WTOK-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WTOK-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan = East Mississippi and West Alabama's News Leader
station_branding = Channel 11
NewsCenter 11
analog = 11 (VHF)
digital = 49 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = ABC (secondary until 1980)
WTOK-DT2:
Fox (primary)
MyNetworkTV (secondary)
The Sportsman Channel (overnight)
WTOK-DT3: The CW
network =
founded =
airdate = September 27, 1953
location = Meridian, Mississippi
callsign_meaning =
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Gray Television, Inc.
licensee = Gray Television Licensee, Inc.
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = CBS (1953-1980)
NBC (secondary, 1953-1968)DuMont (secondary, 1953-1955)
Fox (secondary, mid-1990s)
effective_radiated_power = 316 kW (analog)
400 kW (digital)
HAAT = 165 m (analog)
136.4 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 4686
coordinates = coord|32|19|39.5|N|88|41|28|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.wtok.com/ www.wtok.com]

WTOK-TV, channel 11, is the ABC-affiliated television station for Meridian, Mississippi. Licensed to the city, the station broadcasts an analog signal on VHF channel 11 and a digital signal on UHF channel 49. Its transmitter is located south of the city along S.R. 145. Owned by Gray Television, the station has studios on 23rd Avenue in downtown Meridian. WTOK is known on-air as "Channel 11".

Digital television

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Overview

Syndicated programs on WTOK include "Judge Judy", "Oprah", "Wheel of Fortune", and "Jeopardy!".

The station operates the area's Fox affiliate on its second digital subchannel. Known on-air as "Fox Meridian", it is also offered on Comcast cable channel 10. WTOK-DT2 is a secondary MyNetworkTV affiliate and airs that network's programming from 9 to 11 p.m. Overnight, the station airs programming from The Sportsman Channel. WTOK-DT2 airs syndicated programming such as "Everybody Loves Raymond", "Two And A Half Men", "King of the Hill", "Family Guy", and "Friends".

WTOK also operates the area's CW affiliate on its third digital subchannel. Known on-air as "Meridian's CW", it is offered on Comcast cable channel 8 as well.

History

The station began broadcasting on September 27, 1953 as the second television station in Mississippi and the first on the VHF band (WJTV in Jackson had started broadcasting in January of that year on a UHF frequency). It started as a primary CBS affiliate but carried programming from ABC, NBC and DuMont as well. DuMont folded in 1955, NBC went to WHTV (now WMDN) in 1968 (via its status as a satellite of Tupelo's WTWV, now WTVA). It became an exclusive ABC affiliate in 1980, sending CBS to WHTV. ABC had become the highest-rated network in the nation by this time, and wanted a station that would clear all of its programming.

WTOK served as a partial Fox affiliate in the mid-1990s carrying NFL broadcasts as well as selected Fox programming in late night time-slots.

At one point WTOK was co-owned with KARK-TV in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1988, then-owner United Broadcasting was taken over by investment firm Merrill Lynch who then sold its three stations off to separate buyers. That year, Benedek Broadcasting bought WTOK. When Benedek's parent company went bankrupt in 2002, current owner Gray Television bought most of the Benedek stations, including WTOK.

WTOK has long been the dominant station in eastern Mississippi due to its status as the only VHF station in the area. For a time in the early-1990s, it was the only over-the-air commercial station in town by default after both of its rivals went off-the-air.

In early-2006, WTOK began broadcasting a Fox affiliate on its second digital subchannel. For Meridian viewers, WTOK-DT2 replaced Foxnet as well as Tuscaloosa, Alabama's Fox affiliate, WDBB. Starting on September 5, 2006, WTOK-DT2 began airing programming from Fox's new sister network, MyNetworkTV.

In 2006, Gray Television signed a deal to add The CW (the new network created by the merger of The WB and UPN) on new digital subchannels of four of its owned stations (including WTOK). WTOK-DT3 began broadcasting The CW on the network's launch date September 18, 2006. The station is part of the national CW Plus service.

News operation

WTOK's newscasts have long been among the highest-rated newscasts in the country. Since WMDN shuttered its news department in 2005, WTOK has been the only station in the area to air local news. The station's newscasts are branded under the "NewsCenter" label.

Unlike most ABC affiliates, WTOK does not broadcast a midday newscast during the week. WTOK-DT2 "Fox Meridian" rebroadcasts the 6 a.m. hour of "Good Morning Meridian" at 8 in the morning. It also rebroadcasts the weeknight and Sunday night editions of "NewsCenter 11 at 10" at Midnight.

Like most CW Plus affiliates, WTOK-DT3 airs the nationally syndicated morning show, "The Daily Buzz", weekday mornings from 5 to 8.

The station uses live, NOAA National Weather Service radar data from a site located east of Jackson. It is known on-air in weather segments as "True View Live Doppler". During severe weather, WTOK simulcasts its coverage on WMOX-AM 1010 as well as via live streaming video on its website.

WTOK is unique in that its main anchor team is two males, unlike most newscasts which now usually feature a male and female anchor.

News team

Anchors
*Andrea Williams - weekday mornings
**reporter
*Wade Phillips - weeknights at 5
*John Johnson - News Director seen weeknights at 6
**Director of Community Relations
*Tom Daniels - weeknights at 6 and 10
*Lindsey Brown - weekends
**reporter

*Sheila McLain - News manager

"WeatherCenter 11 Meteorologists"
*Trent Hughes (AMS Member) - Chief seen on weeknights
*Stephen Bowers (Member of AMS and the NWA) - weekday morning weather and Science/Environment Reporter
*Jason Dunning- weekendsSports
*Lindsey Hall - Director seen on weeknights at 6 and 10
*Nick Adam - weekends
**sports reporter

Reporters
*Sidney Luvene - Chief photographer
*Christian Monsour - Photographer
*Rebecca Ward - Photographer and Good Morning Meridian Producer
*Tametria Conner

Former staff

*Chris Brennaman Reporter/Photographer
*Ethan Huston - Weekend Weather (now morning meteorologist with WAPT-TV in Jackson, Mississippi)
* Heather Cook - Weekend Sports Anchor
* Josh Johnson - Chief Meteorologist (now morning and noon meteorologist with WSFA-TV in Montgomery, Alabama)
* Charles Daniel - Morning Meteorologist & Reporter (now Morning Meteorologist on Wake Up Alabama with WIAT-TV in Birmingham, Alabama)
* Joshua McKinney - Weekend Meteorologist (now with News 14 Carolina in Raleigh, NC)
* Renee' LaSalle - Weekend Anchor & Reporter (now with WDEF-TV in Chattanooga, Tennessee)
* Chris Whited - Morning Meteorologist & Reporter (now morning meteorologist & environmental reporter with KRBC-TV/DT in Abilene, Texas)
* Gina Neville - Anchor
* Melissa Pace - Anchor & Reporter
* Garrett Sheehan - Reporter
* Brett Newtson - Weekend Sports Anchor
* Lea Doolittle - Reporter
* Barbara Kidd - News Manager
* LaTonya Norton - Weekend Anchor & Reporter (now with WDSU-TV in New Orleans, Louisiana)
* Clay Miller - Weekend Sports Anchor & Reporter (now with WBBH-TV in Fort Myers, Florida)
* Joe Norwood - Photographer (now Lauderdale County, Mississippi District 4 Supervisor)
* George McDonald - Reporter & Photographer (now with WAKA-TV in Montgomery, Alabama)
* Jeff Shepard - Weekend Sports Anchor
* Tyler Helms - Weekend Anchor & Reporter
* Stan Torgerson - Reporter (deceased)
* Jim Loznicka - Chief Meteorologist (now chief meteorologist with WPMI-TV in Mobile, Alabama)
* Wes Wyatt - Chief Meteorologist (now with WVUA-TV in Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
* Jason Simpson - Chief Meteorologist (now morning meteorologist with ABC 33/40 in Birmingham, Alabama)
* Aisha Greer (Tyler)- Reporter
* Jamie Triplett - Weekend Sports Anchor & Reporter
* Leah Garey - Reporter

External links

* [http://www.wtok.com/ WTOK-TV "Channel 11"]
* [http://www.newscenter11mobile.com/ WTOK wireless]
* [http://www.wtok.com/fox WTOK-DT2 "Fox Meridian"]
* [http://www.wtok.com/cw WTOK-DT3 "Meridian's CW"]
*TVQ|WTOK
*BIA|WTOK|TV|TV