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WAFF (TV)
Encyclopedia
WAFF is the NBC
television network
affiliate
in Huntsville, Alabama
. The station broadcasts on UHF channel 49 (PSIP 48) and serves the northern portion of Alabama
and several counties in southern Tennessee
.
WMSL-AM. WMSL originally carried programming from all four networks of the time - NBC
, CBS
, ABC
and the DuMont Network
- but was a primary NBC affiliate. It lost the DuMont Network when that one began closing down in 1955; it lost ABC when WAAY-TV
started in Huntsville in 1959 as an ABC affiliate; and at lost CBS when WHNT-TV
began transmitting as a CBS affiliate in 1963.
During the late 1950s, WMSL was also affiliated briefly with the NTA Film Network
.
Until the early 1960s, Decatur was the largest city
in the viewing area, and it was centrally located - thus making it a good location for the Tennessee Valley region's first TV station. However, when Huntsville became the region's largest city due to the exponential growth of U.S. Army Missile Command and NASA
installations, Whisenant decided to move the transmitter for WMSL - TV there. However, because the station's original channel assignment, channel 23, was too close in frequency to a nearby transmitter of Alabama Public Television
, WHIQ - TV, channel 25 in Huntsville, the F.C.C.
told WMSL - TV to move to channel 48 as a condition on its permit to relocate its city of license. WMSL-TV began broadcasting on channel 48 on January 7, 1969, while simultaneously continuing to transmit on channel 23 for several days afterwards. Then channel 23 in Decatur went dark. Some weeks later, Whisenant closed the station's studios in Decatur when the new studios opened in Huntsville. In the meantime, Whisenant sold the WMSL radio station
to Clete Quick, another Decatur businessman. This radio station now uses the call letters WWTM
.
affiliation by default, made persistent efforts to serve its greatly expanded viewing area, which now included most of The Shoals
region of northwestern Alabama.
Perhaps most notable (and surely most beloved) of WMSL-TV's local programs was the weekday children's show hosted by station general manager Benny Carle (born Benny Digesu), a Birmingham
native who honed his talents for many years on WBRC-TV there. The show was typical for its day, featuring about 10 to 15 school-aged children in the studio with the host, who conducted party games, told stories, and engaged in clownish behavior; cartoons were shown during the one-hour (later 30-minute) late-afternoon (later mid-morning) program. He began the show in the mid-1960s, while the station was still in Decatur, and continued it until 1975, when ABC's Good Morning America
took over its morning time slot. Carle now owns radio station WBCF and low-power TV station WBCF-LP in Florence, Alabama
, which he established after leaving channel 48. Another notable program during that period was a Saturday-afternoon teenage dance show, which ran after the similar American Bandstand
(although the local show resembled Soul Train
more closely), that holds the honor of being the first television program exclusively aimed at northern Alabama's African-American population. The program was hosted by Nat Tate, who until his December 2007 death worked for radio stations in the Decatur area and served as a Baptist
minister.
-based company, which renamed the station WYUR-TV on March 9, 1975. Despite more aggressive attempts to promote its newscast, WYUR-TV's ratings were far behind WAAY and CBS
affiliate WHNT. Then, in 1978, AFLAC
, then known by its full name of American Family Life Assurance Company, bought the station, re-christening it WAFF-TV. Some months earlier, on December 11, 1977, WAAY decided to return to ABC, as that network had become the nation's most popular, in prime time
programming especially; this left channel 48 with the then-less-desirable NBC affiliation. AFLAC did not immediately turn the corner with WAFF-TV; the station kept fine-tuning its newscasts and acquiring some nationally popular syndicated
programs, but very little seemed to work.
Still, the station pressed forward; around 1980 or 1981 a new tower was constructed on the south end of Monte Sano, adjacent to the station's studios. The tower measured some 1,476 feet in height and was constructed in an effort to provide better reception to viewers across northern Alabama and southern middle Tennessee. The weather forecaster at the time, Glenn Bracken, held a coloring contest for schoolchildren across the viewing area, whereby they could depict their scenes of the new "tall tower" and incorporate WAFF's marketing message "New Tall Tower Means More Picture Power" and have their drawing and name presented during the nightly weather forecast (which usually took place on a balcony outside the news studio's doors). Also, during this period, WAFF began airing promotional spots showing various scenes of its news personalities interacting with residents of its viewing area, along with its news helicopter, "Sky48," to a song titled "We're Your Kind of People."
companies, who provided NBC
programming feeds from WSMV-TV
in Nashville
and WVTM-TV in Birmingham
, both of which were available in their own rights on many northern Alabama cable systems prior to 1990. Eventually, WAFF-TV would rebuild at a new location, occupying a former jewelry store on North Memorial Parkway, some miles away from Monte Sano; microwave links connected the studios to the transmitter and tower. The fire would also prompt Huntsville city officials to repair the water pressure situation and build a new fire station atop Monte Sano, which sits directly across from WAAY's studios.
, Jeopardy!
, and Wheel of Fortune made it a hit with viewers in the Tennessee Valley
region. Since that time, the station has experienced continued success.
As with the other two major-network Huntsville stations, weather forecasting became a very high priority for WAFF-TV in the 1990s, especially after the city experienced a devastating tornado in November 1989. The station constructed a doppler radar and began to use highly sophisticated meteorological
equipment.
of Montgomery, Ala.
in the late 1990s.
Notable news personalities over the years have included Newman Milwee, Bob Gord, Hans Sitarz, Paul Buxton, Robert Lane, Greg McCambell, Tom Kennemer, Missy Ming, Bob Baron, Kelly Cooper,Bruce Cunningham, Roy Ackland, Tony Troiano, Janette Smith, Jay Prater, Mark Thornhill, Kimberly Essex, Lee Marshall, Liz Hurley, Rudy Koski, Amy Witte, Tim Hall, Michael Gibson, Glenn Bracken, Brad Travis, Will Kennedy, Gasia Mikaelian, Ryan Korsgard, Varion Walton, Kristin Tallent, and Rachad Hollis.
WAFF received national media attention on July 29, 2010 when a report aired on July 28 became a viral video
known as the Bed Intruder Song
. The video features the reaction of Antoine Dodson
in response to a rape attempt on his sister, Kelly Dodson.
At 4:30 a.m. on October 25, 2010, WAFF began broadcasting its news programming in high definition, making it the first station in the Huntsville television market to do so. However, while the station's studio shots are in high definition, much of WAFF's field video has remained in widescreen standard definition even after rival WHNT-TV upgraded to full high-definition newscasts in February 2011.
WAFF's live radar, "Live Doppler 48," was destroyed when it was hit by a tornado on April 27, 2011. A camera mounted on the tower showed the tornado approaching the radar moments before it struck.
, Montgomery's WSFA
, and Birmingham's WBRC
in which stations share information, equipment such as satellite trucks or even reporters' stories. Between them, these four stations cover the state of Alabama. The four stations also comprise the Raycom Weather Network and the Raycom Alabama Weather Blog, where meteorologists from all four stations post forecasts and storm reports, as well as live feeds from all of the cameras that the four stations operate. The site also has live feeds of the radars of WTVM, WSFA, WBRC, WAFF. The only Raycom station in Alabama not participating in the arrangement is WDFX-TV
in the Dothan
area, which receives its news programming from WSFA.
Digital channels>
Channel
Programming
48.1
Main WAFF Programming / NBC
48.2
This TV
48.3
Bounce TV
(Coming 9/26/2011)
, it, according to an FCC filing, was to move back to channel 48 and increase power. However, this move did not take place and WAFF-TV remains on RF channel 49 with a low-powered signal.
WAFF 48 Storm Team:
Sports anchors:
Traffic reporter:
Reporters:
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...
television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
affiliate
Network affiliate
In the broadcasting industry , a network affiliate is a local broadcaster which carries some or all of the television program or radio program line-up of a television or radio network, but is owned by a company other than the owner of the network...
in Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
. The station broadcasts on UHF channel 49 (PSIP 48) and serves the northern portion of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
and several counties in southern Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
.
Decatur years, 1954 - 69
The station first began broadcasting from studios and transmitters in Decatur (30 miles / 50 km west of Huntsville) on July 4, 1954, as WMSL-TV, channel 23. It was owned by Frank Whisenant, a Decatur businessman who also owned the radio stationRadio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
WMSL-AM. WMSL originally carried programming from all four networks of the time - 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...
, 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...
, 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...
and the DuMont Network
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
- but was a primary NBC affiliate. It lost the DuMont Network when that one began closing down in 1955; it lost ABC when WAAY-TV
WAAY-TV
WAAY-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Tennessee Valley area of North Alabama that is licensed to Huntsville. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 32 from a transmitter at its Monte Sano Boulevard studios on top of Monte Sano Mountain. Calkins Media owns...
started in Huntsville in 1959 as an ABC affiliate; and at lost CBS when WHNT-TV
WHNT-TV
WHNT-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Tennessee Valley area of North Alabama that is licensed to Huntsville. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 19 from a transmitter on Monte Sano. Owned by Local TV, the station has studios on Holmes Avenue Northwest in...
began transmitting as a CBS affiliate in 1963.
During the late 1950s, WMSL was also affiliated briefly 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...
.
Until the early 1960s, Decatur was the largest city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
in the viewing area, and it was centrally located - thus making it a good location for the Tennessee Valley region's first TV station. However, when Huntsville became the region's largest city due to the exponential growth of U.S. Army Missile Command and NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
installations, Whisenant decided to move the transmitter for WMSL - TV there. However, because the station's original channel assignment, channel 23, was too close in frequency to a nearby transmitter of Alabama Public Television
Alabama Public Television
Alabama Public Television is a state network of Public Broadcasting Service member non-commercial educational Public television stations serving the US state of Alabama. The television stations are licensed by the Alabama Educational Television Commission, which was created by the Alabama state...
, WHIQ - TV, channel 25 in Huntsville, the F.C.C.
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...
told WMSL - TV to move to channel 48 as a condition on its permit to relocate its city of license. WMSL-TV began broadcasting on channel 48 on January 7, 1969, while simultaneously continuing to transmit on channel 23 for several days afterwards. Then channel 23 in Decatur went dark. Some weeks later, Whisenant closed the station's studios in Decatur when the new studios opened in Huntsville. In the meantime, Whisenant sold the WMSL radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
to Clete Quick, another Decatur businessman. This radio station now uses the call letters WWTM
WWTM
WWTM is a sports/talk formatted radio station licensed to Decatur, Alabama, that serves Decatur, Huntsville, and the northwest Alabama region. The station is owned by R & B Communications, Inc.-Programming:...
.
Early years in Huntsville, 1969 - 74
In January 1968, about a year before moving to Huntsville, WMSL-TV lost the NBC affiliation to rival WAAY, which had built a greater audience in northern Alabama and thus was more attractive to the network. Still, the new channel 48, which got the ABCAmerican 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...
affiliation by default, made persistent efforts to serve its greatly expanded viewing area, which now included most of The Shoals
The Shoals
The Shoals is a metropolitan area in northwestern Alabama, officially known as the Florence-Muscle Shoals Metropolitan Area, including the cities of Florence, Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia, and Sheffield, and the counties of Lauderdale and Colbert...
region of northwestern Alabama.
Perhaps most notable (and surely most beloved) of WMSL-TV's local programs was the weekday children's show hosted by station general manager Benny Carle (born Benny Digesu), a 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...
native who honed his talents for many years on WBRC-TV there. The show was typical for its day, featuring about 10 to 15 school-aged children in the studio with the host, who conducted party games, told stories, and engaged in clownish behavior; cartoons were shown during the one-hour (later 30-minute) late-afternoon (later mid-morning) program. He began the show in the mid-1960s, while the station was still in Decatur, and continued it until 1975, when 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...
took over its morning time slot. Carle now owns radio station WBCF and low-power TV station WBCF-LP in Florence, Alabama
Florence, Alabama
Florence is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the northwestern corner of the state.According to the 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the city's population was 36,721....
, which he established after leaving channel 48. Another notable program during that period was a Saturday-afternoon teenage dance show, which ran after the similar American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
(although the local show resembled Soul Train
Soul Train
Soul Train is an American musical variety show that aired in syndication from October 1971 to March 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists, although funk, jazz, disco, and gospel artists have also appeared.As a nod to Soul Trains...
more closely), that holds the honor of being the first television program exclusively aimed at northern Alabama's African-American population. The program was hosted by Nat Tate, who until his December 2007 death worked for radio stations in the Decatur area and served as a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
minister.
Call sign and ownership changes
In 1974, Whisenant sold the station to a VermontVermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
-based company, which renamed the station WYUR-TV on March 9, 1975. Despite more aggressive attempts to promote its newscast, WYUR-TV's ratings were far behind WAAY 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 WHNT. Then, in 1978, AFLAC
Aflac
Aflac Incorporated is the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States, founded in 1955 and based in Columbus, Georgia. In the United States, Aflac underwrites a wide range of insurance policies, but is perhaps more known for its payroll deduction insurance coverage, which pays...
, then known by its full name of American Family Life Assurance Company, bought the station, re-christening it WAFF-TV. Some months earlier, on December 11, 1977, WAAY decided to return to ABC, as that network had become the nation's most popular, in prime time
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
programming especially; this left channel 48 with the then-less-desirable NBC affiliation. AFLAC did not immediately turn the corner with WAFF-TV; the station kept fine-tuning its newscasts and acquiring some nationally popular syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programs, but very little seemed to work.
Still, the station pressed forward; around 1980 or 1981 a new tower was constructed on the south end of Monte Sano, adjacent to the station's studios. The tower measured some 1,476 feet in height and was constructed in an effort to provide better reception to viewers across northern Alabama and southern middle Tennessee. The weather forecaster at the time, Glenn Bracken, held a coloring contest for schoolchildren across the viewing area, whereby they could depict their scenes of the new "tall tower" and incorporate WAFF's marketing message "New Tall Tower Means More Picture Power" and have their drawing and name presented during the nightly weather forecast (which usually took place on a balcony outside the news studio's doors). Also, during this period, WAFF began airing promotional spots showing various scenes of its news personalities interacting with residents of its viewing area, along with its news helicopter, "Sky48," to a song titled "We're Your Kind of People."
1982 studio fire and aftermath
On the evening of March 24, 1982, the station's building, situated on the side of Monte Sano overlooking Huntsville proper, caught fire and burned to the ground. Local firefighters could not control the blaze since the fire hydrant at the end of the driveway had not yet been connected to the water main and the water pressure at nearby hydrants was particularly low; this situation would later prompt competitor WHNT to relocate to downtown Huntsville, some years later. It was only a few days, however, before WAFF-TV began broadcasting again through the auspices of local cableCable
A cable is two or more wires running side by side and bonded, twisted or braided together to form a single assembly. In mechanics cables, otherwise known as wire ropes, are used for lifting, hauling and towing or conveying force through tension. In electrical engineering cables are used to carry...
companies, who provided 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...
programming feeds from WSMV-TV
WSMV-TV
WSMV-TV, virtual channel 4, is the NBC-affiliated television station serving the Nashville, Tennessee area. It broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 10. Owned by Meredith Corporation, its transmitter and tower are located adjacent to its studios on Knob Road in west Nashville, south of...
in Nashville
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...
and WVTM-TV 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...
, both of which were available in their own rights on many northern Alabama cable systems prior to 1990. Eventually, WAFF-TV would rebuild at a new location, occupying a former jewelry store on North Memorial Parkway, some miles away from Monte Sano; microwave links connected the studios to the transmitter and tower. The fire would also prompt Huntsville city officials to repair the water pressure situation and build a new fire station atop Monte Sano, which sits directly across from WAAY's studios.
Beginnings of success, 1980s
The disaster may have proved to be a blessing in disguise, as AFLAC began investing money in developing talent and production facilities, enabling WAFF-TV to start making a serious ratings impact for the first time. Not only did the station benefit from the renewed popularity of NBC in the mid-1980s, but its acquisitions of highly popular syndicated shows like OprahThe Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
, and Wheel of Fortune made it a hit with viewers in the Tennessee Valley
Tennessee Valley
The Tennessee Valley is the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and is largely within the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from southwest Kentucky to northwest Georgia and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina...
region. Since that time, the station has experienced continued success.
As with the other two major-network Huntsville stations, weather forecasting became a very high priority for WAFF-TV in the 1990s, especially after the city experienced a devastating tornado in November 1989. The station constructed a doppler radar and began to use highly sophisticated meteorological
Meteorology
Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere. Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the 18th century. The 19th century saw breakthroughs occur after observing networks developed across several countries...
equipment.
Recent history
AFLAC sold WAFF-TV, along with its other broadcasting properties, to Raycom MediaRaycom Media
- History :Although Raycom Media dates its birth to 1996, the core of the company was formed in 1992 when Atlanta native Bert Ellis formed Ellis Communications. He eventually controlled 13 television stations and two radio stations....
of Montgomery, Ala.
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
in the late 1990s.
Notable news personalities over the years have included Newman Milwee, Bob Gord, Hans Sitarz, Paul Buxton, Robert Lane, Greg McCambell, Tom Kennemer, Missy Ming, Bob Baron, Kelly Cooper,Bruce Cunningham, Roy Ackland, Tony Troiano, Janette Smith, Jay Prater, Mark Thornhill, Kimberly Essex, Lee Marshall, Liz Hurley, Rudy Koski, Amy Witte, Tim Hall, Michael Gibson, Glenn Bracken, Brad Travis, Will Kennedy, Gasia Mikaelian, Ryan Korsgard, Varion Walton, Kristin Tallent, and Rachad Hollis.
WAFF received national media attention on July 29, 2010 when a report aired on July 28 became a viral video
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
known as the Bed Intruder Song
Bed Intruder Song
"Bed Intruder Song" is a song by The Gregory Brothers and Antoine Dodson , featuring Kelly Dodson. The song by the Auto-Tune the News creators features processed vocals of Antoine Dodson, who was talking to a news reporter about the attempted rape of his sister Kelly...
. The video features the reaction of Antoine Dodson
Antoine Dodson
Kevin Antoine Dodson is an 'accidental singer', actor, and former resident of the Lincoln Park housing project in Huntsville, Alabama, whose interview on local television news became an Internet sensation and resulted in an Auto-Tuned song by The Gregory Brothers that "has sold thousands of copies...
in response to a rape attempt on his sister, Kelly Dodson.
At 4:30 a.m. on October 25, 2010, WAFF began broadcasting its news programming in high definition, making it the first station in the Huntsville television market to do so. However, while the station's studio shots are in high definition, much of WAFF's field video has remained in widescreen standard definition even after rival WHNT-TV upgraded to full high-definition newscasts in February 2011.
WAFF's live radar, "Live Doppler 48," was destroyed when it was hit by a tornado on April 27, 2011. A camera mounted on the tower showed the tornado approaching the radar moments before it struck.
Raycom News Network and Raycom Weather Network
WAFF is part of the Raycom News Network, a system designed to rapidly share information among a group of four Raycom-owned stations and websites serving the state of Alabama. A regional network has developed among Columbus/Phenix City's WTVMWTVM
WTVM is the ABC-affiliated television station for Columbus, Georgia. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter in Cusseta. The station can also be seen on Charter, Knology, and Mediacom channel 10...
, Montgomery's WSFA
WSFA
WSFA is the NBC-affiliated television station for Central Alabama's Black Belt region licensed to Montgomery. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 12 from a transmitter in Grady along the Montgomery and Pike County line. The station can also be seen on Knology and Charter...
, and Birmingham's 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...
in which stations share information, equipment such as satellite trucks or even reporters' stories. Between them, these four stations cover the state of Alabama. The four stations also comprise the Raycom Weather Network and the Raycom Alabama Weather Blog, where meteorologists from all four stations post forecasts and storm reports, as well as live feeds from all of the cameras that the four stations operate. The site also has live feeds of the radars of WTVM, WSFA, WBRC, WAFF. The only Raycom station in Alabama not participating in the arrangement is WDFX-TV
WDFX-TV
WDFX-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Southeastern Alabama's Wiregrass Region licensed to Ozark. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 33 from a transmitter in Wicksburg. The station can also be seen on Knology channel 5 as well as Comcast and Time Warner...
in the Dothan
Dothan, Alabama
Dothan is a city located in the southeastern corner of the US state of Alabama, situated approximately west of the Georgia state line and north of Florida. It is the seat of Houston County, with portions extending into nearby Dale County and Henry County...
area, which receives its news programming from WSFA.
Digital television
The station's digital channel:This TV
This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....
Bounce TV
Bounce TV is a United States television network airing on digital terrestrial television stations. Promoted as "the first 24/7 digital multicast broadcast network created exclusively for African Americans," Bounce TV launched on September 26, 2011 and features programming geared toward blacks in...
(Coming 9/26/2011)
Post-analog shutdown
WAFF ended programming on its analog signal, on June 12, 2009, as part of the DTV transition in the United StatesDTV transition in the United States
The DTV transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of free over-the-air television programming...
, it, according to an FCC filing, was to move back to channel 48 and increase power. However, this move did not take place and WAFF-TV remains on RF channel 49 with a low-powered signal.
Newscast titles
- Your Esso Reporter (1954–1960)
- The Valley Report (1960–1963)
- The Gibson/Bracken Report (1963–1970)
- Newsnight (1970–1974)
- Valley News at 10 O'Clock (1974–1975)
- Region Report (1975–1977)
- News 48/News 48 Update (6pm and 10pm) (1977–1982)
- First News 48 (1982–1983)
- The News 48 (1983–1987)
- WAFF 48 News (1987–1994 and 1997–present)
- The Tennessee Valley NewsChannel (1994–1997)
Station slogans
- WAFF TV-48, Proud as a Peacock! (1979–1981, local version of NBC ad campaign)
- 48, Our Pride is Showing (1981–1982; local version of NBC ad campaign)
- We're 48, Just Watch Us Now (1982–1983; local version of NBC ad campaign)
- 48 There, Be There (1983–1984; local version of NBC ad campaign)
- 48, Let's All Be There (1984–1986; local version of NBC ad campaign)
- Come Home to 48 (1986–1987, local version of NBC ad campaign)
- Come on Home to 48 (1987–1988; local version of NBC ad campaign)
- Come Home To The Best, Only on 48 (1988–1990, local version of NBC ad campaign)
- WAFF, The Place To Be!
- It`s A Whole New WAFF (1992–1993, local version of NBC ad campaign)
- The Stars Are Back on 48 (1993–1994, local version of NBC ad campaign)
- We Track Storms (2004–present, weather slogan)
- The Heart of The Valley (1997–present)
Personalities
Anchors:- Mark Thornhill - Weeknights 5, 6, and 10 p.m.
- Kim Essex - Weeknights 6 and 10 p.m.
- Liz Hurley - Weeknights 5 p.m.
- Elizabeth Gentle - Weekdays 4 p.m. and reporter
- Eric Sollman - Weekdays 4 p.m. and reporter
- Karla Redditte - Weekdays "Today"
- Jim Abath - Weekdays "Today" and Noon
- Trang Do - Weekends 5 and 10 p.m.
- Margo Gray - Saturday "Today"
WAFF 48 Storm Team:
- Brad Travis - Chief Meteorologist, Weekdays 4, 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
- Jeff Castle - Weekdays "Today" and Noon
- Brian Fowler - Weekends
Sports anchors:
- Scott Theisen - Weeknights 6 and 10 p.m.
- Carl Prather - Weekends
Traffic reporter:
- Dave Kent
Reporters:
- Nick Lough
- Stephen McLamb - Sand Mountain Bureau
- Bobby Shuttleworth
- Monica Rix
- Tricia Forbes
- Jack Madison - Decatur Bureau
- Jamel Lanee
- Marie Waxel - Shoals Bureau
External links
- WAFF-TV
- Huntsville Rewound
- Benny Carle-Classic Alabama TV (on station and GM from 1965–1977)