WHAM-TV

WHAM-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Rochester, New York. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter on Pinnacle Hill on the border between Rochester and Brighton. The station can also be seen on Time Warner channel 13 and in high definition on digital channel 1013. Owned by Newport Television, it has studios on West Henrietta Road (NY 15) in the city. However, master control and some internal operations are based at centralcasting facilities within WSYR-TV's studios on Bridge Street in East Syracuse. Syndicated programming on WHAM includes: The Insider, Entertainment Tonight, Oprah, and Access Hollywood.

Digital programming
On WHAM-DT2 is the area's CW affiliate. This can also be seen on Time Warner channel 16 (hence the CW 16 branding) and in high definition on digital channel 1016. Syndicated programming on this station includes: Family Guy, My Name Is Earl, Everybody Hates Chris, and Tyra. Although most CW Plus affiliates are on digital subchannels of stations, WHAM-DT2 is not part of the national service.

History
The station signed-on at 4 in the afternoon on September 15, 1962 with the call sign WOKR (for "We're OK Rochester"). Right from the start, it was an ABC affiliate and is the only commercial station in the area that has never changed its affiliation. In March 1970, it was sold to Flower City Television Corporation. In 1977, Flower City was sold to Post Corporation, a media conglomerate based in Wisconsin. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_N._Gillett_Jr. George N. Gillett Jr.] purchased the station from Post Corporation in August 1984 transferring it into Gillett Holdings, Inc. Hughes Broadcasting Partners (Paul Hughes and Veronis, Suhler & Associates) purchased the station in June 1991. Guy Gannett Communications acquired WOKR in April 1995. The Ackerley Group acquired the station from that company (who sold most of its stations to the Sinclair Broadcast Group which already owned WUHF and duopolies were illegal at the time) in 1998 with the acquisition closing in April 1999.

The station came under common ownership with Rochester's WHAM-AM 1180 in June 2002 after the Ackerley Group merged with Clear Channel Communications, WHAM radio's owner. Speculation immediately started about whether WOKR would take on the WHAM-TV calls which had been used on what is now WROC-TV from 1949 until 1956. On January 10, 2005 at 1:42 in the morning, this channel signed off-the-air for the last time as WOKR and returned to the air at 4:59 that same day as WHAM-TV. For many years, it was one of three Rochester area stations offered on cable in the Ottawa/Gatineau and Eastern Ontario regions. The Rochester area stations were replaced with Detroit channels in September 2003 when the microwave relay system that provided these signals was discontinued. Until January 2009, WHAM was also the ABC affiliate carried in several Central Ontario communities such as Belleville, Cobourg, and Lindsay. Buffalo ABC affiliate WKBW-TV replaced WHAM in these communities.

On November 16, 2006, Clear Channel announced its intention to sell off all of its television stations after the company was bought by private equity firms. On April 20, 2007, the company entered into an agreement to sell its entire television stations group to Newport Television, a broadcasting holding company established by the private equity firm Providence Equity Partners. [1] WHAM radio was not part of the sale to Providence Equity. Nevertheless, the WHAM-TV call sign has been retained for the foreseeable future. On June 12, 2009, the station shut off its analog signal on channel 13. It moved the digital signal from channel 59 to channel 13 prior to the analog television shutdown and digital conversion.

WHAM-DT2
What is now WHAM-DT2 was launched in 2000 as cable-only "WRWB". It was an affiliate of The WB through The WB 100+. The station was operated by Time Warner and the call sign was used in a fictional manner. On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced that they would end broadcasting and merge. The new combined network would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of its corporate parents: CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Bros. Warner Bros.] unit of Time Warner. On February 22, News Corporation announced that it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. This new service, which would be a sister network to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming Independent. It was also created to compete against The CW. UPN was seen locally on Class A station WBGT-CA.

WRWB's CW affiliation was officially announced on March 7. As a result of Time Warner's half ownership in the new network, this was virtually a guarantee. After the switch on September 18, the station's on-air identity changed from "Rochester's WB 16" to "Rochester's CW" (with a "TV 16" logo used to denote its cable channel) and the fictional WRWB calls were laid aside. meanwhile, WBGT became part of MyNetworkTV when that network launched on September 5. On November 13, 2006, WHAM took over the operation of "Rochester's CW" from Time Warner. It renamed the service "CW WHAM" and began to simulcast on a new second digital subchannel of WHAM to offer over-the-air viewers access to CW programming.

"CW WHAM" moved its operations from the downtown Time Warner offices on Mount Hope Avenue into this station's facilities on West Henrietta Road. However, the station continues to air on Time Warner channel 16 and in high definition on digital channel 1016. On September 8, 2007, WHAM-DT2 began airing Next Era Wrestling's Superstars of Wrestling, a popular wrestling program filmed and produced locally for the Rochester audience. The show was canceled after eight episodes.

News operation
WHAM has led the news ratings in Rochester for many years and lead anchor Don Alhart has been at the station since 1966 along with longtime anchors Ginny Ryan and Doug Emblidge. Since the 1970s, WROC's newscasts have struggled in the Nielsen ratings usually placing a distant third behind WHAM and WHEC-TV. Even with strong NBC prime-time line-up in the mid-to-late 1980s (the last few years of WROC's affiliation contract with the network) and the strong CBS line-up during the 2000s, its newscasts remained in third place for the most part. As of 2007, portions of WHAM's programming (including its weekday noon newscast) is streamed live on its website.

On January 15, 2007, the station expanded its weekday morning show to include two hours (7 to 9) on WHAM-DT2. On July 11, 2010 in an interview with the Democrat and Chronicle, Vice President and General Manager Chuck Samuels indicated the news set was being remodeled to accommodate the airing of local newscasts in high definition. The project was be completed on September 13 and WHAM became the first station in Rochester to make the upgrade. The station debuted an updated logo featuring the "circle 13" design (derivative of the circle 7 logo) similar to ABC owned-and-operated WTVG in Toledo, Ohio. The show on WHAM-DT2 was included in the upgrade but can only be seen in HD on Time Warner digital channel 1016 since the digital subchannel airs in standard definition. [2] [3] [4]

Newscast titles

 * Channel 13 Newscope (1969–1972)
 * Eyewitness News (1972–1984)
 * WOKR 13 News (1984-1986)
 * NewsCenter 13 (1986-1989)
 * NewsSource 13 (1989–2005)
 * 13 WHAM News (2005–present)

Station slogans

 * 13 Country (1970s)
 * Keep Your Eye on Eyewitness News (late 1970s-1982)
 * We're Looking Out For You (1980s)
 * Hello Rochester, 13 Loves You (1982-1988; used during period station used Frank Gari's Hello News)
 * NewsSource 13: Rochester's #1 Choice for News (early 1990s)
 * Where the News Comes First (mid-late 1990s)
 * More Local News, More Local Experience (1996-2005)
 * Your Breaking News & Weather Authority (2005-present)

News music packages

 * Home Country
 * Move Closer To Your World
 * Hello News (1982-1987)
 * The Great News Package (1987-1994)
 * Advantage (1994-2014)
 * Sinclair News Package: Curves & Glass (2014-present)

Current on-air staff
Anchors

13 WHAM News @ 11 13 WHAM News @ 6 13 WHAM News @ 5 13 WHAM News Midday 13 WHAM News This Morning 13 WHAM News Weekend Reporters
 * Don Alhart
 * Ginny Ryan
 * Scott Hetsko - meteorologist
 * Mike Catalana - sports director
 * Don Alhart
 * Scott Hetsko - meteorologist
 * Mike Catalana - sports director
 * Doug Emblidge
 * Ginny Ryan
 * Scott Hetsko - meterologist
 * Mike Catalana - Sports Director
 * Norma Holland
 * Mark McLean - meteorologist
 * Doug Emblidge
 * Norma Holland
 * Evan Dawson
 * Marty Snyder - meteorologist
 * Rachel Barnhart
 * Edward Moody
 * Mark McLean - weather
 * Chuck Wade - sports
 * Rachel Barnhart
 * Liz Bonis - health reporter
 * Sean Carroll
 * Jane Flasch
 * Susan Harf - life strategist
 * Liz Medhin
 * Edward Moody
 * Elizabeth Schubert
 * Patrice Walsh
 * Evan White

Weather
 * Scott Hetsko- meteorologist
 * Mark McLean - noon & weekends
 * Marty Snyder - mornings
 * Stacey Pensgen

Sports
 * Mike Catalana - sports director
 * Chuck Wade - weekend sports anchor/reporter
 * Rich Donnelly - fill-in sports anchor

Past staff

 * David Aldrich - (2001-2005) (morning and noon meteorologist) now at WTXF-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
 * Susan Ashline - (former reporter) now newspaper columnist for the Democrat & Chronicle and editor of www.Rochester.MomsLikeMe.com [1]
 * Rich Becker - (1996-99) (sports anchor) now sports director at WXXA-TV in Albany, New York
 * Pat Billone - (1990s; former meteorologist) now a 1st grade teacher in Greece, NY
 * LaSalle Banks - (1994-1997)(former Reports and anchor) now anchor at WVEC-TV in Hampton Roads, Virginia
 * Mike Brookins - (former meteorologist) now weekend meteorologist at WSTM-TV in Syracuse, New York
 * Traci Buch - (former sports anchor and reporter) now Marketing Manager for Reynolds Plantation Golf Community at Lake Oconee, Georgia.
 * Dick Burt - (news anchor 1962-1987) Retired in 1987 after 25 years of service to Channel 13, and died of a heart attack in 2001[2]
 * Jonathan Carlson - (reporter 2003-2004)- now a reporter/anchor at WSPA-TV in South Carolina
 * Jerry Carr - (original announcer and local game and children's show host) now station manager at WXEL-TV in West Palm Beach, Florida[3]
 * Wayne Carter - (former reporter) now anchor at WVEC-TV in Hampton Roads, Virginia
 * Mike Cidoni - (entertainment reporter 1988-2005) - is now the senior entertainment producer for Associated Press Television News in Los Angeles
 * Kyle Clark - (Former Reports and anchor)now with KUSA-TV in Denver, Colorado
 * Tor Constantino - (former reporter 1995-98) now works in corporate communications at a biotech company called MedImmune near Washington, D.C.
 * Tricia Cruz - (former Morning Reports) now Reporter WIVB-TV in Buffalo NY
 * Keith Eichner - (meteorologist) now fill-in meteorologist at WGRZ-TV in Buffalo, New York
 * Allan Harris (1974-1986) Reporter/Anchor before becoming a Talk Show Host at WHAM Radio. Currently working for WBEN in Buffalo.
 * Kathy Kriz - (1990s; Special Projects Reporter and morning news anchor)
 * Glenn Johnson - (1985-2021; chief meteorologist), now at WHEC-TV
 * Darren Mark - (2000s; former Morning Reporter) now at KSHB-TV Kansas City, Missouri
 * Jen Markham - (former Health Reporter) now weeknight anchor at YNN Buffalo in Buffalo, New York
 * Holly Maynard - (former anchor and reporter 2003-2010) now at WSOC-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina
 * Richard McCollough - (meteorologist) founder of McCollough's Award Winning (28 national awards including 7 Telly Awards) Mirusmedia Productions; left to become meteorologist at WSPA-TV in the Greenville/Asheville/Spartanburg market.
 * Wanda Miller - (former anchor) now professor at Rochester Institute of Technology
 * Kristen Miranda - (former anchor) now at WBTV Charlotte, North Carolina
 * Stan Munro - (1990s; former Morning Reporter) is now engaged in creating art with toothpicks. Created Toothpick City sculpture.
 * Bill Peterson - (1982-2001) (chief meteorologist) Retired in 2001 for health reasons, and died of lung and heart disease on August 5, 2006[4]
 * Jim Redmond - (consumer reporter) now working at Excellus Blue Cross, Rochester New York
 * Gavin Reynolds - (former Reports) now studying law at Fordham University
 * Peter Robbins - (former Reports and anchor) now at West Palm Beach, Florida
 * Chalonda Roberts - (1980s)
 * Kevin Roche - Weekends
 * Christine Rogers (former investigative reporter) now Manager of Corporate Communications at PRA Health Sciences in Raleigh, NC.
 * Brian Rooney - (1981-1985) (former reporter) now at ABC News. He is the son of CBS-TV commentator Andy Rooney.
 * Renee Starzyk - (1996-2000) now at CBS news Atlanta
 * Brian Washington - (former Reporter and anchor) left for WSPA-TV in South Carolina.
 * Christine Webb - (former Health reporter) now with Central Florida News 13 in Orlando, Florida
 * Al White - (consumer reporter); retired after 16 years' service as investigative reporter for WWOR-TV New York; died May 9, 2006 of a heart attack