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WBAL-TV, channel 11, is a NBC-affiliated television station in located in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. WBAL-TV is the flagship television station of Hearst Television, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation, and is locally co-owned with sister radio stations WBAL (1090 AM) and WIYY (97.9 FM). The three stations share a studio and office facility on Television Hill in the Woodberry section of Baltimore, near the transmitting tower WBAL-TV shares with WIYY and four other Baltimore television stations.
History
WBAL-TV began operations on March 11, 1948, from its original studios on North Charles Street in Downtown Baltimore. The station's parent, the Hearst Corporation, also owned WBAL radio and two local newspapers, the Baltimore News-Post and the Baltimore American (which later merged as the Baltimore News-American before shutting down in 1986). WBAL-TV is one of two Hearst-owned broadcast properties to have been built from the ground-up by the company (the other being WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh), and the oldest to be continuously owned by Hearst through its various television subsidiaries through the years.
At its launch, WBAL-TV was an NBC affiliate, owing to its radio sister's long affiliation with the NBC Radio Network. Early programming on channel 11 included Musical Almanac, Look and Cook, and Know Baltimore, along with news and sports productions. In the 1950s, the station introduced Romper Room, a children's program produced locally by Bert and Nancy Claster that eventually became a nationally franchised and syndicated program. Another long-running show of the 1950s was the weekday Quiz Club, co-hosted by local personalities Brent Gunts and Jay Grayson. Baltimore Sun columnist Jacques Kelly described it at the time of Grayson's death in June 2000, as "pure 1950s live television ... executed on a low budget ... the genial hosts ... ruled the 1 p.m. airwaves".
WBAL-TV produced several local bowling shows in the 1960s and early 1970s, including Strikes and Spares, Pinbusters, Duckpins for Dollars, Bowling for Dollars, and Spare Time. The station even went as far as building bowling alleys at its studios. It also launched several children's entertainment shows during this period, such as Rhea and Sunshine, Pete the Pirate, P.W. Doodle, Heads Up, and the teen-oriented Kirby Scott Show.
WBAL-TV's first stint as an NBC affiliate ended on August 30, 1981, when the station swapped networks with WMAR-TV (channel 2), then owned by the Baltimore Sun, and became a CBS affiliate. In its reasoning for initiating the switch, CBS claimed was not pleased with WMAR-TV's frequent pre-emptions and low news ratings. As a CBS affiliate, however, channel 11 pre-empted an hour of the network's daytime schedule everyday, as well as half of its Saturday cartoon lineup. Channel 11 also did not run CBS's late night programming. Baltimore viewers who wanted to see the entire CBS line-up could do so through WDVM-TV/WUSA in Washington, D.C., which was available over-the-air in most of the Baltimore area and pre-empted little network programming.
In 1994, the E. W. Scripps Company, present owners of WMAR-TV, negotiated with ABC to affiliate with its Baltimore station as part of a multi-station deal. In response, CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting formed a partnership which resulted in the CBS affiliation moving from WBAL-TV to Westinghouse's WJZ-TV (channel 13), Baltimore's longtime ABC affiliate. Largely by default, channel 11 rejoined NBC on January 2, 1995, and has remained the market's NBC affiliate since then. It should be noted that WBAL-TV had been invited to switch to ABC in 1977 (when ABC was the number-one network in primetime), but opted to remain with NBC out of concerns about the poor ratings for ABC's evening newscasts.
The station was a prominent feature in the movie Diner, set in Baltimore. One of the main characters' girlfriends works there, and another character watches College Bowl, an NBC program aired on WBAL-TV.
WBAL-TV is one of the few NBC affiliates that does not air the fourth hour of Today in daytime. (The 4th hour airs overnight in a network feed of the program.) Excluding most regular season games (seen mostly on WJZ), WBAL-TV is the official station of the Baltimore Ravens, and aired most of their regular season games in 1996 and 1997. WBAL-TV produces and airs the majority of the team's preseason games, but will use the NBC network feed if NBC picks up a Ravens preseason game for telecast.
Digital television
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WBAL-DT | Main WBAL-TV programming / NBC |
| 11.2 | 480i | 4:3 | WBAL-SD | Me-TV |
WBAL-TV broadcasts a sub-channel on 11.2. Previously, programming on the channel consisted of local weather information under the "11 Insta-Weather Plus" branding, newscasts and other special programming. It launched in August 2005 as "11 Insta-Weather Plus", an affiliate of NBC Weather Plus until the network dissolved in November 2008; after that, the subchannel carried automated local and regional weather information provided by NBC Plus until April 2009, when an alternate programming format was adopted. On March 5, 2012, WBAL launched a 10 p.m. newscast on WBAL Plus.
On July 24, 2012, Hearst Television renewed its affiliation agreement with Me-TV to maintain existing affiliations with eight Hearst-owned stations currently carrying the digital multicast network through 2015. As part of the renewal, Hearst also signed agreements to add the network as digital subchannels of WBAL-TV and four other Hearst stations in Sacramento, Boston, Oklahoma City and Greensboro. Me-TV was added to subchannel 11.2 on October 1, 2012.
Analog-to-digital conversion
WBAL-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 11, on June 12, 2009, as part of the DTV transition in the United States. The station had been broadcasting its pre-transition digital signal over UHF channel 59, but returned to channel 11 for its post-transition operations. Several VHF digital stations received permission for a power increase later that month after stations experienced signal problems as a result of changing their digital channel from UHF to VHF. WBAL-TV chose to test its equipment before making a commitment.
News operation
Appropriately for a station with roots in a newspaper, channel 11 has a rich news tradition. It has spent the better part of its history in either first or second place. It led the ratings from the 1960s until WJZ-TV passed it in the early 1970s. However, for the better part of the last 40 years, WBAL-TV had waged a spirited battle for first place in the ratings with WJZ-TV. In recent years, WBAL-TV's newscasts placed first at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. However, in the November 2009 Nielsen ratings sweeps period—the first since the debut of The Jay Leno Show - WBAL's 11 p.m. newscast fell precipitously from first to a distant second behind WJZ. (By contrast, the 11 p.m. newscast on WRC-TV in nearby Washington, D.C. was one of the least affected late-night newscasts of any NBC affiliate or O&O in the country; it continued to dominate its competitors). WBAL still continued to lead at 5 and 6 p.m. until the November 2011 Nielsen Ratings sweeps period. Since NBC took Leno off of prime-time in February 2010—in part due to complaints from WBAL and other affiliates about effects on its newscasts—channel 11's late newscast has often come close to the WJZ newscast. However, since the November 2011 sweeps period, WJZ's newscasts took the lead in nearly all time slots but WBAL is still a strong second.
In 1974, WBAL introduced the Action News format to Baltimore. Characterized by short, usually 90 second, news "packages" and upbeat introductory news themes, Baltimore's Action News briefly replaced Channel 13 as the number one news station in Baltimore during the mid-seventies. The architect of the success was news director Ron Kershaw, who had come to Baltimore from Texas and was considered somewhat ahead of his time. He brought in talented anchors like Sue Simmons and Spencer Christian and streamlined the news operation. Kershaw later brought other innovations to WNBC-TV in New York and WBBM-TV in Chicago as news director at those stations. Since the late 1980s, it has been branded News 11, WBAL-TV 11 News, or just simply 11 News.
WBAL-TV lent then-meteorologist Sandra Shaw to Hearst-Argyle sister station WDSU-TV in New Orleans on September 1, 2008, to assist with the Louisiana station's coverage of Hurricane Gustav.
On January 3, 2009, WBAL-TV became the second station in Baltimore (behind WBFF-TV) to launch local news and weather in high definition. Only the in-studio cameras and the stations' helicopter were in HD at the time of the switch. For over a year, most field reports were still in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition. Most field reports are currently being switched from 16:9 widescreen enhanced definition to 16:9 high definition in March 2012. On March 5, 2012, WBAL debuted a half-hour 10 p.m. newscast on its WBAL Plus digital subchannel, which competes against an hour-long newscast on WBFF.
Awards and achievements
WBAL-TV has boasted many television firsts, including:
- the first Baltimore television station to broadcast in color;
- the first station in Maryland (and the eighth in the world) to acquire a videotape cartridge machine;
- the first station in Baltimore to acquire a mobile satellite news-gathering system (dubbed "NEWSTAR 11");
- the first Baltimore station to hire an African-American news anchor and an African-American news director.
In addition, WBAL-TV became the first Baltimore TV station to win a Peabody Award for local news coverage (and the first Baltimore television station to win the award in any category in more than fifty years). WBAL's "11 News" was also awarded as one of the top three Best Television Newscasts by the National Headliners Association, alongside WFAA-TV in Dallas, and sister station WCVB-TV in Boston.
Other awards include:
- regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, the George Polk Award and the American Bar Association Gavel Award - or excellence in reporting and journalism;
- Outstanding television news operation in Baltimore (by the Associated Press and United Press International)
News/Station Presentation
Newscast Titles
- TV-11 News/The Reporters and The News (1960s–1973)
- Action News/Action News 11 (1973–1985)
- News 11 (1985–1990)
- WBAL-TV 11 News (1991–1995)
- 11 News (1995–present)
Station Slogans
- "Baltimore 11" (1970s)
- "Hello Baltimore" (1979–1982)
- On Your Side (1985–1991)
- Your 24-Hour News Station (1991–1993)
- Live, Local, Latebreaking (1995–present)
On-air staff
Current on-air staff
- Anchors
- Kate Amara - weeknights at 10:00 p.m. (WBAL-DT2 MeTV)
- Mindy Basara - weekday mornings 11 News Today (5:00-7:00 on WBAL and 7:00-8:00 a.m. on WBAL-DT2 MeTV); also investigative reporter
- Sarah Caldwell - weekdays at noon; also weekday morning traffic reporter ("Traffic Pulse 11" - 5:00-7:00 on WBAL and 7:00-8:00 a.m. on WBAL-DT2 MeTV)
- Rod Daniels - weeknights at 6:00 and 11:00 p.m.
- Donna Hamilton - weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00 p.m.; also "Medical Alert" and "Woman's Doctor" reporter
- Lisa Robinson - weekend mornings (5:00-7:00 and 9:00-10:00 weekends + 7:00-8:00 a.m. Sundays); also host of "11 TV Hill" and investigative/general assignment reporter
- Stan Stovall - weekday mornings 11 News Today (5:00-7:00 on WBAL and 7:00-8:00 a.m. on WBAL-DT2 MeTV) and weeknights at 5:00 p.m.
- Deborah Weiner - weekends at 6:00 and 11:00 p.m.; also investigative reporter
- InstaWeather+
- Tom Tasselmyer (AMS Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5:00, 6:00, 10:00 (WBAL-DT2 MeTV) and 11:00 p.m.
- John Collins (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekends at 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. and Thursdays at noon
- Ava Marie (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist) - meteorologist; weekday mornings 11 News Today (5:00-7:00 on WBAL and 7:00-8:00 on WBAL-DT2 MeTV), Mon.-Wed. + Fri. at noon and "11 News Sunday Morning" (5:00-8:00 and 9:00-10:00 a.m.)
- Tony Pann (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings 11 News Today (5:00-7:00 on WBAL and 7:00-8:00 on WBAL-DT2 MeTV) and Saturday Mornings 11 News Saturday Morning (5:00-7:00 and 9:00-10:00 a.m.)
- 11 Sports
- Gerry Sandusky - sports director; weeknights at 6:00, 10:00 (WBAL-DT2 MeTV) and 11:00 p.m.
- Pete Gilbert - sports anchor; weekends at 6:00 and 11:00 p.m., also sports reporter
- Keith Mills - sports anchor; weekday mornings 11 News Today (5:00-7:00 on WBAL and 7:00-8:00 a.m. on WBAL-DT2 MeTV)
- Reporters
- Kerry Cavanaugh - general assignment reporter
- David Collins - general assignment and investigative reporter
- Kim Dacey - general assignment reporter; also fill-in traffic reporter ("Traffic Pulse 11")
- Jennifer Franciotti - general assignment reporter
- George Lettis - general assignment reporter
- Lowell Melser - general assignment reporter
- Jayne Miller - chief investigative reporter
- Nadia Ramdass - general assignment reporter
- Kai Reed - general assignment reporter
- Rob Roblin - general assignment reporter
- Sarah Sampson - general assignment reporter
- Barry Simms - general assignment and investigative reporter
- Roy Taylor - "SkyTeam 11" pilot reporter
- Tim Tooten - education reporter
- Hearst Television Washington Bureau
- Hallie Jackson - Hearst Washington bureau reporter
- Sally Kidd - Hearst Washington bureau reporter
- Nikole Killion - Hearst Washington bureau reporter
Notable former on-air staff
- Curt Anderson (now in the Maryland General Assembly)
- Sade Baderinwa (now with WABC-TV in New York City)
- Marianne Banister (now at WBFF-TV)
- Campbell Brown (formerly at CNN)
- Ron Canada - newscaster during the 1970s and early '80s (now working as an actor)
- Spencer Christian (now with KGO-TV in San Francisco)
- Carol Costello (now at CNN)
- Jay Grayson - co-host of the weekday Quiz Club in the 1950s
- Brent Gunts - on-air personality in the 1950s who became the station's vice president and general manager for 14 years, until 1973
- Mike Hambrick
- Al Herndon - pioneering 1950s weatherman who wore a gas station attendant's uniform while delivering the forecast
- Rolf Hertsgaard - evening news anchorman for 15 years in the 1950s and 1960s
- Vicki Mabrey (now with ABC News)
- Ruth Ann "Rudy" Miller, reporter in the 1970s and then anchor in the 1980s (filed EEOC lawsuit after being fired)
- Royal Parker (1962-mid-1990s)
- Lisa Salters (now with ESPN)
- Sue Simmons (later with WNBC-TV in New York City 1980-2012; was at WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. 1978-1980 before that)
- Ron Smith (died on December 19, 2011, at age 70, after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer)
- Julius Westheimer - Deceased
Out-of-market coverage
Outside of Baltimore, WBAL-TV can be seen in Maryland's Eastern Shore from Cecil County to Worcester County, and Sussex County, Delaware. The Salisbury MD/Rehoboth DE TV market does not have an NBC affiliate of its own, so both Comcast and Mediacom carry WBAL-TV instead. (Comcast carries both WBAL-TV and WCAU in Sussex County, DE)
WBAL-TV is also viewed in many parts of Southern Pennsylvania such as Gettysburg in Adams County, and Hanover and York as well as the majority of York County due to its proximity to Baltimore. In Lancaster County, WBAL is only available in Marietta, Columbia, and Elizabethtown mainly because of competition and prevalence of Philadelphia and local TV stations in the area that are more well-known such as WGAL-TV and WCAU-TV.
In the Shenandoah Valley, WBAL-TV can been seen in Frederick, Clarke and Warren counties along with the independent city of Winchester, Virginia.
References
- "WBAL-TV; Baltimore NBC outlet begins operations." Broadcasting - Telecasting, March 15, 1948, pg. 97.
- ^ Kelly, Jacques (June 24, 2000). "'Quiz Club' had an impact". The Baltimore Sun. p. 2E.
- "CBS switches affiliation to WBAL-TV in Baltimore." Broadcasting, March 9, 1981, pg. 152.
- Foisie, Geoffrey (June 20, 1994). "ABC pre-empts CBS in Cleveland, Detroit" (PDF). Broadcasting and Cable. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
- Zier, Julie A. (July 18, 1994). "CBS, Group W form historic alliance" (PDF). Broadcasting and Cable. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
- McClellan, Steve (August 1, 1994). "Keeping up with the affiliates" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
- Zurawik, David (1 January 1995). "Get ready, get set, get confused, in TV's big switch in Baltimore Changing Channels". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- "In brief." Broadcasting, March 21, 1977, pg. 30
- "In brief." Broadcasting, March 28, 1977, pg. 34
- "Ravens Draft Special Airs Saturday On WBAL-TV". April 23, 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
- http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/z-on-tv-blog/bal-wbal-tv-10-pm-newscast-kate-amara-digital-channel-20120207,0,1947240.story
- Me-TV Adds Five More Hearst Stations, TVNewsCheck, July 24, 2012.
- Where to Watch Me-TV: WBAL
- "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (pdf). FCC. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
- CDBS Print
- "DTV Transition Plan". FCC. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
- Eggerton, John (2009-06-29). "Boise station gets power boost". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
- Dunne, John Gregory (2006). Regards: The Selected Nonfiction of John Gregory Dunne. Thunder's Mouth Press. p. 80. ISBN 978-1-56025-816-2.
- "Station History". WBAL-TV. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
- 11 News Team
- Delegate Curt Anderson, Maryland General Assembly
- Rasmussen, Frederick (February 27, 2004). "Brent O. Gunts, 86, broadcaster who became executive of WBAL". The Baltimore Sun. p. 7B. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
- Rasmussen, Frederick (July 13, 2002). "Charles Allan Herndon Jr., 78, pioneering WBAL-TV weatherman". The Baltimore Sun. p. 4B. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
- Chansanchai, Athima (May 2, 2004). "WBAL anchor remembered for serious approach to news; Presented evening report in Baltimore for 15 years". p. 1B. Retrieved 2009-10-09.
- Gilbert, Kelly (November 19, 1990). "EEOC sues for 'Rudy' Miller". Retrieved 2012-03-02.
{{cite news}}: Text "web" ignored (help) - "Ron Smith Succumbs To Cancer At 70". WBAL-TV/Hearst Television. December 20, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
- "Ron Smith 1941-2011". WBAL/Hearst Television. December 20, 2011. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
External links
- WBALTV.com (Official Website)
- WBAL-TV History
- WBAL-TV's YouTube Video Channel
- Template:TVQ
- Template:BIA
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- Television stations in Baltimore, Maryland
- NBC network affiliates
- Me-TV affiliates
- Channel 11 digital TV stations in the United States
- Channel 11 virtual TV stations in the United States
- Television channels and stations established in 1948
- Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award recipients
- Major League Baseball over-the-air television broadcasters
- Woodberry, Baltimore
- Hearst Television