WKRN-TV
Encyclopedia
WKRN-TV, virtual channel
2.1 (digital channel 27), is the ABC
-affiliated television station in Nashville, Tennessee
. It is owned by Young Broadcasting
under the operation of Gray Television
. Its transmitter is located in Brentwood, Tennessee
.
In 2009, WKRN-TV turned off its analog transmitter and remained on its pre-transition channel 27. However, through the use of PSIP
, digital television receivers display WKRN-TV's virtual channel
as 2.
). The calls came from the 638 Tire Company in nearby Springfield
, where the Draughon brothers had started WSIX-AM in 1930; neither the radio nor the television stations have ever had the number six in their frequencies, which would explain it otherwise. Originally a CBS
affiliate sharing ABC with WSM-TV (channel 4, now WSMV), it became a full ABC affiliate after only one year when WLAC-TV (channel 5, now WTVF
) signed on and took the CBS affiliation due to WLAC Radio
's long history as a CBS radio affiliate. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
.
Its original studio was on Old Hickory Boulevard, just outside Nashville. In 1961, WSIX-AM-FM
-TV moved to a new studio located at 441 Murfreesboro Road, where the TV station is located today. The current WKRN studios is where the Wilburn Brothers' television program, a Show Biz Inc., production, was produced during the 1960s and 1970s (however, WSM-TV had the rights to air the show in the Nashville market).
WSIX-TV, however, did not have much luck against WSM-TV and WLAC-TV. Part of the problem was a weak signal, as its transmitter was short-spaced to channel 8 in Atlanta
--occupied first by WLWA-TV (now WXIA-TV
) and currently occupied by WGTV
. WSIX-TV was also hampered by a weaker network affiliation (ABC was not truly competitive with CBS and NBC until well into the 1970s).
The Draughons sold the WSIX stations to General Electric
in 1966. In 1972, GE cut a deal with Nashville's PBS
station, WDCN-TV (now WNPT), then on channel 2, to swap dial positions. GE did this because the channel 2 signal travels farther than the channel 8 signal under most conditions. The swap occurred on December 11, 1973, in the middle of evening prime-time programming. At the same time, even though General Electric still owned WSIX-AM-FM, it changed WSIX-TV's callsign to WNGE-TV (for Nashville General Electric), leaving the radio stations' call letters intact. This was only the third facility swap in American television history.
Knight Ridder
bought WNGE-TV in 1983 and changed the calls to the current WKRN-TV. Young Broadcasting bought the station in 1989. It is merely a coincidence that the call letters reflect Young Broadcasting's flagship outlet, KRON-TV
in San Francisco. Like all other ABC affiliates owned by Young Broadcasting, WKRN preempted ABC's broadcast of the movie Saving Private Ryan
in 2004.
In August 2009, Gray Television
took over management of WKRN as a consequence of the bankruptcy of Young Broadcasting, who continues to hold the license and facilities of the station.
to air Bridgestone
Titans on 2 with Mike Munchak
, the team's coach's show that originally aired from 8pm-9pm Tuesday evenings, pre-empting ABC programming in that timeslot during the NFL season (which has featured low-rated and critically drubbed sitcoms for the majority of the 2000s). The show can now be seen on Tuesday and Saturday evenings at 6:30pm, pre-empting Wheel of Fortune in that timeslot during football season.
The station received heavy criticism from viewers in November 2009 for not airing V
at the network's original timeslot. V then aired early Wednesday mornings after Jimmy Kimmel Live! . WKRN claimed the thirteen-year agreement to air the coach's show does not allow for the moving of that show to accommodate high-demand network programming without notice months in advance. However, in the past the program has moved at times to accommodate other high-demand programs such as Dancing with the Stars during the early portion of the season and network holiday programming. The station also reversed a plan to air V over NashvilleWX on digital channel 2.2 at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays the day before the premiere. WKRN's sister station in Green Bay
, WBAY-TV
(coincidentally, also broadcasting on virtual channel 2) also faced the same situation with a locally produced football program covering the Green Bay Packers NFL team, but after a week moved that program to air before primetime to accommodate V.
On October 11, 2011, WKRN started broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition
, becoming the last Nashville television station to do so. This included a brand new news set that was built in a separate studio, replacing the working newsroom set that had been their home since the 1980s.
Before the advent of satellite technology in the 1980s, the Vanderbilt Television News Archive
taped all ABC News broadcasts from the airwaves of WSIX/WNGE/WKRN.
Weather team
Sports team
Reporters
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
2.1 (digital channel 27), is the 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...
-affiliated television station in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. It is owned by Young Broadcasting
Young Broadcasting
New Young Broadcasting Holding Co, Inc. is an owner of 14 television stations in 11 United States media markets. The company was formerly known as Young Broadcasting Inc. and was the outgrowth of the ad representation/invest firm Adam Young, Inc. which was founded in 1944 by Adam Young and is...
under the operation of Gray Television
Gray Television
Gray Television, Inc. is a communications company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with administrative offices in Albany, Georgia.Established in 1946 by James H...
. Its transmitter is located in Brentwood, Tennessee
Brentwood, Tennessee
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 23,445 people, 7,693 households, and 6,808 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 7,889 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.63% European American, 1.89% African American,...
.
Digital programming
| Channel | Video Display resolution The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by all different factors in cathode ray tube , flat panel or projection... |
Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | 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 ... |
WKRN-DT | Main WKRN programming / ABC |
| 2.2 | 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... |
4:3 | WKRN-WX | Nashville WX Channel |
In 2009, WKRN-TV turned off its analog transmitter and remained on its pre-transition channel 27. However, through the use of PSIP
Program and System Information Protocol
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
, digital television receivers display WKRN-TV's virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
as 2.
History
The station first signed on the air on channel 8 on November 29, 1953 as WSIX-TV, the second television station in Nashville. It was owned by Louis and Jack Draughon along with WSIX Radio (980 AM, now WYFNBible Broadcasting Network
The Bible Broadcasting Network is a listener-supported global Christian radio network staffed and headquartered in Charlotte, NC. The programming consists of 50% outside ministries, 30% music and 20% BBN produced programs...
). The calls came from the 638 Tire Company in nearby Springfield
Springfield, Tennessee
Springfield is a city in Robertson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 14,329 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Robertson County.-Geography:Springfield is located at ....
, where the Draughon brothers had started WSIX-AM in 1930; neither the radio nor the television stations have ever had the number six in their frequencies, which would explain it otherwise. Originally a 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 sharing ABC with WSM-TV (channel 4, now WSMV), it became a full ABC affiliate after only one year when WLAC-TV (channel 5, now WTVF
WTVF
WTVF is the CBS-affiliated television station for Middle Tennessee that is licensed to Nashville. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 5 from a transmitter north of downtown along I-24. Owned by Landmark Media Enterprises, the station has studios on James Robertson Parkway...
) signed on and took the CBS affiliation due to WLAC Radio
WLAC
WLAC is a clear channel radio station based in Nashville, Tennessee, operating at 1510 kHz on the AM dial.-Early history:Its first broadcast took place on November 24, 1926. The call letters were chosen to contain an acronym for the first owner of the station, the Life and Casualty Insurance...
's long history as a CBS radio affiliate. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
NTA Film Network
The NTA Film Network was an early American television network founded by Ely Landau in 1956. The network was not a full-time television network like CBS, NBC, or ABC. Rather, it operated on a part-time basis, broadcasting films and several first-run television programs from major Hollywood studios...
.
Its original studio was on Old Hickory Boulevard, just outside Nashville. In 1961, WSIX-AM-FM
WSIX-FM
WSIX-FM is an FM radio station broadcasting in Nashville, Tennessee on a frequency of 97.9 MHz. It is owned by Clear Channel Communications...
-TV moved to a new studio located at 441 Murfreesboro Road, where the TV station is located today. The current WKRN studios is where the Wilburn Brothers' television program, a Show Biz Inc., production, was produced during the 1960s and 1970s (however, WSM-TV had the rights to air the show in the Nashville market).
WSIX-TV, however, did not have much luck against WSM-TV and WLAC-TV. Part of the problem was a weak signal, as its transmitter was short-spaced to channel 8 in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
--occupied first by WLWA-TV (now WXIA-TV
WXIA-TV
WXIA-TV, virtual channel 11.1 , is the NBC-affiliated television station in Atlanta, Georgia. Popularly known by its 11 Alive moniker, WXIA is owned by the Gannett Company in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate WATL...
) and currently occupied by WGTV
WGTV
WGTV channel 8 is the metro Atlanta station and flagship for Georgia Public Broadcasting , Georgia's Public Broadcasting Service Public television network....
. WSIX-TV was also hampered by a weaker network affiliation (ABC was not truly competitive with CBS and NBC until well into the 1970s).
The Draughons sold the WSIX stations to General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
in 1966. In 1972, GE cut a deal with Nashville's PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
station, WDCN-TV (now WNPT), then on channel 2, to swap dial positions. GE did this because the channel 2 signal travels farther than the channel 8 signal under most conditions. The swap occurred on December 11, 1973, in the middle of evening prime-time programming. At the same time, even though General Electric still owned WSIX-AM-FM, it changed WSIX-TV's callsign to WNGE-TV (for Nashville General Electric), leaving the radio stations' call letters intact. This was only the third facility swap in American television history.
Knight Ridder
Knight Ridder
Knight Ridder was an American media company, specializing in newspaper and Internet publishing. Until it was bought by The McClatchy Company on June 27, 2006, it was the second-largest newspaper publisher in the United States, with 32 daily newspapers sold.- History :The corporate ancestors of...
bought WNGE-TV in 1983 and changed the calls to the current WKRN-TV. Young Broadcasting bought the station in 1989. It is merely a coincidence that the call letters reflect Young Broadcasting's flagship outlet, KRON-TV
KRON-TV
KRON-TV, virtual channel 4 , is a television station in San Francisco, California, serving as the Bay Area affiliate of the MyNetworkTV programming service; the station is owned by Young Broadcasting...
in San Francisco. Like all other ABC affiliates owned by Young Broadcasting, WKRN preempted ABC's broadcast of the movie Saving Private Ryan
Saving Private Ryan
Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American war film set during the invasion of Normandy in World War II. It was directed by Steven Spielberg, with a screenplay by Robert Rodat. The film is notable for the intensity of its opening 27 minutes, which depicts the Omaha Beach assault of June 6, 1944....
in 2004.
In August 2009, Gray Television
Gray Television
Gray Television, Inc. is a communications company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with administrative offices in Albany, Georgia.Established in 1946 by James H...
took over management of WKRN as a consequence of the bankruptcy of Young Broadcasting, who continues to hold the license and facilities of the station.
Programming
The station has an agreement with the Tennessee TitansTennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
to air Bridgestone
Bridgestone
The is a multinational rubber conglomerate founded in 1931 by in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of ishibashi, meaning "stone bridge" in Japanese....
Titans on 2 with Mike Munchak
Mike Munchak
Michael Anthony Munchak is the head coach of the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League. He played college football as a offensive lineman for Penn State University from 1978 to 1981. After his career at Penn State, He was drafted in the first round of the 1982 NFL Draft by the Houston...
, the team's coach's show that originally aired from 8pm-9pm Tuesday evenings, pre-empting ABC programming in that timeslot during the NFL season (which has featured low-rated and critically drubbed sitcoms for the majority of the 2000s). The show can now be seen on Tuesday and Saturday evenings at 6:30pm, pre-empting Wheel of Fortune in that timeslot during football season.
The station received heavy criticism from viewers in November 2009 for not airing V
V (2009 TV series)
V is an American science fiction television series that ran for two seasons on ABC, from November 3, 2009 to March 15, 2011. A remake of the 1983 miniseries created by Kenneth Johnson, the new series chronicles the arrival on Earth of a technologically advanced alien species which ostensibly comes...
at the network's original timeslot. V then aired early Wednesday mornings after Jimmy Kimmel Live! . WKRN claimed the thirteen-year agreement to air the coach's show does not allow for the moving of that show to accommodate high-demand network programming without notice months in advance. However, in the past the program has moved at times to accommodate other high-demand programs such as Dancing with the Stars during the early portion of the season and network holiday programming. The station also reversed a plan to air V over NashvilleWX on digital channel 2.2 at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays the day before the premiere. WKRN's sister station in Green Bay
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
, WBAY-TV
WBAY-TV
WBAY-TV is the ABC television affiliate in Green Bay, Wisconsin, broadcasting on UHF digital channel 23 from a transmitter located in the town of Ledgeview, Wisconsin, and master control based in its building in downtown Green Bay...
(coincidentally, also broadcasting on virtual channel 2) also faced the same situation with a locally produced football program covering the Green Bay Packers NFL team, but after a week moved that program to air before primetime to accommodate V.
News operation
The two main evening news anchors, Bob Mueller and Anne Holt, have been associated with WKRN since the early 1980s. WKRN is also the only traditional network affiliate in Nashville that does not run an hourlong newscast at 6 p.m., although its newscasts for the evening begin at 4 p.m., including ABC's World News with Diane Sawyer at 5:30 p.m.On October 11, 2011, WKRN started broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
, becoming the last Nashville television station to do so. This included a brand new news set that was built in a separate studio, replacing the working newsroom set that had been their home since the 1980s.
Before the advent of satellite technology in the 1980s, the Vanderbilt Television News Archive
Vanderbilt Television News Archive
The Vanderbilt Television News Archive, founded in August 1968, maintains a library of televised network news programs. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, the Vanderbilt Television News Archive is a unit of the Vanderbilt University Libraries.-Collection:...
taped all ABC News broadcasts from the airwaves of WSIX/WNGE/WKRN.
Newscast titles
- WSIX-TV News (1953–1961)
- The Tennessee Report (1961–1965)
- The Six O'Clock Report/The Eleven O'Clock Report (1965–1968)
- Newsnight (1968–1969)
- 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...
(1969–1972) - The Big News (1972–1974)
- Dateline: Today (1974–1975)
- NewsCenter 2 (1975–1976)
- NewsWatch 2 (1976–1983)
- Channel 2 News (1983–1994)
- News 2 (1994–2011)
- Nashville's News 2 (2011–present)
Station slogans
- The Powerhouse! (1973–1975)
- We're The One You Can Turn To Channel 2 (1978-1979; local version of ABC ad campaign)
- 2 a New Beat (1979–1980)
- The News Specialists (1981–1983)
- Come on Along with Channel 2 (1982–1983; local version of ABC ad campaign)
- Let's Get Involved (1983–1985)
- The Winner's Circle! (1985–1986)
- Something's Happening Here (1987–1990; local version of ABC ad campaign)
- On Your Side (1990–1996)
- Where Coverage Comes First! (1996–1998)
- First. Fast. Accurate. (1998–present; news slogan)
- Start Here (2007–present; local version of ABC ad campaign)
Current on-air staff (as of October 2011)
Current anchors- John Dwyer - weekdays at 4 and 4:30, and Sundays at 5 and 10 p.m.
- Anne Holt - weekdays at 4 and 4:30,, and weeknights at 5 and 6 p.m.
- Erin Holt - Saturdays at 5 and 10 p.m.; also reporter
- Julie Kroenig - weekday mornings News 2 This Morning (4-7 a.m.)
- Bob Mueller - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.; also host of This Week with Bob Mueller
- Lauren Murphy - weekend mornings News 2 This Morning Weekend
- Neil Orne - weekday mornings News 2 This Morning (4-7 a.m.)
Weather team
- Lisa Patton - chief meteorologist; weekdays at 4 and 4:30, and weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
- Justin Bruce - meteorologist; weekday mornings News 2 This Morning (4-7 a.m.)
- Davis Nolan (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...
Certified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...
Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend mornings News 2 This Morning Weekend - Allison Chinchar - meteorologist; weekends at 5 and 10 p.m.
Sports team
- Cory Curtis - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 10 p.m.
- Dawn Davenport - sports anchor; weekends at 5 and 10 p.m., also sports reporter
Reporters
- Jerry Barlar - general assignment reporter
- Chris Bundgaard - general assignment reporter
- Andy Cordan - general assignment reporter
- Todd Dunn - general assignment reporter
- Roxanna Haynes - general assignment reporter
- Karen Higbee - general assignment reporter
- Erin Holt - general assignment reporter
- Heather Jensen - weekday morning reporter
- Tiani Jones - general assignment reporter; also fill-in anchor
- Lori Mitchell - general assignment reporter; also fill-in anchor
- Amy Napier Viteri - general assignment reporter
- Joseph Pleasant - general assignment reporter
- Jamey Tucker - general assignment reporter