WJLA-TV
kW | |
HAAT | 235.6 m (773 ft) |
---|---|
Transmitter coordinates | 38°57′1″N 77°4′47″W / 38.95028°N 77.07972°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | wjla |
WJLA-TV (channel 7) is a
History
The District of Columbia's third television station began broadcasting on October 3, 1947, as WTVW, owned by the
In 1975,
Rumors abounded from the mid-1990s onward that ABC might buy WJLA-TV, effectively reuniting it with its former radio sisters. Indeed, in the summer of 1998, ABC's corporate parent
In August 2002, Allbritton merged News Channel 8 with WJLA-TV's news department, resulting in some staff layoffs. The unified entity moved into an office complex in the Rosslyn section of Arlington. News Channel 8 was originally based in Springfield, Virginia.[12]
As of July 2008, WJLA-TV had an independent weather channel, Weather Now, under meteorologist Doug Hill. Until July 28, 2008, WJLA-TV offered Local Point TV on 7.2 featuring five-minute video segments created by area residents. Abby Fenton, the station's Director of Community Relations said in an interview with Broadcasting & Cable media industry magazine that "the station likes the 'Local Point' programming and is pondering where else it might fit". Retro Television Network ("Retro TV") replaced Local Point TV.[13]
In late October 2008, WJLA-TV began simulcasting on local low-powered station
On May 1, 2012, WJLA-TV announced it would add the Disney/ABC-owned
Sinclair ownership
On May 1, 2013, reports surfaced that Allbritton was planning to sell its television stations so it could put more of its focus on running its political website Politico.[16] Allbritton announced nearly three months later that it would sell all of its stations to Sinclair Broadcast Group for $985 million.[17] After nearly a year of delays, the deal was approved by the FCC on July 24, 2014.[18] The deal was finalized on August 1, 2014.[19]
The station's second digital subchannel was an initial but secondary affiliate of the American Sports Network with its first broadcast on August 30, 2014.[20] The station switched its subchannels over to Sinclair's owned digital networks, Charge! on .2, Comet on .3 and TBD on .4.[21] WJLA-TV rebranded NewsChannel 8 as WJLA 24/7 News on Tuesday July 24, aligning it further with the call letters of its broadcast station, WJLA-TV.[22]
Logos and imaging
Since 1970, WMAL-TV/WJLA-TV has used a variation of the
Programming
Sports programming
Beginning in September 1984, WJLA-TV became the Washington-area affiliate for
In the 2014 season, WJLA-TV began to air additional college football games through Sinclair's American Sports Network.[20]
In
News operation
WJLA-TV presently broadcasts a total of 34 hours, 55 minutes of locally produced newscasts each week (with 6 hours, 35 minutes each weekday; and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays). The station has the largest news team in the Washington area, which includes around 40 on-air staff members. As the flagship station of the Allbritton Communications station group, WJLA-TV provided all news reports for the Allbritton station group via its news-gathering service.
Prior to 2001, WJLA-TV's newscasts had long placed third in the market's news ratings, behind WUSA and NBC-owned WRC-TV. The station hired Maureen Bunyan, former longtime anchor at WUSA, and in 2003, former CNN anchor Leon Harris joined the station as an anchor. In 2004, WJLA-TV hired Bunyan's former anchor desk partner, Gordon Peterson; and reunited the two as anchors for the 6 p.m. newscast. These personnel moves, combined with WUSA's recent ratings troubles, led to a resurgence in the ratings. In the May 2010 sweeps, it placed number one at 5 p.m. in total viewers, and in the 25–54 demo.
WJLA-TV became the second television station in the Washington, D.C. market (behind WUSA) to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in
On January 23, 2009, WJLA-TV
Post-acquisition, concerns began to emerge surrounding how Sinclair's historic
WJLA-TV started producing the syndicated news program for Sinclair stations,
Notable current on-air staff
- Lisa Fletcher – investigative reporter
- Veronica Johnson – lead meteorologist
Notable former on-air staff
- Paul Berry (retired in May 1999)
- Tim Brant (left station in May 2015 after his contract was not renewed)
- Pamela Brown
- Maureen Bunyan (left station in January 2017)
- Nancy Chen
- Carol Costello
- Charles Gibson (later with ABC News}
- Kendis Gibson
- Mike Hambrick
- Leon Harris (left station in October 2016)
- Erin Hawksworth
- WTOP-AM; retired)
- Doug Hill (AMS seal of approval) – chief meteorologist (died on November 23, 2021)[26]
- Megyn Kelly
- Kevin Kiley
- Susan King
- Kathleen Matthews
- Andrea McCarren
- Britt McHenry (was at ESPN until April 26, 2017)
- Doug McKelway
- Mike Patrick (former sportscaster and sports director with WJLA and former play-by-play announcer for ESPN and Raycom Sports; retired)
- Gordon Peterson (retired in December 2014; also host of Inside Washington)
- Bob Ryan – meteorologist (retired in May 2013)
- David Schoumacher (retired in 1988)
- Alison Starling – anchor (retired in November 2023[27] [28])
- Lori Stokes (was most recently at WNYW; retired on September 30, 2022)
- Joe Witte
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
7.1 | 720p | 16:9 |
WJLA | ABC |
7.2 | 480i | Charge! | Charge! | |
7.3 | Comet | Comet | ||
7.4 | TBD | TBD | ||
32.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WHUT | PBS (WHUT-TV) |
32.2 | 480i | PBSKids | PBS Kids (WHUT-DT2) |
Analog-to-digital conversion
WJLA-TV shut down its analog signal, over
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WJLA-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films". Boxoffice: 13. November 10, 1956. Archived from the original on June 14, 2009.
- ^ "Houston's Allbritton buys into 'Star-News' parent company, is expected to take active role" (PDF). Broadcasting. July 22, 1974. p. 20.
- ^ "Allbritton gets his deal for Washington" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 22, 1975. pp. 19, 20.
- ^ "ABC will buy Washington's WMAL-AM-FM for $16 million" (PDF). Broadcasting. October 4, 1976. p. 40.
- ^ "WJLA" (PDF). fcc.gov. FCC. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
- ^ "His name in lights" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 19, 1977. p. 45.
- ^ "WMAL-TV fetches $100 million, trading record" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 4, 1977. pp. 28, 29.
- ^ "Allbritton backs out of WJLA-TV deal" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 27, 1978. p. 27.
- ^ Hershey, Robert (December 13, 2012). "Joe Allbritton, TV and Banking Titan, Dies at 87". The New York Times. Section B, p.18. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
- ^ Farhi, Paul (July 25, 1998). "Disney Ends Talks to Buy WJLA". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2013 – via HighBeam Research.
- ^ "Channel to cut 30 in WJLA merger". The Washington Times. May 30, 2002. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
- ^ Eggerton, John (July 25, 2008). "WJLA Washington, D.C., Goes Retro". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on August 24, 2008. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
- ^ a b Marcucci, Carl (January 23, 2013). "Me-TV signs with WJLA-TV DC". Radio & Television Business Report. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
- ^ "WJLA Washington Adds Live Well Network". TV News Check. May 1, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
- ^ Wemple, Erik. "Allbritton exploring sale of TV assets". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 2, 2013.
- ^ Heath, Thomas; Wilgoren, Debbi (July 29, 2013). "Allbritton to sell 7 TV stations, including WJLA-TV, to Sinclair for $985 million". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
- ^ Eggerton, John (July 24, 2014). "FCC Approves Sinclair/Allbritton Deal". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
- ^ Sinclair's Deal For Allbritton Closes, Broadcasting & Cable, August 1, 2014, Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ^ a b Minium, Harry (August 27, 2014). "ODU's opener with Hampton to be televised in 66 markets". HamptonRoads.com. The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved September 8, 2014.
- ^ a b "Digital TV Listing for WJLA". RabbitEars.Info. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
- ^ Eggerton, John (July 23, 2018). "Sinclair Rebrands Washington Cable News Network". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
- ^ "D.C. United matches to appear on NewsChannel 8, ABC7". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
- ^ Tucker, Neely (January 24, 2009). "Citing Economy, WJLA Fires 26 Staffers". The Washington Post. p. C1.
- ^ "Under new ownership, WJLA-TV takes a slight turn to the right". The Washington Post. September 16, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
- ^ Samenow, Jason (November 23, 2021). "Doug Hill, D.C.-area weather broadcasting icon, passes away". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
- ^ "Behind the legacy: A look back with longtime 7News Anchor Alison Starling". November 10, 2023.
- ^ "After 20 years with 7News, Alison Starling is stepping away from anchoring". November 3, 2023.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Eggerton, John (June 23, 2009). "WJLA Says It Is Taking Care OF DTV Business". Multichannel News. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
- ^ FCC TV Query: WJLA