WBOC-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WBOC-TV
station_
station_slogan = Delmarva's News Leader
station_branding = WBOC 16
Fox 21 Delmarva (WBOC-DT2)
analog = 16 (UHF)
digital = 21 (UHF)
affiliations = CBS
Fox (on digital subchannel 16.2)
subchannels = (see article)
founded = July 15, 1954
location = Salisbury, Maryland
callsign_meaning = We're
Between the
Ocean and
Chesapeake
owner = Draper Holdings Business Trust
licensee = WBOC, Inc.
former_affiliations = DuMont (secondary, 1954-1955)
ABC (secondary, 1954-1980)
NBC (secondary, 1954-1980)
UPN (on WBOC-DT2, 2003-2006)
effective_radiated_power = 4070 kW (analog)
635 kW (digital)
HAAT = 302 m (analog)
279 m (digital)
facility_id = 71218
coordinates = coord|38|30|17.5|N|75|38|35.6|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.wboc.com/ www.wboc.com]
[http://www.fox21delmarva.com/ www.fox21delmarva.com]

WBOC-TV, channel 16, is a CBS affiliate based in Salisbury, Maryland. WBOC-TV is owned by the Draper Holdings Business Trust, with its main studios in Salisbury, secondary studios/office facilities in Dover and Milton, Delaware, and transmitter in Laurel, Delaware. The station's signal covers the Eastern Shores of Maryland and Virginia, as well as the southern two-thirds of Delaware, which make up the region known as the Delmarva Peninsula.

WBOC-TV also carries an affiliation with the Fox Broadcasting Company on its second digital subchannel. This station is branded as Fox 21 Delmarva, and is also available on local cable systems.

History

WBOC-TV began operations on July 15, 1954, owned originally by Peninsula Broadcasting, which started Salisbury's WBOC radio (960 AM, now WTGM) in 1940. It is the fourth-oldest television station in Maryland, the first outside Baltimore, and the oldest on the UHF band. As the only television station serving the Delmarva Peninsula, channel 16 carried programming from all four networks--CBS, NBC, ABC, and DuMont. However, it has always been a primary CBS affiliate. The station also featured local programming consisting of variety shows, talent contests, and children's programs.

In 1961, Peninsula Broadcasting merged with the A.S. Abell Company, which published the "Baltimore Sun" and owned Baltimore's then-CBS affiliate, WMAR-TV. WBOC-TV gradually increased the CBS programming on its schedule, though it continued to "cherry-pick" the highest-rated ABC and NBC shows either in pattern (on schedule with the rest of the network) or on a tape-delayed basis.

For example, channel 16 regularly carried the "Today Show" and the "Tonight Show" from NBC, and weekend sports coverage from all three networks. Primetime programming consisted of at least one night of all CBS; other evenings with programs from both CBS and ABC; and others with shows from CBS and NBC. Select CBS programs displaced by the scheduling method would air in times outside of primetime. Despite carrying "Today" (which pre-empted CBS's morning news and "Captain Kangaroo"), WBOC-TV aired all of CBS's other newscasts, as well as most of CBS's daytime programming and Saturday morning cartoons. The cherry-picking arrangement also affected primetime network sports coverage. However, Delmarva viewers didn't have to worry about missing their favorite shows once cable came to the area. Local cable systems on the Maryland side of the market supplemented the area with the Baltimore stations, while cable systems on the Delaware side supplemented it with the Philadelphia stations. The Virginia portion of channel 16's coverage area is part of the Hampton Roads market, but WBOC has always had significant viewership in this area.

In April 1980, WBOC-TV received competition for the first time when WMDT (channel 47) signed on. The new station also took a dual ABC/NBC affiliation, allowing channel 16 to become a full-time CBS station.

Local ownership of channel 16 resumed in November 1980 when local entrepreneur Thomas H. Draper purchased the station. Since Draper took over, local news coverage increased, as well as local advertising revenue which allowed for technical upgrades, such as a new four million watt transmitter tower located near Laurel, Delaware.

WBOC has been the dominant news station in Delmarva for as long as records have been kept.Fact|date=September 2008

Example of "cherry-picking"

The following schedule grid is used to describe WBOC-TV's cherry-picking method of primetime programming. This example is from the fall of 1977:

;References
* Castleman, H. & Podrazik, W. (1982). "Watching TV: Four Decades of American Television". New York: McGraw-Hill. 314 pp.
* McNeil, Alex. "Total Television". Fourth edition. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-024916-8.
* Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1985). "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows" (3rd ed.). New York: Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-31864-1.
* "TV Guide", Washington-Baltimore edition, Oct. 15, 1977

Digital television

The station's digital signal is multiplexed.

Fox 21 Delmarva

In March 2003, WBOC-TV began carrying UPN programming on its digital subchannel 16.2 (or 21.2), known as "UPN 21 Total TV". In January 2006, the UPN and WB networks announced they would merge into a single network called the CW. WBOC-TV did not seek the CW affiliation, which instead went to WBD, the cable-only WB affiliate for Delmarva. On May 9, 2006, WBOC-TV announced that "UPN 21" would become a Fox affiliate, beginning on August 21, 2006. WBOC-TV produces a newscast for the station, currently known as WBOC News at 10 on FOX21.

For viewers unable to receive the digital-only signal, both local-area cable systems, operated by Comcast and Mediacom, carry "Fox 21 Delmarva" on channels 5 and 10, respectively.

Analog-to-digital conversion

After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009 [ [http://www.dtv.gov/whatisdtv.html The Digital TV Transition: What Is DTV?] dtv.gov. Retrieved September 27, 2008.] , WBOC-TV will continue digital broadcasts on its current pre-transition channel number, 21. [ [http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds.] fcc.gov. Retrieved September 27 2008, ] However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display WBOC's virtual channel as 16.

Current personalities

Anchors

* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=1854701&nav=menu222_12_3 Alice Bavis] - Anchor/Reporter
* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=1854455&nav=menu222_12_3 Lisa Bryant] - Anchor/Education Reporter
* Don Elkins, Jr. [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5984209&nav=menu222_12_3] - Anchor/Managing Editor
* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=2303955&nav=menu222_12_3 Steve Hammond] - Anchor/Managing Editor
* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=2075952&nav=menu222_12_3 Elizabeth Harrington] - Anchor/Reporter
* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=7997553&nav=menu222_12_3 Kimberly Holmes] - Anchor/Reporter
* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=4058488&nav=menu222_12_3 Jimmy Hoppa] - "This Morning" Anchor
* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=4429387&nav=menu222_12_3 Kelley Rouse] - "This Morning" Anchor

Reporters

* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=3496059 Capt. Willie Dykes] Chopper 16 Pilot/Reporter
* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=6658954&nav=menu222_12_3 Cassandra Kramer]
* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=8208916&nav=menu222_12_3 Jesse Lanier]
* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=8648623&nav=menu222_12_3 Michael Lopardi] - Chief of Milton bureau
* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=6478382&nav=menu222_12_3 Kevin Leahy]
* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=7940197&nav=menu222_12_3 Kasey Messick] - Assignment Editor
* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=2304485&nav=menu222_12_3 Mary Mullins] - Assistant News Director
* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=8648638&nav=menu222_12_3 Shelly Schwartz]
* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=6608546&nav=menu222_12_3 Jeremy Tucker] - Chief of Dover bureau

ports

* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=2309938&nav=menu222_12_3 Scott Abraham] - Sports Director
* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=7346959&nav=menu222_12_3 Yianni Kourakis]

WBOC on the Web

* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=2310233&nav=menu222_12_3 Kye Parsons] - Managing Editor

Weather

* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=3989050&nav=menu222_12_3 Brian Keane]
* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=2309998&nav=menu222_12_3 Dennis Ketterer] - Chief Meteorologist
* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5886040&nav=menu222_12_3 Danielle Vollmar]
* [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=8707262&nav=menu222_12_3 Jennifer Walker]

Notable alumni

* Kerry Cavanaugh ( [http://www.wbaltv.com/wbalnewsteam/5574442/detail.html] )
* Jackie Jennings, now a journalist for The Daily Times
* Melanie Lawson ( [http://www.news4jax.com/station/5172778/detail.html] )
* Jason Newton ( [http://www.wisn.com/wisnnewsteam/14707954/detail.html] )
* Mick O'Hearn ( [http://www.whtm.com/pageloader.html?js=whtm&page=talent&pagename=mick_o'hearn.html] )
* Brian Olson ( [http://www.wkowtv.com/index.php/about/biodetails/p/pkid/5163] )
* Denis Phillips ( [http://www.abcactionnews.com/content/about/staff/story.aspx?content_id=aa793cad-9664-453b-a879-450d956f307f] )
* Lisa Scullin ( [http://www.whtm.com/pageloader.html?js=whtm&page=talent&pagename=lisa_scullin.html] )
* Mike Seidel, now at The Weather Channel
* Steve Summers ( [http://www.whiotv.com/station/10199022/detail.html] )
* Amy Szutowicz, now a freelance journalist in Washington, D.C. ( [http://www.talentapes.com/amyszutowicz/] )
* Scorchy Tawes ( [http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=6004116] )
* Amber Theoharis, now at Comcast Sports Net/Washington-Baltimore
* Chris Thomas ( [http://www.sptimes.com/2004/02/20/Sports/_Chris_Thomas_touched.shtml] )

References

External links

* [http://www.wboc.com/ WBOC-TV Website]
* [http://www.fox21delmarva.com/ Fox 21 Delmarva Website]
*TVQ|WBOC