WOWK-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Tri-States and Kanawha Valley area ofWest Virginia that is licensed to Huntington which is the second largest market (in terms of area) east of the Mississippi River. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter northwest of Milton. Due to the nature of VHF signals, this cannot be seen in the Kanawha Valley or Charleston. However, WOWK is offered on Comcast channel 12 and high definition on digital channel 782 (in Huntington) as well as Suddenlink channel 13 and in high definition on digital channel 782 (in Charleston).
| |
| Huntington/Charleston, West Virginia | |
|---|---|
| Branding | 13 (general)
13 News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | Live and Local From Your Hometown |
| Channels | Digital: 13 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | 13.1 CBS
13.2 weather radar |
| Owner | West Virginia Media Holdings |
| First air date | October 2, 1955 |
| Call letters' meaning | Ohio/West Virginia/Kentucky |
| Sister station(s) | WVNS-TV, WTRF-TV,WBOY-TV |
| Former callsigns | WHTN-TV (1955-1975) |
| Former channel number(s) | 13 (VHF analog, 1955-2009)
47 (UHF digital) |
| Former affiliations | ABC (1955-1958 & 1962-1986)
CBS (1958-1962) |
| Transmitter power | 12.5 kW |
| Height | 414 m |
| Facility ID | 23342 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 38°30′20″N82°12′32″W |
| Website | wowktv.com |
Owned by West Virginia Media Holdings, it is the flagship of the company and has studios on 5th Avenue in Downtown Huntington and secondary facilities on Kanawha Boulevard (U.S. 60) in Charleston along I-64/U.S. 119. Syndicated programming on WOWK includes: Inside Edition,Dr. Phil, The Doctors, and Rachael Ray.
Digital programming[]
The station's digital channel is multiplexed.
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 13.1 | main WOWK-TV programming / CBS HD |
| 13.2 | Weather Radar |
History[]
The station went on-air October 2, 1955 as WHTN-TV (for HunTingtoN) an ABC affiliate owned by the Greater Huntington Theater Corporation. After only a year, it was bought by Cowles Communications. WHTN swapped affiliations with WCHS-TV and became a CBS station for the first time in 1958. It went back to ABC in 1962 and stayed with that network for 24 years. Cowles sold the station to Gateway Communications in 1974. A year later, it changed its call letters to the current WOWK-TV to reflect the three states it serves (Ohio, West Virginia, andKentucky). In 1986, it changed affiliations again returning to CBS.
The station was headquartered at the Radio Center Building in Huntington from its inception until 1984 when WOWK moved to its current location on Fifth Avenue. Gateway merged with SJL Broadcasting in 2000. SJL sold it to West Virginia Media Holdings in 2002. WOWK-TV ended analog operations on VHF channel 13 in 2009, as part of the DTV transition in the United States. The station then returned to channel 13 for its post-transition operations. [1] On January 25, 2009, an ice storm destroyed the temporary UHF channel 47 digital transmitter. Rather than repair it for two more weeks of service, the station shut down its analog transmission early and brought its digital 13 transmitter on-line.
Under federal must-carry rules, broadcasters can either allow cable systems in their market to carry their signals for free or charge a fee under retransmission consent provisions. On December 3, 2008, it was announced that Inter Mountain Cable (IMC), a cable provider serving parts of Eastern Kentucky, announced that it would drop WOWK from its lineup unless an agreement was reached over retransmission consent. [2] According to The Mountain Eagle, this dispute caused concern among officials in the city of Fleming-Neon, Kentucky where IMC holds the cable television franchise. [3] The city council in Fleming-Neon have stated that the removal of WOWK will violate IMC's franchise agreement. [3]
News operation[]
This station's newscasts have long rated third in the market behind NBC affiliate WSAZ-TV and ABC affiliate WCHS. For a time in the 1990s, it was the highest-rated station in the northern portion of the market (Charleston and Kanawha Valley). WOWK-TV airs the market's only 7pm newscast. The station also airs a 5pm newscast, which debuted on October 18, 2010. It provides all weather forecasts for WVNS-TV as well as weekend weather for WBOY-TV and WTRF-TV.
Newscast titles[]
- Newsroom (1958-19??)
- The West Virginia Report (19??-19??)
- 13 Color News (19??–19??)
- Eyewitness News (19??–1975)
- TV-13 Action News (1975–1990s)
- 13 News (1990s–present)
Station slogans[]
- You and Me and TV-13 (1980-1981; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- Come on Along with TV-13 (1982-1983; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- That Special Feeling on TV-13 (1983-1984; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- We're With You on TV-13 (1984-1985; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- You'll Love It on TV-13 (1985-1986; last localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- Share the Spirit on Channel 13 (1986-1987; localized version of CBS ad campaign)
- 13 Believes in You (mid 1990s–1997)
- Live. Local. Latebreaking. (1997–2003)
- Your Town, Your State, Your Future (2003–2008)
- Live and Local from Your Hometown (2008–2012)
- Working for You (2012–present)
News team[]
Anchors
- Jack Kane - weekday mornings and noon
- April Kaull- weeknights at 5, 6 & 11
- Don Hammond- weeknights at 6, 7 & 11
- Marques White - weekends and reporter
StormTracker 13 Meteorologists
- Spencer Adkins (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seal of Approval) - Chief seen weeknights
- Bryan Hughes- weekday mornings and noon
- Kristin Ketchell - meterologist
Sports
- Scott Roberts- sports anchor and reporter
- John Sabol- sports anchor
Reporters
- Bray Cary - West Virginia Media Holdings President and Chief Executive Officer
- Decision Makers host
- April Kaull - West Virginia Media Holdings News Director and State Correspondent
- Dan Matics
- Randy McKinney - Chief Photographer
- Elbert Mosley - Senior Photojournalist
- Kelly Brennan - weekend producer
- Sarah Lieu - consumer
- Kenney Barnette - photographer
- Anthony Lewis - photojournalist
- Ben Moore - photojournalist
- Adrian Mosby - photojournalist
- Nicky Walters
- Matthew Earle
- Gil McClanahan
Gallery[]
References[]
- ^ CDBS Print
- ^ "WSAZ-TV and WOWK-TV Possible Agreement Issue For 2009". Inter Mountain Cable. 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2009-01-15.[dead link]
- ^ a b Farley, William (2009-01-14). "Neon council upset by threat of TV changes". The Mountain Eagle. pp. 2. Retrieved 2009-01-15.