WCTV
WCTV is the CBS-affiliated television station for southwest Georgia and Tallahassee, Florida that is licensed to Thomasville, Georgia. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 46 from a transmitter in Metcalf along the Georgia and Florida state line. This is 609.6 meters high and is the tallest man-made structure in Georgia. Owned by Gray Television, the station has studios on Halstead Boulevard in Tallahassee along I-10. Syndicated programming on WCTV includes: Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune and Oprah. It operates the area's MyNetworkTV affiliate on a second digital subchannel as well as Comcast digital cable channels 14 and 227.
Syndicated programming on WCTV-DT2 includes: Jerry Springer, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, One on One and Judge Alex. It airs Tampa Bay Rays games. WCTV operates a semi-satellite, WSWG in Valdosta, Georgia. That station serves as the CBS affiliate for Albany. Master control and most operations of WSWG are located WCTV's facilities although they have their own studios on 2nd Avenue Southwest in Moultrie. As a semi-satellite, it airs most of this station's non-network programming although sometimes at different times. There are also programs that only air on WSWG and some are only seen on WCTV. It also airs separate station identifications and commercials.
Digital television
The station's digital signal is multiplexed.
History
The station first signed-on September 15, 1955 from studios on North Monroe Street in Tallahassee. WCTV was originally owned by John H. Phipps. Although it has always considered itself a Tallahassee station, it was licensed to Thomasville because the FCC had allocated only one VHF channel to Tallahassee, channel 11. Florida State University had managed to have the FCC designate that channel for noncommercial use so it could put WFSU-TV on-the-air. UHF was not considered viable at the time. Until the FCC required all sets to have all-channel capability in 1964, UHF stations were un-viewable without a converter. Even with one, the picture quality was marginal at best. Hoyt Wimpy, owner and founder of WPAX radio in Thomasville, persuaded the FCC to grant the Phipps family a license for channel 6 in Thomasville, the nearest city to Tallahassee that had a VHF allocation available. This could provide city-grade coverage of Tallahassee and north central Florida as well as southwestern Georgia. WCTV operated a live studio in Thomasville for many years and still has a bureau there. It was the only commercial station in the area until WECA-TV (now WTXL-TV) began operations in 1976. The station originally carried programming from all three networks but was a primary NBC affiliate.
After only a year on-the-air, they switched to CBS and has been affiliated with that network ever since. However, it carried a secondary ABC affiliation until WECA signed-on. It is still the only commercial VHF station in the market (the only other VHF stations are PBS members WFSU-TV, still on channel 11, and Georgia Public Broadcasting's WXGA-TV on channel 8). It was owned by the Phipps family until being sold to Gray Communications, now Gray Television, in 1996. Gray's purchase of WCTV forced the company to sell WALB-TV, its flagship station in Albany, because WALB's signal has city-grade quality in most of the Georgia side of the market (including Thomasville and Valdosta). WALB had doubled as the NBC affiliate for Tallahassee until WTWC signed-on in 1983. However in 2004, Gray purchased WSWG in Valdosta, a UPN affiliate for the Albany market. The station dropped UPN in September of that year and is now a semi-satellite of WCTV. The acquisition created a strong combined signal with just under 50% overlap. This station had been the default CBS affiliate for Albany for many years. In March 2006, WCTV moved from its longtime studios on County Road 12 in northern Leon County to new facilities on Halstead Boulevard in Tallahassee. The Halstead Boulevard location used to house the now-defunct Florida's News Channel, a cable-only operation. WCTV shut down its analog signal on February 17, 2009, even after the analog television shutdown deadline was extended to June 12, WCTV remained on channel 46 using PSIP to display their virtual channel as 6 on digital television receivers.
Newscasts
WSWG simulcasts every WCTV newscast except weeknights at 5. However, it has a separate news open. There are two news bureaus in southwest Georgia. This includes in Valdosta (on East Central Avenue) and Thomasville (on North Broad Street). There are five WCTV personalities that cover the area but do not use WSWG branding. Originally, the station pre-empted the first hour of CBS's The Early Show on weekday mornings to air another hour of local news. On January 7, 2008, the network requires all its affiliates to show the program in its entirety. As a result, the third hour of the Good Morning Show moved to MyNetworkTV affiliates WCTV-DT2 and WSWG-DT2. The station produces a weeknight 10 o'clock newscast on FOX affiliate WTLH. That station promotes the broadcast as local news airing one hour earlier. It is the first and only 10 P.M. newscast in the market. WCTV broadcasts the news from a secondary set at its studios.
Current personalities
Anchors Shonda Knight - News Anchor, Weekday Mornings and "In The Spotlight" Segment Producer and Hostess.
Art Myers - News Anchor Weekday Mornings Starting at 6 and Noon.
Triston Sanders - Executive Producer, Weekday Noon News Anchor and "Health Matters" Segment Producer
Angela Howard - News Anchor, Weeknights at 5, 5:30, and 11
Lee Gordon - News Anchor Weeknights at 5:30, 6, 10, and 11
Julie Montanaro - 6 PM Weeknights Anchor, Crime & Court Reporter
John Rogers - Weekend Mornings News Anchor, Weekday Reporter
Liza Park - Weekend Evenings News Anchor, Weekday Reporter
WCTV Pinpoint Weather Meteorologists Mike McCall - Chief Meteorologist, Weeknights. (AMS Seal of Approval)
Rob Nucatola - Weekday Morning and Noon Meteorolgist. (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval)
Sheena Samanipour - Weekend Meteorologist, Reporter (leaving for WTVT in Tampa soon)
Sports Elton Gumbel - Sports Director, Weekday Sports Anchor
Andrew Christopher - Weekend Evening Sports Anchor, Reporter
Phil Jean - Sports Reporter, Videographer
Sam Lane - Sports Reporter, Videographer
Reporters Jacqueline Ingles - Valdosta Bureau Reporter
Kim Carapucci - Valdosta Bureau Reporter
La’Tasha Givens - Thomasville Bureau Reporter
Iram Ali - Thomasville Bureau Reporter
Whitney Ray - Capitol News Service Reporter
Troy Kinsey - Capitol News Service Reporter
Mike Vasilinda - Capitol News Service Reporter
Denise Wong - Reporter
Jaimee Colley - Reporter
Saundra Weathers - Reporter
Amy Long - Reporter
Stephanie Salvatore - Reporter
Lauren Searcy - Reporter
Tasia Stone - Reporter
Candace Sweat - Reporter
Lanetra Bennett - Reporter
Heather Biance - Reporter
Tara Herrschaft - Reporter
Past personalities
Anchors Frank Ranicky, 6 p.m. (joined WCTV in 1972; Last Broadcast December 31, 2008)
Frank Pepper -- d. 2001 (Broadcast WCTV's first newscast in 1955.)
Anna Johnson (now WCTV's community affairs director)
Pam Forrester
Carmen Cummings (now Alumni Affairs Director at FAMU)
Gary Bartlett (now owns his own real estate business)
Sarah Grady
Paul Bryars
David Bishop (weekend anchor/reporter 1990-1995; now media relations Zurich Financial Services)
Jeff Ehling (weekend anchor/reporter 1990-1996; now at KTRK-TV Houston, Tex.)
Valerie Lacy
Ann Howard-Nucatola (reporter; anchor of short-lived "My News at 7" on WCTV-DT2 in 2006)
April Douglas (now at WALA-TV Mobile)
John Harrington (2004-2007)
Sharon Tazewell (now at WNCN-TV NBC17 Raleigh)
Roy Weissinger (later with WEWS-TV, Cleveland, Ohio
Claudine Cleophat, weekend mornings
Meteorologists Mike Rucker (chief)
Lane Roberts (mornings)
Nancy Dignon (weekends, early-mid 1990s)
Matt Barrentine (weekends, ?-2004; now at WALA-TV Mobile)
Brian Fowler (weekends, 2004; now at WMGT-TV Macon)
Ray Hawthorne (weekends, 2004-2008; now at Weather Central, Madison, Wis.)
Michael Koolick (fill-in, 2005-2007; now off-camera weather producer at WFOR-TV Miami)
Stephen Bowers (fill-in, 2007-2008; now at WTOK-TV Meridian, Miss.)
William "Willie the Weatherman" Ragsdale
Sports Bob Warren
Scott Atwell (Now Alumni Affairs Director at FSU)
Randy Ruditz (mid-late 1990s; deceased 2003)
Lee Gordon (sports director (1999-2004), currently WCTV co-anchor 5:30 p.m. & 11 p.m. newscasts (rejoined in 2007)
Melissa Maikos (?-2007, now at WTOC-TV Savannah)
Beau Bishop (?-2007, now at Ohio News Network)
Rob Shaw (2005-2008), now at OPEN Sports Network
Reporters Jan Jeffcoat (now at WFLD-TV Fox News Chicago)
Melissa Buchanan (now at WVIT NBC30 Connecticut)
Alcides Segui (now at WTVT Tampa)
Ilyssa Trussel (now at WTEV-TV/WAWS-TV CBS47/FOX30 Jacksonville)
Mike Tolbert (now at WTEV/WAWS)
Bill Pearson (now at WEAR-TV Pensacola)
Laura Kadechka (now at WINK-TV Fort Myers)
Kate Gaier (now at News 14 Carolina)
Christina Vitale (now at WITN)
Seshmi Robertson (now an Entertainment Reporter at CFNews13 and Central FL on Demand in Orlando)
Andrea Candrian (now a Press Secretary for the United States Senate in Washington, D.C.)
Marise Estime
Erica Green
Sean Lavin (now reporting at WFTV in Orlando, FL)
Patty Harrison (now Communications Specialist at the Florida Dental Association)
Jackie Johnson (weekends & weather; now at KCAL-TV/KCBS-TV Los Angeles)
Ann Mercogliano
Leonard Horton (now at The Florida Channel in Tallahassee)
Angelica Alvarez (now at WMBD-TV Peoria)
Caroline Blair
Roman Lillie
Blaine Tolison (Now at WFTV in Orlando, FL)
Stephanie Springer
Stefan Weeks
News/Station Presentation
Newscast Titles
Eyewitness News (1980s-2001)
WCTV Eyewitness News (2001-present)
Station Slogans
The Area's #1 News Team (1980s-1990s)
Coverage You Can Count On (2001-present)
News Music
WNDU News
Turnedge Library (2001-2005)
WKYT News (2005-present)
Translation of "WCTV"
German: WCTV-Sendemast, Polish: WCTV Tower.
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