WITN-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WITN-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan = Eastern Carolina's
Breaking News
& Weather Authority,
The Official Station
of the ECU Pirates
station_branding = WITN
analog = 7 (VHF)
digital = 32 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = NBC
network =
founded =
airdate = September 28, 1955
location = Washington/Greenville/New Bern, North Carolina
callsign_meaning = WashIngToN
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Gray Television, Inc.
licensee = Gray Television Licensee, Inc.
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = Secondary:
ABC (1955-1963)
effective_radiated_power = 316 kW (analog)
795 kW (digital)
HAAT = 594 m (both)
class =
facility_id = 594
coordinates = coord|35|21|55.9|N|77|23|34.6|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.witn.com/ www.witn.com]

WITN-TV is the NBC affiliate for Washington/Greenville/New Bern in northeastern North Carolina (DMA 107, 2006-07). The station transmits its analog signal on VHF channel 7, and its digital signal on UHF channel 32. It is operated by Gray Television, Inc.WITN-DT 7.1 (32.1) carries NBC HD programming in the 1080i format.

WITN-TV is available on satellite through Directv and Dish Network.

The station's studio is located in Chocowinity, North Carolina, just down U.S. Highway 17 from Washington. Its transmitter is located in Grifton, North Carolina. WITN is planning on a new broadcast facility on Arlington Blvd. in Greenville.

At one point, WITN-TV was also home to radio stations WITN-AM and FM (now WDLX-AM and WERO-FM).

WITN-DT also operates a weather channel called WITN 24/7 Weather Channel on its digital subchannel 7.2 (32.2), It offers weather updates on the 7s. It also features maps, VIPIR radar, PinPoint Weather, 7 day forecast and web cams. The channel has background music which is several different themes of the station's theme music. The channel is available also on digital cable through SuddenLink and Time Warner.

WITN signed on for the first time on September 28 1955. It was eastern North Carolina's third television station. It has always been an NBC affiliate, though it shared ABC programming with WNCT-TV until WNBE-TV (now WCTI-TV) signed on in 1963.

East Carolina University sports

In addition to network and syndicated programming, WITN-TV also produces live broadcasts of select ECU football and basketball games that have not been picked up by ESPN as part of their deal with Conference USA, of which the Pirates are a member. Even though most of the broadcasts were limited to the Greenville market, WITN did manage to get other stations throughout North Carolina to carry a contest in 2003 that pitted ECU against in-state rival UNC at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium on ECU's campus.

News/Station Presentation

Newscast Titles

*"WITN News" (1955-1970)
*"EyeWITNess News" (1970-1985)
*"WITN 7 News" (1985-2007)
*"WITN News" (2007-Present)

tation Slogans

*"On Top of it All" (Late 1970s)
*"Keep Your Eye on EyeWITNess News" (1980s)
*"We Care About You!" (c. Late 1980s)
*"Your 24 Hour News Channel" (Early 1990s)
*"Where the News Comes First" (1990s)
*"Eastern Carolina's News Channel" (1990s-2006)
*"Dedicated, Determined, Dependable" (1998-2006)
*"Eastern Carolina's Weather Authority" (2006-2008)
*"Your Breaking News and Weather Authority" (2008-present)

Personalities

News

*Heather King - Anchor / Executive Producer of WITN News at Sunrise, Monday-Friday
*Tom Skinner - Anchor of WITN News at Noon / Reporter / Producer of long running franchise, "The Country Rover"
*Christine Kennedy - Co-anchor for WITN News at 5, 6:00, and 11:00
*Dave Jordan - Co-anchor for WITN News at 5:30, 6:00, and 11:00
*Christina Vitale - Co-anchor for WITN News at 5:30 / Reporter
*Cassandra Bell - Anchor of WITN News at Sunrise - Saturday & Sunday
*Lynnette Taylor - Anchor of WITN News at 6:00 and 11:00, Saturday & Sunday
*Chelsea Donovan - Reporter / Jacksonville Bureau Chief
*Ken Heineck - Reporter / New Bern Bureau Chief
*Dave Marcheskie - Reporter

Weather

*Marvin Daugherty - Chief Meteorologist
*Jim Howard - Morning Meteorologist
*Bob Trihy - Noon/Weekend Meteorologist
*Greg Armbrecht - Weekend/Fill-In Meteorologist

ports

*Brian Meador - Reporter / Anchor
*Billy Weaver - Sports Director

Notable former employees

*David Crabtree - Anchor in the mid-1980s (Now main co-anchor at WRAL-TV in Raleigh)
*Gary Dean - Evening Anchor from 1991 to 2001 (retired)
*Maureen O'Boyle - Morning anchor, sometime in mid-1980s (Later hosted "A Current Affair" and "Extra"; Now co-anchor at WBTV, Charlotte) [http://www.wbtv.com/inside/bios/news/2873236.html ]
*Ben Pringle - Chief meteorologist from 1984 to 1994 (Now morning meteorologist at KAKE-TV in Wichita, KS)
*Susan Roesgen- Anchor in the 80's, Went on to work for WABC-TV in New York. She now works for CNN.
*Carl Rochelle- Worked for WITN in the 1960's, went on to be a network correspondent.
*Linda Shore - Evening anchor from 1994 to 2000
*Jamie Arnold- Worked for WITN from 2002 till June 2008, he went to WMBF which is launching 8-8-08. Jamie started his weather career in 2002, Jamie was also married on WITN TV.One of Jamie's last big weather moments was commentating about a tornado via telephone on WITN-TV in the spring of 08 when it formed on the air over the Washington Water front on camera from WITNs Washington Water front Cam. Jamie was at his home watching the storm.

tation History

WITN-TV has a long history of serving the people of Eastern Carolina. From its humble beginnings, the station signed on the air on September 28, 1955 as the area's second television station. The first program shown on Channel 7 was the 1955 World Series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees.

North Carolina Television, Inc. was the station's original owner. The company was made up of radio station owners from Washington, Wilson, New Bern, Tarboro, Goldsboro, and Kinston. W.R. Roberson, Jr. was its president. In 1985 the station was sold to AFLAC. In 1997 AFLAC decided to sell its group of television stations and WITN was purchased by Gray Television Group, which continues to own the station today.

The beginning for WITN was a stormy one. That summer three hurricanes hit Eastern Carolina, the last just two weeks before the station was to sign on the air. The station’s studios were inundated with flood waters, so the first broadcasts had to come from the tower site in Grifton. W.R. Roberson, Jr. said it cost $750,000 to put Channel 7 on the air.

WITN is proud to have been affiliated with NBC since we signed on the air. But many will remember seeing ABC programming on Channel 7 in the early years as well. That's because before the station in New Bern signed on the air, the other two stations shared ABC programming. The station’s studios and offices are located south of Washington along Highway 17 in Chocowinity and have seen several additions and updates over the years.

WITN has never actually transmitted from Beaufort County. That's because the transmitter has always been in Grifton, in neighboring Pitt County. The station chose Grifton because that was the farthest west the station could locate their tower and not waste the signal transmitting out into the ocean.

Channel 7 has had three broadcast towers over the years in Grifton. The original one of 919 feet was the tallest in the market at the time. It was replaced in 1961 with a 1549 foot tower, and then in 1978 the current 2000 foot structure was erected. At the time the 2000 foot tower was one of the tallest structures in the country. The station's signal covers all of Eastern Carolina, from Raleigh to Wilmington and to Elizabeth City.

WITN News consistently ranks among the most watched in the Greenville-New Bern-Washington television market. WITN’s commitment to news is not matched by any other station in the area, broadcasting more than 5-1/2 hours of news each day of the week, and more than 2 hours on the weekends.

WITN started broadcasting morning newscasts from their studio in Greenville in 1997 and is the only station with news bureaus in all of the market’s major cities. [www.witn.com]

External links

* [http://www.witn.com/ WITN-TV Homepage]
*TVQ|WITN-TV
*BIA|WITN|TV|TV