WESH
Ocala | |
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Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
WESH (channel 2) is a
WESH formerly served as a default NBC affiliate for the
History
WESH-TV first signed on the air on June 11, 1956. At first, it ran as an independent station, but on October 27, 1957, it became an NBC affiliate, and has been with NBC ever since.[3][4] Businessman W. Wright Esch (for whom the station is named) won the license, but sold it to Perry Publications of Palm Beach just before the station made its debut. The station's original studios were located on Corporation Street in Holly Hill, near Daytona Beach.
The station's original transmitter tower was only 300 feet (91 m) high, which was tiny even by 1950s' standards, and limited channel 2's signal coverage to
) in Miami.Perry sold WESH-TV to
Cowles exited broadcasting in 1984 and sold two of its stations, WESH and Des Moines'
On May 8, 2006, Hearst-Argyle announced its purchase of then-
).On July 9, 2012, due to a dispute between Hearst Television and Central Florida's largest cable provider,
News operation
WESH presently broadcasts 41+1⁄2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with seven hours each weekday, four hours on Saturdays, and 4+1⁄2 hours on Sundays).[citation needed]
WESH was the first station in Orlando to carry an on-site
For over two decades, WESH's newscasts have usually placed second in the market, behind WFTV. However, for most of the time since 2004, WESH's newscasts have traded second and third place with WKMG, while its 4 p.m. newscast continued to trail The Oprah Winfrey Show (which concluded its syndication run in May 2011) on WFTV by a wide margin; this coincided with NBC's ratings struggles that have occurred since 2005. Throughout much of the first half of 2009, WESH's ratings became much more competitive with once-dominant WFTV, especially in the key Adults 25-54 demographic. This was attributed to decreases in viewership on its major station rivals, while ratings for WESH's newscasts remained flat. That mini-resurgence was short-lived, however, as WFTV regained its dominance during the November 2009 sweeps period, while WESH retreated back to third (behind WKMG), except on weeknights. WESH was one of many NBC affiliates across the country that benefitted from the network coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics during the February sweeps ratings period: Its late-night newscast beat WFTV's by a small margin. Since then WESH has maintained a solid second place in most of its newscasts.
WESH titled its newscasts NewsCenter 2 for most of the 1970s and 1980s until the station re-branded to 2 News in 1991,[9] then NewsChannel 2 in 1996. In 2005, WESH adopted the current WESH 2 News branding and began pronouncing the station's call letters as a word for the first time since the early 1990s (grammatically though, the station's callsign does not spell an actual word). In August 2006, WESH debuted an hour-long 4 p.m. newscast. Shortly after Hearst acquired WKCF, WESH began producing a weekday morning newscast for that station in January 2007; this was eventually followed by the launch of a WESH-produced nightly 10 p.m. newscast on WKCF on August 31, 2009.[10]
On November 1, 2007, WESH became the second television station in Orlando (behind WFTV) and the fourth Hearst-owned station to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition.[11] Along with the switch, the station replaced the mandated "Hearst TV News Music Package" theme by Newsmusic Central (although the chimes of "Where the News Comes First" version of the theme were retained during weather forecasts) with Gari Media Group's "The NBC Collection" (which was used for openings, teases and bumpers beginning in 2005). However, in November 2008, the "Hearst TV News Music Package" (with the de facto "Where the News Comes First" signature) was fully reinstated.
In April 2010, video footage from the station's news helicopter "Chopper 2" began to be broadcast in high-definition (WFTV upgraded video footage from its helicopter "Skywitness 9" to HD two months later). Dave Marsh served as WESH's chief meteorologist for 37 years, until his retirement on July 31, 2006; Marsh was later replaced by Tony Mainolfi on May 3, 2007. On July 18, 2012, WESH became the first Hearst-owned station to unveil a new standardized graphics and music package ("Strive" by inthegroovemusic[12]).
In mid-January 2018, WESH became the first Hearst-owned station to unveil an updated version of its standardized graphics package that is optimized for the full
On August 21, 2023, it was announced that WESH would launch weeknight 7 p.m. newscasts on September 11, 2023.[13]
Notable former on-air staff
- Stuart Scott – sports reporter, later with ESPN (died 2015)
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's ATSC 1.0 channels are carried on the
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming | ATSC 1.0 host |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
WESH-DT | NBC | WKCF |
2.2 | 480i | Me TV | MeTV | ||
2.3 | STORYTV | Story Television |
In 2005, WESH launched a second
Analog-to-digital conversion
WESH ended programming on its analog signal, on
ATSC 3.0 lighthouse
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
2.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
WESH | NBC |
18.1 | WKCF | The CW (WKCF) | ||
24.1 | 720p | WUCF | PBS (WUCF-TV) |
Translators
- WESH (DRT) 18 Orange City
- WESH (DRT) 19 Ocala
As of April 2024, WESH's digital replacement translator at Orange City continues to operate in ATSC 1.0, using virtual channels 2.4, 2.5 and 2.6:
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
2.4 | 1080i | 16:9 |
WESH-DT | NBC |
2.5 | 480i | Me TV | MeTV | |
2.6 | STORYTV | Story Television |
Until 2009, the station operated an analog translator in the Melbourne area, W16AJ (channel 16).[23]
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WESH". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ Clark, Anthony (September 16, 2008). "Local NBC affiliate set to join airwaves". The Gainesville Sun. Archived from the original on September 20, 2008. Retrieved September 17, 2008.
- ^ "WESH-Channel 2 Station Ads". Archived from the original on August 15, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "WESHTALLTOWER.mpg". Archived from the original on September 5, 2021. Retrieved July 3, 2017 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "BC-1992-05-25-OCR-Page-0005" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on September 1, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
- ^ "BC-1993-02-22-OCR-Page-0048" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on September 2, 2021. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
- ^ "Orlando Sentinel: "WESH off Bright House; Pennsylvania station is substitute", July 10, 2012". Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
- ^ "Nexttv | Programming| Business | Multichannel Broadcasting + Cable | www.nexttv.com". NextTV. August 15, 2023. Archived from the original on June 8, 2008. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "May 1991 WESH Newscast". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021.
- ^ "Martha Sugalski, Jim Payne to anchor 10 p.m. news on Channel 18". Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
- ^ "HD". Archived from the original on October 19, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2007.
- ^ "Audio Player".[dead link]
- ^ "WESH to launch 7 p.m. newscast on September 11". August 21, 2023. Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
- ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for WESH". rabbitears.info. Archived from the original on August 15, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- The Orlando Sentinel. June 7, 2011. Archived from the originalon June 10, 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
- ^ Knox, Merrill (June 27, 2011). "WESH Shifts Wimbledon Coverage to WKCF, Stays with Casey Anthony Trial". TVSpy. Archived from the original on July 1, 2011. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
- ^ Boedeker, Hal (June 21, 2013). "George Zimmerman trial to rearrange daytime lineup". The Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on June 27, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
- ^ "Where do I watch MeTV in Chicago - MeTV?". Me-TV Network.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Orlando News, Weather and Sports - Florida News - WESH Channel 2". WESH. Archived from the original on August 28, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
- ^ "List of Digital Full-Power Stations" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
- ^ "CDBS Print". Archived from the original on October 25, 2012. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
- ^ "Digital TV Market Listing for WESH". RabbitEars.Info. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
- ^ "Facility Details « Licensing and Management System Admin « FCC". enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov. Archived from the original on July 27, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2020.