WBAL-TV
FCC | |
Facility ID | 65696 |
---|---|
ERP | 30 kW |
HAAT | 305 m (1,001 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 39°20′5″N 76°39′2″W / 39.33472°N 76.65056°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
WBAL-TV (channel 11) is a
History
Early history
WBAL-TV began operations on March 11, 1948, from its original studios on
WBAL-TV is one of two Hearst-owned broadcast properties to have been built and signed on by the company (the other being WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh), and the oldest to be continuously owned by Hearst through its various television subsidiaries through the years. At its launch, WBAL-TV was an NBC affiliate, owing to its radio sister's long affiliation with the NBC's radio networks.
Early programming on channel 11 included Musical Almanac, Look and Cook and Know Baltimore, along with news and sports productions. In the 1950s, the station introduced
WBAL-TV produced several local
WBAL-TV has boasted many television firsts, including becoming the first Baltimore television station to broadcast in
In the late 1970s, ABC steadily rose in the ratings to become the number one network in prime time. Accordingly, the network began to seek upgrades to its slate of affiliates, which included some stations that either had poor signals or poorly performing local programming. WBAL-TV was invited to switch to ABC in 1977, but opted to remain with NBC out of concerns about the poor ratings for ABC's then-recently revamped evening newscasts (a situation that would be improved in the coming years).[7][8]
Switch to CBS
On March 3, 1981,
Return to NBC
On June 16, 1994, the
Having lost the CBS affiliation to WJZ-TV, WBAL-TV had the choice of affiliating with either NBC or
Programming
Preemptions and deferrals
As a CBS affiliate, WBAL-TV preempted an hour of the network's daytime schedule every day, as well as half of its
WBAL-TV is one of the few NBC affiliates that does not air the fourth hour of Today (which can be seen in the area via NBC O&O WRC-TV in Washington).
Sports programming
In 1970, when the then-Baltimore Colts moved to the newly formed and realigned American Football Conference as part of the AFL–NFL merger of professional football of 1970, WBAL-TV displaced WMAR-TV (which had aired most of the team's games since 1956) as the station of record for the team (as NBC was the rightsholder for all AFC games). During its first season as such, the station provided coverage of the Colts' victory in Super Bowl V in 1971. This partnership continued until 1981, when WMAR-TV became the team's unofficial home station again for their last three seasons in Baltimore (although the station continued to air Colts games in those three seasons, they were limited to home interconference contests). When the reorganized Baltimore Ravens began play in 1996 after moving the old Cleveland Browns franchise to Maryland, WBAL-TV became the new team's station of record, but only for two seasons; in 1998, most games were moved to WJZ-TV. Presently, WBAL-TV airs any Ravens games when they play on NBC's Sunday Night Football and on Monday Night Football contests exclusive to ESPN, the latter being a benefit of Hearst's 20 percent ownership of ESPN.
The station aired any
News operation
WBAL-TV presently broadcasts 35 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with five hours each weekday, 4+1⁄2 hours on Saturdays and 5+1⁄2 hours on Sundays); the station also produces a weekly public affairs program on Sunday mornings called 11 TV Hill.
Appropriately for a station with roots in a newspaper, channel 11 has a rich news tradition. WBAL's newscasts have spent the better part of its history in either first or second place in the ratings. It led the ratings from the 1960s until WJZ-TV passed it in the early 1970s. However, for the better part of the last 40 years, WBAL-TV had waged a spirited battle for first place in the ratings with WJZ-TV. In recent years, WBAL-TV's newscasts placed first at 5, 6 and 11 p.m. However, in the November 2009
In 1974, WBAL introduced the as news director at those stations.
WBAL-TV lent then-meteorologist Sandra Shaw to Hearst sister station
On January 3, 2009, WBAL-TV became the second station in Baltimore (behind WBFF) to begin broadcasting its local news programming in
On January 12, 2015, WBAL-TV expanded their morning newscast 11 News Today to 4:30 a.m.[27]
News Anchor Rod Daniels retired from WBAL-TV in 2015 after more than 30 years with the station.[28]
Awards and achievements
In addition, WBAL-TV became the first Baltimore television station to win a
Current on-air staff
- Gerry Sandusky — Sports anchor
Notable former on-air staff
- Curt Anderson (formerly in the Maryland House of Delegates)[30]
- Sade Baderinwa (now with WABC-TV in New York City)
- Campbell Brown (formerly with CNN, now with Facebook)
- Ron Canada – newscaster (1970s–early 1980s; now working as an actor)
- Spencer Christian (now with KGO-TV in San Francisco)
- Carol Costello (formerly with CNN)
- Rod Daniels (1984–2015; now retired)
- Mike Hambrick
- Vicki Mabrey (now with ABC News)
- Royal Parker (1962–mid-1990s)
- Lisa Salters (now with ESPN)
- Sue Simmons (later with WNBC-TV in New York City 1980–2012; was at WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. 1978–1980 before that; now retired)
- Ron Smith (died on December 19, 2011, at age 70, after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer)[31]
- Julius Westheimer (deceased)
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
11.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
WBAL-DT | NBC |
11.2 | 480i | MeTV | MeTV | |
11.3 | Story | Story Television | ||
11.4 | TheGrio | TheGrio.tv | ||
11.5 | QVC | |||
54.3 | 480i | 16:9 | Comet | Comet (WNUV) |
54.4 | Stadium | Stadium (WNUV) |
WBAL-TV carries a digital subchannel on 11.2,[33] which launched in August 2005 as "11 Insta-Weather Plus", an affiliate of NBC Weather Plus until the network dissolved in November 2008; after that, the subchannel carried automated local and regional weather information provided by NBC Plus until April 2009, when an alternate programming format was adopted featuring local weather information, newscasts and other special programming. On March 5, 2012, WBAL launched a 10 p.m. newscast on the subchannel (which was renamed "WBAL Plus" the previous year).[26]
On July 24, 2012, Hearst Television renewed its affiliation agreement with
Analog-to-digital conversion
WBAL-TV shut down its analog signal, over
As a part of the
References
- ^ "Television stations granted to three" (PDF). Broadcasting - Telecasting. May 27, 1946. p. 90.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WBAL-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "WBAL-TV 11: Decades of Firsts in Broadcasting Excellence". WBAL-TV 11. March 5, 2018.
- ^ "WBAL-TV; NBC Baltimore outlet begins operations" (PDF). Broadcasting - Telecasting. March 15, 1948. p. 97.
- ^ a b Kelly, Jacques (June 24, 2000). "'Quiz Club' had an impact". The Baltimore Sun. p. 2E.
- ^ "Station History". WBAL-TV. Archived from the original on March 13, 2007. Retrieved October 9, 2009.
- ^ "In brief" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 21, 1977. p. 30.
- ^ "In brief" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 28, 1977. p. 34.
- ^ Carter, Bill. "CBS switching affiliation here from WMAR to WBAL." The Baltimore Sun, March 4, 1981, pp. 1, 6. Accessed April 15, 2019. [1][2]
- ^ "CBS switches affiliation to WBAL-TV in Baltimore" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 9, 1981. p. 152.
- Baltimore Sun. August 29, 1981. p. B2.
- The Evening Sun. August 29, 1981. p. 4.
- ^ Zurawik, David (June 17, 1994). "ABC-TV to Switch from WJZ to WMAR". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
- ^ Foisie, Geoffrey (June 20, 1994). "ABC pre-empts CBS in Cleveland, Detroit" (PDF). Broadcasting and Cable. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
- ^ "Three suitors line up to call on jilted WJZ-TV – Baltimore Sun".
- ^ a b Zurawik, David (August 5, 1994). "Delaying Switches Until January Annoys WMAR, WBAL". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
- ^ "WJZ to join CBS in 3-station deal – Baltimore Sun".
- ^ "WBAL will switch to NBC by year's end – Baltimore Sun".
- ^ Zurawik, David (January 1, 1995). "Get ready, get set, get confused, in TV's big switch in Baltimore Changing Channels". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
- ^ "Local affiliates broadcast anxiety as switch looms – Baltimore Sun".
- ^ Zurawik, David (October 28, 1994). "Bumped CBS shows to be aired on WJZ two months late". Baltimore Sun.
- Baltimore SunStatewide TV. January 1, 1995. p. 8.
- ^ "Letterman lands Baltimore slot with WNUV TURNED ON IN L.A. -- Fall Preview".
- ^ Campbell, Colin (October 7, 2020). "Vince Bagli, longtime WBAL-TV sportscaster known as 'Dean of Baltimore sports', dies at 93". Retrieved October 7, 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-56025-816-2.
ron kershaw news director.
- ^ a b WBAL-TV to launch 10 p.m. newscast with Kate Amara March 5, The Baltimore Sun, February 8, 2012.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 22, 2015. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - Baltimore Sun. Retrieved December 27, 2022 – via baltimoresun.com.
- ^ 64th Annual Peabody Awards, May 2005.
- ^ "House of Delegates - Curtis...Anderson". Maryland.gov. August 28, 2018.
- ^ "Ron Smith 1941–2011". WBAL/Hearst Television. December 20, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
- ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for WBAL". rabbitears.info.
- ^ "Ravens Draft Special Airs Saturday On WBAL-TV". April 23, 2009. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved October 9, 2009.
- ^ Me-TV Adds Five More Hearst Stations, TVNewsCheck, July 24, 2012.
- ^ "MeTV Comes to Maryland on WBAL-TV". WBAL-TV 11. September 4, 2015.
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
- ^ "CDBS Print". licensing.fcc.gov.
- ^ "DTV Transition Plan". FCC. Retrieved October 9, 2009.
- ^ Eggerton, John (June 29, 2009). "Boise station gets power boost". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
- ^ "Searchable Clearinghouse | National Association of Broadcasters".
External links
- WBALTV.com (Official website)