WTWO

WTWO

Terre Haute, Indiana
Branding	NBC 2 (general) NBC 2 News (news)
Channels	Digital: 36 (UHF) Virtual: 2 (PSIP)
Affiliations	NBC
Owner	Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc. (Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.)
First air date	September 1, 1965
Call letters' meaning	channel TWO
Sister station(s)	WAWV-TV
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 2 (1965-2009)
Transmitter power	1000 kW (digital)
Height	248 m (digital)
Facility ID	20426
Transmitter coordinates	39°14′32.4″N 87°23′28.7″W / 39.242333°N 87.391306°W / 39.242333; -87.391306
Website	www.mywabashvalley.com

WTWO, virtual channel 2 (digital channel 36), is the NBC-affiliated television station in Terre Haute, Indiana. The station is owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group of Irving, Texas, which operates local ABC affiliate WAWV (channel 38), through a joint sales agreement with owner Mission Broadcasting. Its transmitter and studios are located in Farmersburg, Indiana.

Digital television

WTWO-DT broadcasts on digital channel 36.

Digital channels

Virtual channel	Digital channel	Video	Aspect	Name	Programming
2.1	36.1	1080i	16:9	WTWO-DT	Main WTWO-TV programming / NBC HD

WTWO's digital signal is on channel 36.1 (PSIP virtual channel 2.1), and switched to full-power digital in mid-December 2008. In June 2008, WTWO-DT began to air HD-available programming from the network.

History

The station's callsign was originally assigned to a television station in Bangor, Maine, which changed its call letters to WLBZ-TV in 1958.

WTWO first signed on the air on September 1, 1965 at 7 a.m., a fairly late date for a fully affiliated VHF outlet. The first program WTWO aired was The Today Show. A primary NBC affiliate, the station also carried ABC network programs either on tape delay or by occasionally preempting NBC programs (the most famous being a preemption of Star Trek). Local primary CBS affiliate WTHI-TV (channel 10) also carried some ABC programs in the same way.

WTWO logo, 1997–2006

This practice ended by 1973, when Terre Haute finally obtained a full-time ABC affiliate, WIIL-TV, channel 38 (before Fox affiliate WFXW now returned-to-ABC affiliate WAWV-TV). Beginning in 1995, ABC became available to Terre Haute-area viewers only on stations from adjoining markets.

In the spring 2006, the station dropped reference to its analog channel number, using the call letters only. WTWO brought back reference to (PSIP virtual) channel 2 with "NBC 2" branding, starting on October 18, 2010.

WTWO logo, 2006-2010

WTWO-TV switched to using digital camera gear in May 2007, with every field reporter and photographer equipped with digital gear. On December 10, 2007, the Friday-only local lifestyle–entertainment program The Valley Showcase expanded to five days a week at 11 am, including local news and weather. This marked a return to 'midday' news on WTWO for the first time since 2002. In 2009, the program reverted to airing on Fridays only.

Controversy

WTWO made national news in early 2006 by declining to air the controversial and short-lived NBC program The Book of Daniel, citing protesting calls and emails from viewers as the rationale for its decision. "Our relationship with NBC always provided for the right to reject programming. I am reaffirming that right to let them know I will not allow them to make unilateral decisions affecting our viewers", WTWO General Manager Duane Lammers said in a statement on the WTWO website.^[1] Due to poor ratings and several other affiliates following suit with WTWO, NBC canceled the show after only three episodes. A plotline on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip about the NBC affiliate in Terre Haute refusing to air the show because of a sketch called "Crazy Christians" was probably loosely based on this incident.^{[citation needed]}

Also in 2006, WTWO aired a controversial one-minute promotion criticizing rival WTHI over its weather coverage. The commercial claimed that WTHI's Doppler weather radar was inferior to WTWO's because WTHI's radar was located within downtown Terre Haute; thus, its "dead zone" sat over thousands of residents, instead of WTWO's, whose "dead zone" sat over a corn field. The ad also mentioned that the combined experience of WTWO's weather team was more than that of WTHI's staff, and that WTHI's power had multiple points of failure in contrast to WTWO's. [3] The promotion, though technically accurate, became a source of amusement on Comedy Central's The Daily Show because of its use of hyperbole and techniques reminiscent of political "attack ads".^[2] After WTWO's general manager called the Daily Show "hard-up for material" in a local newspaper,^[3] Jon Stewart^[4] mocked the station further in the following night's opening.

A response video to The Daily Show and Stewart that was supposed to be for internal uses at the station was leaked on YouTube; it has since been removed, but has sprung up once more on iFilm.

Programming

Syndicated programming featured on WTWO includes Jeopardy!, Rachael Ray, Divorce Court, Dr. Phil, The People's Court, How I Met Your Mother and Wheel of Fortune. WTWO does not currently broadcast its locally-produced newscasts or syndicated programming in high definition.

News operation

"W-2 News" was the first newscast, running with that title until early 1968. When Illiana Telecasting sold channel 2 to Booth Newspapers, some on-air and branding changes occurred. That year, the station became "TV-2" (while retaining a hyphen in the callsign, "W-TWO"), and the local news adopted the name "Total News Tonight" (later amending the title to "Total News at Twelve" with the addition of a noon news broadcast and "Total News Today" for the 6 p.m. newscast). "TV-2 News" was used in addition to "Total News" from 1971 until January 1972, when "Total News" branding was dropped.

Full color newscasts premiered in 1971, anchored by Johnny Palmer, (who continued as a co-anchor until his retirement in 1992). In 1973, the newscast rebranded from "TV-2 News" to TV-2 Eyewitness News, the title it held until 1994. NewsChannel 2 was then adopted. After the sale of the station in 1997 to Nexstar Broadcasting from TCS Television Partners, the station amended the title to WTWO NewsChannel 2, then again in 2007 as WTWO NewsChannel. In 2010, branding was changed to NBC 2 News; along with the change, a new set, graphics and music package premiered.

Through its joint sales agreement with WAWW, WTWO produces local news broadcasts and news updates. From 2004 to September 1, 2011, WTWO produced a 10 p.m. weeknight newscast for then-Fox affiliate WFXW, in addition to a rebroadcast at 7 a.m. of WTWO's morning news. This ended when WFXW switched network affiliation from Fox to ABC under the callsign WAWV. WTWO's Live at Five newscast, which had been seen on the station since 1998, moved to WAWV (becoming the only weeknight newscast on that station). The 10 p.m. newscast became a live streaming broadcast exclusive to WTWO/WAWV's shared website. In addition to the 5 p.m. broadcast and 10 p.m. webcast, WTWO will still produce local weather updates during AgDay and Good Morning America, as well as news updates twice a day during that latter program.^[5]

News/Station presentation

Newscast titles

• W-2 News (1965–1968)
• Total News (1968–1972)
• TV-2 News (1971–1973; used in conjunction with "Total News")
• TV-2 Eyewitness News (1973–1994)^[6]
• NewsChannel 2 (1994–2003)^[7]
• WTWO NewsChannel 2 (2003–2007)
• WTWO NewsChannel (2007–2010)
• NBC 2 News (2010–present)^[8]

Station slogans

• Your No. 1 Color Station (1965–1967)
• Total News, Total Color (1971)
• Good News (1971–1973)
• The News People (In Touch with People) (1977–1983)
• Experience in Action (1983–1987)
• Your Hometown Team (1987–1990)
• Your 24-Hour News Source (1990–1992 and 1995–1996)
• In Touch with the Wabash Valley 24 Hours a Day (1992–1994)
• Moving Ahead with The Valley (1994)
• Working For You (1994–1995)
• The Wabash Valley's 24-Hour News Team (1996–1997)
• This is Your News (2003–2006)
• Live and Local (2007–2008)
• Making Good Things Happen (2008)
• Your #1 Source for News, Weather, and Sports (2010–present)

News music packages

• NBC Nightly News Ticker (1970–1973)
• The First NBC Affiliate Package (1973–1977)
• News People, by Tuesday Productions (1977–1983)
• WWL-TV, by Tuesday Productions (1983–1987)
• Looking Great, by Non-Stop Music (1987–1990)
• KATC 1986 News Theme (1990–1991)
• Production Music: The Visionary, by Soundtrack Music (1991)
• Production Music: News Breakers, by Soundtrack Music (1991)
• NBC: The Place To Be (1991–1992)
• WTWO First Report News (1992–1993)
• NBC Affiliate Package (1992–1994)
• Prime News, by NewsMusic Central (1994–1997)
• The Great News Package, by Gari Communications (1997–2003)
• The NBC Collection, by Gari Communications (2003–2007)
• WTWO Live at Five, by MoneyMusic (2006–2008)
• Signature, by the Stephen Arnold Group (2007–2010)
• U-Phonix, by the Stephen Arnold Group (2009–2010; only used for bumpers and morning/weekend opens)
• The Rock, by the Stephen Arnold Group (2010–present)

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

News team^[9]

Current anchors

• Patrick Fazio - weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
• Sydney Benter - weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
• Jon Swaner - weekend evenings; also weeknight reporter
• Dana Winklepleck - weekday mornings NBC 2 News Today; also reporter
• Tom McClanahan - news director, fill-in anchor and reporter

Weather team

• Jesse Walker (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seals of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
• Anne Elise Parks - meteorologist; weekday mornings NBC 2 News Today
• Dan Reynolds (NWA Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekend evenings, also "Tech Talk" feature reporter

Sports team

• Jason Pensky - sports director; weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
• Eric Peat - sports anchor; weekend evenings, also sports reporter
• Grant Pugh - sports reporter; also photographer

Reporters

• Kellie Bartoli - general assignment reporter
• Morgan Moore - general assignment reporter

Notable WTWO alumni

• Ray Dalessio - sports anchor
• Kathy Dash - anchor
• Nancy Hauskins - anchor
• Julie Nelson - anchor
• Jim Payne - anchor
• Matt Pieper - anchor/reporter
• Jennie Runevitch - weekend anchor/reporter
• Rick Semmler - sports anchor/reporter
• Matt Seigel - sports reporter
• Ann Shea - anchor/reporter
• Janet Van De Winkle - weather anchor

References

1. ^ [1] [2]
2. ^ http://www.dopplerdeadzone.com
3. ^ http://www.tribstar.com/siteSearch/apstorysection/local_story_129224439.html
4. ^ http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/media_player/play.jhtml?itemId=68898
5. ^ WAWV-ABC Frequently Asked Questions
6. ^ WTWO news open ca 1983
7. ^ WTWO NewsChannel 2 Open 1997
8. ^ WTWO 6PM Evening Talent Open
9. ^ Meet the Team

External links

• WTWO home page
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WTWO
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WTWO-TV
• Mediageek.net's coverage of the WTWO vs. Daily Show issue