WVLT-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WVLT-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding = Volunteer TV
MyVLT2
analog = 8 (VHF)
digital = 30 (UHF)
other_chs =
subchannels = 8.1 CBS
8.2 MyNetworkTV
network =
founded =
airdate = October 1, 1953
location = Knoxville, Tennessee
former_callsigns = WSKT-TV (1953-1954)
WTVK (1954-1988)
WKXT-TV (1988-1997)
former_channel_numbers = 26 (1953-1988)
owner = Gray Television, Inc.
licensee = Gray Television Licensee, Inc.
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = Primary:
CBS (1953-1956)
ABC (1956-1979)
NBC (1979-1988)
Secondary:
ABC (1954-1956)
DuMont (1953-1956)
DT2:
UPN (2003-2006)
effective_radiated_power = 316 kW (analog)
398 kW (digital)
HAAT = 509.7 m (analog)
551.3 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 35908
coordinates = coord|35|59|44.4|N|83|57|23.1|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.volunteertv.com/ www.volunteertv.com/] |

WVLT-TV (VHF channel 8) is the CBS television network affiliate serving Knoxville, Tennessee, the 58th DMA in America according to Nielsen Media Research. The station's owned and operated by Gray Television and has its transmitter's located in Knoxville. It is known on-air as Volunteer TV.

The station also operates a MyNetworkTV affiliate MyVLT2 on its DT2 digital sub-channel; before 2006, it was a UPN affiliate, branded as UPN Knoxville.

WVLT is the only station in its market with a news bureau outside of Knoxville; it is headed by Bureau Chief Stephen McLamb and located in Blount County. The station also touts itself as having the only mid-afternoon newscast in Knoxville ("FIRST at 4:00") and the only early evening newscast ("Volunteer TV News at 7:00").

History

WVLT-TV debuted on October 1, 1953 as WSKT-TV on channel 26. It was Tennessee's first UHF station, and the second television station in East Tennessee. The station was a CBS affiliate, but also shared ABC programming with WROL-TV, now WATE-TV, which signed on a few hours before WSKT.

Channel 26 found the going difficult at first, since television manufacturers weren't required to build in UHF tuning capability at the time. Viewers needed an expensive converter to watch WSKT, and even then the picture quality was marginal at best. In addition, most of eastern Tennessee is very mountainous, and UHF signals at the time usually did not carry very well over rugged terrain. In 1954, the station's original owners sold the station to South Central Communications, a radio company in Evansville, Indiana, who changed its calls to WTVK.

When WBIR-TV signed on in 1956 and took the CBS affiliation, WTVK became a full-time ABC affiliate. However, it spent most of the next 20 years as a very distant third in the ratings. While this was due in part to ABC being a much weaker network (it wouldn't be on par with CBS and NBC in terms of programming until the 1970s), another problem was the terrain issue. Many viewers didn't get a clear signal from channel 26 until cable arrived in Knoxville in the 1970s. In fact, many viewers got a better signal from WLOS-TV in Asheville, North Carolina; WLOS' transmitter is located almost 118 miles east of Knoxville.

In 1979, the station changed affiliations from ABC to NBC, swapping affiliations with WATE-TV. By this time, ABC had become the highest-rated network in the country, and was seeking to affiliate with stronger stations. Under the circumstances, ABC jumped at the chance to move its programming to long-dominant WATE-TV. However, WTVK saw little change in its fortunes. Even as NBC dominated the ratings in the 1980s, channel 26 stayed in the local ratings basement. However, it did win the rights to broadcast a daily one-hour features show from the 1982 World's Fair, held in Knoxville.

In 1988, the station returned to CBS, swapping affiliations with WBIR-TV; shortly afterward the station changed its calls to WKXT-TV and moved to channel 8, one of the last remaining VHF channel allocations in the U.S. It became one of the few stations in America to have been a primary affiliate of all "Big 3" networks. Soon after the move to the VHF band, South Central sold the station to a local ownership group. Channel 8 changed its callsign again to WVLT-TV in 1997 after Gray Television bought the station.

Vol Network Affiliation

In 2007, WVLT TV/MYVLT TV and the Vol Network, the broadcasting arm of the University of Tennessee's athletic department, entered into a new 10-year agreement for WVLT/MYVLT TV to be the exclusive home of all Vol TV Network programing in the Knoxville area. WVLT paid UT $ 4.95 million dollars for the 10 year contract. This gives the two stations the exclusive rights to the weekly highlights shows featuring head football coach Phil Fulmer, head men's basketball coach Bruce Pearl, head women's basketball coach Pat Summit, and other UT athletic-related programs in the Knoxville market. With this, the Vol TV Network ends a 10-year relationship with NBC affiliate WBIR-TV. ^[1]

Digital television

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

After the US analog television shutdown, scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009 http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf] , WVLT-DT will remain on its current frequency, channel 30. [http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101232352&formid=387&fac_35908 CDBS Print ] ]

Newscast & Station Information

Past Newscast Titles

*"The Coca-Cola Report" (1954-1960)
*"The National News" (1960-1965)
*"City Camera News" (1965-1970)
*"First Edition News" (1970-1977)
*"Metro 26 News" (1977-1981)
*"NewsCenter 26" (1981-1986)
*"WTVK NewsCenter" (1986-1988)
*"News 8" (1988-1997)
*"NewsChannel 8" (1997-1998)
*"Volunteer News" (1998-2001 or 2002)
*"Volunteer TV News" (2002-2006)

Current News Anchors & Reporters

News Anchors

*Alan Williams (5:30/7/11pm)
*Bob Yarbrough (East Tennessee This Morning/Noon)
*Stacy McCloud (East Tennessee This Morning/Noon)
*Mark Packer (First at Four/Sports Overtime)
*Gordon Boyd (Weekends)
*Lauren Davis (Weekends)

ports

*Rick Russo (Sports Director)
*Daryl Hobby (Sports Anchor/Reporter)
*Mark Packer
*Austin Price

News Reporters

*Gordon Boyd
*Lauren Davis
*Allison Hunt
*Gary Loe
*Mike McCarthy
*Stephen McLamb (Blount County Bureau Chief)
*Rob Pratt

Weather

*Scott Blalock, Chief Meterologist
*Allison Hunt
*Jim Freeman

Miscellaneous

*Walter Lambert (TV Chef)
*Shirley Nash-Pitts (Consumer Expert)
*Kiley Yarbrough (Special Correspondent)

Past Personalities

Anchors

*Allen Denton
*Sam Brown (now Lecturer at College of Communications at University of Tennessee) [http://www.sambrown.us]
*Elda Brown
*Cheryl Masur
*Kathryn Norton
*Kent Blackwelder (Noonday)
*Tim Cox (now with WXIN-TV "Fox 59" Indianapolis as Gene Cox, which is his first name)

*John Gilbert
*Art Powell
*Kim Sims Thomas (Noonday)
*Phil Rainey
*Jennifer Julian
*Brenda Burch
*Norman Hammitt
*Jessa Goddard
*Kelli Parker
*Liz Tedone Edwards

Anchor/Reporters

*Rob Scobey
*Jim Hampton
*John Lomax, now at WKRC-TV, Cincinnati
*Lee Merrit
*Corrina Collins (now Corrina Sullivan and currently at WOFL-TV in Orlando)
*Ron Sprowl
*Kim Keelor
*Lizz Walker
*Ben Roberts (now at WALB-TV)
*Jim Reed
*Kim Bedford

Reporters

*Betsy Gray
*Foster Arnett
*Monte Janssen
*Paul Sims
*Melinda Kramer
*Russ Greene
*Sara Vesser
*Jeff Spurlock
*Dave Stewart
*Cindy Steele
*Monte Jansen
*Russell Walker
*Becky Colaw
*Heather Burgiss (now at UNC-TV)
*Lisa Stearns (now with Baptist Health System)
*Chloe Morroni (now at WISN-TV)
*Rudy Cooks
*Jim Reed
*Charles Winters (now at [http://socialitereport.com Socialite Media] )

Weather

*Lisa Patton (Now at WTVF-TV)
*Craig Edwards (Now at WZTV-TV)
*Don Carson
*Johnny Mountain (now at KCBS-TV)
*Topper Shutt (now at WUSA-TV)
*John Gerard (now at WTVJ-TV)
*Maxine Perry
*Adina Chumley
*Lea Doolittle
*Kelly Cox (now with WTVF-TV)
*Rick Katzfey
*Chad Gibson
*Jim Reed

ports

*Ralph Boston
*Stan Cotton (now at Wake Forest University)
*David Sharp
*Jim (Big Jim) Hess
*Rusty Ensor
*Bill Sykes
*Mike Raita
*Erik Waxler (now with WHAS-TV)
*Nick Paranjape (now at WZTV-TV)
*Brandon Fisher (now at WKYT-TV)
*Eric Waddell
*Denny Trease (now with WKYT-TV)
*Justin Kropff

Logo History

External links

* [http://www.volunteertv.com/ WVLT Website]
* [http://www.myeasttntv.com/ "My East TN TV" Website]
*TVQ|WVLT-TV
*BIA|WVLT|TV|TV
*TitanTV|WVLT

References

http://www.volunteertv.com (New Vol Network agreement.)