WVEC is the
ABCThe 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 television station for the
Hampton RoadsHampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
area of
VirginiaThe 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...
, which includes
NorfolkNorfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
,
PortsmouthPortsmouth is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the city had a total population of 95,535.The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard, is a historic and active U.S...
,
Newport NewsNewport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
, and the surrounding area. It is licensed to
HamptonHampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts...
, with its main studio in downtown Norfolk. Its transmitter is located in
Suffolk, VirginiaSuffolk is the largest city by area in Virginia, United States, and is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 84,585. Its median household income was $57,546.-History:...
. The station broadcasts on channel 13, and is owned by the
Belo CorporationBelo Corp. is a Dallas-based media company that owns 20 commercial broadcasting television stations and two regional 24-hour cable news television channels. The company was previously known as A.H. Belo Corp. after one of the early owners of the company, Alfred Horatio Belo, now the name of the...
.
Digital television
In 2009, WVEC-DT left digital channel 41 and moved to channel 13 when the analog to digital conversion was completed.
On November 8, 2010, WVEC added ABC's Live Well Network on channel 13.2.
| Channel |
Programming |
| 13.1 |
Main WVEC programming / ABC |
| 13.2 |
Live Well Network |
History
The station began operations on September 19, 1953, on UHF channel 15 as an
NBCThe 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. It was co-owned originally by Hampton businessman Thomas P. Chisman and several other stockholders, along with WVEC radio (1490 AM, now
WXTGWXTG is a Sports Radio formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Hampton, Virginia, serving the Peninsula of Hampton Roads. WXTG is owned and operated by Red Zebra Broadcasting....
; and 101.3 FM, now
WWDE-FMWWDE-FM is a Light Adult Contemporary formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Hampton, Virginia, serving Hampton Roads. WWDE-FM is owned and operated by Entercom Communications.-History:...
). The station switched affiliations to ABC in 1959, when
WAVY-TVWAVY-TV, channel 10, is a television station licensed to Portsmouth, Virginia, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Hampton Roads area . WAVY is owned by LIN Television Corporation, and is a sister station to Fox affiliate WVBT...
took the NBC affiliation two years after signing on. During the late 1950s, WVEC-TV was also briefly affiliated with the
NTA Film NetworkThe 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...
.
In those days, UHF stations were not as successful as VHF stations, and the
Federal Communications CommissionThe 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) did not yet make requirements for television sets to have UHF tuners. So on November 13, 1959, WVEC-TV moved to its current location on VHF channel 13. Four years later, the channel 15 position would be occupied by current
PBSThe 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....
affiliate
WHRO-TVWHRO-TV digital channel 15 is the Public Broadcasting Service member Public television station for Hampton Roads, Virginia . The station is licensed to both Hampton and Norfolk with the studios at the Public Telecommunications Center for Hampton Roads next to the campus of Old Dominion University...
.
In 1980, Chisman sold the station to Corinthian Broadcasting, a unit of
Dun & BradstreetDun & Bradstreet is a Fortune 500 public company headquartered in Short Hills, New Jersey, USA that provides information on businesses and corporations for use in credit decisions, B2B marketing and supply chain management...
. At the time of the sale, it was the last locally owned and operated "Big Three" station in Hampton Roads. Four years later, Dun sold Corinthian to Belo, which owns the
Dallas Morning News and
WFAA-TVWFAA, channel 8, is an ABC-affiliated television station serving the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, one of the top ten media markets in North America. The station is the flagship of Belo Corporation and the largest ABC affiliate not owned and operated by the network...
in its home city.
In 1997, WVEC (along with
The Virginian-PilotThe Virginian-Pilot is a daily newspaper based in Norfolk, Virginia, and serving the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, southeastern Virginia, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and northeastern North Carolina. The flagship property of Landmark Media Enterprises, The Pilot is Virginia's largest daily...
and
Cox CommunicationsCox Communications is a privately owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises providing digital cable television, telecommunications and wireless services in the United States...
) launched LNC4 (now LNC5), a
24-hourThe 24-hour news cycle arrived with the advent of television channels dedicated to news, and brought about a much faster pace of news production with increased demand for stories that can be presented as news, as opposed to the day-by-day pace of the news cycle of printed daily newspapers...
local
cable newsCable news refers to television channels devoted to television news broadcasts, with the name deriving from the proliferation of such networks during the 1980s with the advent of cable television. In the United States, early networks included CNN in 1980, Financial News Network in 1981, and CNN2 ...
television channel, featuring repeats of WVEC newscasts and a live 10:00 PM newscast. It is carried by
Cox CommunicationsCox Communications is a privately owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises providing digital cable television, telecommunications and wireless services in the United States...
on channel 5 within Hampton Roads. "Pilot 13-News at 10" ceased production on January 30, 2009, however, the partnership with the
Virginian-Pilot is expected to continue on a lesser level.
On January 12, 2008, WVEC started producing local newscasts in digital
widescreenWidescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
16x9The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of the width of the image to its height, expressed as two numbers separated by a colon. That is, for an x:y aspect ratio, no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this...
. Though not truly high definition, the digital widescreen broadcasts are rescanned and up-converted from standard definition to 1080i before transmission to match the ratio of HD television screens.
Eastern ShoreThe Eastern Shore of Virginia consists of two counties on the Atlantic coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The region is part of the Delmarva Peninsula and is separated from the rest of Virginia by the Chesapeake Bay. Its population was 45,553 as of 2010...
Translators
There are two low-powered translators of WVEC that are located in the
Eastern Shore of VirginiaThe Eastern Shore of Virginia consists of two counties on the Atlantic coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The region is part of the Delmarva Peninsula and is separated from the rest of Virginia by the Chesapeake Bay. Its population was 45,553 as of 2010...
and are municipally-owned by
Accomack CountyAs of the census of 2010, there were 33,164 people, 15,299 households, and 10,388 families residing in the county. The population density was 84 people per square mile . There were 19,550 housing units at an average density of 43 per square mile...
rather than Belo. WVEC and Belo does not own and operate any translators in the Greater
Hampton RoadsHampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
area.
- W34DN Channel 34 Onancock
Onancock is a town in Accomack County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,525 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Onancock is located at ....
- W48DO Channel 48 Craddockville
-References:*...
Spirit of Hampton Roads
In the late 1980s, WVEC introduced its most well-known promotional campaign, "The Spirit of Hampton Roads" - a campaign which has been customized and used by several other Belo Corporation stations (most notably the originator,
WFAA-TVWFAA, channel 8, is an ABC-affiliated television station serving the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, one of the top ten media markets in North America. The station is the flagship of Belo Corporation and the largest ABC affiliate not owned and operated by the network...
's "Spirit of Texas" campaign). The campaign was revamped in September 1992 with a new logo and song composed by Nashville-based
615 Music615 Music is a broadcast production music company based in Nashville, Tennessee. 615 Music composes television news music packages and custom image campaigns for many television networks around the world. 615 Music also operates out of Los Angeles...
. WVEC originally dropped it in 1996 and replaced it with another slogan, "Working for You". "The Spirit of Hampton Roads" would finally return in 2003 on New Year's Eve. WVEC phased out the "Spirit" image for the second time in 2008.
News staff
In 1978 upon the resignation of news anchor Tony Burden, WVEC hired
ABC NewsABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
correspondent
Jim KincaidJim Kincaid was a former news correspondent for ABC News and local news anchor for WVEC in Norfolk, Virginia for over 18 years. Great Great man!!!- Biography and early career :...
as its main news anchor. Kincaid's signature became his "Jim's notes," short commentaries which ended the station's nightly newscasts. Compilations of these essays were published in several books authored by Kincaid, including "Notes from Elam," referring to the small town in
Prince Edward County, VirginiaPrince Edward County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 23,368. Its county seat is Farmville.-Formation and County Seats:...
, where he owns a farm. During the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, Kincaid was a war correspondent for ABC. He returned to Vietnam in 1994 and reported from the same locations he had covered in the 1960s, producing an award-winning documentary and series of news stories. Kincaid retired from WVEC in 1997. He died in July, 2011.
Another well known news anchor for WVEC was
Terry ZahnTerry Allen Zahn was a television reporter and anchorman in Hampton Roads, Virginia, from 1981 until his death in 2000 from multiple myeloma.-Biography:...
, who was hired from WAVY-TV in 1994. Zahn was very active with the
American Cancer SocietyThe American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...
and helped establish the Relay for Life in the area. He produced two videos about Relay for Life which were distributed nationally, and served as chairman of the local Relay, which at the time was the largest in the U.S. Zahn was diagnosed with
bone cancerMultiple myeloma , also known as plasma cell myeloma or Kahler's disease , is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell normally responsible for the production of antibodies...
in 1997 and died in January 2000. Each year, the American Cancer Society presents the Terry Zahn Award to a supporter of the Relay for Life.
Barbara CiaraBarbara Ciara is a Norfolk, Va., based television journalist.-Career:Ciara is managing editor and anchor of WTKR NewsChannel 3 in Norfolk, Va., and columnist for . In August 2007, she began a two-year term as president of the National Association of Black Journalists...
was the 5pm and 11pm co-anchor from 1988 until 2000 when she left for cross-town
WTKRWTKR is the CBS affiliate television station serving the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, officially known as the Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News DMA. The station is licensed to Norfolk and broadcasts on channel 40 . Its transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia...
.
On March 7, 2003, former investigative reporter, Craig Civale, and former general assignment reporter, Michelle Louie were engaged during a live segment of "Joe's Job" on 13News Daybreak. Michelle was filling in for fellow reporter, Joe Flanagan, where she was to visit a jewelry shop. During a live shot, out pops Craig Civale with ring in hand, where he proposes to Michelle. They both, at the time, had been dating for 5 years. They were married in September 2004.
Current on-air staff
| Sports |
|
Position |
Year Joined |
| Scott Cash |
Sports Director, weeknights |
1986 |
| Brian Smith |
Reporter, weekend anchor |
1993 |
Former on-air staff
- Sharyn Alfonsi, reporter from 1995-97; currently with ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
- Doug Aronson,Chief Investigative Reporter from 1998 until 2005. Also worked for WAVY.
- Kathy Barnstorff, weekend anchor from 1983-1989, Peninsula reporter from 1978-1998. Now media relations specialist at NASA Langley Research Center.
- Judith Baroody, reporter and anchor in the 1970s and early 1980s. Now Minister Counselor of Public Affairs, US Embassy, Paris
- Kathryn Barrett, medical reporter, who started as "Tidewater Evening" anchor spent 26 years from 1982-2008. Now free-lancer.
- Andria Borba, reporter from January 2007 until March 2009. Now at KTXL
KTXL, channel 40, is a Fox Broadcasting Company-affiliated television station in Sacramento, California, owned by the Tribune Company. Its studios and offices are located in South Sacramento, and its transmitter is near Walnut Grove, California.-History:...
in Sacramento, CA.
- Wayne Carter, Anchor/Reporter 2004-2010, now at WWL-TV
WWL-TV, virtual channel 4, is the CBS-affiliated television station serving New Orleans, Louisiana, southeast Louisiana and parts of southern and coastal Mississippi, and is the primary CBS station for South and Coastal Mississippi. It broadcasts on UHF digital channel 36...
in New Orleans, LA.
- Thomas P. Chisman, WVEC's founder, died in 1991.
- Craig Civale, investigative reporter from 2003–2006, left WVEC in January 2007 to join WFAA in Dallas, TX.
- Barbara Ciara
Barbara Ciara is a Norfolk, Va., based television journalist.-Career:Ciara is managing editor and anchor of WTKR NewsChannel 3 in Norfolk, Va., and columnist for . In August 2007, she began a two-year term as president of the National Association of Black Journalists...
, worked there for two stints, first in the early 1980s until leaving for WAVY in 1983; returned in late 1988 and stayed until 2000, now at WTKR. Was President of the National Association of Black JournalistsThe National Association of Black Journalists is an organization of African American journalists, students, and media professionals. Founded in 1975 in Washington, D.C...
from 2007-2009. Elected interim President of Unity: Journalists of Color in 2009.
- Simeon Coxe, reporter specializing in off-beat stories in the 1970s and 80s. Lead singer for the 1960s and 1990s Silver Apples.
- Mark Craft, reporter and contributing correspondent to "Focus" newsmagazine from 1979-81. Now staff vice-president of executive communications at WellPoint
WellPoint, Inc. is the largest health plan company in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. It was formed when WellPoint Health Networks, Inc. merged into Anthem, Inc., with the surviving Anthem adopting the name, WellPoint, Inc...
.
- Jane Gardner, health reporter/anchor from 1979–1990. Moved to WTKR-TV as anchor from 1990–1998. Now retired.
- Bonita (Billingsley) Harris, weekend anchor and reporter from 1992-2003. Now works for the Norfolk Sheriff's Office.
- Sheldon Ingram, reporter from 1988-92, now at WTAE
WTAE-TV is the ABC affiliated television station for Western Pennsylvania that is licensed to Pittsburgh, broadcasting on UHF channel 51 and identifying via PSIP as channel 4 . It also serves as an ABC affiliate for the Wheeling/Steubenville and Clarksburg/Weston, West Virginia market areas...
in PittsburghPittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
.
- Jim Kincaid
Jim Kincaid was a former news correspondent for ABC News and local news anchor for WVEC in Norfolk, Virginia for over 18 years. Great Great man!!!- Biography and early career :...
, hired from ABC News in 1978, served as anchor from 1978-96, retired in 1997. (deceased)
- John Miller
John C. Miller is an American politician. A Democrat, he was elected to the Senate of Virginia in 2007...
, news anchor and news director in the 1970s and 1980s, morning and noon anchor in the 1990s. Elected Virginia state senator in November 2007
- Shannon Sims, reporter/anchor from 2006-2011, now with WKEF
WKEF, virtual channel 22, is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Miami Valley area of Ohio, which is licensed to Dayton. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 51 from a transmitter at their Broadcast Plaza studios near the New Chicago section of the city...
/WRGT in Dayton, OhioDayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
.
- Patrick Terpstra, reporter from 2006-2011, now with Capitol News Connection in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
- Stan Verrett
Stan Verrett is an anchor on the ESPN and ESPNEWS networks in the United States. Most of Verrett's appearances are on SportsCenter at 11 p.m or 1 a.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday...
, now an anchor at ESPNEntertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
and ESPNEWSESPNEWS , launched on November 1, 1996, is a 24-hour-a-day sports news television channel...
, also worked for rival WAVY.
- Terry Zahn
Terry Allen Zahn was a television reporter and anchorman in Hampton Roads, Virginia, from 1981 until his death in 2000 from multiple myeloma.-Biography:...
, hired from WAVY in 1994, served as anchor until death from bone cancer in January 2000.
- Hank Plante
Hank Plante is an American television reporter and editor. Winner of the George Foster Peabody Award and multiple Emmys, he covered California for three decades for TV stations in San Francisco and Los Angeles. He now writes occasional columns for newspapers in California, usually focusing on...
, Emmy & Peabody Award-winning broadcaster, now retired in Palm Springs, CA.
Programs produced by WVEC
- Dialogue- 30 minute public affairs program hosted by WVEC news anchor Lasalle Blanks. Airs Sunday mornings at 5:30am.