama City market.

WTVY's digital subchannels are MyNetworkTV affiliate My 4 and CW affiliate Dothan's CW.

History
WTVY's first broadcast was on February 12, 1955, originally on channel 9, as a CBS affiliate. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.[1]

The station moved to channel 4 around 1960, where it still remains today. When the station moved to channel 4 in 1960, it also relocated to new studios with a 1,209 ft (368.5 m) tower in Webb, five miles (8 km) east of Dothan. At the time, the tower was the tallest structure in the state of Alabama. In the early 1970s WTVY became one of the first stations in the country to broadcast 24 hours a day.

In 1978, WTVY moved to its current 2,000-foot (610 m) tower in Bethlehem (28 miles/45 km southwest of Dothan). The tower is the tallest structure in the state of Florida and one of the tallest broadcasting towers in North America. The move was made in part to improve its signal in Panama City, where it had been the default CBS affiliate since the early 1960s. The new tower provides grade B coverage to much of the Florida side of the Mobile/Pensacola market, including Fort Walton Beach and Destin. In 1993, WTVY moved its studios to the historic Houston Hotel in downtown Dothan (now known as the Woods Building). WTVY operates on the first two floors. The news studio is actually located in what used to be the grand ballroom of the hotel. The building is tall enough (eight stories) that the station's studio-to-transmitter microwave dish is located on top of the building, not requiring a smaller tower to be built on the property.

For many years Charles Woods, a perennial aspirant to the governorship of Alabama, owned WTVY, through his Woods Communications company. Benedek Broadcasting bought WTVY from Woods in 1995. WTVY was one of the Benedek stations that was purchased by Gray Television in 2002.

When Woods sold WTVY, he continued to allow the station to lease the Woods Building, and the lease is due to expire on December 31, 2010. Because of this, WTVY is contemplating moving to a vacant Appliance Direct store on Ross Clark Circle, giving it ownership of the facility. WTVY is seeking approval from the City of Dothan to move there since its satellite dishes and proposed STL tower would need to be exempted from zoning requirements. [2]

Programming
WTVY has historically been a ratings powerhouse in the Wiregrass, winning every news timeslot. This is partly because its only local competition, ABC affiliate WDHN, has a coverage area only half as large.

Newscasts air weekdays from 5-7 a.m., and 12-12:30, 5-5:30, 6-6:30 and 10-10:30 p.m. Central, and weekends at 6:00 on Saturday, 5:00 on Sunday, and 10:00 p.m. This is a considerable amount for a station serving two fairly small markets (Dothan is the 172nd market, Panama City is the 151st market). Syndicated programming includes Wheel of Fortune,The Oprah Winfrey Show, and Live with Regis and Kelly.

All syndicated programming that is duplicated on WJHG and WMBB is still shown on WTVY on Panama City's cable systems. This is in contrast to SyndEx laws, which gives local stations the option to restrict importing of syndicated programming that is already available on an in-market station. This is likely due to WTVY.

Current on-air staff
Anchors


 * Reginald Jones - Weekday 5, 6, 10 Anchor
 * Skylar Zwick - Weekday 5, 6, 10 Anchor

Weather Team


 * Oscar Fann - (Weekend) Chief Meteorologist
 * Martha Spencer - Morning Meteorologist
 * Connor Vernon - Weeknight Meteorologist

Sports Team


 * Brad Sherwood - Sports Anchor / Reporter
 * Patrick Claybon - Sports Reporter

Reporters


 * Ben Stanfield - General Assignment Reporter
 * Vanessa Araiza - General Assignment Reporter
 * Denise Bradberry - Dale County Bureau Reporter
 * Mike Gurspan - Coffee County Bureau Reporter
 * John LaBerge - General Assignment Reporter
 * Demetria McClenton - General Assignment Reporter
 * Devon Sellers - Weekend Reporter/ Producer
 * Rayne McKenzie - Executive Producer
 * Wayne May - Assignment Editor / Investigative Reporter
 * Ann Varnum - Public Affairs Director

Former on-air staff

 * David Bishop - Weekend News Anchor/Reporter (1988-1990, now in media relations - Zurich Financial Services, Chicago)
 * Ashley Brand - Evening Meteorologist (2001-2007, now Weekend Meteorologist at WBMA-LP)
 * Angie Casey - Weekday Noon, 5 and 6 Anchor (1996-2009, now doing PR for Great Southern Wood in Abbeville, Alabama)
 * Tim Elliott- General Assignment Reporter (now at WMTV)
 * Mitch English - Weather Anchor/Reporter (now at The Daily Buzz)
 * Lauren Davis - Morning Anchor / Reporter (2002-2007, now Weekend Anchor/ Reporter at WVLT)
 * Tonya Deer - General Assignment Reporter (went to WDHN; now doing Medical PR)
 * Nicole Foerschler - General Assignment Reporter (VP @ JMH Consulting)
 * Mike Gurspan - General Assignment Reporter (PIO in Walton Co., FL)
 * Chris Harris - Weekend Sports Anchor (now at WBMA-LP)
 * Carla Kneeland - Morning Anchor/Reporter (?)
 * Erika Kurre - Weekend Anchor / Reporter (now at WZTV)
 * Kelly O'Donnell - Weekend Sports Anchor (Now at WRGB)
 * Al Roberts - Sports Director / News Director / Noon Anchor (1972-2006)
 * Ryan Rodig - General Assignment Reporter (now at WKBT)
 * Carlos Torres - General Assignment Reporter (until 2005)
 * Carrie Davis - General Assignment Reporter (now Morning Anchor/Medical Reporter at WSPA)
 * Tom Nebel - Chief Meteorologist from 1989 - 1996. Currently General Sales Manager of Cumulus Media - Pensacola. Also Owner of Tom Nebel Productions (Video Company)
 * Joey Parker - Morning anchor (now at KHAS-TV)
 * Alex Zequeira - General Assignment Reporter (now at WPEC)
 * Erica Proffer - Morning Anchor/General Assignment Reporter for 5PM News (Now at KRGV)

Newscast titles

 * WTVY News (1955-1964)
 * Television 4 Reports (1964-1970)
 * TV-4 News (1970-1985)
 * WTVY News (1985-1998)
 * WTVY News 4 (1998-present)

Station slogans

 * The Tri-State's News Leader (1991-1995)
 * Your Hometown News Leader (2005-present)