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WLWT
Cincinnati, Ohio
Branding	News5
Slogan	Where The News Comes First
Channels	5 (VHF) analog, 35 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	NBC NBC Weather Plus (DT2)
Owner	Hearst-Argyle Television
Founded	February 9, 1948 on channel 4 (moved to channel 5 in 1952)
Call letters meaning	World's Largest Wireless Television (former sister to radio station)
Former affiliations	CBS, ABC & DuMont (Secondary 1948-1949)
Website	WLWT.com

WLWT, also known as News5, is a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, broadcasting locally on VHF channel 5 as an NBC affiliate. The station is owned by Hearst-Argyle Television.

WLWT's had often been the highest-rated news station in the Cincinnati area in the past, but it has been lagging behind rivals WKRC and WCPO-TV in recent years, but as of 2006 the station has been seeing a turnaround in the ratings. Several former and current members of WLWT's news staff have been associated with politics, including Jerry Springer, Charlie Luken, Tom Atkins, J.D. Hayworth and Courtis Fuller.

Contents 1 History 2 News 5 WeatherPLUS 3 Newscasts 4 Trivia 5 Notable WLWT Alumni 6 External links

WLWT was established by the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation, owners of WLW radio, one of America's most powerful radio stations. The station signed on February 9, 1948. It originally carried programming from NBC, ABC, CBS and DuMont, but became solely an NBC affiliate in 1949 after WKRC-TV and WCPO-TV signed on respectively. For many years, it officially had a hyphen in its callsign (WLW-T), but dropped it after Crosley sold off WLW-AM in the 1960s. The hypenated "T" referred to Television as did WLW-D for Dayton, WLW-I for Indianapolis, WLW-C for Columbus and WLW-A for Atlanta, Georgia, which made up the tri-state's only interconnected network. "WLW Television" boasted a million dollars worth of talent resulting in such programs as "The Ruth Lyons 50-50 Club" (later hosted by Bob Braun after Lyons' retirement in 1967), "The Paul Dixon Show", and "Midwestern Hayride ." WLWT was the originator of these programs when its studios were located in the former Elks Building(re-christened "Crosley Square") in downtown Cincinnati when the station first took to the air.

The station was sold to Multimedia Broadcasting in 1976. Gannett bought the Multimedia group in 1995. Since Gannett already owned the Cincinnati Enquirer, the company swapped WLWT and Oklahoma City's KOCO-TV to Argyle Television for Buffalo's WGRZ-TV and Western Michigan's WZZM-TV, a transaction which was finalized in January 1997. Argyle merged with the broadcasting unit of the Hearst Corporation (creating Hearst-Argyle Television) in August 1997, forcing the newly-merged company to sell off then-Hearst-owned WDTN in Dayton, Ohio due to FCC rules in effect at the time forbidding common ownership of television stations with overlapping city-grade coverage (ironically, both stations were once owned by Crosley; under Crosley and its successor Avco, they were grandfathered).

It is the only Cincinnati station (other than independents joining a television network) never to change its affiliation.

It was announced in June that WLWT-TV would once again partner to provide news and weather for the Nation's Station, 700WLW. WLWT provided news and weather for the station for years when they were both Crosley stations, but eventual separate ownerships of the two stations led to 700WLW using WKRC for news and weather. WLWT will also get its news and weather heard on 700WLW's XM Satellite Radio channel number 173.

WLWT's team of meteorologists consist of Chief Meteorologist Derek Beasley (AMS/CBM), meteorologist John Bateman (AMS), meteorologist Eric Green (AMS), and meteorologist Randi Rico. WLWT bills their radar as the Power Of 5 Radar Network. WLWT states that all five radars from Fort Wayne, IN, Indianapolis, IN, Louisville, KY, Cincinnati, OH, and Wilmington, OH are live when all but the Cincinnati radar are NEXRAD Doppler radars from the National Weather Service. They use Baron Services Doppler radar software to power their weathercasts.

WLWT also has historically had a high rate of chief meteorologist turnover - it has had five chief meteorologists in the past eight years: Tom Burse, Dave Fraser, Angelique Frame, Byron Webre and Jim O’Brien. WLWT Also has the only AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist (new seal) in Cincinnati.

WLWT airs News 5 WeatherPLUS on digital channel 5.2

News 5 is WLWT's news operation. The team is led by Sandra Ali, Sheree Paolello and Dave Wagner with Derek Beasley as Chief Meteorologist. It is popular in Cincinnati for its Target 5 investigations.

• The transmission tower seen at the beginning of CBS's popular sitcom, WKRP in Cincinnati, actually belonged to WLWT — it was located at the now-former WLWT transmitter on 2222 Chickasaw Street. [1]
• WLWT sponsors an annual race in the Automobile Racing Club of America, a stock car racing series similar to NASCAR, at Kentucky Speedway. The station simulcasts the live coverage from the Speed Channel.
• WLWT is the only Cincinnati station to remain with its primary affiliation (NBC) since sign on,
• WLWT's branding use to be "Eyewitness News 5" until 2004.
• WLWT offers News 5 WeatherPlus on their DT2 signal

• Jerry Springer (anchor, now host of his own talk show)
• Norma Rashid
• Courtis Fuller
• Felicia Ferguson
• Jim O'Brien (Chief Meteorologist from 2004-2007, Now Morning Meteorologist at WXIN in Indianapolis)
• Kristen Cornett (weather 2001-2006) now with NBC Weather Plus
• Peter Grant (anchor til late 1960's)
• Toria Tolley (reporter 1980's, went to CNN 1990)
• Ann Reskin (midday news anchor 1980's;)
• Frank Pierce (weather, 1960-1972)
• Tony Sands (chief meteorologist, mid 1950's-mid 1980's)
• Ken Torrey (meteorologist, 1972-1978)
• Steve Horstmeyer (meteorologist 1977-1989, went to WKRC-TV)

• WLWT.com
• Chronomedia
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WLWT

NBC Network Affiliates in the state of Ohio
WDTN 2 (Dayton) - WKYC 3 (Cleveland) - WCMH 4 (Columbus) - WLWT 5 (Cincinnati) - WTOV 9 (Stubenville) - WHIZ 18 (Zanesville) - WFMJ 21 (Youngstown) - WNWO 24 (Toledo) - WLIO 35 (Lima)
See also: ABC, CBS, Fox, PBS, MyNetworkTV, CW and Other stations in Ohio