WPDE-TV

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WPDE-TV

Myrtle Beach/Florence, South Carolina
Branding	News Channel 15
Slogan	Your Local Team
Channels	15 (UHF) analog, 16 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	ABC
Owner	Barrington Broadcasting
Founded	November 22, 1980
Call letters meaning	We're People Dedicated to Excellence
Website	www.wpde.com

WPDE-TV, channel 15, is the ABC affiliate serving the Myrtle Beach/Florence market. Its transmitter is located near Floyd Dale, South Carolina. WPDE is owned by Barrington Broadcasting, after purchasing the station from Diversified Communications in 2005. [1]

1 History
- 1.1 Early Years
- 1.2 10:00 News
2 Market
3 Newscasts
4 Personalities
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Early Years

WPDE signed on November 22, 1980 as an ABC affiliate. ABC programming had previously been airing on WBTW-TV 13 on a part-time basis. The former Florence Civic Auditorium building was transformed into WPDE's first studio at 3215 South Cashua Drive in Florence, SC. This studio would serve WPDE for twenty-two years. The dedication of the new studio was conducted in early 1981 with remarks by then Governor Dick Riley.

[edit] 10:00 News

In 1996, WPDE began producing a 10:00 newscast on their sister station WWMB-TV 21. The News Channel 15 10 o'Clock News on TV-21 was anchored by Steve Hawley until he left WPDE in late 1996. The newscast was then anchored alternately by Dave Gilbert and Tiffany Cochran. After Cochran left WPDE and Gilbert passed away in 1997, the newscast was renamed the UPN 21 News at Ten and was anchored by Leo Stallworth and later by Audra Grant until going off the air in 2000. After three years off the air, the newscast returned as WPDE News Channel 15's News at Ten on UPN. Anchored by Jim Heath, this version of the 10:00 news features nightly segments such as "Say What?" and "Quick Hits." On September 18, 2006 with the launch of the CW network, the newscast was renamed to News Channel 15 News at 10PM on CW 21.

[edit] Market

The Designated Market Area includes Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Horry, Marion, and Marlboro counties in South Carolina and Robeson and Scotland counties in North Carolina. The Nielsen Survey Area includes Chesterfield, Clarendon, Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Lee, Marion, Marlboro, Sumter, and Williamsburg counties in South Carolina and Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Hoke, Richmond, Robeson and Scotland counties in North Carolina.

The coverage area for WPDE. The green areas indicate the Designated Market Area and the grey areas indicate additional counties included in the Nielsen Survey Area.

[edit] Newscasts

[edit] Weekdays

Good Morning Carolinas - 5:00AM - 7:00AM
Good Morning Carolinas - 7:00AM - 8:00AM (Broadcast on Sister Station WWMB-TV 21)
News Channel 15 at Noon - 12:00PM - 12:30PM
News Channel 15 at Six - 6:00PM - 6:30PM
News Channel 15 at 10PM on CW 21 - 10:00PM - 10:30PM (Broadcast on Sister Station WWMB-TV 21)
News Channel 15 at Eleven - 11:00PM - 11:35PM

[edit] Weekends

News Channel 15 at Six - 6:00PM - 6:30PM
News Channel 15 at Eleven - 11:00PM - 11:35PM

[edit] Other Newscasts

The End Zone - Friday 11:15PM - 12:00AM (During Football Season)
The David Bennett Show - Sunday 12:00PM - 12:30PM (During Football Season)
The Hoop Zone - Friday 11:30PM - 12:00AM (During Basketball Season)
The Buzz Peterson Show - Sunday 12:00PM - 12:30PM (During Basketball Season)

[edit] Personalities

[edit] Current Personalities

(In Alphabetical Order)

Personality	Position	On WPDE Since
Joel Allen	Weekend Anchor	2002
Tonya Brown	Reporter	1999
Rich Chrampanis	Sports Director/Evening Sportscaster	2000
Mike Essian	Reporter	2006
Sherrie Evans	Reporter	2006
Allyson Floyd	Assistant News Director/Evening Anchor	1996
Kyle Grainger	Reporter	2002
Mark Haggard	Weekend Sportscaster	1997
Jim Heath	Evening Anchor	2003
Amanda Kinseth	Reporter	2007
Mola Lenghi	Reporter	2007
Lauren Lowrey	Morning Anchor	2006
Lee McLaughlin	Reporter	2006
Ed Piotrowski	Chief Meteorologist/Evening Meteorologist	1994
Victoria Spechko	News Director	1994
Darren Stack	Morning Meteorologist	2006
Kristen Van Dyke	Weekend Weather Anchor	2006

[edit] Past Personalities

(In Alphabetical Order)

Personality	Position	Years at WPDE	Currently
Sue Abrams	Anchor	1986-1991	Runs Sue Abrams Productions, LLC in Dallas, TX
Steve Capps	Chief Meteorologist	1985-1987
Shaunya Chavis	Anchor	1990-1992	News Director and Anchor on FGTV in Atlanta, GA
Tiffany Cochran	Anchor	1994-1997	General Assignment Reporter on WXIA-TV 11 in Atlanta, GA
Al Ervin	Reporter	1982-1984
Rich Everitt	News Director/Anchor	1997-2000	Book Author in Augusta, GA
Wayne Fournier	Anchor	1988-1996
Dave Gilbert	News Director/Anchor	1996-1997	Deceased (1949-1997)
Jen Gilbert	Weather	2001-2004
Audra Grant	Anchor	1998?-2000?
Terry Gurn	Sports Director	1995-1999
Steve Hawley	Anchor	1994-1996
Dan Hellie	Sports Director	1998-2000	Weekend Sportscaster on WRC-TV 4 in Washington, D.C.
Rick Henry	Sports Director	1981-1988	Sports Director on WIS-TV 10 in Columbia, SC
Bob Howick	News Director/Anchor	1986-1992
Ted King	Weather	2000-2006
Al Klensch	Anchor	1980-1985
Bob Mihalic	Sports Director	1991-1998	Weekend Sportscaster on WYFF-TV 4 in Greenville, SC
Mandy Mitchell	Sports Reporter	2004-2007
Jan Pate	News Director/Anchor	1982-1986
Mike Prangley	Weather	1997-1999	Chief Meteorologist on WLFI-TV 18 in Lafayette, IN
Kevan Ramer	Chief Meteorologist	1991-1993	Chief Meteorologist on KMPH-TV 26 in Fresno, CA
Tom Sorrells	Chief Meteorologist	1987-1991	Chief Meteorologist on WKMG-TV 6 in Orlando, FL
Gray Stabley	Weather	1997-2000	Weekend Meteorologist on WMTW-TV 8 in Portland, ME
Leo Stallworth	Anchor	1996?-1997?	Reporter on KABC-TV 7 in Los Angeles, CA
Keith Sterling	Anchor	1998-2003
Clay Williams	Reporter	1981-1995	Public Information Director for Florence-Darlington Technical Community College
Brian Williamsen	Anchor	2002-2006	Public Information Officer for North Myrtle Beach, SC

[edit] Notable Past Personalities

(In Alphabetical Order)

Personality	Position	Years at WPDE	Currently
Nancy O'Dell	Reporter/Anchor	Early 90s	Anchor of Access Hollywood
Stuart Scott	Sports Reporter/Anchor	1987-1988	Anchor of ESPN SportsCenter

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Broadcast television in the Myrtle Beach/Florence market (Nielsen DMA #105)

WBTW 13 (CBS - MNTV on DT2) - WPDE 15 (ABC) - WWMB 21 (The CW) - WHMC 23 / WRJA 27 / WJPM 33 (PBS/SCETV) - WUNU 31 (PBS/UNC-TV) - WMBF 32 (NBC)¹ - W34CQ 34 / W35CA 35 (TBN) - WFXB 43 (FOX)
¹-- Not yet on the air.

ABC Network Affiliates in the state of South Carolina

WCIV 4 (Charleston) - WPDE 15 (Florence) - WOLO 25 (Columbia)
See also: CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS, CW, MyNetworkTV and Other stations in South Carolina

Barrington Broadcasting Company, LLC

v • d • e

Corporate Management Roster:	Keith L. Bland (Senior VP) \| Christoper H. Cornelius (COO) \| Mary L. Flodin (Senior VP) \| Warren Spector (CFO) \| K. James Yager (CEO)
ABC Network Affiliates:	KTVO \| KVII / KVIH \| WHOI \| WPDE
CBS Network Affiliates:	KGBT \| KHQA \| KRCG
The CW Network Affiliates:	KVII / KVIH \| KXTU \| WBSF \| WEYI \| WHOI \| WSTM¹ \| WSTQ \| WWMB²
Fox Network Affiliates:	KXRM \| KYOU³ \| WACH \| WFXL
NBC Network Affiliates:	WEYI \| WLUC \| WNWO \| WPBN / WTOM \| WSTM
¹This station carries the feed of its low-power sister station for owners of high-definition television sets.
²Barrington operates this station owned by SagamoreHill Broadcasting.
³Barrington operates this station owned by Ottumwa Media Holdings.
Annual Revenue: Unknown at this time. \| Employees: Unknown at this time. \| Stock Symbol: None, privately held. \| Website: www.barringtontv.com