WLIO is the NBC-affiliated television station for Northwest Ohio licensed to Lima. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 from a transmitter at its studios on Rice Avenue in the city. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 5 and in high definition on digital channel 1005. Owned by Block Communications, the station operates Class A ABC affiliate WOHL-CD (owned by West Central Ohio Broadcasting, Inc.) through a shared services agreement (SSA) and the two share studios. Syndicated programming on this station includesJeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, Entertainment Tonight, and Inside Edition among others.
| |
| Lima, Ohio | |
|---|---|
| Branding | NBC Lima (general)
Your News Now Fox Lima & My TV Lima (on DT2) |
| Slogan | Your Hometown
Lima Stations |
| Channels | Digital: 8 (VHF) |
| Subchannels | 8.1 NBC
8.2Fox (primary) MyNetworkTV (secondary) |
| Owner | Block Communications
(Lima Communications Corporation) |
| First air date | April 18, 1953 |
| Call letters' meaning | LIma, Ohio |
| Sister station(s) | WOHL-CD, WLQP-LP, WLMO-LP |
| Former callsigns | WLOK-TV (1953-1955)
WIMA-TV (1955-1972) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog:
73 (UHF, 1953-1955) 35 (UHF, 1955-2009) |
| Former affiliations | DuMont (1953-1956)
CBS (1953-1972) ABC (1953-1982) all secondary [1] The CW (on DT2, 2006-2008 via The CW Plus) |
| Transmitter power | 27.5 kW |
| Height | 148 m |
| Facility ID | 37503 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°44′51.6″N 84°7′53.9″W |
| Website | hometownstations.com |
Digital programming
The station operates the area's primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV affiliate on a second digital subchannel. This can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 9 and in high definition on digital channel 1009. Syndicated programming on this station includes Friends, George Lopez, Family Guy, and Scrubs along with others. Monday through Friday, MyNetworkTV can be seen from 11 at night until 1 the next morning.
| Channel | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | main WLIO programming/NBC (HD) |
| 8.2 | 480i | 4:3 | WLIO-DT2 "Fox Lima" & "My TV Lima" (SD) |
History
The station signed-on April 18, 1953 with the calls WLOK-TV. It aired an analog signal on UHF channel 73. The station was owned by Pixley Incorporated along with WBLY-AM 1240 (now WIMA-AM 1150). WLOK-TV carried programming from all four networks of the Golden Age of television (NBC, CBS, ABC, and DuMont). [1] It would eventually loose secondary affiliations with DuMont in 1956, CBS in 1972, and ABC in 1982. On December 8, 1954, WLOK-TV was sold to the Northwestern Ohio Broadcasting Corporation. On April 24, 1955, its call letters were changed to WIMA-TV and changed analog frequencies to UHF channel 35.
Channels 70 through 83 have since been reserved for uses other than television broadcasting. On September 1, 1971, the station changed calls again to WLIO-TVafter WIMA-AM was sold to the Lima Broadcasting Corporation. On February 1, 1972, WLIO was purchased by the Toledo Blade newspaper and Midwestern Broadcasting of Toledo. In October 1982, Blade Communications (now Block Communications) bought out Midwestern Broadcasting and became sole owner of the station. Its digital signal on VHF channel 8 signed-on November 18, 2002.
From late-1998 until September 18, 2006, WLIO operated cable-only WB affiliate "WBOH" in partnership with WB 100+. Specifically, this station performed sales and promotional duties for the cable-exclusive affiliate. UPN was seen in Lima on low-powered WLQP-LP. After The WB and UPN merged in September 2006 to create The CW, "WBOH" became part of the new network as part of The CW Plus. WLIO launched a new second digital subchannel in order to offer non-cable subscribers access to the new network. Meanwhile, then-Fox affiliate WOHL added the other new network (MyNetworkTV) in a secondary nature. That station aired programming from the network Monday through Saturday nights from 11 until 1 the next the morning. Eventually, Saturday shows were dropped.
On September 17, 2008, WLIO dropped The CW from its second digital subchannel after the network reverted to a cable-exclusive status in Lima. The cable channel slot was eventually taken over by WBDT from Dayton as the network's de-facto affiliate. As a result, WLIO-DT2 became a primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV affiliate essentially becoming a second outlet in Lima for the two networks. This resulted in a dispute between WLIO and WOHL. However, the former's second subchannel served as WOHL's digital signal because it did not receive a companion channel for digital transmission due to its Class A status. [2]
On November 29, 2008, it was announced Metro Video Productions would sell its stations (WLQP, WLMO, and WOHL) to West Central Ohio Broadcasting. One of that company's heads, Allan J. Block, is the chairman of Block Communications (owner of WLIO). [3] While Block assumed control of those station's operations after the sale's completion on February 5, 2009, it was initially stated the company would not close the WLQP/WLMO/WOHL facilities on South Central Avenue and consolidate them with WLIO. [4] It has since been stated some consolidation would take place with the stations moving to WLIO's studios on Rice Avenue. [5] WLIO became digital-exclusive on June 12, 2009 after shutting down its analog signal on UHF channel 35.
On September 28, 2009, WLQP terminated its analog operations and ABC programming was shifted to WOHL. [6] [7] Primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV programming seen on that station continued to be aired on WLIO-DT2 and cable. Previously, WLIO-DT usedProgram and System Information Protocol (PSIP) to display its virtual channel as 35. However, when WOHL moved to digital channel 35 in late-2009, the virtual channel assignment was displaced since that station opted to use the same channel number as its actual frequency. As a result, Lima is one of the few markets where two of the largest stations are currently using not only the same virtual channel numbers as their actual RF channels, but also virtual channel numbers different from their former analog channel number assignments.
News operation
Nightly news open at 11.
Adrian Cronauer was a staff announcer and personality at WIMA from 1965 until 1967. Before coming to Lima, his tour of duty in Vietnam and being a disk jockey on an armed forces radio station in Saigon later served as the inspiration for the 1987 Touchstone Pictures-released filmGood Morning Vietnam in which Cronauer was portrayed by Robin Williams. Unlike most NBC affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone, WLIO does not air a full two-hour weekday morning show and/or newscast weeknights at 5:30.
The one hour morning broadcast at 6 is simulcasted on WOHL. Weeknights at 5 and 10, WLIO produces two thirty minute newscasts for its Fox/MyNetworkTV second digital subchannel.WOHL-CD and its CBS second digital subchannel simulcast WLIO's news weeknights at 6 and 11. Weekend evening broadcasts seen at 6 and 11 on this station are not simulcasted on the other services.
Newscast titles
- News Journal (?-2004)
- Your News Now (2004-present)
Station slogans
- "WLIO, The Place to Be!" (1990-1991, localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- "Your West Central Ohio News Leader" (2002-2004)
- "Your West Central Ohio Leader" (2004-2009)
- "Your Hometown Lima Stations" (2009-present)
News team
Anchors
- Zac Pitts- weekday mornings
- Jessica Dill - weekday mornings and producer
- Holly Geaman - weekdays at noon and producer
- Stuart Hall - weeknights at 5 and 10pm
- Jeff Fitzgerald - weeknights at 6pm
- Amyre Makupson - weeknights at 5, 6, and 11pm
- Marissa Sherer - weekends and reporter
Meteorologists
- Kyle Adams - Chief seen weeknights
- Laura Betker - weekday mornings and noon
- Adam Klotz- weekends and news reporter
Sports
- Andy Young - Director seen weeknights at 6, 10, and 11
- Csaba Sukosd - weekends and sports reporter
- James Rider - sports reporter and videographer
Reporters
- Sam Shriver - multimedia journalist
- Phil Thomas - videographer
- Tom Nartker - videographer
- Brent Stocksdale - opinion
- David Adams - movie critic
- Joe Miles - videographer
- Jeff Rex - opinion
- Demi Heiks
- Tricia Bell
References
- ^ a b [1]
- ^ "Affiliation fight in Ohio". Television Business Report. August 6, 2008. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
- ^ "Phipps flips Lima low-power cluster". Television Business Report. November 29, 2008. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
- ^ Sowinski, Greg (December 2, 2008). "WLIO owner buys Fox affiliate, other stations for $2.4 million". The Lima News. Retrieved December 2, 2008.
- ^ Linkhorn, Tyrel (February 6, 2009). "Sale of WOHL to WLIO parent company complete". The Lima News. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
- ^ https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101336229&formid=910&fac_num=21476
- ^ http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1359104&Service=TX&Form_id=910&Facility_id=21476