- WOAI-TV
Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WOAI-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan = Breaking News. Breaking Weather. Investigations.
station_branding = News 4
analog = 4 (VHF)
digital_temporary = 58 (UHF)
digital = 48 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations =NBC NBC Weather Plus (DT2)
network =
founded =
airdate =December 11 ,1949
location =San Antonio, Texas
callsign_meaning = None. It was sequentially assigned by the federal government to the AM sister station. [ [http://earlyradiohistory.us/recap.htm#four United States Callsign Policies] , United States Early Radio History.]
former_callsigns = WOAI-TV (1949-1975)
KMOL-TV (1975-2002)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = High Plains Broadcasting, Inc.
"(operated byNewport Television )"
licensee =
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = All secondary:
DuMont (1949-1950)CBS (1949-1950)
ABC (1949-1957)UPN (1998-2000)
effective_radiated_power = 100 kW (analog)
776 kW (digital)
HAAT = 451 m (analog)
457 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 69618
coordinates = coord|29|16|11.5|N|98|15|55.9|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.woai.com/ www.woai.com]WOAI-TV is the
NBC affiliate serving theSan Antonio, Texas metropolitan area. Its transmitter is located inElmendorf, Texas , with its studios located in downtown San Antonio.WOAI Radio and Television are among the few stations west of the
Mississippi River whose call sign begins with "W." This designation was "grandfathered" when the federal government issued regulations requiring radio stations west of the Mississippi River to start with "K," and stations east of the Mississippi to begin with "W."History
The station signed on
December 11 ,1949 as the first television station in San Antonio. It was owned by Southland Industries along with WOAI radio (1200 AM and 102.3 FM, nowKSAQ ). It carried programming fromCBS , NBC, ABC and DuMont, but was a primary NBC affiliate due to WOAI-AM's long affiliation with NBC Radio. It lost CBS, DuMont to KEYL (nowKENS-TV ) in1950 ; the two continued to share ABC until KONO-TV (nowKSAT-TV ) signed on in1957 .In
1965 , WOAI-AM-FM-TV was bought by Crosley Broadcasting, which changed its name to Avco Broadcasting in1968 . Avco began to pull out of broadcasting in1975 . WOAI-TV was sold off to United Television (at the time a subsidiary of20th Century Fox ) in1975 , changing its call letters to KMOL-TV.Chris-Craft Industries gained majority ownership of United in1981 , merging the group with BHC Communications (the owners ofKCOP inLos Angeles, California andKPTV inPortland, Oregon ).When KRRT (now
KMYS ) droppedUPN forThe WB affiliation in 1998, KMOL would pick up UPN and air it late at night, due in part to being owned at the time by Chris-Craft, a one-time part-owner of UPN. Eventually the UPN affiliation would go to KBEJ (nowKCWX ), which went on the air in 2000.In
2001 , Chris-Craft sold its stations to Fox. Fox then traded KMOL andKTVX inSalt Lake City to Clear Channel forWFTC in the Twin Cities. This tradeoff protectedKABB as San Antonio's Fox station. Not only did the purchase reunite KMOL-TV with WOAI-AM (which had been one of the original two stations in the Clear Channel chain), but WOAI-TV also became the television flagship of the San Antonio-based conglomerate. Speculation immediately began that Clear Channel would restore the WOAI-TV calls to channel 4, and this occurred onSeptember 9 2002 . Although the local Clear Channel radio cluster is located in Northwest San Antonio off I-10, WOAI-TV is still based from its downtown studios to this day near the Riverwalk.On
November 16 ,2006 , Clear Channel announced that it would be selling all of its television stations cite news|title=Clear Channel agrees to sale|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer |publisher=Gannett Company |url=http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061116/BIZ01/311160018/-1/CINCI|date=2006-11-16 |accessdate=2006-11-17] after being bought by private equity firms. OnApril 20 ,2007 , Clear Channel sold its entire television group toProvidence Equity Partners 'Newport Television , with the group deal closing onMarch 14 ,2008 .cite press release|title=Clear Channel Agrees to Sell Television Station Group to Providence Equity Partners|publisher=Clear Channel Communications |url=http://www.clearchannel.com/Corporate/PressRelease.aspx?PressReleaseID=1943|date=2007-04-20 |accessdate=2007-04-20] However, the station continued a news partnership with its former radio sister. The two stations still share a Website.In May of
2008 , Newport Television agreed to sell WOAI-TV and five other stations toHigh Plains Broadcasting, Inc. because of an ownership conflict — Providence Equity Partners also holds a 19 percent ownership stake in the Spanish-language networkUnivision , the owner ofKWEX-TV andTelefutura stationKNIC-TV .cite news|url=http://www.rbr.com/tv-cable/tv_deals/7670.html|title=Newport stations drift to High Plains|date=2008-05-21|work=Television Business Report|accessdate=2008-09-28] The sale closed on September 15, 2008.cite web|url=http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=1264514|title=Application Search Details|work=CDBS Public Access|publisher=Federal Communications Commission |accessdate=2008-09-28] However, as the sale to High Plains Broadcasting is in name only (effectively making High Plains Broadcasting afront company for Newport Television in a relationship similar to that betweenMission Broadcasting andNexstar Broadcasting Group ), Newport Television continues to operate WOAI-TV under a shared services agreement.WOAI-TV debuted News 4 Weather Plus on its digital multiplex in 2005.
On December 17, 2007 WOAI debuted a new logo and new moniker.
WOAI-TV's newscasts have struggled for most of the last 30 years, and are currently in third place. Rivals KENS and KSAT have battled for first place during this time and continue to do so today.
Digital Television
Analog-to-digital conversion
After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009 http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf] , WOAI-TV will abandon both its analog channel 4 and its pre-transition digital channel 58 and move its digital broadcasts to channel 48. [http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101235109&formid=387&fac_num=69618 CDBS Print ] ] However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display WOAI-TV's
virtual channel as 4.On-Air Talent
Current
*WOAI Anchors
**Jaie Avila: Weekday Morning Anchor/"Troubleshooter" Investigative Reporter
**Randy Beamer: Weekday Evening Anchor
**Leslie Bohl-Jones: Weekday Morning Anchor/"San Antonio Living" Host
**Delaine Mathieu: Weekday Evening Anchor
**Jacqueline Ortiz: Weekend Anchor/"Kitchen Cops" Feature Reporter/"Troubleshooter" Investigative Reporter*WOAI Reporters
**Brian Collister: "Troubleshooter" Investigative Reporter
**Kristina Deleon: General Assignment Reporter
**Demond Fernandez: General Assignment Reporter
**Aubrey Chancellor: General Assignment Reporter
**Shelly Miles: Traffic Reporter/"San Antonio Living" Reporter
**Leila Walsh: General Assignment Reporter
**Kim Fischer: General Assignment Reporter
**Ryan O'Donnell:General Assignment Reporter/Fill in Sports Anchor
**Erik Runge:General Assignment Reporter*StormTracker 4 Meteorologists
**Jennifer Broome (AMS Seal of Approval): Chief Meteorologist/"Jen's Kids" Reporter
**Maclovio Perez: Weekday Morning Meteorologist/"San Antonio Living" Reporter
**Steve Linscomb: Weekend Meteorologist/Reporter
**Siobhan Anders: Meteorologist*Sports Anchors/Reporters
**Don Harris: Sports Director/Weeknight Sports Anchor
**David Chancellor: Weekend Sports Anchor/Sports ReporterNews/Station Presentation
Newscast Titles
*"4 Big News" (1970s)
*"NewsCenter 4" (1970s-1984)
*"News 4 San Antonio" (1984-1989, 1997-2002)
*"KMOL News 4" (1989-1997)
*"News 4 WOAI" (2002-2007)
*"News 4" (2007-present)Photos
The years are shown under the pictures.
External links
* [http://www.woai.com/home.aspx WOAI Homepage]
*TVQ|WOAI-TV
*BIA|WOAI|TV|TVReferences
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