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WRDW-TV, channel 12, is a CBS-affiliated television station located in Augusta, Georgia, USA. WRDW-TV is owned by Atlanta-based Gray Television, and also provides digital subchannels for MyNetworkTV on channel 12.2 and The Country Network on channel 12.3. While the station is licensed to Augusta, its studio/office and transmitter facilities are located across the Savannah River in South Carolina, respectively in North Augusta and Beech Island.
WRDW-TV shares call letters with WRDW (AM) in Augusta and WRDW-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, both owned by Beasley Broadcast Group and unrelated to the television station.
History
WRDW-TV commenced operations on February 14, 1954; it is the second-oldest television station in Augusta. It was originally owned by the Morris family (whose holdings eventually became Morris Communications) along with the Augusta Chronicle and the original WRDW radio (1480 AM). It has been Augusta's CBS affiliate for its entire history, owing to its radio sister's long affiliation with CBS radio. However, it shared ABC with then-NBC affiliate WJBF (channel 6). On September 1, 1967, WJBF switched its primary affiliation to ABC, and began splitting NBC with WRDW-TV. This was unusual, but WJBF's namesake owner J.B. Fuqua wanted to get that station in line with two ABC affiliates he had just purchased, located in Evansville, Indiana and Fargo, North Dakota.
When WATU (channel 26, now WAGT) appeared as the market's third station in late 1968, NBC allowed WRDW-TV and WJBF to keep their secondary NBC affiliations. This situation mostly shut WATU out of access to network programming, thereby forcing it to go dark in 1970. Channel 12 continued to split NBC with WJBF until WATU resumed broadcasting in 1974 with a primary NBC affiliation. At that time, channel 12 finally became a full-time CBS station.
In the mid-1960s, the Morris family sold WRDW-AM-TV to Rust Craft Broadcasting. WRDW radio was acquired by entertainer and Augusta native James Brown in 1969 (it is now WCHZ); both stations were allowed to retain the WRDW call sign. Rust Craft's station group was acquired by Ziff Davis in 1979. Channel 12 was sold along with then sister stations in Saginaw, Michigan, Rochester, New York, Chattanooga, Tennessee and Steubenville, Ohio to Television Station Partners in 1983. Television Station Partners sold off all of its stations in early January 1996, with WRDW going to Gray Communications Systems (now Gray Television).
In 2011, WRDW launched News 12 LawCall, a live, weekly, thirty-minute call-in show hosted by local personal injury attorney Vic Hawk of the Vic Hawk Law Firm and Neil Gordon. The show features guest attorneys from across the CSRA. Every show highlights one call-in topic. The attorneys take live phone calls from viewers pertaining to that topic.
Digital Television
| Channel | Aspect | Video | Name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.1 | 16:9 | 1080i | WRDW-HD | Main WRDW-TV programming / CBS |
| 12.2 | 4:3 | 480i | WRDW-DT | WRDW-DT2 / MyNetworkTV |
| 12.3 | WRDW-WX | The Country Network |
The station's digital signal is multiplexed. WRDW-TV previously carried weather information on 12.3. It was replaced with The Country Network in January 2011.
News operation
In local newscast ratings, WRDW mostly placed 2nd for much of its history up against rival WJBF. Recently, WRDW and WJBF usually traded first and second place in news time slots, while WAGT almost always placed third. In recent 2011 ratings, however, longtime rival WRDW displaced WJBF as the ratings leader in most time slots.
The station's newscasts were updated in 2004 with new graphics from Cinemagic. A new state-of-the-art news set soon followed in early-2005 built by designer Gil Jiminez. On August 17, 2010, WRDW launched local newscasts in 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen becoming the first area station to do so. With the upgrade came new HD-ready graphics. Although not truly high definition, broadcasts match the ratio of HD television screens.
On January 24, 2011, WRDW launched local newscasts in high definition with the midday newscast. It is the first station in the area to do so. With the launch came a brand new logo and brand new high definition graphics, similar in style to the previous 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen graphics that debuted just 4 months before, but fully animated.
WRDW-TV had the longest-running news anchor team in the market with Richard Rogers and Laurie Ott seen weeknights at 6 and 11. The two were together on-air from the mid-1990s until September 2007 when Laurie Ott left to pursue other career opportunities. Unlike most CBS affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone, WRDW does not offer news weeknights at 5:30.
Newscast titles
- 12 Country News (1970s)
- Action News (1974–1982)
- Channel 12 Eyewitness News (1982–1992)
- 12 News (1992–1998)
- News 12 (1998–present)
Station slogans
- "Channel 12, the Color Station" (early-1970s)
- "Action News: Where the Action Is" (mid-1970s)
- "The Best is Here on Channel 12" (late-1970s)
- "Keep Your Eye on Eyewitness News" (early-1980s)
- "Where the News Comes First"/"Your 24-Hour News Source" (1992–1998)
- "Your News Station" (1998–2002)
- "On Your Side" (2002–present)
News team
Anchors
- Meredith Anderson - weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
- Katie Beasley - weeknights at 5 p.m.; also Columbia County reporter
- Jessica Dill - weekday mornings News 12 This Morning and News 12 Midday
- Sheli Muniz - weekend evenings; also multimedia journalist
- Richard Rogers - weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
- Chris Thomas - weeknights at 5 p.m.; also Richmond County reporter
Storm Team 12
- Shane Butler (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.
- Vicki Graf - meteorologist; weekend evenings
- Tim Strong - meteorologist; weekday mornings News 12 This Morning and weekdays at noon
Sports team (both seen on Operation Football Live)
- Kevin Faigle - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
- Jake Young - sports anchor; weekend evenings, also sports reporter
Reporters
- Trishna Begam - weekday morning reporter
- Israel Butler - multimedia journalist
- Christie Ethridge - multimedia journalist
- Justin Fabiano - multimedia journalist
- Hope Jensen - multimedia journalist
- Chad Mills - Aiken County reporter
- Liz Owens - "On Your Side" reporter
- Laura Warren - multimedia journalist
Contributors
- Kim Beavers - Eating Well With Kim
- Neil Gordon - Buzz on Biz; also host of News 12 LawCall
- Candye Smith - Give It 4Ward
- Vic Hawk - Attorney, News 12 LawCall
Notable former staff
- Tom Campbell - anchor/reporter 1995-2011, now deceased
- Bob Smith - chief meteorologist emeritus 1977-2010
References
- "WJBF (TV) goes primary ABC." Broadcasting, Aug. 14, 1967, pg. 52.
- "Brown gets 2d station." Broadcasting, Feb. 17, 1969, pg. 10
- WRDW News 12 at 11 Open
- WRDW 1998 Montage
- About News 12
External links
| Broadcast television in the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) | |
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| Full power |
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| Low power | |
| Defunct | |
| CBS network affiliates licensed to and serving the state of Georgia | |
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| Primary* | |
| Secondary** | |
| (*) – indicates station is in one of Georgia's primary TV markets (**) – indicates station is in an out-of-state TV market, but reaches a small portion of Georgia
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| MyNetworkTV affiliates licensed to and serving the state of Georgia | |
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| Primary* | |
| Secondary** | |
| (*) – indicates station is in one of Georgia's primary TV markets (**) – indicates station is in an out-of-state TV market, but reaches a small portion of Georgia
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