WFMY-TV (digital channel 51, virtual channel 2) is a television station in Greensboro, North Carolina. Owned by Tegna, WFMY-TV is the CBS affiliate for the Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem (also known as the Piedmont Triad) area. WFMY-TV's studios are located on Phillips Avenue in downtown Greensboro, and its transmitter is located in Randleman, North Carolina.
| Greensboro - High Point -Winston-Salem, North Carolina | |
|---|---|
| City of license | Greensboro |
| Branding | WFMY News 2 |
| Slogan | The News That Matters Most |
| Channels | Digital: 51 (UHF) |
| Subchannels | 2.1: CBS
2.2: Justice Network 2.3: WeatherNation TV 2.4: Quest |
| Owner | Tegna
(WFMY Television, LLC) |
| Founded | August 18, 1949 |
| Call letters' meaning | began as the TV arm of FM station WFMY (now WQMG-FM) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog:
2 (1949-2009) |
| Former affiliations | All secondary:ABC (1949-1963) |
| Transmitter power | 1000 kW (digital) |
| Height | 568.8 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 72064 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 35°52′13.3″N 79°50′24.1″W / 35.870361°N 79.840028°W / 35.870361; -79.840028 |
| Website | www.wfmynews2.com |
History[]
The station began operation on September 22, 1949 as the second television station in North Carolina, just a few months after fellow CBS affiliate WBTV in Charlotte. It was owned by the Greensboro News Company, publishers of the Greensboro Daily News and Daily Record (now merged as the Greensboro News & Record). The News Company had put WFMY-FM on the air in 1947, but it removed the station from the air in the early part of the 1950s, eventually selling the license around 1955 to another party. The new owner put it back on the air as WQMG-FM (97.1), which retains those calls to the present day. It aired programs from all four networks (CBS, NBC, ABC, and DuMont), but has always been a primary CBS affiliate. NBC moved to WSJS-TV (now WXII-TV) when it signed on in 1953 and WFMY shared ABC with WSJS until WGHP signed on in 1963.
Sportscaster Charlie Harville worked at WFMY from 1949 to 1963, when he joined WGHP, and from 1977 to 1988[1].
WFMY logo c. 1968.
In 1965, the News Company was bought by what became Landmark Communications. The station was acquired by Harte-Hanks Communications in 1976, and by Gannett in 1989.
WFMY's local programming, including the long-running news program "Good Morning Show" with Lee Kinard, and children's program "The Old Rebel Show" pre-empted CBS' various attempts at morning programming from the 1957 through the 1980s. WGGT (now WMYV) aired the CBS Morning News until 1985, and afterwards WFMY began to run the broadcast on delay from 8-10am following "The Good Morning Show". Lee Kinard later moved to the weeknight news until his retirement in the 1990s. WFMY carries CBS's Saturday Early Show only on its digital subchannel; the main channel carries a Saturday edition of "The Good Morning Show," followed by the CBS kids' block.
Another important local daytime program from the 1970s was "Sandra and Friends", hosted by current news anchor Sandra Hughes. This was one of the first shows in the region to be hosted by a black woman.
On September 25, 1984, the station's number one news-gathering tool, SKY 2, did itself become news. The Bell Jet Ranger Helicopter, piloted by Tom Haroski, was attempting to assist in the rescue of a construction worker trapped atop a water tower in Kernersville, near Winston-Salem. The tower was being dismantled when a piece of steel snapped and trapped the worker for hours. He was bleeding profusely when late that night, SKY 2 was called in to assist. The pilot began lowering the chopper above the tower. An EMS worker on board was going to attempt the rescue. As the chopper hovered over the tower the tail rotor hit one of the steel beams of the tower sending the helicopter nose first into the ground. The images were captured on tape by competitor WXII and broadcast around the country. The pilot and rescue worker were killed instantly. In a sad footnote, it was determined that the worker they were attempting to reach had bled to death before the chopper ever took off.[2]
WFMY began using a new version of SKY 2 (painted black) after the accident, but eventually retired the chopper altogether.
WFMY logo c. 1975. The "wfmy-tv" (in lowercase letters) was retained until the 1990s, while the "sailboat 2" was retained until 2001.
During the analog television era, WFMY boasted one of the largest coverage areas in the Southeast. It provided grade B coverage as far west as Charlotte and as far east as Raleigh. The channel 2 signal traveled a very long distance under normal conditions. Despite the move to a digital signal on UHF, WFMY's secondary coverage area is almost as large as it was in analog. Its digital signal operates at a full million watts, equivalent to 5 million watts for an analog transmitter.
On Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at noon, WFMY begun producing 16:9 widescreen newscasts. These do not appear to be HD, just SD widescreen. Local stories and remote broadcasts were all in 16:9 widescreen as well.
Satellite and out-of-market cable carriage[]
WFMY is carried in many counties outside of the DMA for cable and satellite customers. DirecTV customers in North Carolina can watch WFMY in the counties of Chatham, Durham, Lee, Person and Orange. In addition, Albemarle and Salisbury (Time Warner Cable (TWC) - Camp Wesley only) carry WFMY on cable but not on DirecTV in Stanly and Rowan counties. TWC (formerly Cablevision) used to carry WFMY in Southern Pines and later, the Seven Lakes/West End area around the mid 1990s. Also more recently, TWC in Carrboro also dropped WFMY but did not remove WGHP from the lineup. In Virginia, DirecTV customers can watch WFMY in the counties of Carroll, Grayson and Henry. The Virginia independent cities that can watch WFMY on DirecTV are in Danville and Martinsville. In these Virginia locations, WFMY is also carried on cable as well.
On-air staff[]
Current on-air staff[]
Anchors
- McCain Tracey McCain , Good Morning Show & Noon Anchor
- Packer Meghan Packer , Good Morning Show Anchor
- Frank Mickens,6:00 p.m. & 11:00pm Anchor; 2 Wants to Know Reporter
- Tanya Rivera, 5:00 & 6:00pm Anchor
- Rosemary Plybon, Good Morning Show Anchor
- Carol Andrews, Weekends Evenings 6 & 11
Reporters
- Palka Liz Palka, General Assignment Reporter
- Mac Ingraham, General Assignment Reporter
- Philip Jones, Good Morning Show Reporter
Weather
- Eric Chilton, Chief Meteorologist
- Ed Matthews, The Good Morning Show Meteorologist
- Leigh Brock, Meteorologist/Reporter
- Grant Gilmore, Meteorologist
Sports
- Brian Formica , Sports Anchor/Reporter
Past on-air staff[]
- Kent Bates, Main Anchor
- Greg Kerr, Sports Director
- Mike Hogewood, Sports Director (Freelance play by play announcer mainly associated with Raycom Sports Network)
- Erica Taylor, Reporter
- Jill McNeal, Reporter
- Bill Kopald, main anchor
- Frank Fraboni, main anchor (now at WLOS-TV in Asheville, NC)
- Susan Kidd, anchor (former anchor at WRC-TV in Washington, D.C.)
- Cindy Farmer, Noon and 7PM anchor (now morning anchor at WGHP-TV)
- Lee Kinard, Good Morning Show host
- Kim Skeen, Good Morning Show co-host
- John Nesbit, Good Morning Show co-host (deceased)
- Charlie Harville, sports director (1949-1963 and 1977-1988; deceased)
- Mark Concannon, sports anchor
- Bill Logan, reporter
- Arlo Lassen, "Crossin' Carolina" reporter
- Jed Castles, weather anchor (now at KWTV-TV in Oklahoma City)
News/station presentation[]
Newscast titles[]
- Your Esso Reporter (1950s)
- Channel 2 Evening News (6 p.m. newscast; 1967-1980)
- Nightbeat (11 p.m. newscast; 1967-1980)
- WFMY News 2 (1980-present)
Station slogans[]
- It's All Right Here (1980-1983)
- Great Moments on Channel 2 (1982-1983; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- We've Got the Touch, You and Channel 2 (1983-1984; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- You and Channel 2, We've Got the Touch (1984-1985; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- We've Got the Touch on Channel 2 (1985-1986; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Share the Spirit on Channel 2 (1986-1987; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Channel 2 Spirit, oh Yes! (1987-1988; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Get Ready for Channel 2 (1989-1991; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- Your News 2 Station (1992-1994)
- Your Piedmont Coverage Team (1994-1997)
- Working For You (1997-2004)
- The Address is FMY, Welcome Home (1997-1999; localized version of the CBS ad campaign)
- Working For Otters (January 9-July 18, 1999; in promotion for the show PB&J Otter)
- Dependable Local Coverage (2004-2008)
- Get Answers (2008-13)
- The News That Matters Most (2013-present)
Gallery[]
References[]
- ^ Patrick Wilson, "Special Person - Broadcaster Charlie Harville Was 'Respected by Everyone in Sports,'" Winston-Salem Journal, March 3, 2002.
- ^ http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001214X40964&key=1