WDSU
FCC | |
Facility ID | 71357 |
---|---|
ERP | 925 kW |
HAAT | 288.4 m (946 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 29°57′0″N 89°57′28″W / 29.95000°N 89.95778°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
WDSU (channel 6) is a
History
The station first signed on the air on December 18, 1948. It was the first television station to sign on in the state of Louisiana, the first in the city of New Orleans, the first on the Gulf Coast, the first in the Deep South,
The radio station was originally located at the DeSoto Hotel (now the
In the 1950s, WDSU-TV became the springboard for the career of
WDSU-TV was also the first to originate an international broadcast, relaying a Today broadcast from Bimini to the United States in 1955, using a 300,000 watt transmitter built by WDSU-TV engineers via special permission granted to NBC by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
In January 1972, Royal Street merged with
Cosmos sold WDSU to
Since 2009, WDSU has simply branded with its callsign in most verbal references, despite retaining the "channel 6" red dot logo it has used since 2000. In 2015, the
Hurricane Katrina
Prior to the landfall of Hurricane Katrina, WDSU shut down operations at its studios in New Orleans around 9:30 p.m. on August 28, 2005, in order to allow station staff to take shelter from the oncoming hurricane. At that point, WDSU's broadcasts began to originate from the studios of ABC-affiliated sister station WAPT in Jackson, Mississippi, where some of WDSU's on-air staff had already evacuated. Fellow sister station, NBC affiliate WESH in Orlando, Florida, also originated some on-air weather content during the storm. In the weeks that immediately followed the hurricane, WDSU's news programming originated from the WAPT facility, using meteorologists and anchors from both stations, with programs being simulcast in Jackson and New Orleans.
The Howard Avenue studio facility largely withstood Hurricane Katrina with minimal damage, but WDSU's analog and digital transmitters were both destroyed in the storm.[5] In early September, WDSU arranged to transmit its signal via i: Independent Television affiliate (now Ion Television owned-and-operated station) WPXL-TV (channel 49) through the end of December 2005; WDSU also partnered with i O&O KPXB-TV in Houston to simulcast WDSU's morning newscast and continuing coverage of the storm's aftermath that channel 6 had aired between 6 and 11 p.m. from September 7 to 13, 2005.[6] The station restored its analog signal, operating at reduced power, in October 2005.[7] WDSU chose to replace its existing transmitter building with an elevated and rugged hurricane resistant building to house its analog and digital transmitters; construction of this building was completed in early February 2008.[8][9] WDSU's digital signal was restored on August 1, 2007, having temporarily shared a frequency with LeSEA Broadcasting-owned WHNO's digital signal on UHF channel 21. In late February 2008, WDSU's analog signal was upgraded to full power; its digital signal on channel 6.1 was restored on March 6, 2008.
Hurricane Gustav
In September 2008, WDSU broadcast continuous coverage of the approach, landfall and aftermath of
WDSU tapped the resources of parent company Hearst-Argyle Television, and brought in personnel from Hearst-owned television stations across the country to assist in various capacities. Some members of WDSU's news staff were relocated to support studios in Baton Rouge and Orlando, and provided reports via satellite. All three locations stayed operational throughout the storm's duration. Another of WDSU's sister stations, ABC affiliate KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City, also provided WDSU's coverage of Hurricane Gustav via its second digital subchannel for evacuees who came to Oklahoma City.
Programming
Today, WDSU clears the entire NBC programming lineup, only preempting certain programs during instances in which the station has to carry extended breaking news or severe weather coverage.
Among the station's notable local programs over the years included Midday, one of the earliest magazine programs in the United States, hosted by Terry Flettrich (later Rohe, who eventually served as senior citizens affairs correspondent for
In the early 1980s, the station sustained criticism among its viewers when it chose to preempt
WDSU serves as the local over-the-air broadcaster of
The station was unusual in airing Maury from its September 1991 premiere, carrying the show for 27 years until September 2018, despite the program taking a tabloid/conflict focus in the late 1990s and becoming universally associated with affiliates of smaller networks such as The WB, UPN and The CW. WDSU ended carriage of the show upon the launch of a noon newscast, effectively leaving the program off the station schedule, though it quickly found a new home in the market on WNOL-TV.[12]
News operation
WDSU presently broadcasts 38 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with six hours each weekday, 3+1⁄2 hours on Saturdays and 4+1⁄2 hours on Sundays). The station also maintains a content partnership with Cumulus Media's New Orleans FM radio cluster (KKND [106.7], KMEZ [102.9], WZRH [92.3] and WRKN [106.1]), which also allows the station to simulcast its broadcast audio during hurricane coverage.
From the start of its news operation, WDSU's newscasts were the highest-rated in the New Orleans market for many years. For much of the time since the early 1980s, WDSU's newscasts have been in second place among the market's news-producing stations. By the mid-2000s, WVUE overtook WDSU for second place among the market's 5 p.m. newscasts; the two stations traded second at 5 p.m. until WDSU overtook WVUE in May 2011. In July 2011, WDSU claimed ratings wins in key demographics at 5 and 6 p.m.—marking the first time in a quarter-century that a station other than WWL-TV had placed first among viewers most sought by advertisers.[13] Newscasts in less competitive time periods of 4:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. also scored wins in key demographic categories, as well as in household ratings.
Among WDSU's first staffers was meteorologist Nash Roberts, one of the first television weather forecasters in the United States, who drew predicted weather conditions by marker on wall maps (Roberts left the station in 1973 to become meteorologist at WVUE-TV); and Mel Leavitt, who served as the station's original sports director and later as its special events director. The station's news department began in 1955, under the guidance of original news director Bill Monroe (who later joined NBC News, first serving as Washington-based news editor for Today and later as moderator of Meet the Press); Monroe also provided editorials on the station, becoming one of the first stations in the country to provide such segments for television. During the 1950s and 1960s, the station carried editorial cartoons (similar to those commonly found in many newspapers) drawn by cartoonist John Churchill Chase; the twice-daily segments featured his take on major local, national and international news stories with commentary over the illustrated pieces (Chase, who died in 1986, has a street in the Warehouse District named in his honor[14]). Many of the station's reporters in the early years of its news department included staffers from the Times-Picayune newspaper (including Iris Kelso, who worked at WDSU from 1967 to 1978, before returning to the Times-Picayune).
On November 11, 2006, after 51 years in New Orleans broadcast television—nearly all of them with WDSU—anchor and former news director Alec Gifford (who died in March 2013) officially announced his retirement from broadcasting. Gifford left the station in December 2006.
On July 10, 2010, WDSU began broadcasting its local newscasts in
As of August 1, 2019, WDSU is now one of three remaining Hearst Television stations to have yet to upgrade production of their local newscasts to HD (
Notable current on-air staff
- Margaret Orr (member, AMS; member, NWA) – chief meteorologist
Notable former on-air staff
- Bernard "Buddy" Diliberto– sportscaster (March 1981–June 1990); deceased
- Iris Kelso – commentator and features reporter (1967–1978); deceased
- Mel Leavitt – newscaster/commentator/moderator/historian; deceased
- Carley McCord – sports reporter; deceased
- Bill Monroe – first news director; later moderator of NBC's Meet the Press; deceased
- Helena Moreno – anchor and consumer reporter (November 2000–March 2008); former Democratic Louisiana politician
- Ed Nelson – actor; deceased
- Kim Peterson – anchor/reporter; later at WYAY radio in Atlanta
- Dallas Raines – chief meteorologist, now at KABC-TV in Los Angeles[19]
- Nash Roberts – meteorologist (October 1951–November 1973); later at WVUE and WWL-TV; deceased
- Norman Robinson – anchor/reporter (1990–2014; retired)[20]
- Susan Roesgen – anchor/reporter (1993–2001); now at WGNO
- Dick Van Dyke – actor
- Charlie Van Dyke – voice-over and staff announcer, now a client for WVUE
- Charles Zewe – anchor/reporter (August 1976–June 1978/January 1981–May 1987); later at CNN, now Vice President of Communications for the Louisiana State University System
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
6.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
WDSU-DT | NBC |
6.2 | 480i | MeTV | MeTV | |
6.4 | Story | Story Television | ||
6.5 | Grio | TheGrio | ||
6.6 | QVC | QVC | ||
6.7 | 4:3 |
Nosey | Nosey | |
54.4 | 480i | 16:9 | Defy | Defy TV (WUPL-DT4) |
Since March 31, 2012, WDSU
Analog-to-digital conversion
WDSU shut down its analog signal, over
As part of the
Digital retransmission disputes
In October 2006, a dispute between WDSU's owner, Hearst-Argyle Television, and Cox Communications caused WDSU's high definition feed to be pulled from Cox's New Orleans area system.[24] As a result, no HD program content was available from WDSU via any medium (over the air, cable, or satellite), forcing New Orleans viewers looking for high-definition NBC programming to attempt to receive a signal from Baton Rouge affiliate WVLA-TV. In April 2007, WDSU-DT was added to DirecTV's lineup, after which local cable providers gradually began to add the feed as well. On September 27, 2007, Cox Communications and Hearst-Argyle announced an agreement to restore WDSU-DT to Cox's New Orleans area cable systems;[25] WDSU-DT and WDSU's WeatherPlus channel were added to Cox's channel lineup the next day.[26]
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WDSU". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "WDSU3".
- ^ New Orleans TV: The Golden Age, documentary produced by WYES-TV (channel 12) in New Orleans, broadcast on July 18, 2009; see the documentary's web site at WYES Archived May 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. See also WDSU Serves New Orleans Since 1948 Archived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine and Dave Walker, That old-time TV: New book celebrates 60 years of local stars.
- ^ WDSU-TV Celebrates 60th Anniversary WDSU.com
- ^ "Hearst-Argyle Television Announces Results for the Third quarter and Nine Months". Investor Calendar. October 27, 2005.
- ^ New Orleans Station Gets Boost From Paxson, Broadcasting & Cable, September 7, 2005.
- ^ http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id=451263 [dead link]
- ^ http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id=433097 [dead link]
- ^ "Behind The Scenes at WDSU". wdsu.portspaces.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.
- ^ The Times-Picayune, Focus Forum, September 25, 1983
- ^ Walker, Dave (May 19, 2015). "'Late Show With David Letterman' finale countdown: Revisiting the New Orleans connections". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved July 31, 2022.
- The Times-Picayune. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
- ^ "NEWS RELEASE: WDSU Surpasses WWL, Becomes Louisiana's New News Leader". WDSU.com.
- ^ John Churchill Chase Street, Google Maps
- ^ Walker, Dave. On The Air The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Louisiana. Printed November 11, 2006.
- ^ WDSU Announces Fall Lineup, Launch Of 4 P.M. Newscast WDSU.com
- ^ WVUE announces 4 p.m. newscast, Jennifer Hale's move to sports
- ^ WDSU Launches Early Morning Newscast Monday
- ^ Fates & Fortunes: News and Public Affairs (page #96 of 116) Broadcasting: August 28, 1978 (retrieved January 17, 2021)
- TVSpy, May 16, 2014.
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WDSU
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved March 24, 2012.
- ^ "UPDATED List of Participants in the Analog Nightlight Program" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. June 12, 2009. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
- ^ Bachman, Katy (October 2, 2006). "H-A Pulls Six HD Signals Off Cox Systems". MediaWeek.
- ^ "WDSU's HD Signal Returning To Cox Cable". WDSU.com. October 14, 2007. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
- ^ "Cox has WDSU-HD!". Cox Communications.