WOWK-TV

WOWK-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Tri-States and Kanawha Valley area of West Virginia that is licensed to Huntington which is the second largest market (in terms of area) east of the Mississippi River. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter northwest of Milton. Due to the nature of VHF signals, this cannot be seen in the Kanawha Valley or Charleston. However, WOWK is offered on Comcast channel 12 and high definition on digital channel 782 (in Huntington) as well as Suddenlink channel 13 and in high definition on digital channel 782 (in Charleston).

Owned by West Virginia Media Holdings, it is the flagship of the company and has studios on 5th Avenue in Downtown Huntington and secondary facilities on Kanawha Boulevard (U.S. 60) in Charleston along I-64/U.S. 119. Syndicated programming on WOWK includes: Inside Edition, Dr. Phil, The Doctors, and Rachael Ray.

Digital programming
The station's digital channel is multiplexed.

History
The station went on-air October 2, 1955 as WHTN-TV (for HunTingtoN) an ABC affiliate owned by the Greater Huntington Theater Corporation. After only a year, it was bought by Cowles Communications. WHTN swapped affiliations with WCHS-TV and became a CBS station for the first time in 1958. It went back to ABC in 1962 and stayed with that network for 24 years. Cowles sold the station to Gateway Communications in 1974. A year later, it changed its call letters to the current WOWK-TV to reflect the three states it serves (Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky). In 1986, it changed affiliations again returning to CBS.

The station was headquartered at the Radio Center Building in Huntington from its inception until 1984 when WOWK moved to its current location on Fifth Avenue. Gateway merged with SJL Broadcasting in 2000. SJL sold it to West Virginia Media Holdings in 2002. WOWK-TV ended analog operations on VHF channel 13 in 2009, as part of the DTV transition in the United States. The station then returned to channel 13 for its post-transition operations. [1] On January 25, 2009, an ice storm destroyed the temporary UHF channel 47 digital transmitter. Rather than repair it for two more weeks of service, the station shut down its analog transmission early and brought its digital 13 transmitter on-line.

Under federal must-carry rules, broadcasters can either allow cable systems in their market to carry their signals for free or charge a fee under retransmission consent provisions. On December 3, 2008, it was announced that Inter Mountain Cable (IMC), a cable provider serving parts of Eastern Kentucky, announced that it would drop WOWK from its lineup unless an agreement was reached over retransmission consent. [2] According to The Mountain Eagle, this dispute caused concern among officials in the city of Fleming-Neon, Kentucky where IMC holds the cable television franchise. [3] The city council in Fleming-Neon have stated that the removal of WOWK will violate IMC's franchise agreement. [3]

News operation
This station's newscasts have long rated third in the market behind NBC affiliate WSAZ-TV and ABC affiliate WCHS. For a time in the 1990s, it was the highest-rated station in the northern portion of the market (Charleston and Kanawha Valley). WOWK-TV airs the market's only 7pm newscast. The station also airs a 5pm newscast, which debuted on October 18, 2010. It provides all weather forecasts for WVNS-TV and simulcasts weekend newscasts on that channel as well as WBOY-TV and WTRF-TV.

Newscast titles

 * Shell News (1955-1958)
 * Newsroom (1958-1961)
 * The West Virginia Report (1961-1966)
 * 13 Color News (1966-1971)
 * Eyewitness News (1971-1975)
 * Action News (1975-1986)
 * 13 News (1986-present)

Station slogans

 * Be an Eyewitness (early 1970s)
 * Where the Action Is (mid 1970s)
 * Count on the Action News Team (late 1970s)
 * We're Still the One, on TV-13 (1979-1980; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
 * You'll Love It on TV-13 (1985-1986; before the switch to CBS)
 * Share the Spirit on Channel 13 (1986-1987; after the switch to CBS)
 * The Look of West Viginia is Channel 13 (1991-1992; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Live and Local From Your Hometown (2008-present)

News team
Anchors StormTracker 13 Meteorologists Sports Reporters
 * Martina Bills - weekday mornings and reporter
 * Jack Kane - weekday mornings and noon
 * reporter
 * Sandra Cole - weeknights
 * Scott Roberts- 13News at 5:00
 * Kristen Sell - weekends
 * Spencer Adkins (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seal of Approval) - Chief seen weeknights
 * Ari Sarsalari - weekday mornings and noon
 * Jared Hoffman (AMS Seal of Approval) - weekends
 * Bryan Shaw - fill-in
 * Scott Grayson - Director seen weeknights
 * Mike Anthony - weekends
 * Jaime Baker - reporter
 * Bray Cary - West Virginia Media Holdings President and Chief Executive Officer
 * Decision Makers host
 * April Kaull - West Virginia Media Holdings News Director and State Correspondent
 * Dan Matics
 * Randy McKinney - Chief Photographer
 * Elbert Mosley - Senior Photojournalist
 * "Wacky Science Wednesdays" and "Cooking Thursdays" segments producer
 * Crissy Clutter - fill-in news anchor
 * Kelly Brennan - weekend producer
 * Sarah Lieu - consumer
 * Kenney Barnette - photographer
 * Anthony Lewis - photojournalist
 * Ben Moore - photojournalist
 * Adrian Mosby - photojournalist
 * Brooks Taylor
 * Nicky Walters
 * Matthew Earle
 * Gil McClanahan