WKRG-TV

WKRG-TV has been the CBS television station for Mobile, Alabama, Pensacola, Florida, and Pascagoula/Biloxi, Mississippi since its inception on August 29, 1955. The station was founded by the architect and movie theater owner Kenneth R. Giddens, who also put the WKRG AM and FM radio stations on the air.

WKRG-TV

Mobile, Alabama-Pensacola, Florida
Branding	WKRG News 5
Slogan	Coverage You Can Count On
Channels	Digital: 27 (UHF)
Subchannels	5.1 CBS5.2 Weather radar 5.3 Retro Television Network
Affiliations	CBS
Owner	Media General, Inc. (Media General Communications Holdings, LLC)
First air date	August 29, 1955
Call letters' meaning	Kenneth R. Giddens (WKRG's founder)
Former channel number(s)	Analog:5 (VHF, 1955-2009)
Transmitter power	1000 kW
Height	499 m
Facility ID	73187
Transmitter coordinates	30°41′20.5″N 87°49′50.8″W / 30.689028°N 87.830778°W / 30.689028; -87.830778
Website	www.wkrg.com/

History

The television and radio stations were located on St. Louis Street in downtown Mobile until around 1980, when they were relocated to an area near the Bel Air Mall, which Giddens also had a hand in developing. The television station operates on the bottom floor and the radio stations operate on the second and third floors of the building.

For years, WKRG-TV was the only locally owned station in the Mobile-Pensacola-Pascagoula area. This changed after the death of Giddens in 1993. First, the radio stations were sold, yet they still operated in the same building (and still do today under current owner Clear Channel). Spartan Communications purchased WKRG-TV in 1998, and Media General purchased Spartan in 2000.

In 2002, the focus of the station switched to weather and news, and the channel's slogan was changed to reflect it: WKRG 5 became WKRG News 5 (based on the station's NewsCenter branding in the 1980s and 1990s), and it was touted as Mobile's "Weather Authority".

The station debuted a new slogan in July 2004: News 5, Coverage You Can Count On, in conjunction with WKRG's 50th year in broadcasting.

In 2007, WKRG developed a radio partnership with Clear Channel Communications reuniting the television station with its formerly owned stations WMXC Lite Mix 99.9 (formerly WKRG-FM) and WNTM News Radio 710 (formerly WKRG-AM), as well as WKSJ 95KSJ and WRKH 96.1 The Rocket. Ironically, these stations were co-owned with competing station WPMI until Clear Channel divested its television stations in 2008 to Newport Television.

On October 18, 2010, WKRG became the second television station in the Mobile-Pensacola market and the first Mobile-based station to launch local newscasts in High Definition starting with their 6pm show.

WKRG is also available to cable subscribers in Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi, and is usually the area's "B" CBS station behind WWL in New Orleans.

Digital television

The station's digital channel (UHF 27) is multiplexed:

Digital channel

Virtual Channel	Video	Aspect	Programming
5.1	1080i	16:9	Main WKRG-TV programming / CBS HD
5.2	480i	4:3	Doppler Radar
5.3	480i	4:3	Retro Television Network

On June 12, 2009, WKRG-TV has left channel 5 and moved to channel 27 when the analog to digital conversion completed.

Shows

Past shows that aired on WKRG include Woman's World, The Popeye Show, Rosie's Place and Small Fry News, a show featuring local fifth graders. WKRG-TV was also the longtime home of Congressional Report from 1973 to 2006, billed as the longest running program of its kind in the nation, featuring local congressmen giving viewers a local perspective of Washington, D.C. and the central Gulf Coast from their congressman’s standpoint.

Current shows that WKRG-TV airs in addition to CBS programming include

• The Real Housewives (3:00p.m. weekdays)
• Family Feud (4:00 and 4:30 p.m. weekdays)
• The Andy Griffith Show (6:30 p.m. weekdays)
• Cold Case Files
• Heartland
• Without A Trace
• Cold Case
• Today's Homeowner
• The Unit (11:05 p.m. Sundays)

Awards

• National Edward R. Murrow Continuing Coverage "Mobile's Makeover", the changing economic landscape of Mobile.
• Crash of the Sunset Limited: 10 Years Later-Associated Press Large Market Best Documentary
• Rosie Seaman -Press Club of Mobile John Harris Lifetime Achievement Award
• Alan Sealls -Associated Press Large Market Best Meteorologist

On-air staff

Current staff

Main anchors

• Mel Showers, 5, 6 & 10pm weeknight anchor
• Rose Ann Haven, 6 & 10pm weeknight anchor
• Peter Albrecht, 5pm weeknight anchor and investigative reporter
• Bill Riales, morning anchor
• Devon Walsh, morning/noon anchor
• Avery Cotton, weekend anchor

Meteorologists/weather anchors

• Alan Sealls, chief meteorologist (AMS Certified / NWA)
• John Nodar, morning/noon meteorologist (AMS Certified / NWA)
• Johnathan Owens, weekend meteorologist (AMS / NWA)

Sports

• Randy Patrick, sports director

Reporters and other fill-in anchors

• Blake Brown
• Tiffany McCall
• Allen Carter
• Ashley Knight
• Pat Peterson (Baldwin County)
• Chad Petri
• Bill Riales
• Debbie Williams (Baldwin County)

Former staff

Former newscasters

• Kesshia Peyton
• Kellie Jones
• Andy Pearson
• Brian Wilson
• Curt Fonger
• Rob Sumner
• Leana Orsua
• Paul Martino
• Cynthia Williams
• Clay Loney
• Glenn Austin
• Jennifer Abney
• Andrew Findley
• Jennifer Mayerle
• Bob Grip
• Peter Albrecht
• Drexel Gilbert
• Holly Ames
• Darwin Singleton
• Kathy King
• Janet Hall
• Jim Douglas
• Gabe Caggiano
• Jonathan Carter
• Leon Petite
• Jason Wheeler
• Michael Sullivan
• Debbie Denechaud
• Bob Brazier
• Brad Davis
• Jack Kendrick
• Francie Murphy
• Ted Wesley
• Bruce Cramer
• Linda Powell
• Diana Lucio
• Angela Russell
• Ray White
• Tiffany Craig
• Randy Wood
• Gina Gregory
• Meris Norman

Former weathercasters

• Keith Brunson
• Max Goodman
• Jere Hough
• Stu Kellogg
• Bob Stuart
• John Edd Thompson
• Chad Watson
• Jene' Young
• Tommy Young

Former sportscasters

• Jack Drees
• Kevin Hunt
• Bruce Cunningham
• Dan Faber
• Bob Lowry
• Chris Frye
• Dennis Hudson
• Scott Hunter

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

• Home Edition News/5-Star Final Edition News (1955-1974)
• First Edition News/Home Edition News/Final Edition News (1963-1974)
• NewsCenter 5 (1974–1997)
• News 5 (Early 1990s)
• WKRG 5 News (1997–2002)
• WKRG News 5 (1997 2002–present)

Station slogans

• The Gulf Coast's Leading News Station (1974–1990)
• The Gulf Coast News Channel (1997–2000)
• Coverage You Can Count On (1997–2002 and 2004–present)
• Your Weather Authority (2002–2004)
• The Gulf Coast's News Leader (2010–present)

References

1. ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} http://www.mobilechamber.com/view/2005/5-2005.pdf page 7, 8 The Business View May 2005 Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce
3. ^ Lanier, Kim. "Television cook Estella Payton dies at age 95." Mobile Press-Register [Mobile, Alabama] 16 December 1999: B1.
4. ^ "The Mobile version of Julia Child and Martha Stewart. Had a long run cooking show on channel Five (formerly one of only two channels in the City)." Culture "Cul-cha"; How to Speak Mobile Connie Bea and Estelle Mobile Bay Convention and Visitor's Bureau
5. ^ Herman W. Land Associates Inc. Television and the Wired City a Study of the Implications of a Change in the Mode of Transmission 1968, July (1111) ASIN: B000RL0X18
6. ^ page 8 The Business View May 2005 Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce

External links

• WKRG's official website
• WKRG's News Video Podcast
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WKRG
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WKRG-TV
• Program Information for WKRG at TitanTV.com