WOWT
kW | |
HAAT | 418 m (1,371 ft) |
---|---|
Transmitter coordinates | 41°18′40″N 96°1′38″W / 41.31111°N 96.02722°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
WOWT (channel 6) is a
WOWT is Gray's only Nebraska station not to be part of its Nebraska News & Weather Network (consisting of sister stations KOLN/KGIN, KSNB-TV, KNEP, and KNOP-TV).
History
The station signed on the air on August 29, 1949, at noon as WOW-TV; it was the first television station in
The station was originally a primary NBC affiliate and secondary
WOWT's most famous former employee is former
In 1974, Meredith tried to sell WOW-TV to
When Meredith sold channel 6 to the San Francisco-based Chronicle Publishing Company in 1975, it changed its call letters to WOWT on July 9, due to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) restrictions regarding the usage of the same call letters by different owners at the time. Normally, channel 6 would have had to adopt a callsign starting with "K" when it changed its call letters, since the WOW call letters had been assigned before the current K/W dividing line was moved to the Mississippi River. However, Chronicle wanted to continue trading on the WOW calls, and got a waiver from the FCC to retain a "W" in its calls. To this day, WOWT is one of the westernmost stations with a callsign starting with "W". After negotiations with the network, Channel 6 reversed the 1956 swap and rejoined NBC on June 29, 1986.
Not surprisingly, channel 6 owns a lot of firsts in the market. It was the first Omaha station to broadcast local programming in color, starting in the mid-1950s; it was the first station to provide live reports during its daily newscasts; it was the first of the three local stations to broadcasts three live daily newscasts, at 5, 6, and 10 p.m.; and in 1993, WOWT was the first local television station to offer a website. During the analog era, WOWT-TV was relayed in Clarinda, Iowa, on a UHF repeater, K58AE, which has since been shut down and deleted from the FCC database.
In 1999, Chronicle sold its media holdings (including its newspapers and four television stations) to separate buyers; WOWT was sold to
Until 2014, WOWT was also reckoned as the default NBC affiliate for the
On January 7, 2015, Gray Television stations WOWT,
62O
In October 2005, WOWT launched a second
News operation
WOWT presently broadcasts 40 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with seven hours each weekday and 2+1⁄2 hours each on Saturdays and Sundays); in regards to the number of hours devoted to news programming, it is the highest local newscast output among the Omaha market's broadcast television stations.
In 1991, WOWT rebranded its newscasts from Action News 6 to Channel 6 News. In 1995, WOWT launched a cable news channel called "NEWS on ONE", which featured live simulcasts and taped rebroadcasts of the station's newscasts on Cox Communications channel 1; the channel was eventually rebranded as "News 4 You", concurrent with its move to Cox channel 4 in 2009. Also in 1995, WOWT's sports department launched a weekly half-hour sports news program titled Channel 6 Sunday Sports Extra, which aired after the station's 10 p.m. newscast on Sunday evening. It was the only program of its kind in Omaha, and was hosted from its inception by sports producer (now sports director) Ross Jernstrom. In 2006, WOWT lost its longtime spot in first place in most timeslots to KETV, who remains there as of 2020. And in October 2013 the news products were re-branded WOWT 6 News. On July 16, 2018, WOWT re-added a 4 p.m. newscast on weekdays, competing with KMTV's newscast at that time slot. WOWT had been the first Omaha station to have a 4 p.m. newscast, launching it in 1994. Its current moniker is "6 On Your Side".
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
6.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
WOWT | Main WOWT programming / NBC |
6.2 | 480i | COZI | Cozi TV | |
6.3 | HandI | Heroes & Icons | ||
6.4 | ION TV | Ion Television | ||
6.5 | StartTV | Start TV | ||
6.6 | The 365 | The365
| ||
6.7 | Outlaw
|
Analog-to-digital conversion
WOWT shut down its analog signal, over
Upon the switch to digital, WOWT aired a 60-second farewell video bookending the analog era from beginning to end. It began with the words "Welcome to the Future", followed with archived film footage of WOW-TV's transmitter being turned on 1949 as it was covered by then-sister station WOW radio (now KXSP), outdoor scenes set to the song "
As part of the
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WOWT". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ Commercial Television Stations of the U. S., 1949
- ^ "Five Meredith stations become CBS affiliates" (PDF). Broadcasting – Telecasting. January 24, 1955. p. 62.
- Broadcasting-Telecasting. January 2, 1956. p. 8.
- ^ "In Brief" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 20, 1974. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
- Globe Newswire. December 1, 2021.
- ^ "3 Gray Stations Off Cox Cable Systems". TV News Check. January 7, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
- ^ http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/WOWT-Cox-Reach-Agreement-Signal-Back-Sunday-Afternoon-288193211.html [dead link]
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WOWT
- ^ List of Digital Full-Power Stations
- ^ Digital delay muddles broadcasters' plans, Brian Redemske, Omaha World-Herald, February 6, 2009.
- ^ FCC document: "Appendix B: All Full-Power Television Stations by DMA, indicating those terminating analog service before on or February 17, 2009."
- ^ "Goodbye", WOWT analog farewell video; archived on WOWT's YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2dmigeQI0U, retrieved October 19, 2009.
- ^ "UPDATED List of Participants in the Analog Nightlight Program" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. June 12, 2009. Retrieved June 4, 2012.