WGGB-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WGGB-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding = ABC 40
Fox 6 Springfield
(on DT2)
analog = 40 (UHF)
digital = 55 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = ABC
Fox / MNTV (on DT2)
network =
founded =
airdate = April 9, 1953
location = Springfield / Holyoke, Massachusetts
callsign_meaning = Guy Gannett Broadcasting
(former owner)
former_callsigns = WHYN-TV (1953-1979)
former_channel_numbers = 55 (1953-1959)
owner = Gormally Broadcasting, LLC
licensee =
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = CBS (1953-1958)
DuMont (secondary, 1953-1956)
effective_radiated_power = 4,270 kW (analog)
500 kW (digital)
HAAT = 324 m (analog)
301.5 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 25682
coordinates = coord|42|14|30|N|72|38|53.6|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.wggb.com/ wggb.com]

WGGB-TV, channel 40, is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts that is licensed to Springfield. Its transmitter is located on Mount Tom in Holyoke. Locally owned by Gormally Broadcasting, WGGB has studios on Liberty Street in Springfield. Syndicated programming on the station includes: "The Insider", "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", "Family Feud", and "Rachael Ray". WGGB operates the area's primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV affiliate on its second digital subchannel. Known on-air as "Fox6 Springfield", it is also offered on cable but not satellite. This includes Comcast channel 6 and Charter channel 10. There is a high definition signal of WGGB-DT2 on Comcast digital cable channel 861.

Digital television

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

In 2009 WGGB-TV will remain on channel 40 when the analog to digital transition is complete.http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf]

History

WGGB was the second television station in the Springfield / Holyoke market when it commenced broadcasting as WHYN-TV on channel 55 (now home to the station's digital signal) on April 9, 1953. Its launch was only a month behind rival NBC affiliate WWLP. It was co-owned with WHYN radio (AM 560 and FM 93.1) and was originally a primary CBS station with secondary ABC and DuMont affiliations. The station became a sole ABC affiliate in 1958 after DuMont folded in 1956 and WTIC-TV in Hartford, Connecticut (now WFSB), previously an independent, moved to CBS and became that network's affiliate of record in Springfield. WHYN moved to channel 40 a few years later in 1959. Guy Gannett Broadcasting bought the station in 1979 and changed its call sign to the current WGGB-TV effective at the start of the following year.

In 1994, WGGB's cameras rolled as Temple University head basketball coach John Chaney confronted University of Massachusetts head coach John Calipari at a press conference. At one point, Chaney threatened Calipari with death. The footage (watermarked with the station's logo and call letters) was picked up by ESPN and has since been shown thousands of times. In 2006, Fox Sports Net's "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" ranked the incident the fifth-biggest outburst in sports history. The Sinclair Broadcast Group purchased most of Guy Gannett's television stations, including WGGB, in 1998. WGGB has wanted to move back to CBS affiliation on several occasions but was blocked each time by WFSB. CBS did not return over-the-air on a Springfield-based station until 2003 when WFSB started a low-powered semi-satellite, WSHM-LP. On October 15, 2004, WGGB upgraded its over-the-air digital signal to offer ABC programming in high definition. On digital cable, it can be seen on Comcast channel 840 and Charter channel 784. In the fall of 2006, WGGB rehired Ed Carroll to be their chief meteorologist. He had previously been at WGGB from 1989 to 1993 before moving on to WBZ-TV in Boston. On May 5, 2007, WGGB redesigned its website and added news video. In late-July 2007, Sinclair announced the sale of WGGB to Gormally Broadcasting, LLC for $21.2 million dollars. The sale closed on November 2 making WGGB the only station in the market to be locally owned-and-operated.

WGGB-DT2 "Fox6 Springfield"

Until March 31, 2008, the Springfield / Holyoke television market did not have a Fox affiliate of its own. It was the largest DMA to be in that situation. WTIC-TV in Hartford, Connecticut served as the default affiliate on cable. At one point, WFXQ-CA had been rumored as becoming affiliated with the network. That station is owned by LIN TV along with WWLP. On that date, WGGB launched a Fox affiliate on its second digital subchannel. WTIC had its cable channel location on Comcast systems taken by WGGB-DT2, and as a result, it moved to the digital tier on channel 292. Charter followed suit as well placing WTIC on digital cable channel 161. At one point, WGGB's second digital channel had been broadcasting The Tube (a 24-hour digital music channel). It was dropped at the end of 2006. When the station launched on March 31, it also started to show MyNetworkTV programming as a secondary affiliate with that network. On weeknights, MyNetworkTV shows air 11:30 P.M. to 1:30 A.M. For Saturday primetime, it airs on early Sunday morning from 12:30 to 2:30. WGGB launched their 10:00pm newscast on September 8 2008.

News operation

In terms of newscast ratings, WGGB has historically been in second place behind WWLP. There have been some brief periods in which WGGB was on top and there have also been extended periods in which the stations were basically neck-and-neck (with WWLP having a slight edge). Originally, WGGB's newscasts were known as "News 40". The station cut back financially under Sinclair ownership, and during that period, rumors of the cancellation of "ABC 40 News" or conversion to the now-defunct, controversial "News Central" format sometimes spread. In October of 2005, WSHM started up a news department and began producing local newscasts. Until April of 2007, WGGB did not carry ABC News "World News Now" in the early weekday morning hours. The station aired programming from the Home Shopping Network instead.

After becoming locally owned, WGGB's news department underwent several changes. Several prominent newsroom employees were laid off. The station debuted a brand new set, graphics, and news music package on April 24, 2008. On August 18, 2008, WSHM-LP launched the market's first 10 o'clock newscast on its weather channel. WGGB-DT2 followed suit on September 8 with the launch of its own 10 P.M. news. WCVB-TV, the ABC affiliate in Boston, shares its resources with WGGB for news coverage of eastern Massachusetts. In return, WGGB does the same for news of western areas of the state. WGGB does not operate a weather radar of its own. Instead, the station uses live NOAA National Weather Service radar data that originates from the National Weather Service's Local Forecast Office in Taunton.

News team

Anchors
*Faye Hoffman - weekday mornings and Noon
**education reporter
*Marci Izard - weeknights at 5 and reporter
*Kathy Tobin - weeknights at 5:30, 6, and 10
**Director of Community and Public Relations
*Dave Madsen - Managing Editor seen on weeknights
*Sabrina Rodriguez - weekends and reporter

Meteorologists
*Ed Carroll - Chief seen on weeknights
*Eric Fisher - weekday mornings and Noon
**reporter
*Dan Brown - weekends
**reporter and "Students of Character" segment producer

Sports
*Scott Coen - Director seen on weeknights at 6, 10, and 11
*Neille Giffune - weekends and sports reporter

Reporters
*Ray Hershel - political
*Kathy Reynolds - evenings
*Elizabeth Corridan - producer
*Shannon Hegy
*Jim Cline

Past personnel

"Anchors"
*Jenn Lesmerises - weekday mornings and Noon
*Colleen Manning - weekday mornings and Noon
**weekday sports reporter
*Lori Shamroth - weekday mornings and 5 P.M.
**reporter
*Beth Ward - weeknights at 5
**health reporter
*Beth Carroll - weeknights at 5:30, 6, and 11
*Lisa Daniels - weeknights at 6 and 11
**weeknight 5, 5:30, and 6 o'clock reporter
**now reporter for NBC News
*Leigh Frillici - Sunday through Friday nights and reporter
**now at KHOU-TV
*Michele Labbee - weekends
**reporter
*Michelle Brown - weekends
**now at WJAR
*Eileen Curran - now reporter at WBZ-TV
*Cora-Ann Mihalik - now anchor at WWOR
*Lynda Martin - now weekday morning anchor at XETV

"Meteorologists"
*Tom Bevacqua - Chief seen on weeknights
*Jason Russell - weekday mornings
*Paul Sutton - weekdays at Noon and weekends
**weather reporter
*Rich Hoffman

"Sports"
*Mike Ratté - now weekend sports anchor at WVIT
*Duke Castiglione - reporter
**now sports anchor at WNYW
*Dave Guthro - weekend anchor and weeknight reporter
**now same role at WMTW
*Dave Mitchell - reporter
*Dominick Aielli - producer

"Reporters"
*Jim Hummel - Wednesday nights
*Tom Parnell - weekday morning reporter
*Jim Polito - investigative
**now morning show host at WTAG
*Andrea Stassou - fill-in anchor
*Priscilla Ress - consumer
*Jim Vinick - financial
*Jerry Gretzinger - fill-in anchor
**now at WRGB
*Al Gag - features and "Let's Go Fishing" segment producer
*Alison Maloni - producer
*Delia Goncalves - health
*Sylvia Gomes - health
*Kori Chambers - weekends at 6
*Jade McCarthy - weeknights
*Crystal Haynes
*Kathryn Shepardson
*Janette Mandell
*Marcus McIntosh
*Astrid Roy
*Lacey Girard
*Liz Gray
*Samia Khan
*Alex Boyer
*Susan Goodman
*David Ham
*Shayna Seymour

Logos

References

External links

* [http://www.wggb.com/ WGGB-TV/DT "ABC 40"]
* [http://www.abc.com/ ABC]
*TVQ|WGGB-TV