WEAR-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WEAR-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan = First "LIVE" Local
station_branding = WEAR ABC 3
Channel 3 News
analog = 3 (VHF)
digital = 17 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = ABC
network =
founded =
airdate = January 13, 1954
location = Pensacola, Florida/Mobile, Alabama
callsign_meaning = The word EAR
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.
licensee = WEAR Licensee, LLC
sister_stations = WFGX
former_affiliations = CBS/ABC (1954-1955)
effective_radiated_power = 100 kW (analog)
1000 kW (digital)
HAAT = 574.9 m (analog)
579 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 71363
coordinates = coord|30|36|45.4|N|87|38|41.6|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.weartv.com/ www.weartv.com]

WEAR is the ABC affiliate for the Pensacola, Florida, Mobile, Alabama, and Fort Walton Beach, Florida viewing area. It is one of two major commercial stations in the market that is licensed on the Florida side of the market, the other being sister station WFGX, a MyNetworkTV affiliate. WEAR is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Its transmitter is located near Foley, Alabama, and its studios are located on Mobile Highway (US 90) in southwest Pensacola.

As a Pensacola-based station, their newscasts tend to focus on coverage of the Northwestern Florida area as opposed to WKRG and WPMI, which predominantly feature news concerning the southern Alabama area. Although, there has been locally inserted ads that claim that WPMI Covers Florida News & WX, that remains to be seen to this day.

Sinclair prohibited its ABC affiliates, including WEAR, from airing a "Nightline" broadcast in 2004 because the company felt it was near anti-war rhetoric. [http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/04/29/abc.nightline/index.html]

WEAR also operates WFGX, a MyNetworkTV affiliate station broadcasting on channel 35.

History

WEAR began operation on January 13, 1954, which was almost a year after WALA began. The station was founded by Charles Smith and Mel Wheeler. Initially the station ran shows from both CBS and ABC. When WKRG signed on in 1955, WEAR became strictly an ABC affiliate.

In 1959, WEAR was sold to Rollins' Telecasting. The station continued as an ABC affiliate for many years. In 1987, Rollins Telecasting merged with Heritage Broadcasting to form Heritage Media. In October 1997, WEAR and the other Heritage stations were sold to Sinclair Broadcasting, just as the remainder of Heritage Media was merging with News Corporation (the parent company of Fox). This sale also protected former longtime NBC affiliate WALA as the market's Fox affiliate; otherwise, WEAR would have been forced to switch its network affiliation to Fox.

WEAR started producing newscasts in HD on September 7, 2008. The station installed a new digital control room and re-built their news set. They are the first news operation in the Mobile/Pensacola market to produce a local newscast in high definition.

News/Station Presentation

Newscast Titles

*"The Gulf Coast Newsreel" (1950s)
*"WEAR-TV News" (1960s-1970s)
*"Channel 3 News" (1970s)
*"NewsCenter 3" (1970s-1980s)
*"Gulf Coast News 3" (1980s)
*"Channel 3 News" (1980s-present)

Mediacom dispute

In late 2006, Sinclair entered into negotiations with Mediacom, the main cable provider for much of the Florida side of the Mobile-Pensacola market (including Santa Rosa County and Pensacola Beach). The two companies could not reach agreement over compensation rights. As a result, Mediacom pulled all of Sinclair's stations, including WEAR, from its systems on January 6, 2007. The dispute ended on February 2, when the two sides reached an agreement that restored WEAR to Mediacom systems.

Past personalities

* Ashley Chisolm (chief meteorologist) - At WEAR from 1993 until 2000 before leaving TV.
* Lance Sandstead (news anchor)
* Hank Astengo (sport anchor) - Now sports anchor for WCJB in Gainesville, Florida.
* Katie Horner (chief meteorologist) Now chief meteorologist at KCTV in Kansas City, Missouri.
* Jeff Weeks (morning weather) - No longer in TV.
* Beth Morgan (weekend weather)
* Sarah Pitzen (weekend weather)
* Annette Falwell (weekend news anchor) Now weekend anchor News14 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
* Dave Daughtry (news anchor) Went to WALA in Mobile, Alabama, and now appears to have left TV.
* Heather Tesch - Former reporter, now a meteorologist at The Weather Channel
* Ann Kerian - Former Anchor/Military Affairs Reporter - Now "Executive Coach, Consultant and Public Speaker"
* Bob O'Brien
* Shauna Dunlap - Former morning anchor, left WEAR and began working for the FBI
* Charles Basset - Former weekend anchor, now at KWTV in Oklahoma City
* Catherine Pegram - Former morning anchor, now at WABI in Bangor, Maine
* Sherri Hemminghaus
*Doug Mouton - Former weekend sports anchor, now works as a reporter at WWL-TV in New Orleans.
* Rob Manning - Former news reporter
* David Brandao - Former news reporter
* Sara Baumgartner - Anchor
*Byron L. Pfordte - Former Reporter/Newscast Director, currently Art Director for Sinclair Broadcast Group stations WXLV & WMYV in Greensboro, NC.
* Bob Solarski (News Anchor) - Currently suspended due to arrest Oct. 1, 2008 on DUI, criminal mischief and resisting arrest charges. Solarski blew a 0.296 and a 0.300 on breath samples, the report said.

External links

* [http://www.weartv.com/ Official site]
*TVQ|WEAR
*BIA|WEAR|TV|TV
*TitanTV|WEAR
* [http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081008/NEWS01/81008020/1006 WEAR news anchorman suspended]