WPTV-TV

WPTV-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for South Florida's Gold and Treasure Coasts. Licensed to West Palm Beach, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 12 (PSIP virtual channel 5) from a transmitter in Lake Worth along U.S. 441/SR 7. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 3 (in Martin, Palm Beach, Okeechobee, and Southern St. Lucie Counties) and channel 5 (in Indian River and Northern St. Lucie Counties). There is a high definition feed offered on Comcast digital channel 432. Owned by the E.W. Scripps Company, WPTV has studios on South Australian Avenue in Downtown West Palm Beach (mailing address says Banyan Boulevard also known as 1st Street). Syndicated programming on the station includes: Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, Oprah, The Dr. Oz Show, andEllen.

Digital programming
On WPTV-DT2 and Comcast digital channel 216 is a 24-hour local weather channel. Programming consists of forecasts and live radar. This had been part of NBC Weather Plus from 2004 until 2008.

History
 At that time, it was owned by William Cook and Theodore Granick and there were only 32 employees working at the channel. WJNO was later purchased by the Phipps Family in 1956 and changed the call letters to WPTV. Then in 1961, a man named Mort Watters purchased the station for Scripps Howard.The station began broadcasting on August 22, 1954 as the primary NBC affiliate for all of SouthFlorida with the call letters WJNO-TV. At sign-on, the first words heard on-air were from Control Room Director Vern Crawford: "The power has just been turned on for WJNO-TV channel 5 by Frank M. Folsom, President of The Radio Corporation of America." Crawford later became a fishing reporter for the station.

Under new ownership, the station began expanding. WPTV's current 1,000-foot (305 m) transmitter tower was built along with new transmission facilities. The station's original West Palm Beach studios were expanded. In May 1971, Scripps Howard built new studios for the station on Flagler Drive in West Palm Beach. During the early 1970's news anchor Bill Gordon, Sports anchor Buck Kinnard, Weather anchor Terry Cunningham were number one in the TV ratings. In 1976, WPTV began operating the market's first live mobile news van. It remained an NBC affiliate throughout the South Florida network switches of January 1989.

In 1999, it added a new Harris analog transmitter to improve its signal. The station also built a new 1,325-foot (404 m) transmitter tower. This also gave WPTV a city-grade signal the northern half of Broward County including Fort Lauderdale. Its signal in most of Broward County is Grade B not city grade. The upgrade came several years after the NBC owned-and-operated station WTVJ in Miami moved from channel 4 at a transmitter on the Broward amd Miami-Dade County line to channel 6 from a transmitter in Southern Miami-Dade.

On March 16, 2001, the station moved from its facilities on Flagler Drive to a larger, newer, and advanced complex on Banyan Boulevard/1st Street on the city's west side approaching Clear Lake. The building's exteriors portray the exteriors of the fictional television studio seen during the second season of the NBC sitcom Good Morning, Miami. WPTV's "Circle 5" logo is a variation of the one used for many years by Cleveland, Ohio sister station WEWS-TV. That channel resurrected the logo in January 2007 albeit in a slightly different form. The station shut-off its analog transmitter at 5:45 in the morning on June 12, 2009 making the conversion to digital-only broadcasting. WPTV shut down analog transmissions [1], and moved its digital broadcasts to channel 12.[2] However through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display its virtual channel as 5.

It has been announced WPTV will begin operating Fox affiliate WFLX (owned by Raycom Media) through a shared services agreement (SSA). Under the proposed arrangement, this station will provide technical, promotional, and website operations for WFLX. Raycom will continue to program that station and conduct all advertising sales. Around June 1, 2011, WFLX will move operations from its separate facilities on West Blue Heron Boulevard in Riviera Beach to WPTV's studios. It is unclear if the former will completely vacate its building. The deal is subject to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval. [3] [4] [5] [6]

News operation
 Along with its main studios, the station operates a bureau in the Stuart News building on South Federal Highway/US 1. WPTV also contracts with the Capitol News Service in Tallahassee to maintain two reporters in a bureau near the State Capitol. In addition to NBC News, the station is a CNN affiliate. WPTV operates a one million watt weather radar called "VIPIR 5" at its transmitter site. This is similar to the "CBS 12 StormTrac" system used by WPEC except that the rival gets delayed data from the National Weather Service.The station regularly beats cross town rivals WPEC and WPBF in Nielsen ratings as the most watched in West Palm Beach and South Florida. Following the May 2009 sweeps period, WPTV retained its title as the most-watched television station in the state of Florida based on sign-on to sign-off household ratings in metered markets. On August 4, 2007, it became the first station in South Florida to air its local newscasts in high definition. The upgrade resulted in the debut of a new graphics package and weather set with advanced HD equipment.

The news department has been recognized with three regional Edward R. Murrow awards in the past seven years. In 2001, the station won for its continuing coverage of the 2000 presidential vote controversy in Palm Beach County. In 2003, WPTV was recognized in the news documentary category for a story on the desperate conditions in Haiti. In April 2008, it was recognized for excellence again in the documentary category for an hour-long primetime special on Medicare fraud produced by its "Contact 5" investigative unit. WPTV is one of many channels that air consumer reports from John Matarese of sister station ABC affiliate WCPO in Cincinnati. The station outsourced its sports department to ESPN Radio affiliate WEFL-AM 760 on January 1, 2010.[7] On January 11, WPTV became the first to air its weekday morning show at 4:30 with the new thirty minute block known as Today on 5: First at 4:30.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">It was announced October 22, 2010 WFLX would end a news share agreement with Freedom Communications-owned WPEC on December 31. On January 1, 2011, WPTV established a new partnership with WFLX and begin producing a two-hour weekday morning show and nightly hour-long prime time newscasts. These shows originate from a secondary set at WPTV's facilities and required the addition of more than a dozen new personnel. This is the first time any of the nine Scripps stations have produced an on-air newscast for a non company-owned channel. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[8] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[9] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[10] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[11] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[12]

Newscast titles

 * TV-5 News (1970`s)
 * TV-5 Action News (1974-early 1980s)
 * Action 5 News (early 1980s–1993)
 * WPTV NewsChannel 5 (1993–present)

Station slogans

 * "Part of Your Life" (late 1970s)
 * "Action 5 News: The Recognized Authorities" (early 1980s)
 * "We're Looking Out For You!" (1984–1989)
 * "Your News Leader" (1980s-early 1990s)
 * "The 24 Hour News Channel" (early-1990s)
 * "Coverage You Can Count On" (1993–2008)
 * "Local Coverage You Can Count On" (2008–present)

News team
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Anchors


 * Lauren LaPonzina - weekday mornings at 4:30 and weekdays at noon (also weekday morning breaking news reporter starting at 5)
 * John Favole - weekday mornings starting at 5
 * Roxanne Stein - weekday mornings starting at 5 and medical reporter (also "Ask The Doctor" segment producer)
 * Keli Fulton - weekdays at noon and weekday morning traffic reporter
 * Shannon Cake - weeknights at 5, 5:30, and 10 (WFLX) (also investigative reporter)
 * Jay Cashmere - weeknights at 5, 5:30, and 10 (WFLX)
 * Kelley Dunn - weeknights at 6 and 11 (also feature reporter)
 * Jim Sackett - weeknights at 6 and 11
 * Marci Gonzalez - weekend mornings and reporter three nights a week
 * Tania Rogers - weekend evenings and reporter (also Hablando Con La Comunidad host)
 * Jon Shainman - weekend evenings and reporter
 * Monica Magalhaes - Hablando Con La Comunidad host and website producer

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Storm Team 5


 * Steve Weagle (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist) - Chief seen weeknights
 * Glenn Glazer (AMS Seal of Approval) - weekday mornings and noon
 * Kait Parker - weekend mornings
 * James Wieland (AMS Seal of Approval) - weekend evenings

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Sports (all heard on WEFL-AM 760)


 * Evan Cohen - weeknights at 6, 10 (WFLX), and 11
 * Jason Pugh - weekend evenings
 * Bobby Cline - Football Night in South Florida analyst

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Reporters


 * John Matarese - "Don't Waste Your Money" segment producer
 * Mike Vasilinda - weekday Tallahassee Bureau
 * Whitney Ray - Tallahassee Bureau
 * Carolyn Scofield - Stuart Bureau
 * Katie LeGrone - investigative
 * Julie Stevens - "Chopper 5"
 * Christina Mora
 * Evan Axelbank
 * Ro Norman

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Multimedia journalists


 * Mollie Reynolds - website and "5 Clicks" segment producer
 * Kristyn Cadell - weekdays at noon, 5, 5:30, and 6
 * Mike Trim - weekdays at noon, 5, 5:30, and 6
 * Thalia Hayden - weekday mornings and noon
 * Sean Balewski - associate producer
 * Rochelle Ritchie
 * Vince Norman
 * Liz Nunez

Former staff

 * Cheryll Jones
 * Kent Ehrhardt
 * Tim Malloy
 * Chandra Bill
 * Nichelle King
 * Paige Kornblue
 * Bill Foster
 * Rob Lopicola
 * Ted White (now at WPBF)
 * Scott Babler
 * Cynthia Demos (now at WFOR-TV, Miami, FL)
 * Larry Smith
 * Dan Hellie
 * John Clark
 * Tom Dunn
 * Jay Richard (Worsham)
 * Don Wright
 * Orly Greenberg
 * Bob Lorenz
 * Pat Murphy (now at WPEC)
 * Ben Becker (now at WPEC)
 * Rick Leventhal
 * Tiffany Kenney
 * Derrol Nail
 * Steve Barrett
 * Rachele Scholes
 * Jim Brosemer
 * Dean Tendrich
 * Laurel Sauer
 * Pam Saulsby (now at WRAL-TV in Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville, NC)
 * Robyn Scola
 * Jim Wicks
 * Miranda Khan
 * Lori Delgado
 * Christine Cristofek (now at WPEC)
 * Cari Champion
 * Barry Judge
 * Chris Zelman
 * Danielle Dubetz
 * Patrick Nolan (now with WFTX-TV in Fort Myers/Naples, FL)
 * Eric Glasser
 * Keenan Smith (now at WXYZ in Detroit)