WITN-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Eastern North Carolina's Inner Banks. Licensed to Washington, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 32 (or virtual channel 7.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter in Grifton Township along NC 118. Owned by Gray Television, it has studios on East Arlington Boulevard in Greenville.
 
| |
| Washington/Greenville/Jacksonville/ | |
|---|---|
| City of license | Washington |
| Branding | WITN (general)
WITN News My WITN 7.2 & WITN 24/7 Weather Channel (on DT2) |
| Slogan | Eastern Carolina's Breaking News & Weather Authority |
| Channels | Digital: 32 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | 7.1 NBC
7.2MyNetworkTV & local weather |
| Owner | Gray Television
(Gray Television Licensee, LLC) |
| First air date | September 28, 1955 |
| Call letters' meaning | WashIngToN |
| Former channel number(s) | 7 (VHF analog, 1955-2009) |
| Transmitter power | 795 kW |
| Height | 594 m |
| Facility ID | 594 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 35°21′55″N 77°23′38″W |
| Website | witn.com |
Digital programming
It operates the area's MyNetworkTV affiliate on a second digital subchannel. Known on-air as My WITN 7.2, this can also be seen onTime Warner digital channel 121 and Suddenlink digital channel 167. It is also offered on Time Warner digital channel 931 in theWilmington area since that market's affiliate W47CK is not eligible for carriage on cable due to its low-powered status.[1] Syndicated programming on WITN-DT2 includes: Wendy Williams Show, Family Feud, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, and TMZ on TV.
Otherwise, the channel airs a local weather service known as WITN 24/7 Weather Channel. This includes forecasts on the sevens as well as a continuous loop of VIPIR radar, seven day forecast, web cams, and other weather graphics. The channel plays background music that consists of several different themes of the station's news music package.
| Channels (virtual/physical) | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.1/32.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | main WITN programming/NBC HD |
| 7.2/32.2 | 480i | 4:3 | WITN-DT2 "My WITN 7.2" &
"WITN 24/7 Weather Channel" |
History
The station signed-on September 28, 1955 from facilities on U.S. 17 in Chocowinity (outside Washington, though with a Washington mailing address). It was the area's second television outlet to launch after Greenville's WNCT-TV. It was an NBC affiliate from the start but shared secondary ABC relations with WNCT until the 1963 sign-on of WNBE-TV (now WCTI-TV) in New Bern.
WITN aired an analog signal on VHF channel 7 from the region's highest transmitter at that time; its current tower was also one of the tallest structures in the United States. The station was originally owned by North Carolina Television, a consortium of radio stations from Northeastern North Carolina. Majority ownership was held by the owners of WITN radio (930 AM, now WDLX; and FM 93.3, now WERO).
It added the -TV suffix to its call sign on July 31, 1978. The company held onto the television station until 1985 when it was sold to Aflac. In 1997, Aflac sold its broadcasting group to Retirement Systems of Alabama which merged with Ellis Communications to form Raycom Media. However, Raycom could not keep WITN due to a significant signal overlap with Wilmington's WECT (an Ellis property that was part of the deal). WITN's city-grade signal reaches the northern portion of the Wilmington market. What was then known as Gray Communications (now Gray Television) bought the station in 1997. It has been broadcasting a full-power digital signal since June 2006.
On January 7, 2009, a high definition feed of WITN was launched on DirecTV and can now also be obtained on Dish Network. It switched to digital-only broadcasting on June 12. However, the station had planned to end analog transmissions on February 19 as originally scheduled. WITN's digital broadcast remained on UHF channel 32 when the conversion was completed. In June 2013, the station moved from its longtime home outside Washington to new high definition-ready studios in Greenville.
In addition to offering network and syndicated programming, WITN was also a multimedia rights partner for East Carolina University Athletics from 1998 to 2014. In addition to hosting the weekly coaches' shows for football and basketball, the station produced live broadcasts of select games that were not picked up nationally by ESPN as part of its deal with Conference USA. Even though most of the broadcasts were limited to its own market, WITN got other television outlets throughout North Carolina to carry a football game in 2003 which saw ECU competing against in-state rival University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. WNCT-TV recently picked up the ECU sports package, just as the school moved its programs to the American Athletic Conference
News operation
In addition to the main studios, the station operates secondary facilities on East Arlington Boulevard in Greenville. These studios started broadcasting weekday morning newscasts in 1997. It also operates bureaus in Jacksonville on Western Boulevard and in New Bern on Middle Street. WITN operates its own weather radar known as "Live Doppler 7" at the main studios in Chocowinity and uses regional VIPIR data from several National Weather Service radars.
News open seen every night at 6.
As of July 2010, WITN has won the sign-on to sign-off honors for three consecutive ratings periods. It won all news time periods except for the weekday noon news. The station broadcasts more than five and a half hours of news on weekdays and more than two hours on weekends.[6]
Newscast titles
- WITN News (1955-1970 & 2007–present)
- Eyewitness News (1970-1985)
- WITN 7 News (1985-2007)
Station slogans
- "On Top of it All" (late 1970s)
- "Keep Your Eye on Eyewitness News" (1980s)
- "We Care About You!" (late 1980s)
- "Where the News Comes First" (1990s)
- "Eastern Carolina's News Channel" (1990-2006)
- "Dedicated, Determined, Dependable" (1998-2006)
- "Eastern Carolina's Weather Authority" (2006-2008)
- "Your Breaking News & Weather Authority" (2008–present)
News team
+ denotes personnel based at Greenville facilities
Anchors
- + Heather King - weekday mornings
- weekday morning Executive Producer and reporter
- "Scam Alert" segment producer
- Lynnette Taylor - weeknights at 5 and 6
- reporter
- Dave Jordan - weeknights at 5:30, 6, and 11
- Executive Producer weeknights at 6 and reporter
- April Davis - weeknights at 5, 5:30, and 11
- Chris Jones - weekdays at noon and reporter
- Cassandra Bell - weekend mornings and reporter
- Brittany Gunter - weekend evenings and reporter
- website reporter
WITN First Alert Weather Authority Meteorologists
- Marvin Daugherty (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist) - Chief seen weeknights
- + Jim Howard - weekday mornings
- Matt Englebrecht - rotating weekdays at noon and weekend mornings
- + Greenville interview host
- Bob Trihy - rotating weekdays at noon and weekend evenings
Sports
- Billy Weaver - Director seen weeknights at 6 and 11
- Football Friday host
- Chris Obarski - weekend evenings and reporter
- Bill DiNicola - reporter and fill-in anchor
- news producer
- Pritch Strong - reporter and news producer
- "Player of the Week" segment producer
Reporters
- Amanda Paul - Jacksonville Bureau Chief
- Kelsie Smith - New Bern Bureau Chief
- Hilary Magacs - videographer
- Clayton Bauman - producer
- Brittany Creamer - news and sports
- videographer and website
- Lorin Richardson - associate producer
- Brandon Hardison - photographer
- + Craig Milligan - photographer
Other on-air personalities
- Carrie Terrian - "Business Break" segment producer
- Alan Jordan - "Crime Stoppers" segment producer
- Art Ginsburg - "Mr. Food" segment producer
Former on-air staff
David Alan - Evening anchor from 1988 until 1991. Now main anchor at WVEC-TV in Norfolk, VA.
Greg Albrecht - News Director in the 1980s, Now VP Global Promotions, Walt Disney Company.
Jamie Arnold - Weekend weathercaster from 2002 until June 2008 Now weekend meteorologist at WMBF-TV in Myrtle Beach, SC.
John Beard - Started his broadcast career at WITN as evening anchor from 1973 until 1975. Spent 27 years in Los Angeles anchoring newscasts at KNBC-TV and KTTV. Now morning anchor at WGRZ-TV in Buffalo, NY.
Sammy Bland (weather man and host of The Funny Page with WITNey the Hobo and Sammy - worked with WITN in the 1960s as evening weatherman and hosted 5 p.m. show with WITNey the Hobo. Known for his NASCAR Cup race broadcasts and live TV performances on WNCT. Now retired in Harrisonburg, Va.
Bob Buckley - anchor-reporter from 1986 until 1992. Now general assignment reporter at WGHP-TV in High Point, NC.
Jon Cash - weekend weathercaster from 1988 until 1989. Now morning weathercaster at WAVY-TV in Norfolk, VA.
Tara Conrad (now Tara Lane) - Started her broadcast career as weekend weathercaster from 1997 until 2000. Now meteorologist at News 14 Carolina's Charlotte Bureau.
Andy Cordan - Anchor-reporter from 1990 until 1993. Now reporter at WKRN-TV in Nashville, TN.
Alan Covey - over 20 years at WITN, as Goldsboro Bureau Chief/Videographer from 1985-1989, Assignment Editor/News Promotions/Interim News Director from 1989-1993, Jacksonville Bureau Chief/Senior Reporter/Military Affairs Reporter and Country Rover #2 from 1993 to 2005; Now Media Specialist with G10Television, Jacksonville, NC.
David Crabtree - Anchor in the mid-1980s. Now main co-anchor at WRAL-TV in Raleigh.
Kay Currie - morning and midday weathercaster from 1975 until 1984.
Gary Dean - Evening Anchor from 1991 to 2003. Formerly anchored newscasts at WNCT-TV from 1976 until 1979. Anchored the 10 p.m. newscast on WFXI/WYDO from 2003-2007 before retiring from television.
Kraig Debro - reporter from 1988 until 1993. Now at KTVU-TV in Oakland, CA.
Chelsea Donovan - Former producer and reporter/videographer, Jacksonville Bureau
Edward Faircloth - 1977-1980 Co Anchor 6p with Lee Kanipe and Dick Jones/Sports. Anchor 11p with Ken Strayhorn/Sports and Mark Mancuso/Weather.
Ray Fisher - weekend sportscaster from 1994 until 1997. Now sports reporter at KIAH in Houston, TX.
Roy Hardee - News Director 1970s-1980s, and Greenville newsroom special coorespondent, 1990's (deceased).
Lisa Holbrook - Anchor-reporter from 1991 until 1993. Now sports anchor at KWGN-TV in Denver, CO.
Anna Holoman - Former Anchor and Health Reporter, Evening co-anchor during the 1009's-2000s.
Dick Jones - Sportscaster from 1964 until 1989 and host of Almanac from 1967 until 1988, First "Country Rover" (deceased).
Lee Kanipe - Anchor from 1961 until 1984 (deceased).
Sally Lewis - Anchor from 1989 until 1994.
George Mallet - Anchor-reporter from 1985 until 1989. Now afternoon anchor at WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee, WI.
Mark Mancuso - Started his broadcast career as weekend weathercaster from 1979 until 1981. Last seen on The Weather Channel (United States) until being laid off by NBC in 2009.
Maureen O'Boyle - Morning anchor, sometime in mid-1980s. Later hosted A Current Affair and Extra. Now co-anchor at WBTV, Charlotte.
Stewart Pittman - photojournalist. Now at WGHP-TV in High Point, NC.
Ben Pringle - Chief meteorologist from 1985 to 1994. Now morning meteorologist at KAKE-TV in Wichita, KS . Carl Rochelle - anchor at WITN in the 1960s, went on to be a network correspondent at NBC and CNN.
Susan Roesgen - Anchor in the 1980s, Went on to work for WABC-TV in New York. She now works for CNN.
Jack Roper - Chief meteorologist from 1977 until 1984 (After a 30-year career in weather forecasting, he became the host of Your Carolina on WSPA-TV in Spartanburg, SC after being WSPA's chief meteorologist for over 20 years.
Linda Shore - Evening anchor from 1994 to 2003 (retired).
Joe Shortsleeve - Evening anchor from 1980 until 1981. Now chief correspondent at WBZ-TV in Boston, MA.
Tom Skinner - Anchor-reporter, Country Rover #3. Now with ECU-TV in Greenville.
Kenny Strayhorn - Sports Anchor late 1970s after successful offensive football career at ECU.
Crystal Thornton - Evening anchor from 1993 until 1997. Retired after 15 years in broadcasting working for WGHP-TV in High Point, NC and at KDAF-TV in Dallas, TX.
Audrey Washington - Weekend evening anchor from 2006 until 2008. Now at WJAR-TV in Providence, RI.
Franc White - Host of The Carolina Sportsman from 1972 until 1978 when show was syndicated and renamed The Southern Sportsman and production moved to WRAL-TV in Raleigh, NC from 1978 until the show's cancellation in 1995.
Jim Woods - Morning weatherman from 1997 until retiring from broadcasting in 1999. Died February 2004 at age 81.
Mike Woods - Weekend meteorologist from 1992 until 1994. Now morning meteorologist at WNYW-TV in New York City.
David Young - Weekend meteorologist from 1984 until 1987. Now chief meteorologist at WLNS-TV in Lansing, MI.
Brad Zaruba - Sportscaster from 1985 until 1998. Retired from television, now national sales manager at KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau, MO.
References
- ^ http://tvlistings.zap2it.com/tvlistings/ZCSGrid.do?stnNum=48255&channel=931
- ^ http://www.witn.com/station/misc/27442154.html
- ^ Stand by: Digital TV transition postponed, Ginger Livingston, The Daily Reflector, February 04, 2009
- ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
- ^ http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/59668847.html
- ^ http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6579887.htmlLink 3