WPLG, channel 10, is an ABC network affiliated television station located in Miami, Florida. WPLG is owned and operated by Berkshire Hathaway. The station's studios are located in Pembroke Park, and its transmitter is located at the massive broadcast tower along U.S. 441 in Miami Gardens, along with many other local broadcast stations. WPLG offers MeTV on its second digital subchannel.
 | |
| Miami / Fort Lauderdale, Florida | |
|---|---|
| Branding | Local 10 |
| Slogan | The One and Only |
| Channels | Digital: 10 (VHF) |
| Subchannels | 10.1 - ABC (720p60)
10.2 - MeTV (480i60) 10.3 - Heroes & Icons |
| Translators | W47AC Big Pine Key, FL |
| Affiliations | ABC |
| Owner | BH Media
(WPLG, LLC) |
| First air date | November 20, 1961 |
| Call letters' meaning | Phillip L. Graham
(in memory of the formerWashington Post publisher) |
| Former callsigns | WLBW-TV (1961–1970) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 10 (VHF, 1961-2009)
Digital: 9 (VHF, 1999-2009) |
| Transmitter power | 60 kW |
| Height | 309 m (1,014 ft) |
| Facility ID | 53113 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 25°58′0″N 80°12′43″W |
| Website | www.local10.com |
History[]
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 U.S. Federal Communications Commission (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.
A new channel 10[]
A group headed by Cincinnati-area broadcaster 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, originally known as "Broadcast House". In 1969, WLBW (and sister station WCKY radio in Cincinnati) 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 Philip L. Graham, the husband of Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, who committed suicide in 1963.
Life under Post-Newsweek[]
The 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 through May 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. However, on April 13, 2011 Comcast pulled WPLG from the channel lineup in the West Palm Beach market. After the May 2009 ratings period WPLG went to a single anchor evening format and it's ranking 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 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, requiring all stations to adopt the word "Local" in their names.
Digital television[]
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:
Digital channels
| Virtual
channel |
Physical
RF channel |
Label | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 10.1 | 720p | 16:9 | Main WPLG programming / ABC | |
| 10 | 10.2 | 480i | 4:3 | MeTV | |
| 10 | 10.3 | Heroes & Icons |
On June 12, 2009, WPLG remained on channel 10 when the analog to digital conversion was completed.[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, the ABC Kids airings of the Power Rangers series aired on a week-delayed basis, between 5-6 AM due to the station's news commitment from 7-10 AM and the program's lack of E/I content, as well as when during that timeslot, no paid advertisements were aired. Because of this, WPLG has had in recent years moved the 9-10 a.m. hour of ABC Kids to 11 AM-1 p.m. (the recommended time slot by ABC to air Power Rangers) on Saturday mornings. The airing of Power Rangers on WPLG and ABC ended when the network dropped the program on August 28, 2010, following Saban Entertainment's repurchase of the Power Rangers franchise from Disney, ABC's parent company.
In 1988, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune did air on WPLG. Another King World program, The Oprah Winfrey Show, also aired on channel 10 in 1986, but until in 1999[8], WFOR aired the show until the series finale.
News operation[]
Former WPLG Chief Meteorologist Don Noe
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.
News/station presentation[]
Newscast titles[]
- Colorvision 10 News (1960s-1970)
- The Scene Tonight (1970–1974)
- NewsWatch 10 (1974–1982)
- Channel 10 Eyewitness News (1982–2002)
- Channel 10 News (2002–2004)
- Local 10 News (2004-present)
Station slogans[]
- The One to Watch (1979)
- The One and Only (1979-1997, 2014-present)
- You and Me and Channel 10 (1980-1981; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- Now is The Time, Channel 10 is The Place (1981-1982; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- Come on Along with Channel 10 (1982-1983; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- That Special Feeling on Channel 10 (1983-1984; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- We`re With You on Channel 10 (1984-1985; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- You`ll Love It on Channel 10 (1985-1986; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- Together on Channel 10 (1986-1987; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- Something's Happening on Channel 10 (1987-1990; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- There's Only One (1988)
- Miami / Fort Lauderdale's Watching Channel 10 (1990-1992; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- If It's Miami/Fort Lauderdale, It Must Be Channel 10 (1992-1993; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- Live. Local. Latebreaking. (1997-2001)
- We Love TV, on Channel 10 (1997-1999; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- Your Problem Solver Station (2001-2007)
News team[]
Current Local 10 on-air staff[9][]
Local 10 Anchors
- Louis Aguirre - weekdays at 3:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. on WSFL also Environmental Advocate
- Jacey Birch - weekday mornings at 4:30-7 a.m. also animal advocate
- Eden Checkol - weekdays at 10 p.m. on WSFL
- Jenise Fernandez - anchor/reporter
- Alex Finnie - anchor/reporter
- Calvin Hughes - weeknights at 4, 5, 6 and 11 p.m.
- Gio Insignares - weekday mornings at 7 a.m.-9 a.m. on WSFL
- Kristi Kreuger - weekdays at noon; also health reporter
- Layron Livingston - anchor/reporter
- Andrew Perez - anchor/reporter
- Nicole Perez - anchor/reporter
- Sanela Sabovic - anchor/reporter
- Janine Stanwood - anchor/reporter
- Eric Yutzy - anchor/reporter
Local 10 Weather Team
- Betty Davis (AMS Seal of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 4, 6 and 11 p.m.
- Julie Darda (AMS Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist
- Brandon Orr - Meteorologist
- Jordan Patrick (AMS Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist
- Michael Lowry - hurricane specialist
Local 10 Sports Tean
- Will Manso - Sports Director; weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m., Sports Saturday/Sunday host
- Clay Ferraro - Sports Anchor; weekends at 6:30 and 11 p.m., also weekday sports reporter
Local 10 Reporters
- Saira Anwer - reporter
- Kellie Butler - general assignment reporter
- Christian De La Rosa - reporter
- Terrell Forney - general assignment reporter
- Alexis Frazier - traffic reporter
- Annaliese Garcia - reporter
- Trent Kelly - reporter
- Ben Kennedy - Washington Bureau Chief
- Rosh Lowe - reporter
- John Lyon - HD Live Cam
- Andrea Martinez - reporter
- Bridgette Matter - reporter
- Glenna Milberg - Miami/Dade County reporter and "This Week in South Florida" host
- Liane Morejon - reporter
- Samiar Nefzi - reporter
- Joseph Ojo - reporter
- Roy Ramos - reporter
- Christina Vazquez - reporter
- Hatzel Vela - reporter
- Cody Weddle - reporter
- Jeff Weinsier - investigative reporter
Notable former staff[]
- MJ Acosta
- Emily Akin - reporter
- Morry Alter - host of "The Morry Story" (1980s)
- Alex Alvarez
- Steve Alvarez - sports anchor/reporter (1991-?)
- Sasha Andrade - reporter (2007-?)
- Trent Aric - chief meteorologist (2004-?; now at WFTX in Fort Meyers)
- Jack Barry - host of local game show Hole in One in 1962 (later hosted The Joker's Wild; deceased)
- Gwen Belton - anchor (1998-?)
- Rad Berky - reporter (1989-?)
- Olga Bichachi - education reporter (2000-?)
- Tamika Bickham - reporter
- Ann Bishop - main anchor (1970-1995; deceased)
- Parker Branton - reporter
- Gail Bright - reporter (1993-?)
- Andrea Brody - sports anchor (2010-?)
- Samantha Bryant - reporter (2018-?)
- Gina Cancelliere - meteorologist
- Susan Candiotti (later a national correspondent for CNN)
- Tana Carli - anchor
- Art Carlson - anchor
- Jimmy Cefalo - sports director (1992-?; later at WIOD)
- Liz Cho (now at WABC-TV in New York City)
- Kelly Cobiella - anchor (1998-?; now at NBC News)
- Victoria Corderi - reporter (1982-?; later at CBS News and NBC News)
- Wendy Corona - anchor (2003-?; now at WSB-TV in Atlanta)
- Jennifer Correa - meteorologist (2014-?; now at WPTV in West Palm Beach)
- Walter Cronise - meteorologist (deceased)
- David Damian - meteorologist (1998-?)
- Peter D'Oench - reporter (1989-2004; now at WFOR)
- Luke Dorris - meteorologist (2017-2023; now at KCTV in Kansas City)
- Chuck Dowdle (1973-1985; later at WSB-TV in Atlanta, retired)
- Doug Dunbar (1994-2004; now at KTVT in Dallas-Fort Worth)
- Elena Echarri (2005-?)
- Judy Echavez - reporter (2003-2006)
- Anjanette Flowers - reporter (2004-?)
- Frank Forte - sports anchor (1981-2004)
- John Gerard - meteorologist
- Megan Glaros - meteorologist (later at WBBM-TV in Chicago)
- Chuck Gomez - reporter
- Johanna Gomez - reporter (2007-?; now at WPOW)
- Carlos Granda - reporter (late 1980's; now at KABC-TV in Los Angeles)
- John Guaraldi - meteorologist (2005-?)
- Jen Herrera - anchor/reporter (2003-?)
- Connie Hicks - investigative reporter (1980-?)
- Ron Hunter - anchor (later at WMAQ-TV in Chicago)
- Baron James - reporter (2010-?)
- Laurie Jennings - anchor (2004-2019)
- Clarence Jones - investigative reporter
- Constance Jones - reporter (2008-?; now at WTVJ)
- Mark Joyella (now residing in New York City)
- Larry King (later host of Larry King Live on CNN; deceased)
- Steve Kroft (1977-1980; later correspondent for CBS News' 60 Minutes, retired)
- Dwight Lauderdale - main anchor (1976-2008; retired)
- Jerry Levine - troubleshooter
- Peggy Lewis - anchor
- Alex Loeb - sports anchor/reporter (2004-?; now at ESPN)
- Matt Lorch - anchor/reporter (1999-2008; later at KCPQ in Seattle)
- Roger Lohse - Broward County reporter (2003-?)
- Walt MacDonald - Sky 10 reporter
- Diane Magnum - anchor (1983-2008)
- Jim Malone - anchor
- Shyann Malone - anchor/reporter (2015-?)
- Jim Mandich - host of "Sports Jam Live"
- Theresa Marchetta - anchor (1993-?)
- Ian Margol - reporter (2016-2024)
- Khambrel Marshall - sports anchor (later at sister station KPRC-TV in Houston, retired)
- Jason Martinez - anchor (2010-2014; now at WTXF in Philadelphia)
- Alan Massengale - sports anchor (later at KCAL in Los Angeles, deceased)
- Max Mayfield - hurricane specialist (2007-2019; retired)
- Terri Merryman - anchor (now running a private media consultancy)
- Kelley Mitchell - anchor (1998-2004; later co-anchor of morning show on WFTL in Fort Lauderdale, deceased)
- Neki Mohan - anchor/reporter (?-2020)
- Yvonne Nava - reporter (2005-?; now at KVUE in Austin)
- Don Noe - meteorologist (1979-2007; retired)
- Bryan Norcross (1983-1990 and 2018–2022; now with Fox Weather)
- Bob Norman
- Victor Oquendo - reporter (2010-2017; now at ABC News)
- Scott Padgett - meteorologist (now at KTVT in Dallas-Fort Worth)
- Mayte Padron
- Ross Palombo - Washington D.C. bureau chief (2010-2015 and 2017-2021; now at KCBS/KCAL in Los Angeles)
- Lisa Petrillo - entertainment reporter (now at WFOR)
- Charles Perez - anchor/reporter (2006-2009; now at WLOS in Ashville, North Carolina)
- Walter Perez - reporter (now at WPVI-TV in Philadelphia)
- Michael Putney - senior political reporter (1989-2022; retired)
- Erica Rakow - reporter
- Liz Reyes - nightbeat reporter (1994-1997; now at WVUE & runs her own media website at LizReyes.com)
- Glenn Rinker - main anchor (1976-1982; later at WKMG in Orlando, deceased)
- Arleen Rodriguez - reporter
- Eliott Rodriguez - anchor/reporter (1987-1999; now at WFOR)
- Jack Rotholz - reporter
- Richard Schlesinger - political reporter (later at CBS News, retired)
- Rob Schmitt - anchor/reporter (2008-2011; now at Newsmax)
- Mike Schneider - 6 and 11 p.m. anchor (1982-1986; later at NJ PBS)
- Mark Schumacher - anchor (1995-?)
- Jon Scott - anchor (1983-1988; now anchor at Fox News Channel)
- Michael Seiden - reporter
- Derek Shore - reporter (2016-?)
- Michael Smith - meteorologist (?-2013)
- Jacque Sosa (later at WOFL in Orlando)
- Roland Steadham - meteorologist (2013-2014; now at KBOI in Boise)
- Laurie Stein - reporter (1996-2001)
- Carlos Suarez - anchor/reporter (2012-?; now at CNN)
- Julie Summers - reporter (2004-?)
- Mel Taylor - Broward County reporter (1981-?)
- Todd Tongen - anchor/reporter (1989-2019; deceased)
- Gary Travers - meteorologist
- John Turchin - crime specialist (2011-2016)
- Molly Turner - anchor/reporter (deceased)
- Jilda Unruh - investigative reporter (deceased)
- Jonathan Vigliotti - reporter (2009-?; now at CBS News)
- Olga Villaverde - reporter (1999-?)
- Amy Viteri - reporter (2015-?)
- Justin Wells (later reporter/producer for Greta Van Susteren at Fox News Channel)
- Ashley White (2006-?)
- Vickie Frazier-Williams - education specialist (1990-?)
- Madeleine Wright (2017-?)
Gallery[]
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References[]
- ^ "You Are to Be Pitied". Time. March 10, 1958. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
- ^ "Local 10 News' Beginnings". Retrieved 2009-02-14.
- ^ Inside Local 10's New Home
- ^ Local 10's New Home: 3401 Hallandale Beach Blvd
- ^ "WPLG-ABC 10 owner may buy WTVJ-NBC 6". Miami Herald, July 15, 2008.
- ^ "Sale Of WTVJ To The Washington Post Company Terminated". NBC6.net. December 23, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2008.
- ^ http://www.justnews.com/technology/19732752/detail.html
- ^ http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1999-02-20/lifestyle/9902190621_1_oprah-winfrey-jerry-springer-spanish-tv
- ^ http://www.justnews.com/newsteam/index.html