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WPLG, channel 10, is an ABC network affiliate located in Miami, Florida. WPLG is owned and operated by Post-Newsweek Stations, a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company. The station's studios are located in Pembroke Park, Florida, and its transmitter is based in Miami Gardens, Florida.

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 is now occupied by a PBS member station, WLRN-TV.)

A Congressional investigation of former 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 license.[1] As a result, WPST-TV was stripped of its broadcast license.

A New Channel 10

A group headed by 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. In 1969, WLBW 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

WPLG logo from 1998

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. 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.

WPLG deployed "Sky 10", Miami's first news helicopter in 1979.

WPLG is branded Local 10 under the station standardization adopted by Post-Newsweek, which means that all stations use the "Local Mandate."

When WTVJ, WCIX, and WSVN all swapped affiliations on January 1, 1989, WPLG had remained an ABC affiliate. And, when WTVJ and WCIX (now WFOR-TV) swapped channel numbers 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. Because of this consistency, WPLG dominates the South Florida market.

As a Post-Newsweek station WPLG continues to run nearly the entire ABC television schedule; only the ABC Kids airings of the Power Rangers series do not air, due to the station's news commitment and the program's lack of E/I content. Because of this, WPLG has in recent years moved the 9am hour of ABC Kids to 12noon (the Power Rangers time slot) on Saturday mornings. From April 2007 until February 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. In February, WPLG fell behind WFOR which now holds the title of being South Florida's most watched english-language station.

WPLG offers LATV on its DT2 digital subchannel.

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. Along with the move, on Saturday, March 28, 2009, during their 6:30 newscast, WPLG became the third Miami station to launch news in high definition.[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]

Digital television

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Digital channels
Virtual
Channel 		Physical
RF Channel 		Video Aspect Programming
10.1 10.1 720p 16:9 Main WPLG programming / ABC HD
10.2 10.2 480i 4:3 LATV

At 9am on June 12, 2009, WPLG shut off its analog signal and remained on channel 10 through their digital signal, in addition to switching broadcast towers.[7]

News Team

Current personalities

Anchors

  • Jacey Birch - Weekday Mornings at 9am and Noon, traffic reporter at 5am-7am
  • Jen Herrera - Weekend Mornings, weekday reporter
  • Calvin Hughes - Weekday Mornings at 5am-7am, 9am and Noon
  • Laurie Jennings - Weeknights at 6pm and 11pm
  • Kristi Kreuger - Weekday Mornings at 5am-7am, health reporter
  • Rob Schmitt - Weekends at 6pm and 11pm, weekday reporter
  • Neki Mohan - Weekends at 6pm and 11pm, weekday reporter
  • Todd Tongen - Weekend Mornings, weekday reporter

Meteorologists

  • Trent Aric - Chief Meteorologist, weeknights at 6pm and 11pm (AMS Seal)
  • John Guaraldi - weekend evenings (AMS Seal)
  • Scott Padgett - weekday mornings at 5-7am, 9am and noon (AMS Seal)
  • Michael Smith - weekend mornings (AMS Seal)
  • Max Mayfield - hurricane specialist

Sports

  • Will Manso - Sports Director, most weeknights at 6pm and 11pm

Reporters

  • Sasha Andrade
  • Kellie Butler
  • Terrell Forney
  • Johanna Gomez
  • Constance Jones
  • Ben Kennedy
  • Roger Lohse - Broward County reporter
  • Walt MacDonald - Sky 10 reporter/photographer
  • Glenna Milberg
  • Michael Putney - senior political reporter
  • Janine Stanwood
  • Todd Tongen - feature reporter
  • Jonathan Vigliotti
  • Jeff Weinsier - investigative reporter
  • John Lyon - photojournalist, HD Live cam

Notable Alumni

File:Wplg weather.JPG
Former WPLG Chief Meteorologist Don Noe

News/Station Presentation

Newscast Titles

  • Colorvision 10 News (1960s-1970)
  • The Scene Tonight (1970–1977)
  • NewsWatch 10 (1977–1982)
  • Channel 10 Eyewitness News (1982–2001)
  • Channel 10 News (2001–2004)
  • Local 10 News (2004-present)

Station Slogans

  • The One to Watch (-1978)
  • The One and Only (1978-1997)
  • If It's Channel 10, It Must Be ABC (1992-1993; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
  • Live. Local. Latebreaking. (1997-2001)
  • Your Problem Solver Station (2001-2007)

Trivia

References

  1. ^ "You Are to Be Pitied". Time. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
  2. ^ "Local 10 News' Beginnings". Retrieved 2009-02-14.
  3. ^ Inside Local 10's New Home
  4. ^ Local 10's New Home: 3401 Hallandale Beach Blvd
  5. ^ "WPLG-ABC 10 owner may buy WTVJ-NBC 6". Miami Herald, July 15, 2008.
  6. ^ "Sale Of WTVJ To The Washington Post Company Terminated". NBC6.net. December 23, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2008.
  7. ^ http://www.justnews.com/technology/19732752/detail.html

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