WPLG

WPST-TV
The station first took to the air on August 2, 1957 as WPST-TV, as the second ABC affiliate in the Miami market, under the ownership of Public Service Television, Inc., the broadcasting subsidiary of National Airlines. (Hence the call letters.) Prior to this time ABC had been carried by WITV, channel 17. With the loss of the ABC affiliation, channel 17 quickly went out of business (Channel 17 was later occupied by PBS member station WLRN-TV).

A Congressional investigation of former FCC Commissioner Richard A. Mack in 1958 revealed that a Miami attorney named Thurman A. Whiteside, working on behalf National Airlines, bribed the former commissioner to obtain the WPST broadcast license.[1] As a result, WPST-TV was stripped of its broadcast license.

[edit] A new channel 10
A group headed by L.B. Wilson won the right to start a new station on channel 10. As part of an FCC-supervised deal, National sold WPST's assets to Wilson's group. WPST signed off for the last time on November 13, 1961. A week later, on November 20, channel 10 returned to the air as WLBW-TV (after the owner's initials). Although it operates under a separate license, it claims WPST's history as its own.[2]

The new station called itself "Colorvision 10", indicating that it was broadcasting in color. In 1967, WLBW moved to a studio facility location on Biscayne Boulevard. WPLG's Biscayne Blvd. studios were originally called "Broadcast House". In 1969, WLBW was purchased by the Washington Post Company's Post-Newsweek Stations subsidiary. On March 16, 1970, WLBW-TV's call letters were changed to the current WPLG, named in memory of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Graham Philip L. Graham], the husband of Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, who committed suicide in 1963.

Life under Post-Newsweek
WPLG logo from 1998The station became well-known in the 1970s for its popular anchor team. From 1976 to 1982 Glenn Rinker, Ann Bishop, Chuck Dowdle and Walter Cronise anchored Newswatch 10. In 1982, Rinker left for another position in Orlando and was replaced by Mike Schneider. Schneider and Bishop anchored until 1986, when Schneider left to become the 5:30 and 11:00 pm co-anchor at WCBS-TV in New York and Dwight Lauderdale replaced him, becoming South Florida's first African-American nightly news anchor. WPLG adopted its current "10" logo in 1982. By 1985, WPLG had surpassed rival WTVJ in the ratings and would dominate the ratings for over ten years. Ann Bishop would continue to anchor the news until 1995. She worked part-time at the station until she succumbed to colon cancer in 1997. Don Noe joined WPLG in 1979 and was one of Miami's most popular chief meteorologists up until his retirement in 2007.

When WTVJ, WCIX, and WSVN all swapped affiliations on January 1, 1989, WPLG stayed with ABC. And, when WTVJ and WCIX (now WFOR-TV) swapped dial positions on September 10, 1995, WPLG remained on channel 10 as an ABC affiliate. Thus, it is the only Miami television station that has never changed its affiliation. Possibly because of this consistency, WPLG remains one of the highest rated stations in the South Florida market.

From April 2007 until February 2009, WPLG was South Florida's most-watched English-language television station which can partially be attributed to its availability in the West Palm Beach market via Comcast which in turn is damaging to ratings for WPBF, West Palm Beach's ABC affiliate. In February 2009, WPLG fell behind CBS-owned WFOR which now holds the title of being South Florida's most watched English-language station. However, WPLG remains a strong runner-up, tied with WSVN.

On March 28, 2009 WPLG relocated its studio facilities from 3900 Biscayne Boulevard to a location on 3401 Hallandale Beach Boulevard in Pembroke Park. As a result of this relocation, none of South Florida's "Big Three" stations are based within the Miami city limits. [3] [4]

On July 18, 2008, it was announced that Post-Newsweek Stations, the owners of WPLG, would purchase competing station WTVJ from NBC Universal, pending Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval. The purchase would have created a duopoly between the two major-network affiliates. If the sale was approved, WTVJ would have moved to WPLG's new studios in Pembroke Park. It is unknown what the future held for WTVJ's news department if the two stations combined operations.[5] However, the sale was canceled on December 23, 2008, with NBC and The Washington Post Company citing poor economic conditions and the lack of FCC approval as the reasons for the cancellation.[6]

WPLG is currently branded as Local 10 under the station standardization adopted by Post-Newsweek, which means that all stations use the "Local Mandate".

Digital television
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Digital channels At 9 AM on June 12, 2009, WPLG shut off its analog TV signal, and moved its digital TV signal from temporary RF TV channel 9 to RF channel 10, also permanently switching broadcast towers.[7] This and other local station which reverted (WSVN, WPXM, WLTV) required viewers to re-scan ATSC tuners (TV sets and DTV converters). It and WSVN are the only Miami stations remaining on VHF, which requires viewers to have a larger TV antenna than UHF.

Programming
As a Post-Newsweek station, WPLG continues to run nearly the entire ABC television schedule; however, until ABC dropped the program on August 28, 2010, only the ABC Kids airings of the Power Rangers series did not air, due to the station's news commitment and the program's lack of E/I content. Because of this, WPLG has had in recent years moved the 9-10 a.m. hour of ABC Kids to noon-1 p.m. (the recommended time slot by ABC to air Power Rangers) on Saturday mornings.

Since the early 1990s, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune have aired on WPLG. Another King World program, The Oprah Winfrey Show, also aired on channel 10 in the early 1990s, but since 1996, WFOR now airs the show.

News operation
Unlike most ABC stations in the Eastern Time Zone, WPLG does not carry a newscast in the 5 p.m. timeslot. WPLG deployed "Sky 10", Miami's first news helicopter in 1979. After with the move to its Pembroke Park studios, WPLG became the third Miami station to broadcast its local newscasts in high definition on March 28, 2009, during its 6:30 p.m. newscast.

Since 1993, WPLG has used several versions of Frank Gari's "The One and Only" music package, which was named after one of its long-time slogans.

[edit] Newscast titles

 * Colorvision 10 News (1960s-1970)
 * The Scene Tonight (1970–1977)
 * NewsWatch 10 (1977–1982)
 * Channel 10 Eyewitness News (1982–2001)
 * Channel 10 News (2001–2004)
 * Local 10 News (2004-present)

[edit] Station slogans
This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.===News team===
 * The One to Watch (?-1978)
 * The One and Only (1978-1997)
 * If It's Channel 10, It Must Be ABC (1992-1993; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * Live. Local. Latebreaking. (1997-2001)
 * Your Problem Solver Station (2001-2007)

[edit] Current Local 10 on-air staff[8]
Local 10 Anchors Local 10 Weather Team Local 10 Sports Tean Local 10 Reporters
 * Jacey Birch - weekday mornings (9-10 a.m.) and noon; also 5-7 a.m. traffic reporter
 * Jen Herrera - weekends at 6:30 and 11 p.m.; also weekday reporter
 * Calvin Hughes - weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
 * Baron James - weekday mornings (5-7 and 9-10 a.m.) and noon
 * Laurie Jennings - weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
 * Kristi Kreuger - weekday mornings (5-7 a.m.); also health reporter
 * Neki Mohan - weekend mornings; also weekday reporter
 * Rob Schmitt - weekends at 6:30 and 11 p.m.; also weekday reporter
 * Todd Tongen - weekend mornings; also weekday reporter
 * Trent Aric (AMS Seal of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
 * John Guaraldi (AMS Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekends at 6:30 and 11 p.m.
 * Scott Padgett (AMS Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekday mornings (5-7 and 9-10 a.m.) and noon
 * Michael Smith (AMS Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; weekend mornings
 * Max Mayfield - hurricane specialist
 * Will Manso - Sports Director; weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
 * Andrea Brody - Sports Anchor; weekends at 6:30 and 11 p.m., also weekday sports reporter
 * Sasha Andrade - general assignment reporter
 * Kellie Butler - general assignment reporter
 * Terrell Forney - general assignment reporter
 * Johanna Gomez - general assignment reporter
 * Constance Jones - general assignment reporter
 * Ben Kennedy - general assignment reporter
 * Roger Lohse - Broward County reporter
 * John Lyon - HD Live Cam
 * Glenna Milberg - Miami/Dade reporter
 * Victor Oquendo - general assignment reporter
 * Ross Palombo - general assignment reporter
 * Michael Putney - senior political reporter
 * Janine Stanwood - general assignment reporter
 * Jonathan Vigliotti - general assignment reporter
 * Jeff Weinsier - investigative reporter

[edit] Notable former staff
Former WPLG Chief Meteorologist Don Noe*Morry Alter - host of "The Morry Story" (1980s)
 * Ann Bishop (1970-1995; deceased)
 * Susan Candiotti (now a national correspondent for CNN)
 * Liz Cho (now at WABC-TV in New York City)
 * Chuck Dowdle, (1973-1985; now at WSB-TV in Atlanta)
 * Doug Dunbar (1998-2004; now at KTVT in Dallas-Fort Worth)
 * Mark Joyella (now residing in New York City)
 * Larry King (host of Larry King Live on CNN)
 * Steve Kroft (1977-1980; correspondent for CBS News' 60 Minutes)
 * Dwight Lauderdale (1976-2008; now retired)
 * Diane Magnum - anchor (1983-2008)
 * Khambrel Marshall - sports anchor (now at sister station KPRC-TV in Houston)
 * Terri Merryman (now running a private media consultancy)
 * Kelley Mitchell (now co-anchor of morning show on WFTL in Fort Lauderdale)
 * Don Noe (retired)
 * Bryan Norcross (1983-1990; now a hurricane specialist for The Weather Channel)
 * Charles Perez - anchor/reporter
 * Walter Perez - reporter
 * Liz Reyes - Nightbeat Reporter (1994-1997; now at WVUE & runs her own media website at LizReyes.com)
 * Glenn Rinker (1976-1982; deceased)
 * Mike Schneider - 6 and 11 p.m. anchor (now at Bloomberg Television)
 * Jon Scott - anchor (1983-1988; now anchor at Fox News Channel)
 * Justin Wells (now reporter/producer for Greta Van Susteren at Fox News Channel)