WMBB

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WMBB
Panama City, Florida
Branding	WMBB News13
Slogan	On Your Side
Channels	13 (VHF) analog, 19 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	ABC
Owner	Media General
Founded	October 4, 1973
Call letters meaning	World's Most Beautiful Beaches
Former affiliations	NBC (1973-1982)
Transmitter Power	316 kW Analog 38 kW Digital STA 1,000 kW Digital CP
Website	www.wmbb.com

WMBB News13 is a full power television station -- as an ABC network affiliate, it serves the entire Panama City, Florida metropolitan area. Its transmitter is located in Youngstown, Florida.

Contents 1 Technical Information 2 History 3 Signal 4 Logo Timeline 5 News Department 5.1 Newscasts 5.2 Notable Personalities 6 External links

[edit] Technical Information

This station is licensed to broadcast on VHF channel 13 at 316 kilowatts and broadcasts in high definition on UHF channel 19 at only 38 kilowatts under a Special Temporary Authority, but has filed for a construction permit to increase its power to about 1,000 kilowatts. WMBB is owned and operated by Media General of Richmond, Virginia.

[edit] History

WMBB first began its broadcasting operations on October 4, 1973 as WDTB-TV, started by Panhandle Broadcasting Corporation, run by attorney Denver T. Brannen, and financed by local businessman/car dealer Tommy Thomas, and attorneys Julian Bennett and Dick Arnold. When it first took to the air, channel 13 was originally an NBC network affiliate. On February 28, 1977, WDTB was sold to Octagon Broadcasting, an Atlanta-based outfit. Upon the change, Octagon changed the station's callsign to the current WMBB -- which stands for "The World's Most Beautiful Beaches".

Originally, the station was positioned to be the NBC affiliate for Tallahassee as well, since they did not have one until the 1980s when WTWC signed on. The plan failed. At the time, the transmitter was in Frink, Florida, located in Calhoun County...well over 50 miles away from Tallahassee.

On January 4, 1982, WMBB made the affiliation switch to ABC, swapping with WJHG, channel 7. Then on December 5, 1986, Buford Television of Tyler, Texas purchased the station and began investing in equipment and news talent, in order to make the station more competitive, not only with WJHG, but also with Dothan, Ala.'s WTVY, the CBS station serving the eastern part of the Northwest Florida "Panhandle" region. It was also around this time that the station moved from its location in Downtown Panama City to its current location at 613 Harrison Avenue, which formerly housed a Buick dealership. The new station offered 3 times the space of the previous location.

Unexpectedly, at 2:03 PM Central Time on May 18, 1989, an Air Force F-15 fighter jet clipped a wire at its transmission tower in the town of Frink, Fla. This caused the tower, antenna and transmitter to be completely destroyed. Not long after this incident the station was sold once again. This time, the station joined Spartan Communications of Spartanburg, S.C. as construction of new transmission equipment got underway. The company completed the acquisition on April 12, 1990. On August 6 of that same year, WMBB began broadcasting from a new 1,500-foot state-of-the-art antenna and transmitter tower, now located in Youngstown, Fla. This allowed for better viewing of the station in the western half of the market including the rapidly growing South Walton County area and Destin.

In 1993, WMBB refused to air the ABC show NYPD Blue due to its violence, harsh language and partial nudity. Instead, it aired syndicated programming during the timeslot. It was one of several ABC affiliates across the country that blacked out the program. Then-general manager Hugh Roche kept the show off the station until 1997, when the parental ratings system was adopted by the networks. By the time WMBB finally allowed the program to air, it was the last station in the country to lift the ban on the show.

In July 1998 Longtime weather forecaster, Captain Norm Miller, was fired after 12 years at the station. The station management would not disclose the details of the situation. Unlike many long-time personalities who left on good terms, Capt. Norm did not receive a festive on-air send-off indicating that there must have been turmoil leading up to his departure. Months later, likely after the non-compete clause of his contract expired, Capt. Norm began forecasting for the WMBB's NBC competitor WJHG.

In March 2000, WMBB became one of 13 stations in a package acquired by Media General, worth $605 million. Later that year, Media General purchased the Jackson County Floridan newspaper. WMBB then established a Jackson County bureau and used the resources of the Floridan to cover Jackson County as well. However, this caught the eye of the Federal Communications Commission because of the common ownership of a newspaper and television station in the same market. As of now, the situation is under review.

WMBB made history during Hurricane Dennis in July 2005, being the first station in Panama City to broadcast live storm coverage over the internet, as well as being one of the first stations in the country to use the Titan forecasting tool, a 3D weather system which showed the collapse of the storm just before it struck Santa Rosa Island.

[edit] Signal

The station can be seen as far away as Tallahassee, Florida and Enterprise, Alabama. Despite this, unlike WJHG, WMBB is not available on Dothan's cable systems due to WDHN being an ABC affiliate covering the Dothan market.

[edit] Logo Timeline

WMBB 13 Logo (1987)

[edit] News Department

[edit] Newscasts

MONDAY-FRIDAY

• News 13 This Morning (5-7 a.m.)
• News 13 Live at 5:00 (5-5:30 p.m.)
• News 13 at 6:00 (6-6:30 p.m.)
• News 13 at 10:00 (10-10:35 p.m.)

SATURDAY

• News 13 This Weekend at 6:00 (6-6:30 p.m.)
• News 13 This Weekend at 10:00 (10-10:30 p.m.)

SUNDAY

• News 13 This Weekend at 5:00 (5-5:30 p.m.)
• News 13 This Weekend at 10:00 (10-10:30 p.m.)

[edit] Notable Personalities

CURRENT PERSONALITIES

• Jerry Brown, Live at 5:00, 6:00, and 10:00 Anchor/Reporter
• Kyle Burger, Sports Director/Anchor
• Jessica Foster, Weekend Weather Forecaster/Reporter
• Sheena Foster, General Assignment Reporter
• Amy Hoyt, Live at 5:00, 6:00, and 10:00 Anchor/Reporter
• Mark Jenkins, Weekend Anchor/Reporter
• Justin Kiefer, Morning Meteorologist
• Deanna Lambert, Morning Anchor/Reporter
• Tuquyen Mach, Weekend Anchor/Reporter
• Chris Marchand, General Assignment Reporter
• Chris Mitchell, Walton County Reporter
• Bree Sison, General Assignment Reporter
• Greg Sherrod, Morning Anchor/Reporter
• Jerry Tabatt, Chief Weather Forecaster
• Jennifer Turk, General Assignment Reporter

PAST PERSONALITIES

• Christian Ashley, Sports Anchor/Reporter (2003-2005)
• Amy Ausley, Reporter/Anchor (late 1990s)
• David Bacon, Sports (1990s)
• Sandra Brogan, Meteorologist (now at WPMT-TV Harrisburg, PA)
• Shannon Cake, Reporter (now at WPTV-TV West Palm Beach, FL)
• Crystal Cameron, Reporter, Weekend Anchor (2004-2006, now at WVIR-TV Charlottesville, VA)
• Susan Casper, Reporter (now with Bay News 9 Tampa)
• Chris Cato, Live at 5:00, 6:00, and 10:00 Anchor/Reporter (1999-2005, now at WSPA/WYCW, Spartanburg, SC)
• Carmen Coursey Cato, Anchor/Reporter (?, now at WSPA/WYCW, Spartanburg, SC)
• Scot Chestnut, Reporter (1980s)
• Judy Dickey, Morning Meteorologist(?-2005)
• April Douglas, Marianna Bureau Reporter (now at WCTV Tallahassee)
• John Dunlap, Sports (now at WJXT Jacksonville)
• Tracey Early, Reporter (now with News 14 Carolina)
• Craig Falanga, Sports (?-2003)
• Tim Gehret, Anchor/Reporter (2000-2001 Now at WFMY-TV Greensboro, NC)
• Nancy Gay, Reporter (now with Central Florida News 13)
• Brian Goddin, Weekend Anchor/General Assignment Reporter (?-2005)(now with Bay County Sheriff's Office)
• Cynthia Gould, Anchor (1980s)
• Tracey Grimm, Reporter (1980s)
• Mike Gurspan, Anchor/Reporter (1987-1992, now at WTVY Dothan)
• Larche Hardy, Anchor (1980s) (currently News Director)
• Joy Harris, Weather (1980s)
• Lesley Hendrix, Weekend Anchor/General Assignment Reporter (?-2005, now at WIAT-TV)
• Tom Higginbotham, Meteorologist (1990s)
• Paul Joseph, Sports (1980s-1990s)
• Mark Koelbel, Main Anchor (Early 1990s)
• Kerry Kinsey, Main Anchor (2001-2002, now at KTVX Salt Lake City)
• Robert Kittle, General Assignment Reporter (1985-1989, now at WSPA Spartanburg)
• Sam Lane, Weekend Weather Forecaster
• Tom Lewis, Anchor (early 1980s, 1989-2001, now at WJHG)
• Jared Long, General Assignment Reporter (?-2004)
• Janice Lucas, Reporter (1980s) (ran unsuccessfully for District 6 Florida House race)
• Kira Mathis, General Assignment Reporter (2003-2005, now at News 14 Carolina Greensboro)
• Steve Moss, Morning Anchor
• Kate Mundy, Morning Anchor/Reporter (?-2004, now at WIAT-TV Birmingham)
• Capt. Norm Miller, Chief Weather Forecaster (1987-1998)
• Tom Najjar, Midday Host (1980s & 90s) (Now hosting morning talk show on WPGX-TV)
• Kathy Oliver, Main Anchor (Early 1990s)
• Leif Pedersen-Diaz, Reporter (Early 1990's)
• Chris Pedersen, Reporter (1980s)
• Bob Petermann, Weather Anchor (1980s) (Deceased)
• Linda Powell, Live at 5:00 Anchor (?-2004, now in Jacksonville with Video Law Services)
• Ed Radford, Anchor (1989-1991)
• Tanya Rivera, Morning Anchor (1993-2000, now at WFMY-TV Greensboro, NC)
• Ashley Roberts, General Assignment Reporter (2005-2007, now at WSLS Roanoke)
• Angela Sachitano, Morning Anchor/Reporter (2004-2006, now at WBBH-TV Ft. Myers)
• Carolyn Scofield (now with Central Florida News 13)
• Dan Sheldon (now with KUTV Salt Lake City)
• Robby Thomas, General Assignment Reporter (2004-2006)
• John Willams, Main Anchor (1987-1989)
• Hank Woolard, Reporter (1980s)

[edit] External links

• http://www.wmbb.com
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WMBB