WJAR

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WJAR
Providence, Rhode Island / New Bedford, Massachusetts
Branding	NBC10
Slogan	Turn To 10
Channels	10 (VHF) analog, 51 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	NBC NBC Weather Plus (DT2)
Owner	Media General
Founded	July 10, 1949
Call letters meaning	None (sequentially issued by the federal government to sister radio station)
Former affiliations	CBS (Secondary 1949-1955) ABC (Secondary 1949-1963) DuMont (Secondary 1949-1955)
Website	turnto10.com

WJAR ("NBC10") is the NBC affiliate in Providence, Rhode Island and New Bedford, Massachusetts. While licensed to Providence, the station's studios are located in Cranston, Rhode Island. Its transmitter is in Rehoboth, Massachusetts nearby those of WLNE-DT, WPRI, and WNAC. WJAR offers NBC Weather Plus on digital 10.2 and Cox digital cable channel 800.

Contents 1 History 2 Newscasts 2.1 Weekdays 2.2 Weekends 2.3 Anchors 2.4 NBC 10 Weather Plus Meteorologists 2.5 Sports 2.6 Reporters 2.7 Administration 3 Logo 4 References 5 External links

[edit] History

The station signed on air for the first time on channel 11 on July 10, 1949, as Rhode Island's first television station. It was sister station to WJAR radio (now WHJJ), which came on the air on September 6, 1922. Both the television and radio stations were originally owned by The Outlet Company, a department store once located in Providence, which also purchased other stations across the nation. WJAR received national attention early on for its coverage of Hurricane Carol.

While officially an NBC affiliate, WJAR often aired shows from other networks which did not have affiliates in Rhode Island, such as ABC, DuMont, and especially CBS. This multiple affiliation came to an end as additional television stations signed on in the state.

The Outlet Company was sold in 1980, by which time the company had left the department store business to concentrate on broadcasting. The station even stayed on during a fire in the Outlet Building, which also housed their main studios, in October of 1986. Many Rhode Islanders can even remember the live broadcast of the fire, with the building exploding over their reporter's head. In 1996, NBC acquired the station in a group deal. It was around this time that the station's offices and broadcast studios were moved to a new studio in an industrial area of Cranston, just south of Providence.

WJAR was one of four NBC O&Os in smaller markets that were put up for sale on January 9, 2006, along with stations in Columbus, Ohio; Birmingham, Alabama; and Raleigh, North Carolina. Except for the Birmingham station, these stations were also once owned by Outlet. On April 6, 2006, NBC Universal and Media General announced that Media General would purchase WJAR as part of a $600 million four station deal between the two companies[1]. The deal was completed on June 26, 2006; as a result, WJAR became Media General's first TV station in New England. [2]

For several months after the owner switch, WJAR's website remained in the format used by websites of NBC O&O stations. WJAR's redesigned website, which launched in early December of 2006, now credits Media General in its copyright notice and is no longer powered by Internet Broadcasting. Although the main website has changed with Media General, WJAR still maintains a local webpage on the NBC Weather Plus website, which is operated by NBC.

As of September 13, 2006, WJAR has two alumni of the news staff, Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira, co-hosting The Today Show. Vieira started out as a reporter on the station in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and Lauer was co-host of WJAR's Providence version of PM Magazine in the early 1980s.

[edit] Newscasts

The station's radar is called "Doppler 10,000" and is located on WJAR's transmitter in Rehoboth. The weekday Noon newscast is simulcasted on WJAR's website. There have been instances when WPXQ, the area's ION Television affiliate, broadcasts WJAR's Sunday 6 PM newscast. This is due to NBC Sports coverage running over 6 PM.

[edit] Weekdays

• NBC 10 News Sunrise at 5 AM - 5-5:30 AM
• NBC 10 News Sunrise at 5:30 AM - 5:30-6 AM
• NBC 10 News Sunrise at 6 AM - 6-7 AM
• NBC 10 News at Noon - Noon-12:30 PM
• NBC 10 News at 5 PM - 5-5:30 PM
• NBC 10 News at 5:30 PM - 5:30-6 PM
• NBC 10 News at 6 PM - 6-6:30 PM
• NBC 10 News at 11 PM - 11-11:35 PM

[edit] Weekends

• NBC 10 News Weekend Sunrise - 6-7 AM Saturdays, 7-8 AM Sundays, and 9-10 AM
• NBC 10 News at 6 PM Saturday / Sunday - 6-6:30 PM
• NBC 10 News at 11 PM Saturday / Sunday - 11-11:30 PM Saturdays, 11-11:35 PM Sundays

[edit] Anchors

• Frank Coletta - weekday anchor, Sunrise and Noon
• Mario Hilario - reporter/ co-anchor Weekend Sunrise
• Kelley McGee - education reporter/ weekend anchor, 6 & 11 PM
• Margie O'Brian - reporter/ co-anchor Weekend Sunrise
• Gene Valicenti - weeknight anchor, 5:30, 6 & 11 PM
• Patrice Wood - weeknight anchor, 5, 6 & 11 PM

(Former anchor Doug White died on August 15, 2006. He had been battling cancer, and had been off the air for approximately a year.)

[edit] NBC 10 Weather Plus Meteorologists

• Kelly Bates - Sunrise
• John Ghiorse - 5:30 PM & 11 PM (Weekdays)
• R.J. Heim - 6 & 11 PM (Weekends)/ Feature & Science Reporter
• Jeff Latham
• Gary Ley - Chief Meteorologist, Noon, 5 & 6 PM

Additionally, up until recently, Art Lake was still listed as being a member of the weather team, despite having left the station approximately two years ago after suffering a stroke. He had been the last remaining original newsmember on the station, having been with WJAR-AM for five years prior to his service on television.

[edit] Sports

• Frank Carpano, sports director/ weekdays sports anchor
• Joe Kayatta, sports reporter

[edit] Reporters

• Michelle Brown
• Brian Crandall
• Larry Estepa (Massachusetts Bureau Reporter)
• Audrey Laganas (Consumer Reporter)
• Barbara Morse Silva - (Health Reporter)
• Bill Rappleye (Political Reporter)
• Jim Taricani (Investigative Reporter)
• Chef Frank Terranova (Host of "Cooking With Class;" Professor, Johnson & Wales University)

[edit] Administration

• Lisa Churchville - President and General Manager
• Betty-Jo Cugini - Vice President of News
• Craig Sasges - Director of Finace and Administration
• Joanne Schenck - Director of Human Resources
• Clark Smith - Director of Technology
• Jeff Walkes - Vice President of Sales
• Steve DelPico - Local Sales Manager
• Scott Allen - News Editor
• Mia DiBenedetto - Managing Editor of WJAR Website

[edit] Logo

WJAR's current "NBC10" logo was first used on former sister station WCAU in Philadelphia. In its earliest days, WJAR's logo included a Rhode Island Red rooster, the state bird of Rhode Island. Prior to its purchase by NBC, the logo had included various versions of a different, stylized "10" above the call letters WJAR for the previous twenty years.

[edit] References

• History of NBC 10 (2006). turnto10.com.

[edit] External links

• turnto10.com
• WJAR Wireless
• Providence Jounal article regarding sale of WJAR to Media General (registration required)
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WJAR