WAND (TV)

Last updated

WAND
WAND logo 2022.webp
City Decatur, Illinois
Channels
BrandingWAND; WAND News
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
August 16, 1953(70 years ago) (1953-08-16)
Former call signs
WTVP (1953–1966)
Former channel number(s)
    • Analog: 17 (UHF, 1953–2009)
    • Digital: 18 (UHF, 2002–2011), 17 (UHF, 2011–2020)
Call sign meaning
None known [lower-alpha 1]
Technical information [2]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 70852
ERP 1,000 kW
HAAT 390.5 m (1,281 ft)
Transmitter coordinates 39°57′8.6″N88°49′56.6″W / 39.952389°N 88.832389°W / 39.952389; -88.832389
Translator(s) see § Translators
Links
Public license information
Website www.wandtv.com

WAND (channel 17) is a television station licensed to Decatur, Illinois, United States, serving the Central Illinois region as an affiliate of NBC. Owned by Block Communications, the station maintains studios on South Side Drive in Decatur, and its transmitter is located along I-72, between Oreana and Argenta.

Contents

Channel 17 was the first station built in the market, signing on as WTVP on August 16, 1953. Originally an affiliate of ABC, it was owned by local non-broadcast investors and struggled due to its impaired reach. Investments were made in facilities and programming under Metromedia in the early 1960s, but it was as the first television station property owned by LIN Broadcasting that the station activated a more powerful transmitter facility and changed its call sign to WAND in 1966. The tower collapsed in a 1978 ice storm and was not rebuilt for more than a year, hindering the station's reach. LIN sold majority ownership to Block Communications in 2000, but it continued to operate the station until Block purchased the remainder in 2007. During that time, WAND switched affiliations from ABC to NBC as part of a new group affiliation agreement between LIN and NBC.

As the station's media market is spread out among several stations in different cities, the station's news ratings strength is concentrated within Decatur and Macon County, with lesser figures in the areas of Springfield and Champaign–Urbana.

History

WTVP: Early years

Decatur was assigned ultra high frequency (UHF) channels 17 and 23 when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lifted its four-year freeze on TV station grants in 1952. [3] While Decatur radio stations WSOY and WDZ announced plans to apply, neither had done so by October 1952, when the Prairie Television Company applied for channel 17. Its president was W. L. Shellabarger, who had previously led a soy mill company. [4] The commission quickly issued Prairie a construction permit on November 20, [5] and the station shortly after took the call sign WTVP. [6]

Construction began on a facility south of the city along the Sangamon River, including an interim transmitter facility (a 1-kilowatt transmitter was all that was available, leaving a 10-kilowatt unit to be installed at a later date). [7] Fabrication of the station's transmitting antenna had become the principal obstacle to going on the air by the start of July, [8] [9] with eight changes in the promised shipping date from the manufacturer, RCA. [10] Even while construction was drawing to a close, issues were emerging involving another station planning to get on the air: WCIA (channel 3) of Champaign, which had hoped to move its transmitter slightly to the east and improve its coverage of Decatur. WTVP contended that WCIA's proposed relocation had hampered its efforts to obtain a network affiliation, even though it had announced plans months earlier to affiliate with CBS, WCIA-TV wound up with that affiliation. [11] [12] [13]

The antenna arrived in Decatur and was erected on August 2; 10,000 people turned out at the studios for a previously scheduled open house and to see the antenna hoisted atop the 550 feet (170 m) tower. [14] The first test pattern went out two days later, [15] and WTVP began telecasting on August 16, 1953. [16] The station was a primary affiliate of ABC, though in the first months, programming from all the major networks—ABC, CBS, NBC, and DuMont Television Network—was shown. [17]

Months after going on the air, the station was roiled by a management crisis. The station did not sign on as scheduled on January 20, 1954. Soon afterward, it emerged that three executives—general manager Harold Cowgill, chief engineer James Wulliman, and program director Paul Taff—had resigned instead of complying with an ultimatum from principal owner Shellabarger. Station stockholders sought to cut expenses by reducing staff and reassigning job duties. [18] The station did not return to the air until that evening; even then, it could only air the audio portion of the Backstage for Polio benefit concert. Normal operations resumed the following afternoon. [19] [20] A total of 20 employees resigned, all of them identically claiming "an unstable administrative situation" and "proposed changes in program policy". [21] At the time, the station had 47 employees, more than double the number of staffers employed by WCIA and WICS in Springfield and three times as many as WBLN in Bloomington. [18] One of the departing executives, Cowgill, went as far as to announce his intention to apply for channel 23 so as to compete with WTVP. [22]

WTVP also had to contend with the uneven structure of television in Central Illinois. WCIA, as a very high frequency (VHF) station, had a larger coverage area, better ratings, and more advertiser support than WTVP, WICS, or other UHF outlets. Shortly after WTVP and WICS failed at the end of 1957 in their joint bid to force WCIA to move to a UHF channel, [23] in April 1958, Shellabarger sold controlling interest in the station to a group of Chicago businessmen fronted by advertising executive George Bolas. [24] [25] Several members of the Swanson family were also represented in the ownership. [26]

Metromedia ownership

In January 1960, Prairie Television announced the sale of the station to Metropolitan Broadcasting of New York City, [27] which then renamed itself Metromedia in 1961. [28] The $570,000 purchase of the station was a near-tripling of its value in two years. [29]

Under Metromedia, some operations of the station were shared with WTVH in Peoria, including senior leadership. Metromedia purchased the first video tape recorder at a central Illinois TV station for WTVP in 1961. [30] Metromedia also set about expanding WTVP's coverage area. It applied for and built a translator on channel 77 to extend its signal into the Champaign–Urbana area. [31] [32] It then worked to make the translator a moot point in 1964 by increasing power for channel 17, which had never operated at its full authorized effective radiated power since beginning broadcasting. The station had originally operated at 17,000 watts; successive increases had brought its authorized effective radiated power to 200,000 watts by January 1962. [33] [34]

WAND: LIN ownership

Metromedia grew rapidly during the time it owned WTVP, and it began to signal that it wanted to shed its Illinois stations in pursuit of larger markets. In March 1965, the company sold WTVH in Peoria to make room for the potential acquisition of a major-market UHF outlet. [35] In October, it announced the $2 million sale of WTVP to LIN Broadcasting Company of Nashville, Tennessee; LIN operated four Southern radio stations and a series of cable television systems but no TV stations. [36] [36] As the WTVP sale awaited FCC approval, Metromedia was already negotiating to acquire KSAN-TV, a UHF station in San Francisco. [37]

Nearly immediately after the FCC approved the transfer of ownership, LIN announced its plan for changes: a substantial power increase, increased local programming, and new call letters — WAND. [38] The call sign changed on February 15, and other changes came throughout the year, including expanded news coverage. [39] In July, ground was broken on a new 1,064-foot (324 m) tower and transmitting facility near Argenta, Illinois. It operated at 1.95 million watts, a nearly tenfold power increase from its predecessor. Though it was originally intended just to double channel 17's coverage area, after the new transmitter went online that October, reports of clear reception came from a larger area than anticipated. [40] [41] It also required some viewers in Decatur proper to buy a second antenna to clearly receive WAND alongside other stations. [42]

At right is the 400.5-meter (1,314.0 ft) WAND tower near Argenta, Illinois. WAND and WBUI towers.jpg
At right is the 400.5-meter (1,314.0 ft) WAND tower near Argenta, Illinois.

On March 26, 1978, WAND's tower was brought down by a massive ice storm, narrowly missing a house. [44] All but 100 feet (30 m) of the tower fell down under the weight of massive sheets of ice. The lost tower was worth $1.5 million. [45] To restore service, WAND prepared to reactivate its original tower behind its studios, which had been retained as a backup. [46] A temporary antenna allowed the station to get back on the air on April 3. [47] However, the shorter and less powerful transmitter did not reach the Champaign–Urbana area, so WAND temporarily relocated its translator at Danville to Champaign, meaning the former city would have to go without ABC programs for months while the Argenta tower was rebuilt. [48] The tower was rebuilt at 1,314 feet (401 m) and activated in June 1979; the station increased its power to the UHF maximum of five million watts. [49] [50]

Block ownership; affiliation switch to NBC

LIN wholly owned WAND until March 2000, when it sold 67 percent of the station to current owner Block Communications in exchange for 100 percent of WLFI-TV in Lafayette, Indiana. However, LIN continued to own a third of WAND and operate the station as part of the deal and did not sell the remaining stake to Block until November 2007. [51] [52] The continued LIN connection would have a material impact. In 2004, NBC and LIN negotiated a new affiliation agreement that included clauses for switching two LIN-operated ABC affiliates to NBC: WAND and WDTN in Dayton, Ohio. At the time, NBC had higher ratings. [53] [54] As a result, on September 5, 2005, WAND became an NBC affiliate, with WICS/WICD switching to ABC. [54]

News operation

Historically, the Champaign–Springfield–Decatur media market, fragmented between stations in multiple cities, has typically seen news viewership divided among city lines. [55] This dynamic also holds for WAND. For instance, in November 1996, WAND's newscasts led all but one timeslot in a seven-county area around Decatur, with 25 percent of viewers in the region watching WAND's 6 p.m. newscast. However, in the full 20-county market, it was a distant third in all timeslots behind WCIA and WICS/WICD, with its 6 p.m. newscast only attracting 8.5 percent of the audience. [56]

The 1990s were a decade of news department expansion at WAND. The station's only full-length newscasts were at 6 and 10 p.m. until 1992, when WAND debuted Live at Five, the second 5 p.m. newscast in the area. Its launch was brought forward by five months to cover a five-month strike against Caterpillar Inc. [57] In late 1993, a Doppler weather radar was installed atop the station's building in Decatur; the purchase, made by LIN as part of a push to add radar at all of its stations, represented the first Doppler radar in the local area. [58] The 20-minute Good Morning Central Illinois shifted from 20 minutes to an hour in 1994. [59] However, WAND was the last of the three major stations to only run an hour-long morning newscast as WCIA and WICS each extended their morning newscasts to start earlier than 6 a.m. [60]

On January 27, 2014, WAND expanded its weekday noon broadcast to one hour. [61] 2018 saw the introduction of weekend morning newscasts. [62]

Notable current on-air staff

Notable former on-air staff

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WAND [66]
Channel Res. Aspect Short nameProgramming
17.1 1080i 16:9 WAND-HDMain WAND programming / NBC
17.2 480i COZI-TV Cozi TV
17.3ION SD Ion Television
17.4DEFY Defy TV
17.5NEWSY Scripps News
17.6MeTV MeTV
55.3 480i4:3Antenna Antenna TV (WRSP-TV)
  Broadcast on behalf of another station

WAND hosts a subchannel of WRSP-TV and is in turn hosted in ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) as part of the market's ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) deployment, which launched in December 2022. [67]

Analog-to-digital conversion

WAND shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 17, on February 17, 2009, the original target date on which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was pushed back to June 12, 2009). [68] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 18, using virtual channel 17. [69] On June 6, 2011, the FCC granted WAND a construction permit to move its digital frequency back to channel 17 with the UHF digital maximum power of one million watts. [70]

WAND relocated its signal from channel 17 to channel 20 on January 17, 2020, as a result of the 2016 United States wireless spectrum auction. [71]

Translators

In addition to its main signal, WAND can also be seen on three low-power translators: [72]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ A child on a station tour once suggested that it should stand for "Weather and News Daily", though that was not the actual meaning. [1]

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References

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  2. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WAND". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ↑ "4 TV Channels Listed Within Decatur Range". Decatur Herald. April 14, 1952. p. 3. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Application Of Decatur TV Station Filed". The Decatur Review. October 30, 1952. p. 32. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Prairie Given FCC Permission For TV Station". Decatur Herald. November 21, 1952. p. 3. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "TV Station May Be In Operation by Mid-July". Decatur Herald. December 16, 1952. p. 3. Retrieved August 4, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "TV Signals May Blanket Twin Cities: Decatur Station Will Test Output In Mid-June". The Pantagraph. May 24, 1953. p. 3. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "FCC Withdraws Permit Moving TV Station". The Decatur Review. Associated Press. July 3, 1953. p. 9. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "WTVP Test Pattern Now Set for July 22". The Decatur Review. July 9, 1953. p. 32. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "WTVP Pattern Test July 27". The Decatur Review. July 17, 1953. p. 3. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Two Illinois Cities Dispute TV Location". Mt. Vernon Register-News. July 21, 1953. p. 2. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "WTVP to Be CBS Affiliate". The Decatur Review. February 12, 1953. p. 10. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "WCIA-TV Sets Nov. 15 for 1st Broadcast". Herald and Review. September 25, 1953. p. 3. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Delayed Antenna Goes Up". The Decatur Review. August 3, 1953. p. 18. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "WTVP Goes on Air With Test Pattern; Area Viewers Report Good Reception". Decatur Herald. August 5, 1953. p. 3. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "WTVP Starts On Schedule". The Decatur Review. August 17, 1953. p. 18. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "'Live' Programs In Two Months Is WTVP Goal". Decatur Sunday Herald and Review. August 16, 1953. p. TV 7, 9 . Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  18. 1 2 "WTVP Back on Air; 20 Employes Quit: Expense Reduction Cause of Dispute". Decatur Herald. January 22, 1954. p. 3. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "3 Bosses Resign At Station WTVP In Sudden Move". The Decatur Review. January 20, 1954. p. 28. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ "Decatur's WTVP Television Slated To Return to Air". The Decatur Review. January 21, 1954. p. 32. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ "WTVP Remains On Air, 19 Have Resigned". The Decatur Review. Decatur, Illinois. January 22, 1954. p. 24. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ "Cowgill to File Application for New TV Station". Decatur Herald. January 23, 1954. p. 3. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  23. ↑ "WTVP Loses Bid to Change WCIA Band". The Decatur Review. December 31, 1957. p. 14. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "Chicago Men Buy Control Of TV Station". The Decatur Review. April 2, 1958. p. 32. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  25. ↑ "WTVP Sale Is Approved". The Decatur Review. May 29, 1958. p. 3. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  26. ↑ "WTVP's New Owners Elect 5 Directors". The Decatur Review. July 9, 1958. p. 28. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  27. ↑ "Prairie Company Sells WTVP to New York Firm". The Decatur Review. January 13, 1960. p. 28. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  28. ↑ "It's Metromedia: Metropolitan stockholders vote to change firm name" (PDF). Broadcasting. April 3, 1961. p. 56. ProQuest   1285745524. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 12, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2022– via World Radio History.
  29. ↑ "3 blessings with 2 rebukes: But FCC okays Metropolitan purchases" (PDF). Broadcasting. January 4, 1960. p. 40. ProQuest   963322936. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  30. ↑ Sanders, Ralph W. (May 25, 1961). "Video Tape Recorder Shown: 60 Attend Premier of New WTVP Device". The Decatur Review. p. 44. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  31. ↑ "WTVP Asks Permit: Rebroadcasting of Programs in Champaign Area Sought". The Decatur Review. April 21, 1961. p. 22. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  32. ↑ "Translator Station Set". The Decatur Review. September 19, 1961. p. 22. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  33. ↑ "WTVP to File Plans for Improvement". The Decatur Review. April 16, 1964. p. 40. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  34. ↑ "FCC History Cards for WAND". Federal Communications Commission.
  35. ↑ "TV Station Sold: Metromedia Disposes of WTVH in Peoria". The Decatur Review. March 29, 1965. p. 24. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  36. 1 2 "Metromedia Sells Decatur Station WTVP". Decatur Herald. October 13, 1965. p. 3. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  37. ↑ Williams, Dorothy (December 5, 1965). "Sale Approval: FCC May Act on WTVP". Sunday Herald and Review. p. 3. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  38. ↑ "Name Change Seen for WTVP". Decatur Herald. January 7, 1966. p. 5. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  39. ↑ "Program Changes: WTVP Becomes WAND Monday". The Sunday Herald and Review. Decatur, Illinois. February 13, 1966. p. 42. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  40. ↑ "Ground Broken: New TV Tower, Transmitter, Construction Starts". The Decatur Review. July 22, 1966. p. 21. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  41. ↑ "WAND Tower In Operation". The Sunday Herald and Review. October 9, 1966. p. 3. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  42. ↑ "TV Service Calls Heavy". The Decatur Review. October 13, 1966. p. 28. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  43. ↑ "Listing 1009651". Antenna Structure Registration database. U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
  44. ↑ "WAND-TV tower crumples". Decatur Sunday Herald and Review. March 26, 1978. p. 3. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  45. ↑ "Utility crews work on individual lines". Decatur Herald. March 29, 1978. p. 3. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  46. ↑ Tufano, Linda; Waters, Mike (March 28, 1978). "Area ice storm leaves thousands without electricity". The Daily Illini. p. 3. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  47. ↑ "WAND-TV returning to air today". Decatur Herald. April 3, 1978. p. 3. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  48. ↑ McNicholas, Mike (April 28, 1978). "'Saturday Night,' WAND to return to air". The Daily Illini. p. 5, 7 . Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  49. ↑ Glover, Mike (March 17, 1979). "Twin Cities to get WAND signal". The Pantagraph. p. A-2. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  50. ↑ "New WAND tower becomes operational". Decatur Daily Review. June 16, 1979. p. 18. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  51. ↑ Wilcoxson, Brett (December 21, 1999). "Blade to acquire WAND: Transfer of local ABC affiliate awaits FCC OK". Herald and Review. p. D1. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  52. ↑ "LIN TV Corp. Completes the Sale of its Interest in WAND(TV) Partnership" (PDF). LIN TV Corp. (Press release). November 9, 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 16, 2008.
  53. ↑ Bohman, Jim (March 5, 2004). "WDTN-TV to become NBC affiliate". Dayton Daily News. p. D1, D3 . Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  54. 1 2 Paul, Jim (September 4, 2005). "TV stations swapping networks". The Pantagraph. Associated Press. p. B5. Retrieved March 19, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  55. ↑ Burke, David (January 5, 1996). "Numbers show TV viewing loyalty". Herald and Review. p. D6. Retrieved March 20, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  56. ↑ Burke, David (January 24, 1997). "First '96-'97 TV ratings show little change". Herald and Review. p. C7. Retrieved March 20, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  57. ↑ "WAND premieres its 'Live at Five' newscast". State Journal-Register. April 23, 1992. p. 11.
  58. ↑ Burke, David (December 30, 1993). "WAND weather radar goes 1st class". Herald and Review. p. A6. Retrieved March 20, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  59. ↑ Burke, David (August 12, 1994). "TCI menu grows with a la carte channels". Herald and Review. p. B7. Retrieved March 20, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  60. ↑ Burke, David (September 5, 1999). "Media turns on morning news earlier". Herald and Review. p. B1, B3 . Retrieved March 20, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  61. ↑ "WAND Expands Noon News, Names Evening Anchor". TVSpy. January 7, 2014. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  62. ↑ Tsoflias Siegel, Stephanie (January 30, 2018). "WAND Adds Two Weekend Newscasts". TVSpy. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  63. ↑ "WAND-TV hires meteorologist of viral forecast". Herald and Review. August 21, 2019. p. A6. Retrieved March 20, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  64. ↑ "31's Gould moves to St. Louis". The Sacramento Bee. July 22, 1987. p. F4. Retrieved March 20, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  65. ↑ "On the move". Herald and Review. July 25, 1985. p. B2. Retrieved March 20, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
  66. ↑ "RabbitEars TV Query for WAND". RabbitEars . Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  67. ↑ "Eight Stations Launch NextGen TV In Champaign/Springfield-Decatur". TVNewsCheck. December 6, 2022. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  68. ↑ "List of TV stations ending analog broadcasts". NBC News. Associated Press. February 17, 2009. Archived from the original on January 6, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  69. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. May 23, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
  70. ↑ "Application for Construction Permit for Commercial Broadcast Station BMPCDT-20110512AAW". Consolidated Database System. Federal Communications Commission. June 6, 2011. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  71. ↑ "FCC TV Spectrum Phase Assignment Table" (CSV). Federal Communications Commission . April 13, 2017. Archived from the original on April 17, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  72. ↑ "List of TV Translator Input Channels". Federal Communications Commission. July 23, 2021. Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
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