WUSA (TV)
kW | |
HAAT | 235.6 m (773 ft) |
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Transmitter coordinates | 38°57′1″N 77°4′47″W / 38.95028°N 77.07972°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
WUSA (channel 9) is a
The station's signal is relayed on a low-power digital translator station, W27EI-D, in Moorefield, West Virginia[5] (which is owned by Valley TV Cooperative). It has a channel-sharing agreement with Silver Spring, Maryland–licensed WJAL (channel 68, owned by Entravision Communications).
History
Early years (1949–1978)
The station first went on the air on January 11, 1949, as WOIC. It began full-time operations on January 16.
In June 1950, a joint venture of CBS and
In 1954, the WTOP stations moved into a new facility, known as "Broadcast House", at 40th and Brandywine Streets NW in Washington. The building was the first in the country designed as a unified radio and television facility. Its name was in honor of Broadcasting House, home of the BBC in London. The building was well known to WTOP's president, since he had spent much of World War II assigned to the BBC. Previous to the move to Broadcast House, the radio stations operated out of the Earle Building (now the Warner Building, home of the Warner Theatre), and WTOP-TV had operated out of the small WOIC studios at the same location. When Broadcast House was completed and the new television studios were inaugurated, the old studio became the garage for Broadcast House and the old master control room became both the master control and transmitter room for channel 9, since Broadcast House had been built around the station's original, four-sided tower. The building with the tower remains in the middle at the same location, although it is now an office building and retail store front.
The WTOP-TV tower was known in Washington for two things. First, at Christmas time, the tower was strung with Christmas lights and glowed brightly on top of Mount Reno, the tallest point in the District of Columbia. Second, the tower tended to sway much more than three-sided towers. In a strong wind, the tower could be seen swaying back-and-forth, and during the winter ice from the tower fell quite often on the streets below.
In October 1954, CBS sold its share of WTOP Inc. to the Washington Post to comply with the FCC's new seven-station-per-group ownership rule. CBS's partial ownership of WTOP radio, KQV radio in Pittsburgh and WCCO radio in Minneapolis exceeded the FCC's limit for AM radio stations.[11] CBS opted to sell its share of WTOP, which it had purchased in whole in 1932 before selling controlling interest to the Post in 1949.
After the sale closed, the Post merged the WTOP stations with its other broadcast property, WMBR-
In 1974, WTOP and the other Post-Newsweek stations adopted the slogan "The One and Only". The moniker was part of a trend toward group identification of stations, with each station being "The One and Only Channel (channel number)". Staff members from the "One and Only" period usually refer to themselves as "the one and onlies" as a source of pride. The slogan was dropped from active use in the late 1990s and has not been used as part of an image campaign since 1996. The slogan no longer appears on-air, but was revived in a sense when channel 9 adopted its slogan in the mid 2000s, First and Only with Local News in HDTV.
Later years (1978–present)
On June 26, 1978,
In 1985, the
At the time, particularly in Gannett press releases, the station's callsign was commonly printed as "W★USA". However, the asterisk or star between the "W" and "U" is not part of the call sign. The star device was used to denote its connection to USA Today. The star was replaced on-air with the CBS Eye Device, which is also not part of the call sign, in the late 1990s as CBS began to considerably relax their formerly strict branding guidelines for their affiliates (which had not allowed blending the logo into call letters), and to reduce confusion with the now-defunct Women's United Soccer Association, which was also visually represented as "W★USA" within their logo.
WUSA moved to a new Broadcast House at 4100 Wisconsin Avenue NW in January 1992. WTOP-FM had left the old Broadcast House in 1971, but kept its transmitter there. WTOP radio departed in 1978; the Post had sold it a year earlier to the
Around the first week of October 2012, Gannett entered a dispute against Dish Network regarding compensation fees and Dish's AutoHop commercial-skip feature on its Hopper digital video recorders. Gannett ordered that Dish discontinue AutoHop on the account that it is having a negative effect on advertising revenues for WUSA. Gannett threatened to pull all of its stations (such as WUSA) should the skirmish continue beyond October 7 and Dish and Gannett fail to reach an agreement.[19][20] The two parties eventually reached an agreement after extending the deadline for a few hours.[21]
On June 29, 2015, the Gannett Company split in two, with one side specializing in print media and the other side specializing in broadcast and digital media. WUSA was retained by the latter company, named Tegna.[22]
Websites
In July 2007, WUSA launched a second website at DVMmoms.com Archived July 4, 2008, at the
In 2008, Gannett and the
In September 2008, WUSA's fifth website was launched, called HighSchoolSports.net. The site features, among other things, high school sports rankings, schedules, and scores for high school
In June 2010, Gannett Broadcasting and DataSphere Technologies announced a partnership to create community-focused websites in 10 of their television station markets. WUSA was one of the first to launch these sites in August 2010. The sites are integrated within the existing website and feature hyperlocal news and user-generated content about area happenings and events. In addition to powering the community websites, DataSphere provides enhanced functionality, including market-leading site search, coupons, a business directory and ad targeting. WUSA created 53 different neighborhood sites in the Metro D.C. area.
Programming
WTOP was one of the few CBS stations that declined to carry the popular game show The Price Is Right during the early years of the program's run (although Washington, D.C. ABC station WMAL-TV/WJLA-TV (channel 7) did carry The Price Is Right and some other CBS daytime game shows uncleared by WTOP during the mid 1970s).
During the
From May 2008 until the end of its original run in 2016, WUSA served as the production studio for the program The McLaughlin Group which was also broadcast on some select CBS stations (including its New York City owned-and-operated station WCBS-TV) beginning in May 2007 and on some PBS member stations (locally via WETA-TV and WHUT-TV); the show was distributed by WTTW out of Chicago, with the production facilities moved over from NBC owned-and-operated station WRC-TV, where the show had been based since its premiere in 1982.
Sports programming
Then-WTOP-TV was the first television partner of the
The then-
Additionally, the station aired select weekend Washington Nationals games produced by MASN from 2013 until 2017.
News operation
WUSA presently broadcasts 38 hours, 15 minutes of locally produced newscasts each week (with 6 hours, 35 minutes each weekday; 2 hours, 5 minutes on Saturday; and 3 hours, 5 minutes on Sunday[29]); in addition, the station produces a sports highlight program called Game On!, which airs Sunday evenings after the 11 p.m. newscast. WUSA was the launchpad for several well-known news anchors. Sam Donaldson and Warner Wolf are among WUSA's most successful alumni. Max Robinson was co-anchor of Eyewitness News with Gordon Peterson from 1969 to 1978 before he became the first black anchorman on network television and one of the original anchors of ABC World News Tonight. James Brown of CBS Sports was a sports anchor at the station in the 1980s.
In 1989, WUSA debuted an hour-long newscast at 4 p.m. (replacing The Oprah Winfrey Show, which the station chose not to continue carrying due to the program's licensing fees, it then moved to WJLA-TV), which created a three-hour local news block from 4 to 7 p.m., resulting in a half-hour delay of the CBS Evening News to 7 p.m. The 4 p.m. newscast was dropped in 2000, with WUSA also cutting a half-hour off the end of its 4–7 p.m. news block, moving the CBS Evening News to 6:30 p.m., the recommended timeslot for the network newscast for CBS stations located in the Eastern Time Zone. WUSA was the only major station in the Washington market that did not carry a 4 p.m. newscast until the station revived it in September 2023. As of that date, all four major stations—including WUSA—now air a 4 p.m. newscast.
On May 2, 2005, WUSA became the first television station in the Washington market to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition.[30]
In February 2012, WUSA launched its investigative unit with Chief Investigative Reporter Russ Ptacek.[31] Ptacek's investigations led to reform after uncovering millions in unreported government bonuses, a utility allowed to charge customers during disconnections caused by storms, taxis refusing passengers based upon race, and potentially deadly restaurant food safety risks.[32] Ptacek and WUSA9 parted ways in 2016 when the station announced changes to its investigative direction.[33]
Anchor and consumer correspondent Lesli Foster reported on a petition filed by the Center For Auto Safety asking government safety regulators to recall millions of older model
Beginning with the noon newscast on January 17, 2013, WUSA unveiled a new graphics package for the station's newscasts designed for Gannett's news-producing stations by design firm The Mill; the new graphics are designed to reduce on-screen clutter, which viewers complained about prior to the change to the new standardized graphics. With the change, WUSA began using the
Beginning with Wake Up Washington on April 26, 2018, WUSA unveiled a new set to replace the previous one used since the May 2, 2005, HD launch, along with a new station logo which ended the use of any stars and/or asterisks in WUSA's branding. It also rolled out a new standardized graphics and music package for the station's newscasts designed for Tegna's news-producing stations.
Notable current on-air staff
- Kristen Berset– anchor, sports reporter
- Topper Shutt (AMS Seal of Approval) – chief meteorologist
Notable former on-air staff
- Martin Agronsky – journalist/host of Agronsky and Company (1969–1988); now deceased
- University of Maryland)
- Fox News Channel, now at NBC News
- Glenn Brenner – sports anchor and later sports director (1977–1992); now deceased
- Anita Brikman – anchor/health reporter (2007–2013; now Senior Vice President of Strategic Communications for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization in Alexandria, Virginia)
- James Brown – sports anchor (1984–1990; now at CBS Sports)
- Maureen Bunyan – anchor/reporter (1973–1995; last at WJLA-TV)
- anchorman(1950–1954); later at CBS News, now deceased
- NECN, died in January 2014)
- Sam Donaldson – anchor/reporter (1961–1967; now retired)
- Kristin Fisher – reporter (2009–2013); now at sister station KING-TV in Seattle
- Angie Goff – traffic/entertainment reporter (2001–2007); moved to WRC-TV (2011–2018); joined WTTG in June 2019
- Erica Grow – meteorologist (2012–2015; now at WPIX in New York City)
- Brett Haber – sports director (2004–2011; now editor-at-large at Washingtonian magazine and Tennis Channel play-by-play commentator)
- Darren M. Haynes – sports director (2017-2023; now at KCAL in Los Angeles)
- J. C. Hayward – anchor (1972–2015); retired
- Frank Herzog – sports anchor and reporter (1969–1983 and 1992–2004, retired)
- Doug Hill – chief meteorologist (1984-2000); now deceased
- Hillary Howard (Statter) – meteorologist (2000–2004; now at WTOP-FM and host of It's Academic)
- Jan Jeffcoat – morning anchor (2013–2018; now at rival WJLA-TV and lead anchor of Sinclair Broadcast Group's The National Desk)
- Bruce Johnson – anchor/reporter (1976–2020); now deceased
- Susan King – anchor/reporter (1975–1979); now a dean at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media
- Doug Llewelyn – anchor/reporter (1970–1976; later known as host/court reporter for the original People's Court)
- Davey Marlin-Jones – film critic and entertainment reporter (1970–1987); now deceased
- Andrea McCarren – anchor/reporter/investigative reporter (1992–1995 and 2009–2018; now Vice President and Chief Content Officer at Pentagon Federal Credit Union)
- West Palm Beach)
- Derek McGinty – anchor (2003–2015)
- Andrea Mitchell – reporter (1976–1978, now at NBC News)
- Warren Olney – reporter (1966–1969, later worked in Los Angeles)
- Ralph Penza – reporter (1979–1980); now deceased
- Tony Perkins – anchor (2019–2022, now at WRC-TV)
- Gordon Peterson – anchor/reporter (1969–2004, retired)
- Russ Ptacek – investigative reporter (2012–2016); now president of VNI Television
- Levan Reid – sports reporter/weekend sports anchor (2003–2008; now in the same position at WBZ-TV in Boston)
- Andrea Roane – anchor/reporter (1981–2018); retired
- Max Robinson – anchor/reporter (1969–1978); now deceased
- Bill Shadel – reporter (1950); now deceased
- Warner Wolf – sports anchor (1965–1976 and 1992–1996, was most recently at WABC (AM) in New York City until December 2016)
- Eun Yang – reporter/anchor (1995–2001, now at WRC-TV)
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
9.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
WUSA-HD | Main WUSA programming / CBS |
9.2 | 480i | Crime | True Crime Network | |
9.3 | Quest | Quest | ||
9.4 | NEST | The Nest | ||
9.5 | QVC | QVC |
On November 1, 2011, WUSA signed an affiliation agreement to add Bounce TV,[35] which launched on WUSA digital subchannel 9.2, on December 16, 2011.[36]
In August 2017, WUSA temporarily stopped carrying its subchannels due to technical considerations involving their channel sharing arrangement with WJAL (virtual channel 68), which moved its signal to WUSA's transmitter on October 1, 2017, and moved its city of license from Hagerstown, Maryland, to Silver Spring. In the interim, Bounce arranged a new affiliation agreement with Univision to be carried on WFDC-DT, and moved its Capital Region affiliation to WFDC-DT4. Justice Network returned later in the month on WUSA-DT2 once the move was completed.
Analog-to-digital conversion
WUSA stopped transmitting on its analog signal, over
Translator
- W27EI-D Moorefield, WV
Notes
- ^ By 2005, the Evening News Association had been renamed "Detroit Free Press, Inc.", after that Gannett subsidiary simultaneously bought the Free Press and sold the News. The station's license remained under Detroit Free Press, Inc. until early 2015, shortly before Gannett was split into separate publishing and broadcasting companies.[16]
References
- ^ "Licensing and Management System". Enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WUSA". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "Digital Signal Sources". The Washington Post. May 20, 2008.
- ^ Nielsen DMA Rankings 2021 MediaTracks Communications. Retrieved on February 14, 2021.
- ^ "RabbitEars.Info". rabbitears.info.
- ^ MacArthur, Harry (January 16, 1949). "A Lot of CBS Shows Move Over Today to New TV Outlet WOIC". Washington Evening Star. p. 59.
- Broadcasting – Telecasting. January 17, 1949. p. 35.
- ^ "Bamberger change; name is now General Teleradio." Broadcasting – Telecasting, January 2, 1950, pg. 26. [1][permanent dead link]
- ProQuest 152211952. Retrieved March 16, 2023 – via Proquest.
- ^ "WTOP Buys WOIC (TV)" (PDF). Broadcasting Telecasting. June 26, 1950. p. 57. Retrieved March 16, 2023 – via World Radio History.
- ^ "CBS sells interest in WTOP; WCCO bidding reported" (PDF). Broadcasting – Telecasting. October 11, 1954. p. 64.
- ^ Carmody, John (June 6, 1986). "The TV Column". Washington Post. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
- ^ "Two more crossowners go thataway." Broadcasting, December 12, 1977, pp. 19–21. [2][permanent dead link] [3][permanent dead link] [4][permanent dead link]
- ^ "WTOP-WDVM call letter change." YouTube. Retrieved July 15, 2012. [5]
- ^ "Gannett's magic touch wins Evening News." Broadcasting, September 2, 1985, pp. 31–32. [6][permanent dead link] [7][permanent dead link]
- ^ Federal Communications Commission (March 18, 2015). "Public Notice Report No. 48451" (PDF). p. 9. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
- ^ "Top 20 group owners: Gillett in, Taft out" (PDF). Broadcasting. February 29, 1988. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
- ^ ""In brief." Broadcasting" (PDF). June 9, 1986. p. 161. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
- ^ Loose, Ashley (October 5, 2012). "DISH customers may lose Gannett programming, including 12 News KPNX, over AutoHop feature". KNXV-TV. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- Denver Post. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
- ^ Warner, Melodie (October 8, 2012). "Dish, Gannett Reach New Deal". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
- ^ "Separation of Gannett into two public companies completed | TEGNA". Tegna.com. June 29, 2015. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
- ^ "Metromix Washington D.C. | Your Washington D.C. Restaurants, Nightlife & Events Guide". July 17, 2008. Archived from the original on July 17, 2008. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
- ^ WUSA-TV Breaking News Smoke and Fire Reported at the Pentagon (September 11, 2001) (Retrieved January 13, 2011)
- ^ Shales, Tom. "On Television, the Unimaginable Story Unfolds." September 12, 2001. Washington Post. Pg. C01. LexisNexis. Web. November 8, 2009.
- ^ "10 Questions for the Dean of D.C. Hockey, Ron Weber". On Frozen Blog. November 9, 2006.
- ^ Fachet, Robert (June 3, 1977). "TV-20 to Cover Caps". The Washington Post.
- ^ Attner, Paul (September 29, 1977). "McKinley, Bullet Rookie From Towson, Realizes He's Defying Longshot Odds". The Washington Post.
- ^ "Weekend morning news starts on WUSA9 this Saturday". WUSA9. April 9, 2015. Archived from the original on April 18, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
- ^ "9News Now at 9am : WUSA : July 3, 2009 9:00am-10:00am EDT". July 3, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2018 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Mr. Ptacek Goes to Washington: KSHB's Russ Ptacek lands his dream job — and it isn't here". Kansas City Pitch. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
- ^ Washington D.C. | Investigative Reporter Russ Ptacek Archived January 23, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, WUSA. Retrieved June 8, 2013.
- ^ "Russ Ptacek Officially Out at WUSA9". Washington City Paper. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
- ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for WUSA". RabbitEars.
- ^ Bounce TV Adds WUSA Washington, TVNewsCheck, November 1, 2011.
- ^ Bounce TV is the first African American broadcast network; It's on Digital Channel 9.2 in DC Archived May 6, 2015, at the Wayback Machine WUSA-TV, December 16, 2011
- ^ "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.
- ^ "FCC document: "APPENDIX B: ALL FULL-POWER TELEVISION STATIONS BY DMA, INDICATING THOSE TERMINATING ANALOG SERVICE BEFORE ON OR FEBRUARY 17, 2009."" (PDF). Hraunfoss.fcc.gov. Retrieved January 11, 2018.