WOWT-TV
Encyclopedia
WOWT-TV, digital channel 22, virtual channel 6 via PSIP and Cox Communications
Cox Communications
Cox Communications is a privately owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises providing digital cable television, telecommunications and wireless services in the United States...

 cable channel 8, is the 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 television station in Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...

, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

. WOWT also serves the state capital, Lincoln
Lincoln, Nebraska
The City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....

, 52 miles (84 km) away, with broadcast and cable coverage. As Lincoln is located in a different market
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...

 area, satellite viewers in Lincoln receive 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...

 from KHAS-TV
KHAS-TV
KHAS-TV 5 is the NBC television station in Hastings, Nebraska. It serves as the NBC affiliate for the western side of the Lincoln/Hastings/Kearney market. The station is owned by Hoak Media Corporation, which also owns and operates sister station KNOP-TV in North Platte...

 in Hastings
Hastings, Nebraska
Hastings is a city in and the county seat of Adams County, Nebraska, United States. It is the principal city of the Hastings, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Adams and Clay counties. The population was 24,907 at the 2010 census...

, though WOWT has long been regarded as the primary local NBC affiliate in Lincoln.

The station's studios are located near 35th and Farnam streets, near downtown Omaha. Its transmitter tower is located on a "tower farm
Antenna farm
Antenna farm or satellite dish farm or just dish farm are terms used to describe an area dedicated to television or radio telecommunications transmitting or receiving antenna equipment, such as C, Ku or Ka band satellite dish antennas, UHF/VHF/AM/FM transmitter towers or mobile cell towers.In...

" near North 72nd and Crown Point.

History

Channel 6 signed on the air on August 29, 1949 as WOW-TV, the first television station in Nebraska and one of the oldest in the Upper Midwest. It also claims to be the first television station in four other Midwestern states (Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

 and South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

).

The station was operated by Radio Station WOW, Inc. alongside WOW radio (AM 590, now KXSP
KXSP
KXSP 590 AM is a radio station located in Omaha, Nebraska. It currently broadcasts as AM 590, ESPN Radio, an all-sports talk station. The station is owned by Journal Broadcast Group.-History:...

, and 92.3 FM, now KEZO) The owners operated under a United States Supreme Court ruling which had forced the Woodmen of the World
Woodmen of the World
Woodmen of the World is a fraternal organization based in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that operates a large privately held insurance company for its members....

, who had founded WOW-AM in 1923, to divest itself of the radio stations because they threatened the Woodmen's tax-exempt status.

The station was originally an NBC affiliate, but carried a secondary affiliation with 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...

 until 1953, when KOLN-TV signed on from Lincoln as an ABC affiliate. However, in 1954, Lincoln was broken off from the Omaha market, and WOW-TV resumed sharing ABC programming with KMTV
KMTV
KMTV-TV is the CBS television station in Omaha, Nebraska. Owned by the Journal Broadcast Group, it broadcasts a digital television signal on UHF channel 45, which remaps to former analog channel 3 via PSIP.-History:...

 until 1957, when KETV
KETV
KETV, digital channel 20 , is the ABC affiliate television station in Omaha, Nebraska and is owned by Hearst Television...

 signed on as an ABC affiliate.

Meredith Corporation
Meredith Corporation
The Meredith Corporation is a media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The company has two divisions, National Media and Local Media.-History:...

 bought WOW-AM-FM-TV in 1958. The station claims it was bought by former Secretary of the Navy Francis Matthews
Francis Matthews
Francis Matthews may refer to:*Francis Matthews , British actor*Francis P. Matthews, 49th United States Secretary of the Navy and the 8th Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus...

 in 1954, but this is false; Matthews died two years earlier.

In 1956, after the radio stations dropped their longtime affiliation with NBC in favor of 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...

, WOW-TV switched affiliations with KMTV and became Omaha's CBS television affiliate. When Meredith sold channel 6 to Chronicle Publishing Company
Chronicle Publishing Company
The Chronicle Publishing Company was a print and broadcast media corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California that was in operation from 1865 until 2000...

 of San Francisco in 1975, it changed its call letters to WOWT, due to FCC
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...

 restrictions regarding call letter use by different owners at the time. Channel 6 later rejoined NBC under a special agreement with KMTV in 1986. In 1999, Chronicle sold its media holdings and WOWT was sold to Benedek Broadcasting
Benedek Broadcasting
Benedek Broadcasting is a former television broadcaster, who owned and operated 22 network-affiliated television stations throughout the United States, all affiliated with major television networks, serving mainly small and medium-size markets. The company was founded in the late 1970s by A...

 via LIN TV
LIN TV
LIN TV Corporation is an American holding company that operates 31 television stations.-History:LIN TV's roots trace back to the founding of its former parent, LIN Broadcasting Corporation, in 1961. LIN Broadcasting was engaged in radio, television, direct marketing, information and learning, music...

 in a three-way deal for WWLP
WWLP
WWLP is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts that is licensed to Springfield. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter on Provin Mountain in the Feeding Hills section of Agawam. The station can also be seen...

 in Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...

; three years later, Benedek Broadcasting was bought out by current owner 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...

.

WOWT was the first station to broadcast locally in color, starting in the mid-1950s; it was the first station to provide live reports during its daily newscasts; it was the first of the three local stations to broadcasts three live daily newscasts, at 5, 6, and 10pm; and in 1993, WOWT was the first of all local stations to offer a web site.

WOWT's most famous former employee is former The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...

host Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...

, who worked at WOW-TV in the early 1950s as his first television job. He hosted a show called The Squirrel's Nest where he told jokes. Another prominent former employee is former 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...

 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...

reporter Steve Bell
Steve Bell (anchorman)
Steve Bell is the former news anchor of ABC News programs "Good Morning America" and "World News This Morning", and professor emeritus of telecommunications at Muncie's Ball State University....

, who worked for Channel 6 in the early and mid-1960s. He was the only local reporter to go to Dallas in November 1963 to cover the aftermath of the John F. Kennedy assassination
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...

. Bell left channel 6 in 1967 to join ABC News, where he stayed until 1986. During the analog era, WOWT-TV was relayed on a UHF repater, K58AE, which has since been shut down and deleted from the FCC
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...

 database.

Digital television

WOWT converted to digital broadcasting on February 17, 2009, the original date of the U.S. nationwide digital TV transition. WOWT and NET
Nebraska Educational Telecommunications
Nebraska Educational Telecommunications is a state network of non-commercial educational public broadcasting radio and television stations in Nebraska and is based in Lincoln. It is operated by the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission...

 station KYNE were the only two stations in the Omaha market to stay with the original deadline. WOWT transmits its digital signal on channel 22, using PSIP to display its 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 6.

For its digital transition WOWT aired a 60-second farewell video bookending the analog era from beginning to end. It began with the words "Welcome to the Future", followed with archived film footage of WOW-TV's transmitter being turned on 1949 as it was covered by then-sister station WOW radio
KXSP
KXSP 590 AM is a radio station located in Omaha, Nebraska. It currently broadcasts as AM 590, ESPN Radio, an all-sports talk station. The station is owned by Journal Broadcast Group.-History:...

 (now KXSP), outdoor scenes set to the patriotic song America the Beautiful
America the Beautiful
"America the Beautiful" is an American patriotic song. The lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and the music composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward....

, and concluding with the station logo and digital call sign WOWT-DT Omaha set to the NBC chimes
NBC chimes
The NBC chimes, named for the radio and television network on which they have been used, consists of a succession of three distinct pitches: G3, E4, and C4 , sounded in that order, creating an arpeggiated C-major chord in the second inversion, within about two seconds time, and reverberating for...

. Afterward the analog signal aired a scrolling nightlight message and ultimately ceased transmission.

Voiceover artist Charlie Van Dyke
Charlie Van Dyke
Charlie Van Dyke is a former radio disc jockey who is best known for the voice work he has done for numerous radio and television stations....

 provided narration: "Sixty years ago, WOWT turned on its analog signal to be the first television station in Omaha. Now, join us for the digital age as we shut off our analog signal and transition to digital television. We look forward to the new journey ahead. This is WOWT, Channel 6."

62O

In October 2005, WOWT-DT launched UPN Omaha on digital sub-channel 6.2. The station became an independent station named 62O when The WB and 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...

 networks merged in September 2006. KXVO
KXVO
KXVO digital channel 38 is the The CW affiliated television station in Omaha, Nebraska. The station is owned by Mitts Telecasting Company and operated by Titan TV Broadcast Group through a local marketing agreement. KXVO shares operations and studios with another Titan-owned station, Fox affiliate...

, formerly the local WB affiliate, now carries The CW, while KPTM
KPTM
KPTM is the Fox-affiliated television station for Omaha, Nebraska. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 43 from a transmitter south of Gretna and I-80. The station can also be seen on Cox channel 10 and in high definition on digital channel 710...

, the local Fox affiliate, shows My Network TV on a digital subchannel of its own. After that, it was changed to the Universal Sports
Universal Sports
Universal Sports is an American television network that airs various sports, primarily those contested in the Olympic Games, including swimming, gymnastics, cycling, track and field, figure skating, skiing, bobsledding and triathlon.-Programming:...

 format as seen on many other NBC subchannels; WOWT dropped that affiliation on October 1st, 2011, in favor of the "The Weather Authority Channel", their version of The Local AccuWeather Channel
The Local AccuWeather Channel
The Local AccuWeather Channel is a 24-hour, weather-oriented, commercially sponsored broadcast and cable television network in the United States owned and operated by AccuWeather, Inc., which is headquartered in State College, Pennsylvania....

. KETV
KETV
KETV, digital channel 20 , is the ABC affiliate television station in Omaha, Nebraska and is owned by Hearst Television...

 dropped their version of it the day before, effectively switching affiliations.

Programming

Syndicated programming on WOWT includes Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...

, 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 Extra
Extra (TV series)
Extra is an American entertainment television news program covering events and celebrities which debuted on September 5, 1994 in syndication. It is produced at Victory Studios in Glendale, California by Telepictures Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television Distribution...

.

News operation

In 1991, WOWT changed the name of its news division from "Action News 6" to its current moniker of "Channel 6 News". In 1995 Channel 6 began live simulcasts and taped replays of its daily newscasts on Omaha Cox Cable
Cox Enterprises
Cox Enterprises is the successor to the publishing company founded in Dayton, Ohio, United States, by James Middleton Cox, who began with the Dayton Daily News. He was the Democratic candidate for the President of the United States in the election of 1920...

 channel 1. The venture was known as "NEWS on ONE" until it became "News 4 You", Cox Cable
Cox Enterprises
Cox Enterprises is the successor to the publishing company founded in Dayton, Ohio, United States, by James Middleton Cox, who began with the Dayton Daily News. He was the Democratic candidate for the President of the United States in the election of 1920...

 channel 4, in 2009. Also in 1995, WOWT's sports division launched a weekly 30-minute sports news program titled "Channel 6 Sunday Sports Extra". It is the only program of its kind in Omaha, and it has been hosted since its inception by Sports Producer Ross Jernstrom.

WOWT was the most watched station for local news from 1996 until November 2006 when rival KETV, a Hearst-Argyle station, overtook WOWT to become the ratings leader. In recent years, the two stations have been neck-and-neck for the top spot, with KMTV, operated by Journal Broadcast Group, lagging far behind in a distant third place.

On October 30, 2008, WOWT debuted its new, updated studio. The updated studio featured two dozen flat-panel televisions, according to 6 News at 10 co-anchor Tracy Madden. Although the remodel took a little less than a month, the transformation is significant. The studio features a new news desk with a computer built into it, allowing breaking news to be broadcast immediately. Also, a new WOWT.com center shows the station's website. A new weather center and sports desk complete the new, fresh look.

On October 26, 2009, WOWT became the second station in Omaha to present local news in a 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 ...

 widescreen format (KMTV was the first station to do so), and the first to present the news in partial high-definition (all in-studio cameras are HD, but most field shots are still in 4:3 with HD caption graphics). As of December 2010, WOWT remains the only station in the Omaha market to air locally-produced newscasts in HD (KMTV and KETV both air newscasts in upconverted 16:9 ED
Enhanced-definition television
Enhanced-definition television, or extended-definition television, is a United States Consumer Electronics Association marketing shorthand term for certain digital television formats and devices...

; KPTM airs HD newscasts produced in Davenport, Iowa).

Newscast titles

  • Action News
    Action News
    Action News is a local television newscast format in the United States. It was conceived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at WFIL-TV by then-news director Mel Kampmann in 1970 as a response to the "Eyewitness News" format used on rival station KYW-TV...

     6
    (1980s-1991)
  • Channel 6 News (1991–present)
  • 6 News (2007–present)

Station slogans

  • Part of Your Life (1970s)
  • Action News
    Action News
    Action News is a local television newscast format in the United States. It was conceived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at WFIL-TV by then-news director Mel Kampmann in 1970 as a response to the "Eyewitness News" format used on rival station KYW-TV...

    : Leading the Way
    (1980s)
  • Come on Home to Channel 6 (1987–1988; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
  • Come Home To The Best, Only On Channel 6 (1988–1990; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
  • WOWT Channel 6, The Place To Be (1990–1991; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
  • Where The News Comes First. (1990–1992)
  • News The Way You Live Your Life. (1992–1996)
  • Channel 6 For the Heartland (1996–present)
  • Live. Local. Breaking News. (1998–present)


Current on-air staff

Anchors

Channel 6 Weather Authority
  • Jim Flowers - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 p.m.
  • Rusty Lord - Meteorologist; weekday mornings "Daybreak" and 11:30 a.m.
  • TBD - Meteorologist; weekends at 5 and 10 p.m.
  • Caitlin Roth - Meteorologist; weekend mornings "Daybreak"


Sports team

Reporters

Former on-air staff

  • Steve Bell
    Steve Bell (anchorman)
    Steve Bell is the former news anchor of ABC News programs "Good Morning America" and "World News This Morning", and professor emeritus of telecommunications at Muncie's Ball State University....

     - anchor/reporter (1960s; later became a reporter/correspondent for ABC News
    ABC News
    ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...

    , then later, anchor for KYW-TV
    KYW-TV
    KYW-TV, virtual channel 3, is an owned and operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. KYW-TV shares a studio facility with its sister station, CW flagship WPSG just north of Center City Philadelphia...

    ; retired in 1992)
  • Johnny Carson
    Johnny Carson
    John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...

     - meteorologist/television host; (1950s; became legendary longtime host of The Tonight Show
    The Tonight Show
    The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...

    on NBC; deceased)
  • John McCaa
    John McCaa
    John McCaa is a news anchor currently working for WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas. He has been working for WFAA since 1984....

     - anchor/reporter; (1977–1983; now weekday co-anchor for WFAA in Dallas)
  • Dale Munson
    Dale Munson
    Dale Munson is a former television and radio personality, best remembered as a weatherman for WOWT-TV in Omaha, Nebraska during the 1970s and 1980s....

     - chief meteorologist/voice overs (1960s-1991)
  • Colleen Williams
    Colleen Williams
    Colleen Williams is a news anchor of KNBC Channel 4 in Los Angeles, currently serving on the 5 and 11 p.m. weekday broadcasts. She also reports on occasion for NBC News and MSNBC. Williams is one of the most-recognized anchors in the Los Angeles area, the second-largest media market in the United...

     - weekend anchor (1978–1981; now weekday co-anchor for KNBC
    KNBC
    KNBC, channel 4, is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, licensed to Los Angeles, California, USA. KNBC's studios and offices are located within the NBC Studios complex in Burbank, California, and its transmitter is located on Mount Wilson...

     in Los Angeles
    Los Ángeles
    Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

    )

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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