WGHP
Encyclopedia
WGHP, channel 8, is the Fox
-affiliated television station
serving the Greensboro
/High Point
/Winston-Salem, North Carolina
(Piedmont Triad
) designated market area. The station is owned by Local TV LLC, the media arm of private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners, and its transmitter is located in Sophia, North Carolina
.
assigned a third TV channel to the Piedmont Triad area. The channel 8 allocation was freed up, by the switch of WBTW-TV in Florence, South Carolina
, to channel 13, and was short-spaced to WCHS-TV
in Charleston, West Virginia
and WXEX-TV (now WRIC-TV
) in Petersburg, Virginia
. Applicants for the High Point channel 8 allocation included Jefferson Standard Broadcasting
, owner of TV stations in Charlotte, North Carolina
and Florence, South Carolina. The owner of WTOB-TV (channel 26; channel now occupied by WUNL-TV
) in Winston-Salem was also interested.
WGHP, then owned by Southern Broadcast Company, began operation on October 14, 1963. It was originally the Piedmont Triad's ABC
affiliate. The station occasionally decided not to carry network programming; For example, it didn't carry Dark Shadows
, a series which featured paranormal
themes, during its network run on ABC and broadcast old movies instead. Likewise, it did not carry The Edge of Night, a soap opera
run on ABC from 1975 to 1984. WGHP was subsequently sold to Gulf Broadcasting in 1978.
WGHP was owned by Gulf Broadcasting until 1984, when it was acquired by Taft Broadcasting
in a group deal. Taft was restructured into Great American Broadcasting in 1987. Former Taft president Dudley Taft formed a new company that took the Taft Broadcasting name and bought WGHP from Great American. The new Taft held onto channel 8 until 1992, when Great American repurchased the station.
In 1993, Great American Broadcasting filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That year, it restructured
and became known as Citicasters. It then put its stations up for sale.
(which acquired stations from SCI in a similar type of business reorganization to the one Citicasters had come out of) agreed to buy WGHP and three other stations owned by Citicasters, ABC affiliate WBRC
(channel 6) in Birmingham
, NBC
affiliate WDAF-TV
(channel 4) in Kansas City
and CBS
affiliate KSAZ-TV
(channel 10) in Phoenix
. Citicasters would keep WTSP
(channel 10) in Tampa Bay
and WKRC-TV
(channel 12) in Cincinnati — which were both ABC affiliates at the time. Both of those stations would later switch to CBS when Scripps-Howard contracted with ABC to air on Tampa Bay's WFTS (channel 28) and Cincinnati's WCPO (channel 9). However, around the same time New World also agreed to buy Argyle Television Holdings I's four television stations, including NBC affiliate WVTM-TV
(channel 13) in Birmingham (the transfer applications of the Argyle stations to New World were not submitted to the FCC until after New World closed on the Citicasters purchase). The two purchases combined, plus New World's existing seven stations, left the company with 15 stations, which were three more than the FCC permitted at the time. The purchases also left New World with an ownership conflict in Birmingham.
Shortly after the Citicasters purchase Fox
agreed to affiliate with all the New World stations, except for NBC affiliates KNSD
(channel 39) in San Diego and WVTM-TV, as well as independent station WSBK-TV
(channel 38) in Boston, which would be sold to the Paramount Stations Group
subsidiary of Viacom and become a UPN
station. New World consummated on its purchases of WDAF and KSAZ on September 9, 1994. But it was determined due to ownership conflicts and the fact New World would be over their ownership limit, that WGHP and WBRC would be sold to Fox Directly. At the same time Fox was under fire because of the fact Rupert Murdoch
was not a US Citizen when buying initial stations back in 1986. Since Fox was not able to immediately acquire these two stations (along with WHBQ-TV
Memphis), WGHP was placed in an outside trust the same day as WDAF and KSAZ was transferred to New World and WBRC was put in this trust on October 12 of 1994. But while WDAF switched to Fox and KSAZ became an interim independent station (in preparation for its switch to Fox that December) three days after the deal was consummated, WGHP's affiliation agreement with ABC still had one year remaining. (Likewise, WBRC's ABC affiliation agreement still had two years to go.) These factors also led to New World's decision to sell the two stations to Fox almost immediately.
Fox then took over the operation of the two stations through local marketing agreement
s in the summer of 1995. On September 3, 1995, WGHP took the Fox affiliation. It carried all Fox programs, including Fox Kids
which it showed weekday afternoons from 1-4 p.m., replacing ABC soap opera
s, as well as on Saturday mornings where a local newscast previously ran. The ABC affiliation went to former Fox affiliate WNRW (channel 45, now WXLV-TV
). WGHP added a few more talk/reality shows as well as some off-network sitcoms such as I Love Lucy
, Seinfeld
, Beverly Hillbillies, and others. The weekday newscasts expanded to occupy the Good Morning America
timeslot. The evening newscasts remained in place. the 11 p.m. newscast was moved to 10 p.m. and expanded to an hour. On January 17, 1996, Fox completed the purchases of both WGHP and WBRC, with WGHP becoming an official Fox owned-and-operated station; WBRC had to wait another seven and one-half months, until September 1996, to switch from ABC to Fox. The move gave WGHP its fifth owner in a little over a decade. From 1996 to 2008, WGHP was the only Piedmont Triad area station to be owned and operated by any major network.
In February of 1996, Pappas approached WGHP about picking up Fox Kids
and moving it to its newly acquired WBFX (channel 20; then a WB affiliate, later WTWB-TV and now CW
affiliate WCWG
). In between that time Fox executives, upon picking up new affiliates through New World, decided to redo the on-air coverage policy of airing Fox Kids; the station can choose to keep airing it or be granted the right to pass it down to another local counterpart. WGHP decided to let the other station have the programming. This took effect in March of 1996. This would be the first Fox owned-and-operated station to not run the kids block, and only one of two (with WBRC), until New World merged with Fox in 1997. WGHP added more talk and court shows in the afternoon. WTWB dropped Fox's children programming in late 2001 when Fox canceled the weekday block nationwide. In 2002, Fox began a Saturday morning block of cartoons to replace Fox Kids known as Fox Box (later 4Kids TV
), but WGHP did not pick that up. As a result, Fox's 4Kids TV
did not air in Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point until then-UPN
affiliate WUPN
picked it up some time in 2003.
. Fox discontinued children's programming on December 28, 2008 (it is unknown if Fox will resume children's programming in the future). Today, Fox offers a two-hour Saturday morning infomercial block (Weekend Marketplace
), but WGHP still declined to pick it up; it currently airs on MyNetworkTV
affiliate WMYV
.
On September 10, 2007, WGHP debuted a new logo
and graphics package similar to what is currently being rolled out to other Fox owned-and-operated stations across the country. The logo is similar to sister stations WJW-TV and WNYW-TV. On December 22, 2007, Fox announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell WGHP and seven other Fox owned-and-operated stations to Oak Hill Capital Partners' Local TV LLC, which currently owns nine stations acquired from The New York Times Company
. The sale was closed on July 14, 2008.
, WGHP is available on Time Warner Cable
in Carrboro
, Charter Communications
and Main Street Broadband in Siler City
, and DirecTV
in Chatham
, Hoke
, Lee
, and Orange
Counties, which are part of the Raleigh
DMA
. WGHP is also available on Time Warner Cable in Salisbury
, SkyBest TV in Sugar Mountain
, Ashe County Cable and Morris Broadband in West Jefferson
, and Zito Media in Creston
, which are part of the Charlotte
DMA. The Fox affiliate for that DMA, WCCB
, is not available in Creston. WGHP was previously available on cable in Boone
as well, but was dropped shortly after switching to Fox.
In Virginia
, WGHP is available on DirecTV in Carroll
, Grayson
, and Henry
Counties, and in the Independent Cities
of Danville
and Martinsville
, which are part of the Roanoke
DMA.
WGHP TV8.2 is a charter affiliate of Tribune Broadcasting
's new digital multicast channel Antenna TV
, which is carried on digital subchannel 8.2. The network, airing classic sitcoms from the 1950s to the 1980s during the afternoon and evening, and movies during the morning and late night hours, is carried on most LocalTV-owned stations in other markets as well as stations owned by the network's parent company Tribune Broadcasting. WGHP TV8.2 uses the branding "TV8.2" which is a throwback to longtime "TV8" branding of WGHP in the late 70's and early 80's.
The 8.2 subchannel is also carried over channel 126 on the Time Warner Cable digital tier, channel 175 over Charter Communications
in North Wilkesboro and channel 510 on Windstream-Lexington. WGHP TV8.2 uses a modified logo of the station's previous logo used from the late 70s to early 80s.
Due to the number of complaints from those unable to pick up the signal on channel 8, WGHP received temporary authorization to return to broadcasting on channel 35 on the afternoon of Friday August 19, 2009. While technical issues with the channel 8 signal were being worked out, WGHP transmitted digitally on both 8 and 35 from August 19 , 2009 until the channel 8 transmitter shutdown on March 8, 2010. On October 14, WGHP requested the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) change its channel from 8 to 35. After the station lost "a sizeable number" of its viewers, the FCC agreed with WGHP's assessment that it would be "best served" by staying on channel 35. On December 15, 2009, the FCC issued a Report & Order, approving WGHP's move from channel 8 to channel 35. At 11:02 a.m. on March 8, 2010, WGHP terminated operations on channel 8, operating solely on channel 35 on a permanent basis.
; except for Fox's Saturday morning infomerical block, Weekend Marketplace
, which airs on WMYV). WGHP, like most Fox stations, airs a mix of talk/court/reality shows in the daytime and sitcoms in the late evening. WGHP is one of numerous Fox stations that carry Divorce Court
, Judge Alex
, Judge Joe Brown and Judge Judy
(which airs before the 5 p.m. newscast) and Seinfeld (which airs in late night). The station also airs Access Hollywood
and TMZ on TV
weeknights after the 6 p.m. newscast, and airs weekend telecasts of House
, Monk
, Grey's Anatomy
and Bones
.
The station currently carries the minimum amount of educational and informational children's programming, as the stations airs a three-hour block of syndicated children's shows consisting of Pets.TV, Dog Tales
, Animal Rescue
, Animal Atlas
, Wild About Animals
, Jack Hanna's Into the Wild
, along with reruns of Saved by the Bell
on Saturday mornings.
During the 1980s, various local long-form morning news programming was carried, eventually settling in to 5-minute updates during ABC's Good Morning America
with a noon newscast (dropped in the late 1980s). In the early 1990s, the morning newscast began as an hour-long 6 a.m. newscast, along with a 5 p.m. newscast that expanded to a full hour in 1994. In the last years as an ABC affiliate, ABC's Nightline
was delayed by 30 minutes for more profitable syndicated programming, mostly M*A*S*H. At the time of the sale to Fox in 1995, WGHP aired three hours of news daily with the traditional 11 p.m. newscast moving to 10 p.m. and expanding to a full hour, with the daily news output overall expanding to 4½ hours daily immediately after the sale and that time has continuously expanded ever since to the current 8 hours daily with a five-hour morning newscast, a half-hour noon newscast, a 90-minute block of news from 5 to 6:30 p.m. and the primetime 10 p.m. newscast.
From the time that WGHP affiliated with Fox in 1995 and then became a Fox owned-and-operated station in 1996, the station has put more emphasis on its local newscasts; news was expanded to 3½ (later four) hours on weekday mornings, plus the addition of a 5:30 p.m. newscast. WGHP is of only two ex-New World station that Fox did not relaunch a 11 p.m. newscast on its schedule before the completion of the Local TV purchase, as Fox did with some of its other O&O stations (Cleveland's WJW (channel 8) is the other).
WGHP is one of only two ex-New World stations and former Fox O&Os (along with WJW-TV 8 in Cleveland) sold to Local TV without a newscast in the traditional late news timeslot (former sister station WBRC in Birmingham—now owned by Raycom Media—along with WDAF in Kansas City and WITI in Milwaukee already had 10 p.m. newscasts along with its 9 p.m. newscast long before the Local TV purchase and KTVI in St. Louis added a 10 p.m. newscast after its 9 p.m. newscast in 2008, just before the sale closed). Other than WJW and WGHP, KTBC in Austin (which remains an Fox O&O) is the only other ex-New World station without a newscast in the traditional late news timeslot.
On September 13, 2009 starting with the 10 p.m. newscast, WGHP became the first station in the Piedmont Triad in true 16:9 widescreen format (not HD), not only in the studio but local remote live reports also. As of early 2010, WGHP would be joined by the other two major news stations—WFMY-TV and WXII-TV—in broadcasting local newscasts in upconverted widescreen SDTV (at least from the studio). On September 12, 2010 starting with the 10 p.m. newscast, WGHP began broadcasting its local newscasts in 720p
high definition, making WGHP the first station in the Piedmont Triad to broadcast its local news programming in high definition. It remained the only station in the Piedmont Triad with high-definition local newscasts for over a year until November 13, 2011 when WFMY-TV upgraded its newscasts from enhanced definition widescreen to full high definition.
On September 12, 2011, WGHP expanded its morning newscast by an hour, adding former employee Nicole Ferguson, and Kerry Charles and Katie Nordeen. It now runs from 5 A.M. to 10 A.M.
Weather team
Sports team
Reporters
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
serving the Greensboro
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
/High Point
High Point, North Carolina
High Point is a city located in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina. As of 2010 the city had a total population of 104,371, according to the US Census Bureau. High Point is currently the eighth-largest municipality in North Carolina....
/Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...
(Piedmont Triad
Piedmont Triad
The Piedmont Triad, or Triad, is a north-central region of the U.S. state of North Carolina that consists of the area within and surrounding the three major cities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point. This close group or "triad" of cities lies in the Piedmont geographical region of the...
) designated market area. The station is owned by Local TV LLC, the media arm of private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners, and its transmitter is located in Sophia, North Carolina
Sophia, North Carolina
Sophia is an unincorporated area in central Randolph County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is located along U.S. Highway 311, just northwest of the route's intersection of with I-73/I-74/US 220 and southeast of Archdale, North Carolina. It is the location of WGHP-TV's television...
.
As an ABC station
In 1958, the Federal Communications CommissionFederal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
assigned a third TV channel to the Piedmont Triad area. The channel 8 allocation was freed up, by the switch of WBTW-TV in Florence, South Carolina
Florence, South Carolina
-Municipal government and politics:The City of Florence has a council-manager form of government. The mayor and city council are elected every four years, with no term limits...
, to channel 13, and was short-spaced to WCHS-TV
WCHS-TV
WCHS-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Charleston and Huntington, West Virginia. This area is the second-largest market in terms of area east of the Mississippi River and consists of 61 counties in Central West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and Southern Ohio...
in Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
and WXEX-TV (now WRIC-TV
WRIC-TV
WRIC-TV, virtual channel 8 , is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Richmond, Virginia market. It is owned by Young Broadcasting. The station is licensed to nearby Petersburg, while its studios are just off the Powhite Parkway extension in the Arboretum office park in western...
) in Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of the state capital city of Richmond. The city's population was 32,420 as of 2010, predominantly of African-American ethnicity...
. Applicants for the High Point channel 8 allocation included Jefferson Standard Broadcasting
Lincoln Financial Media
Lincoln Financial Media is a subsidiary of Lincoln National Corporation that owns radio stations in the United States.-History:In April 2006, Lincoln Financial acquired Jefferson-Pilot's television and radio operations, which were renamed Lincoln Financial Media. The group owns 14 radio stations in...
, owner of TV stations in Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
and Florence, South Carolina. The owner of WTOB-TV (channel 26; channel now occupied by WUNL-TV
UNC-TV
University of North Carolina Television, known on-air as UNC-TV, is a public television network in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is operated by the University of North Carolina, with studios located at the UNC Center for Public Television at Research Triangle Park...
) in Winston-Salem was also interested.
WGHP, then owned by Southern Broadcast Company, began operation on October 14, 1963. It was originally the Piedmont Triad's ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate. The station occasionally decided not to carry network programming; For example, it didn't carry Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...
, a series which featured paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
themes, during its network run on ABC and broadcast old movies instead. Likewise, it did not carry The Edge of Night, a soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
run on ABC from 1975 to 1984. WGHP was subsequently sold to Gulf Broadcasting in 1978.
WGHP was owned by Gulf Broadcasting until 1984, when it was acquired by Taft Broadcasting
Taft Broadcasting
The Taft Broadcasting Company, also known as Taft Television and Radio Company, Incorporated, was an American media conglomerate based in Cincinnati, Ohio....
in a group deal. Taft was restructured into Great American Broadcasting in 1987. Former Taft president Dudley Taft formed a new company that took the Taft Broadcasting name and bought WGHP from Great American. The new Taft held onto channel 8 until 1992, when Great American repurchased the station.
In 1993, Great American Broadcasting filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That year, it restructured
Restructuring
Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs...
and became known as Citicasters. It then put its stations up for sale.
As a Fox station
In the winter of 1993, New World CommunicationsNew World Communications
New World Pictures was an independent motion picture and television production company, and later television station owner in the United States from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s...
(which acquired stations from SCI in a similar type of business reorganization to the one Citicasters had come out of) agreed to buy WGHP and three other stations owned by Citicasters, ABC affiliate WBRC
WBRC
WBRC, virtual channel 6, is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the Birmingham, Alabama designated market area. The station is owned by Raycom Media, and its transmitter is located atop Red Mountain in Birmingham...
(channel 6) in Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate WDAF-TV
WDAF-TV
WDAF-TV, virtual channel 4.1, is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the Kansas City, Missouri-Kansas designated market area. The station is owned by Local TV LLC, the media arm of private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners. Its studios and transmitter are located in the Signal Hill...
(channel 4) in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
and CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate KSAZ-TV
KSAZ-TV
KSAZ-TV, virtual channel 10.1, is the Fox owned-and-operated station in Phoenix, Arizona. It is owned by Fox Television Stations in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV station KUTP ....
(channel 10) in Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
. Citicasters would keep WTSP
WTSP
WTSP is a CBS-affiliated television station in St. Petersburg, Florida . It broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 10....
(channel 10) in Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and estuary along the Gulf of Mexico on the west central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay."Tampa Bay" is not the name of any municipality...
and WKRC-TV
WKRC-TV
WKRC-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Tri-State area of Southern Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and Southeastern Indiana that is licensed to Cincinnati. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 12 from a transmitter at its studios on Highland Avenue in the Mount...
(channel 12) in Cincinnati — which were both ABC affiliates at the time. Both of those stations would later switch to CBS when Scripps-Howard contracted with ABC to air on Tampa Bay's WFTS (channel 28) and Cincinnati's WCPO (channel 9). However, around the same time New World also agreed to buy Argyle Television Holdings I's four television stations, including NBC affiliate WVTM-TV
WVTM-TV
WVTM-TV, channel 13, is the NBC-affiliated television station in the Birmingham-Anniston-Tuscaloosa-Gadsden, Alabama television market. The station is owned by Media General...
(channel 13) in Birmingham (the transfer applications of the Argyle stations to New World were not submitted to the FCC until after New World closed on the Citicasters purchase). The two purchases combined, plus New World's existing seven stations, left the company with 15 stations, which were three more than the FCC permitted at the time. The purchases also left New World with an ownership conflict in Birmingham.
Shortly after the Citicasters purchase Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
agreed to affiliate with all the New World stations, except for NBC affiliates KNSD
KNSD
KNSD is the NBC television station based in San Diego, California. It is owned by a joint venture of NBCUniversal and LIN TV . However, because NBCUniversal has majority control, KNSD is run as an NBC owned and operated station...
(channel 39) in San Diego and WVTM-TV, as well as independent station WSBK-TV
WSBK-TV
WSBK-TV is a MyNetworkTV television station for eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire that is licensed to Boston. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 39 from a transmitter along the Needham and Wellesley town line southwest of the MA 9 and I-95 / MA 128...
(channel 38) in Boston, which would be sold to the Paramount Stations Group
Paramount Stations Group
Paramount Stations Group was a television broadcasting company that was renamed from the TVX Broadcast Group in 1991 after Paramount Pictures gained full ownership of the group. At the time, it owned several Fox affiliates and independent stations...
subsidiary of Viacom and become a UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
station. New World consummated on its purchases of WDAF and KSAZ on September 9, 1994. But it was determined due to ownership conflicts and the fact New World would be over their ownership limit, that WGHP and WBRC would be sold to Fox Directly. At the same time Fox was under fire because of the fact Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
was not a US Citizen when buying initial stations back in 1986. Since Fox was not able to immediately acquire these two stations (along with WHBQ-TV
WHBQ-TV
WHBQ-TV, channel 13, is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Memphis, Tennessee. Its studios and transmitter are located in Memphis.-Under RKO General:...
Memphis), WGHP was placed in an outside trust the same day as WDAF and KSAZ was transferred to New World and WBRC was put in this trust on October 12 of 1994. But while WDAF switched to Fox and KSAZ became an interim independent station (in preparation for its switch to Fox that December) three days after the deal was consummated, WGHP's affiliation agreement with ABC still had one year remaining. (Likewise, WBRC's ABC affiliation agreement still had two years to go.) These factors also led to New World's decision to sell the two stations to Fox almost immediately.
Fox then took over the operation of the two stations through local marketing agreement
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
s in the summer of 1995. On September 3, 1995, WGHP took the Fox affiliation. It carried all Fox programs, including Fox Kids
Fox Kids
Fox Kids was the Fox Broadcasting Company's American children's programming division and brand name from September 8, 1990 until September 7, 2002. It was owned by Fox Television Entertainment airing programming on Monday–Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings.Depending on the show, the...
which it showed weekday afternoons from 1-4 p.m., replacing ABC soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
s, as well as on Saturday mornings where a local newscast previously ran. The ABC affiliation went to former Fox affiliate WNRW (channel 45, now WXLV-TV
WXLV-TV
WXLV-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina that is licensed to Winston-Salem. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 29 from a transmitter in Randleman along I-73/U.S. 220...
). WGHP added a few more talk/reality shows as well as some off-network sitcoms such as I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
, Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
, Beverly Hillbillies, and others. The weekday newscasts expanded to occupy the Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
timeslot. The evening newscasts remained in place. the 11 p.m. newscast was moved to 10 p.m. and expanded to an hour. On January 17, 1996, Fox completed the purchases of both WGHP and WBRC, with WGHP becoming an official Fox owned-and-operated station; WBRC had to wait another seven and one-half months, until September 1996, to switch from ABC to Fox. The move gave WGHP its fifth owner in a little over a decade. From 1996 to 2008, WGHP was the only Piedmont Triad area station to be owned and operated by any major network.
In February of 1996, Pappas approached WGHP about picking up Fox Kids
Fox Kids
Fox Kids was the Fox Broadcasting Company's American children's programming division and brand name from September 8, 1990 until September 7, 2002. It was owned by Fox Television Entertainment airing programming on Monday–Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings.Depending on the show, the...
and moving it to its newly acquired WBFX (channel 20; then a WB affiliate, later WTWB-TV and now CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
affiliate WCWG
WCWG
WCWG , is the CW affiliate licensed to Lexington, North Carolina, and serves the Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point, North Carolina television market. The station is owned by New World TV Group...
). In between that time Fox executives, upon picking up new affiliates through New World, decided to redo the on-air coverage policy of airing Fox Kids; the station can choose to keep airing it or be granted the right to pass it down to another local counterpart. WGHP decided to let the other station have the programming. This took effect in March of 1996. This would be the first Fox owned-and-operated station to not run the kids block, and only one of two (with WBRC), until New World merged with Fox in 1997. WGHP added more talk and court shows in the afternoon. WTWB dropped Fox's children programming in late 2001 when Fox canceled the weekday block nationwide. In 2002, Fox began a Saturday morning block of cartoons to replace Fox Kids known as Fox Box (later 4Kids TV
4Kids TV
4Kids TV was a Saturday morning television programming block on the Fox Broadcasting Company. The block was part of the Fox Network schedule...
), but WGHP did not pick that up. As a result, Fox's 4Kids TV
4Kids TV
4Kids TV was a Saturday morning television programming block on the Fox Broadcasting Company. The block was part of the Fox Network schedule...
did not air in Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point until then-UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
affiliate WUPN
WMYV
WMYV is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina that is licensed to Greensboro. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 33 from a transmitter in Randleman along I-73/U.S. 220...
picked it up some time in 2003.
. Fox discontinued children's programming on December 28, 2008 (it is unknown if Fox will resume children's programming in the future). Today, Fox offers a two-hour Saturday morning infomercial block (Weekend Marketplace
Weekend Marketplace
Weekend Marketplace is a two hour Saturday morning block of paid programming airing on Fox that began airing on January 3, 2009, replacing the 4Kids TV Saturday morning cartoon block that aired using time leased by 4Kids from Fox from 2002 until the last Saturday of 2008...
), but WGHP still declined to pick it up; it currently airs on MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
affiliate WMYV
WMYV
WMYV is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina that is licensed to Greensboro. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 33 from a transmitter in Randleman along I-73/U.S. 220...
.
On September 10, 2007, WGHP debuted a new logo
Logo
A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...
and graphics package similar to what is currently being rolled out to other Fox owned-and-operated stations across the country. The logo is similar to sister stations WJW-TV and WNYW-TV. On December 22, 2007, Fox announced that it had entered into an agreement to sell WGHP and seven other Fox owned-and-operated stations to Oak Hill Capital Partners' Local TV LLC, which currently owns nine stations acquired from The New York Times Company
The New York Times Company
The New York Times Company is an American media company best known as the publisher of its namesake, The New York Times. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr. has served as Chairman of the Board since 1997. It is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City....
. The sale was closed on July 14, 2008.
Out-of-market cable and DirecTV coverage
In North CarolinaNorth Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, WGHP is available on Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
in Carrboro
Carrboro, North Carolina
Carrboro is a town in Orange County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 19,582 at the 2010 census. The town, which is part of the Durham-Chapel Hill metropolitan statistical area, was named after North Carolina industrialist Julian Shakespeare Carr.Located near Chapel Hill and...
, Charter Communications
Charter Communications
Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...
and Main Street Broadband in Siler City
Siler City, North Carolina
Siler City is a town in Chatham County, North Carolina, United States. The population is right at 8,747 within corporate limits and 14,005 within corporate limits and ETJ...
, and DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
in Chatham
Chatham County, North Carolina
Chatham County is a county located in the Piedmont area of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2000, the population was 49,329. Its county seat is Pittsboro.-History:...
, Hoke
Hoke County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 46,952 people, 11,373 households, and 8,745 families residing in the county. The population density was 86 people per square mile . There were 12,518 housing units at an average density of 32 per square mile...
, Lee
Lee County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 49,040 people, 18,466 households, and 13,369 families residing in the county. The population density was 191 people per square mile . There were 19,909 housing units at an average density of 77 per square mile...
, and Orange
Orange County, North Carolina
Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the population was 133,801. Its county seat is Hillsborough...
Counties, which are part of the Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
DMA
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
. WGHP is also available on Time Warner Cable in Salisbury
Salisbury, North Carolina
Salisbury is a city in Rowan County in North Carolina, a state of the United States of America. The population was 33,663 in the 2010 Census . It is the county seat of Rowan County...
, SkyBest TV in Sugar Mountain
Sugar Mountain, North Carolina
Sugar Mountain is a village in Avery County, North Carolina, United States. The village is located on Sugar Mountain's north slope. The population was 226 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Sugar Mountain is located at ....
, Ashe County Cable and Morris Broadband in West Jefferson
West Jefferson, North Carolina
West Jefferson is a town in Ashe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,081 at the 2000 census.-History:West Jefferson was incorporated as a city in 1909, and it is the second-oldest incorporated town in Ashe County. West Jefferson has the distinction of having the only cheese...
, and Zito Media in Creston
Creston, North Carolina
Creston is an unincorporated community in Ashe County, North Carolina, southwest of Grayson. It lies at an elevation of 2,861 feet ....
, which are part of the Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
DMA. The Fox affiliate for that DMA, WCCB
WCCB
WCCB is the Fox affiliate television station in Charlotte, North Carolina. The station's headquarters are located just outside Uptown, off Independence Boulevard across from Bojangles' Coliseum at . It is the flagship station of its owner and operator, Bahakel Communications...
, is not available in Creston. WGHP was previously available on cable in Boone
Boone, North Carolina
Boone is a town located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, United States. Boone's population was reported as 17,122, as of 2010...
as well, but was dropped shortly after switching to Fox.
In Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, WGHP is available on DirecTV in Carroll
Carroll County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 29,245 people, 12,186 households, and 8,786 families residing in the county. The population density was 61 people per square mile . There were 14,680 housing units at an average density of 31 per square mile...
, Grayson
Grayson County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 17,917 people, 7,259 households, and 5,088 families residing in the county. The population density was 40 people per square mile . There were 9,123 housing units at an average density of 21 per square mile...
, and Henry
Henry County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 57,930 people, 23,910 households, and 16,952 families residing in the county. The population density was 152 people per square mile . There were 25,921 housing units at an average density of 68 per square mile...
Counties, and in the Independent Cities
Independent city
An independent city is a city that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity. These type of cities should not be confused with city-states , which are fully sovereign cities that are not part of any other sovereign state.-Historical precursors:In the Holy Roman Empire,...
of Danville
Danville, Virginia
Danville is an independent city in Virginia, United States, bounded by Pittsylvania County, Virginia and Caswell County, North Carolina. It was the last capital of the Confederate States of America. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Danville with Pittsylvania county for...
and Martinsville
Martinsville, Virginia
Martinsville is an independent city which is surrounded by Henry County, Virginia, United States. The population was 13,821 in 2010. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Martinsville with Henry County for statistical purposes...
, which are part of the Roanoke
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...
DMA.
CATV
During the 1970s and 1980s, WGHP was carried in areas much further south and east of High Point. It was once carried in Wadesboro, Albemarle, Rockingham, Laurinburg, Raeford, Rowland and Lumberton in North Carolina. In South Carolina, it was carried in Cheraw and Bennettsville.Digital television
| Channel | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8.1 | 720p 720p 720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
Main WGHP programming / FOX |
| 8.2 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
Antenna TV "TV 8.2" |
WGHP TV8.2 is a charter affiliate of Tribune Broadcasting
Tribune Broadcasting
The Tribune Broadcasting Company is a group of radio and television stations located throughout the United States which are owned and operated by the Tribune Company, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois and named for the flagship Chicago Tribune newspaper.- History :Tribune Broadcasting...
's new digital multicast channel Antenna TV
Antenna TV
Antenna TV is an American digital broadcast television network, primarily featuring classic television series from the 1950s to the 1990s, along with some feature films. It is owned by Tribune Broadcasting, a division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...
, which is carried on digital subchannel 8.2. The network, airing classic sitcoms from the 1950s to the 1980s during the afternoon and evening, and movies during the morning and late night hours, is carried on most LocalTV-owned stations in other markets as well as stations owned by the network's parent company Tribune Broadcasting. WGHP TV8.2 uses the branding "TV8.2" which is a throwback to longtime "TV8" branding of WGHP in the late 70's and early 80's.
The 8.2 subchannel is also carried over channel 126 on the Time Warner Cable digital tier, channel 175 over Charter Communications
Charter Communications
Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...
in North Wilkesboro and channel 510 on Windstream-Lexington. WGHP TV8.2 uses a modified logo of the station's previous logo used from the late 70s to early 80s.
Analog-to-digital transition
Until June 12, 2009, the station broadcast its analog signal on VHF channel 8 and its digital signal on UHF channel 35, using its analog assignment of channel 8 as its virtual digital channel via PSIP. The station is carried on cable channel 10 in most parts of the market. By law, WGHP ceased broadcasting on analog channel 8 and digital on channel 35 at approximately 11:05 PM on June 12, 2009 and began digital only broadcasting on channel 8. The signal was broadcast at full power from an auxiliary tower until the analog transmitter on the main tower could be converted two weeks after the transition.Due to the number of complaints from those unable to pick up the signal on channel 8, WGHP received temporary authorization to return to broadcasting on channel 35 on the afternoon of Friday August 19, 2009. While technical issues with the channel 8 signal were being worked out, WGHP transmitted digitally on both 8 and 35 from August 19 , 2009 until the channel 8 transmitter shutdown on March 8, 2010. On October 14, WGHP requested the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) change its channel from 8 to 35. After the station lost "a sizeable number" of its viewers, the FCC agreed with WGHP's assessment that it would be "best served" by staying on channel 35. On December 15, 2009, the FCC issued a Report & Order, approving WGHP's move from channel 8 to channel 35. At 11:02 a.m. on March 8, 2010, WGHP terminated operations on channel 8, operating solely on channel 35 on a permanent basis.
Programming
WGHP clears the entire Fox network schedule (nightly primetime, Saturday late night, and Fox Sports programming, and the political talk show Fox News SundayFox News Sunday
Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace is a public affairs program on the Fox network, hosted by Chris Wallace and airing on Sunday mornings. The show began on April 28, 1996, which predated the launch of Fox News Channel, and usually talks about items similar to Sunday morning talk shows...
; except for Fox's Saturday morning infomerical block, Weekend Marketplace
Weekend Marketplace
Weekend Marketplace is a two hour Saturday morning block of paid programming airing on Fox that began airing on January 3, 2009, replacing the 4Kids TV Saturday morning cartoon block that aired using time leased by 4Kids from Fox from 2002 until the last Saturday of 2008...
, which airs on WMYV). WGHP, like most Fox stations, airs a mix of talk/court/reality shows in the daytime and sitcoms in the late evening. WGHP is one of numerous Fox stations that carry Divorce Court
Divorce Court
Divorce Court is a judge show about cases which only involve divorcing couples. Out of the shows currently airing in the court-themed genre, Divorce Court is the oldest...
, Judge Alex
Judge Alex
Judge Alex is a United States syndicated courtroom television show that debuted September 12, 2005. The host/arbitrator is the Hon. Alex Ferrer, a former police officer, lawyer, and Florida judge. The show was produced in Houston at the television studios of Fox's KRIV , as was previously done with...
, Judge Joe Brown and Judge Judy
Judge Judy
Judge Judy is an American court show featuring former family court judge Judith Sheindlin arbitrating over small claims cases in small claims court...
(which airs before the 5 p.m. newscast) and Seinfeld (which airs in late night). The station also airs Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood
Access Hollywood is a weekday television entertainment news program covering events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created by former Entertainment Tonight executive producer Jim Van Messel, and is currently directed by Robert Silverstein. In previous years, Doug Dougherty and...
and TMZ on TV
TMZ on TV
TMZ on TV, or simply TMZ and TMZTV, is an American syndicated entertainment and gossip news television show that premiered on September 10, 2007. The program is generally aired on Fox, The CW and MyNetworkTV affiliates, though a majority of the stations that carry the series are Fox affiliates...
weeknights after the 6 p.m. newscast, and airs weekend telecasts of House
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
, Monk
Monk (TV series)
Monk is an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Adrian Monk. It originally ran from 2002 to 2009 and is primarily a mystery series, although it has dark and comic touches.The series debuted on July...
, Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
and Bones
Bones (TV series)
Bones is an American crime drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent...
.
The station currently carries the minimum amount of educational and informational children's programming, as the stations airs a three-hour block of syndicated children's shows consisting of Pets.TV, Dog Tales
Dog Tales
Dog Tales is a weekly half-hour documentary television series which features stories and news about all types of dogs and dog lovers. It is produced by Alex Paen.-External links:*******...
, Animal Rescue
Animal Rescue
Animal Rescue is a TV show hosted and produced by Alex Paen. The show is about people trying to save animals from danger. Animal control officers try to assist animals in unsafe environments and respond other animal related emergencies. It is an eight-time Daytime Emmy nominated show.-External...
, Animal Atlas
Animal Atlas
Animal Atlas is an educational television series which travels the globe to meet all kinds of animals, from the familiar to the astounding. The program is produced by LongNeedle Entertainment and is distributed by NCircle Entertainment and MGM Television....
, Wild About Animals
Wild About Animals
Wild About Animals is a documentary television series about a guide to the world of animals. The series is hosted by Mariette Hartley....
, Jack Hanna's Into the Wild
Jack Hanna's Into the Wild
Jack Hanna's Into the Wild is a reality television series about all different kinds of animals in their natural habitat. This series is hosted by Jack Hanna....
, along with reruns of Saved by the Bell
Saved by the Bell
Saved by the Bell is an American television sitcom that aired between 1989 and 1993. The series is a retooled version of the 1988 series Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which was itself later folded into the history of Saved by the Bell...
on Saturday mornings.
News operation
WGHP broadcasts a total of 44 hours of local news a week (eight hours on weekdays, and two hours each on Saturdays and Sundays), more than any other television station in the state of North Carolina. Local news has been a stable product on WGHP since it went on the air in 1963. During the 1960s and 1970s, advertisements showed local newscasts airing variously sometimes at noon, 6 and 11 p.m., and sometimes at 7 p.m. During the late 1980s and early 1990s WGHP sporadically maintained a full 24-hour broadcast schedule so early morning hours 11 p.m. newscast rebroadcasts were only scheduled when ABC network programming extended long enough to warrant the scheduling of the rebroadcast; in 1994, the station began programming 24 hours a day.During the 1980s, various local long-form morning news programming was carried, eventually settling in to 5-minute updates during ABC's Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
with a noon newscast (dropped in the late 1980s). In the early 1990s, the morning newscast began as an hour-long 6 a.m. newscast, along with a 5 p.m. newscast that expanded to a full hour in 1994. In the last years as an ABC affiliate, ABC's Nightline
Nightline
Nightline, or ABC News Nightline is a late-night news program broadcast by ABC in the United States, and has a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. It airs weeknights, usually for 31 minutes. Created by Roone Arledge, the program featured Ted Koppel as its main...
was delayed by 30 minutes for more profitable syndicated programming, mostly M*A*S*H. At the time of the sale to Fox in 1995, WGHP aired three hours of news daily with the traditional 11 p.m. newscast moving to 10 p.m. and expanding to a full hour, with the daily news output overall expanding to 4½ hours daily immediately after the sale and that time has continuously expanded ever since to the current 8 hours daily with a five-hour morning newscast, a half-hour noon newscast, a 90-minute block of news from 5 to 6:30 p.m. and the primetime 10 p.m. newscast.
From the time that WGHP affiliated with Fox in 1995 and then became a Fox owned-and-operated station in 1996, the station has put more emphasis on its local newscasts; news was expanded to 3½ (later four) hours on weekday mornings, plus the addition of a 5:30 p.m. newscast. WGHP is of only two ex-New World station that Fox did not relaunch a 11 p.m. newscast on its schedule before the completion of the Local TV purchase, as Fox did with some of its other O&O stations (Cleveland's WJW (channel 8) is the other).
WGHP is one of only two ex-New World stations and former Fox O&Os (along with WJW-TV 8 in Cleveland) sold to Local TV without a newscast in the traditional late news timeslot (former sister station WBRC in Birmingham—now owned by Raycom Media—along with WDAF in Kansas City and WITI in Milwaukee already had 10 p.m. newscasts along with its 9 p.m. newscast long before the Local TV purchase and KTVI in St. Louis added a 10 p.m. newscast after its 9 p.m. newscast in 2008, just before the sale closed). Other than WJW and WGHP, KTBC in Austin (which remains an Fox O&O) is the only other ex-New World station without a newscast in the traditional late news timeslot.
On September 13, 2009 starting with the 10 p.m. newscast, WGHP became the first station in the Piedmont Triad in true 16:9 widescreen format (not HD), not only in the studio but local remote live reports also. As of early 2010, WGHP would be joined by the other two major news stations—WFMY-TV and WXII-TV—in broadcasting local newscasts in upconverted widescreen SDTV (at least from the studio). On September 12, 2010 starting with the 10 p.m. newscast, WGHP began broadcasting its local newscasts in 720p
720p
720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan...
high definition, making WGHP the first station in the Piedmont Triad to broadcast its local news programming in high definition. It remained the only station in the Piedmont Triad with high-definition local newscasts for over a year until November 13, 2011 when WFMY-TV upgraded its newscasts from enhanced definition widescreen to full high definition.
On September 12, 2011, WGHP expanded its morning newscast by an hour, adding former employee Nicole Ferguson, and Kerry Charles and Katie Nordeen. It now runs from 5 A.M. to 10 A.M.
Newscast titles
- WGHP-TV News (1963–1964)
- Channel 8 News (1964-1967)
- City Camera News (1967–1970)
- Television 8 News (1970-June 16, 1974)
- TV-8 Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
(June 17, 1974–1986) - The Piedmont News (1986–1990)
- The Piedmont NewsChannel (1990–1994)
- NewsChannel 8 (1994-September 13, 1995)
- FOX8 News (September 14, 1995–present)
Station slogans
- Channel 8 & 8WGHP-TV(1963–1967)
- Channel ei8ht (1967–1976; the name "ei8ht" has also been used by KOMU, WJW, KAITKAITKAIT in Jonesboro, Arkansas is the ABC affiliated television station for Northeastern Arkansas and Southeastern Missouri, offering a mix of news and syndicated programming and local broadcasts. Its transmitter is located in Egypt, Arkansas.-History:...
, and a few others) - We're Still Having Fun, TV-8's The One (1977–1978; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- We're The One You Can Turn To, TV-8 (1978–1979; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- You and Me and TV-8 (1980–1981; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- Now Is The Time, TV-8 is The Place (1981–1982; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- Come on Along with TV-8 (1982–1983; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- That Special Feeling on TV-8 (1983–1984; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- The Piedmont's Favorite News Team (1984–1988)
- You'll Love It on TV-8 (1985–1986; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- Together on TV-8 (1986–1987; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- Something's Happening on Channel 8 (1987–1990; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- WGHPiedmont (1987–1990; used with a triangle 8 logo also used by KSBWKSBWKSBW is a television station in the United States and is the primary NBC affiliate for the Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz, California market. The station is owned by Hearst Television. KSBW has its studios on John Street in downtown Salinas, which is mentioned occasionally during commercial breaks...
) - Piedmont Triad's Watching WGHP (1990–1992; localized version of "America's Watching ABC" ad campaign)
- The Piedmont NewsChannel (1990–2005)
- If It's The Piedmont Triad, It Must Be Channel 8 (1992–1993; localized version of "It Must Be ABC" ad campaign)
- The News Leader (2005–present)
Current on-air staff (as of Sept 2011)
Anchors- Cindy Farmer - weekday mornings Fox 8 Morning News and noon
- Brad Jones - weekday mornings Fox 8 Morning News and noon
- Katie Nordeen - weekday mornings Fox 8 Morning News
- Kerry Charles - weekday mornings Fox 8 Morning News
- Julie Luck - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
- Neill McNeill - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
- Melissa Painter - weekends at 6 and 10 p.m.; also consumer reporter
Weather team
- Van Denton (AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. - Emily Byrd - meteorologist; weekday mornings FOX8 Morning News and noon
- Charles Ewing (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekends at 6 and 10 p.m.
Sports team
- Kevin Connolly - sports anchor; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
- Danny Harnden - sports anchor; weekends at 6 and 10 p.m.; also sports reporter
Reporters
- Roy Ackland - "Roy's Folks" feature reporter
- Tom Britt - weekday morning traffic reporter; also fill-in weather anchor
- Bob Buckley - general assignment reporter
- Brent Campbell - Winston-Salem bureau chief
- Brandon Jones - general assignment reporter
- Doug Luzader - Fox News Washington, D.C. correspondent
- Kristin Nelson - general assignment reporter
- Shannon Smith - weekday morning reporter; also fill-in anchor
- Sheeka Strickland - general assignment reporter
- Chad Tucker - general assignment reporter
- Lindsey Eaton - general assignment reporter
Former on-air staff
- Carol Andrews - anchor (1990-2002)
- Dr. Paul Bearer (Dick Bennick) - host of Shock Theatre (mid-to-late 1960s; deceased)
- Fred Blackman - anchor (1969-2001; retired)
- Rich Brenner - sports (1987-2008; retired)
- Sharon Crews - news and weather anchor (1977-1980)
- Frank Deal - meteorologist (1969-1996; deceased)
- Charlie Harville - sports (1963-1977; deceased)
- Jeff VarnerJeff VarnerJeff Varner is a news anchor and reporter, a former entertainment reporter, and a former contestant on the CBS reality television series, Survivor: The Australian Outback-Early life and education:...
- weekend evening anchor (former evening anchor with WWMTWWMTWWMT is the CBS-affiliated television station for West Michigan licensed to Kalamazoo. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 from a transmitter on Chief Noonday Road/M-179, northwest of Yankee Springs Township, along the Barry and Allegan County line. The station can also...
in Kalamazoo, MichiganKalamazoo, MichiganThe area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
)