From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is missing citations or needs footnotes. Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies.(November 2007)

WSYX
Columbus, Ohio
Branding	ABC 6, NewsCenter
Slogan	On Your Side, Your Weather Authority
Channels	Analog: 6 (VHF) Digital: 13 (VHF)
Affiliations	ABC (since 1953, secondary until 1956) My Network TV (on digital subchannel 6.2)
Owner	Sinclair Broadcast Group
Founded	August 30, 1949
Call letters meaning	W SYX (sounds like six, station's channel number)
Former callsigns	WTVN-TV (1949-1987)
Former affiliations	DuMont (1949-1956) [1]
Transmitter Power	100 kW (analog) 59 kW (digital)
Height	286 m (analog and digital)
Facility ID	56549
Transmitter Coordinates	39°56′14″N, 83°1′16″W
Website	http://www.wsyx6.com

WSYX, channel 6, is the ABC television affiliate in Columbus, Ohio. WSYX is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group and is the sister station to Fox affiliate WTTE (channel 28). The two stations share a studio in suburban Grandview Heights, which shares a post office with Columbus. WSYX carries a secondary affiliation with MyNetworkTV on its second digital subchannel.

WSYX's audio signal can be heard on 87.7 FM in much of central Ohio. The audio component of television channel 6 is located on the same wavelength as 87.7 FM. WSYX emphasizes the fact that many FM radios can also receive the station when a television set is not nearby.

Contents 1 History 2 News Operation 2.1 Newscast Titles 3 Former Local Programming 4 Personalities 5 Logos 6 External links

The station began operations on August 30, 1949 as WTVN-TV, Columbus' second television station. The station was owned by Picture Waves, Inc., controlled by Toledo attorney and investor Edward Lamb, and was a sister station to WTVN radio (610 kHz.). In February 1953, Picture Waves sold the WTVN stations to the Taft Television and Radio Company, which was based in Cincinnati. Taft later purchased an FM station in Columbus, WLWF (96.3 MHz.), from the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation in 1959, renaming it WTVN-FM (it is now WLVQ).

WTVN-TV was an affiliate of the DuMont Television Network at its inception, and was one of only three primary affiliates of that network. In 1953, it took on a secondary affiliation with ABC. Channel 6 became an exclusive ABC station when DuMont closed down operations in 1956. In the early 1970s, Taft's common ownership of WTVN-TV and WKRC-TV in Cincinnati was awarded "grandfather status" by the Federal Communications Commission which, under its newly-enacted "one-to-a-market" rule, prohibited television stations with overlapping signals to share common ownership while protecting existing instances. (One of channel 6's competitors, Crosley/Avco-owned WLWC [channel 4, now WCMH-TV], was also given grandfathered protection through a similar situation.)

In 1987 Taft Broadcasting underwent a corporate restructuring, which saw Cincinnati financier Carl Lindner acquire a majority of Taft's shares, renaming the company Great American Broadcasting. However, as the FCC considered the restructuring as an ownership change, WTVN-TV lost its grandfathered protection and could not be retained by Great American. A group of former Taft Broadcasting shareholders, led by the Bass brothers, purchased WTVN-TV for their new company, called Anchor Media. The sale closed on August 31, 1987; and the new owners renamed the station WSYX. WTVN and WLVQ-FM remained owned by Great American Broadcasting for the next several years.

Anchor Media, which also purchased fellow ABC affiliates WLOS in Asheville, North Carolina (in April 1987) and KOVR in Stockton, California (in July 1989), was purchased by River City Broadcasting in 1993. River City was merged into the Sinclair Broadcast Group in 1996. Sinclair owned Columbus' Fox affiliate, WTTE, but could not keep both stations since the FCC did not allow common ownership of two stations in a single market. Sinclair kept the longer-established WSYX and sold WTTE to Glencairn, Ltd., owned by former Sinclair executive Edwin Edwards. However, the Smith family (Sinclair's founding owners) controlled nearly all of Glencairn's stock. In effect, Sinclair now had a duopoly in Columbus in violation of FCC rules. Sinclair and Glenciarn further circumvented the rules by merging WTTE's operations with those of WSYX under a local marketing agreement, with WSYX as the senior partner.

In 2001, after the FCC allowed duopolies, Sinclair tried to acquire Glencairn outright. However, the FCC would not allow Sinclair to repurchase WTTE for two major reasons. First, the FCC does not allow duopolies between two of the four highest-rated stations in a single market. Also, the Columbus market has only seven full-power stations -- too few to legally permit a duopoly. Glencairn was renamed Cunningham Broadcasting, but is still effectively owned by Sinclair because nearly all of its stock is owned by trusts controlled by the Smith family. This situation is one of many that has led to allegations that Cunningham is simply a shell corporation used by Sinclair to circumvent FCC ownership rules.

In August 2006, WSYX launched a digital subchannel to carry programming from My Network TV, a new programming service from News Corporation, the parent company of Fox. The digital subchannel is known as My TV Columbus.

Channel 6 was generally in last place in the local news ratings, except for two periods when the station was intensely competitive -- from 1977 to 1983, and from 1987 to 1992. During this era, channel 6 often passed WCMH for second place behind long-dominant WBNS-TV. Over the years, the station has featured high profile Columbus anchors including Tom Ryan, Pat Lalama, I.J. Hudson, Lou Forrest (known as Louis de la Foret on CNN Headline News), and Deborah Countiss. Liz Claman, now an anchor on CNBC, and Carol Costello, now an anchor on CNN, were also one time anchors on WSYX. The station became competitive again in the late 1990s, and since then has waged a fierce battle with WCMH for the runner-up position behind WBNS-TV.

Currently, WSYX's news programs are called "ABC 6 On Your Side" while programming on WTTE is branded "FOX 28 News at 10" and "Good Day Columbus." The news operation produces five hours of news each weekeday on channel 6 and three hours of news on channel 28. The stations place a prime focus on their weather operation, which subscribes to AccuWeather, by placing the forecast near the beginning of each newscast and by providing weather updates every ten minutes during morning newscasts. WSYX and WTTE did not participate in the wider implementation of Sinclair's now-defunct News Central format for its newscasts, but did air "The Point", a one-minute political commentary that was a requirement of all Sinclair-owned stations with newscasts until the series was discontinued in December 2006.

WSYX's newscasts have been known by the following names:

Action 6 News (1977-1987)

Channel 6 News (1987-1992)

6 On Your Side News (1992-1995)

6 News (1995-1999)

NewsCenter on ABC 6 (1999-2006)

ABC 6 NewsCenter (2006-2007)

ABC 6 On Your Side (2007-Present)

In 1987, WSYX-TV launched an innovative morning talk show, the first of its kind ever in Columbus. "Good Morning Columbus" with co-hosts Dawn Meadows and Calvin Sneed was loosely modeled after "The Morning Exchange" on WEWS-TV, Cleveland with features, celebrity interviews and movie reviews. The 10 AM show was not produced by the news department, but rather by the station's programming department. Although it only lasted a year, "Good Morning Columbus" usually ranked a close second to Sally Jessy Raphael on WCMH-TV, but had no trouble beating reruns of "Trapper John" on WBNS-TV.

Current personalities

• Tom Bosco, Reporter
• Susan "Suzie" Burton, Health Reporter (former Fox 28 Kids Club host)
• Lisa Colbert, Morning & Noon Weather Anchor
• Sean Cuellar, Weekend Anchor/Reporter
• Johnny DiLoretto, Entertainment Reporter
• Maria Durant, Reporter
• Clay Hall, Sports Director/Anchor
• Yolanda Harris, Evening Anchor 5pm, 6pm, 10pm and 11pm (former FOX 28 Kids Club host)
• Mary Jedlicka, reporter
• Kent Justice, Morning & Noon Anchor
• Carol Luper, Senior reporter
• Jerry Martz, Chief Meteorologist
• Ellie Merritt, Temporary fill-in for Yolanda Harris 5pm, 6pm, 10pm and 11pm (former WBNS-TV reporter/anchor)
• Emily Riemer, Reporter/Statehouse Reporter
• Shannon McCormick, Reporter
• Anthony Rothman, Weekend Sports Anchor
• Mike Rowe, Weekend Anchor/Reporter
• Dr. Marivi Soto, Checkup
• Gabe Spiegel, Evening Anchor 5pm, 6pm, 10pm and 11pm
• Terri Sullivan, Morning/Noon Anchor
• Dana Turtle, Reporter/Weekend Weather
• Shawndrea Thomas, Reporter

Past personalities

• Donna Hanover, anchor. (Actress and ex-wife of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani)
• Bob Alan, chief weathercaster. (1977-1980)
• Anne Allred, Reporter (2004-2006), now at WHDH-TV, Boston
• Mary Baer morning/noon anchor (1989-1992) now at WJXT, Jacksonville
• Mike Bettes, meteorologist. Now at The Weather Channel.
• Terre Blair, anchor. (Married songwriter Marvin Hamlisch.)
• Kimberly Boles, anchor/reporter.
• Mike Bowersock, reporter (1986-1989) now at WCMH-TV
• Chris Bradley, chief meteorologist. (1998-2005) Now the Chief Meterorologist on WBNS-TV as of July 06.
• Charlene Brown, 5,6,11 anchor (1990-2002)
• Tom Burris, anchor.
• Calvin Sneed, 6 On Your Side Consumer Reporter/Anchor, talk show host, (1986-1989), now news anchor at WTVC-TV, Chattanooga
• Don Carson, chief meteorologist (1980-1984)
• Liz Claman (1989-1991) Now at CNBC
• Kirstin Cole, anchor.(1997-1999) Now at WCBS-TV, New York
• Larry Cosgrove, chief meteorologist. (1984-1989)
• Carol Costello,weekend anchor. (1988-1990) Now at CNN
• Chad Myers, chief meteorologist. (1991-1994) Now at CNN
• Deborah Countiss main evening 6/11pm anchor. (1991-1998)
• Wendi Craver, anchor/weekend weather meteorologist (1972-1997 now retired)
• Ray Crawford, sports anchor/reporter (1998-2003)
• Crystal Davis, Reporter/Weekend Meteorologist
• Dan Fabrizio, anchor/reporter/Assistant ND (named ND at WCBD-TV, Charleston, SC)
• Jim Finnerty, 6/11pm anchor (1987-1988)
• Michele Gailiun, main evening 6/11pm anchor.(1981-1991 now doing PR at Duke University)
• Keisha Grant, anchor/reporter. (2000-2003) now at WVIT-TV, Hartford, CT
• Earl Green, anchor (1955-1980)
• Jon Greiner, morning/noon anchor (1990-2000) now at WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh
• Lou Forrest, 6/11pm anchor. (1988-1992)
• Ted Hart, investigative reporter (1980s)now at WBNS-TV
• Lonnie Haskins, sports director.
• Bob Hetherington, anchor. (1992-2001)
• I.J. Hudson, anchor. (1977-1980)
• Mike Jackson, anchor/reporter (-1994)
• Bud Kaatz, sports director (-1982)
• Bruce Kirk, 6:00 anchor/reporter (1970s-1980s)now at WINK-TV, Fort Myers, FL
• Pat Lalama, anchor (early 1980s).
• Dwight Lauderdale, early 1970s, now at WPLG-TV. Miami
• Tom Lawrence, evening anchor (1992-1994)now at WDAF-TV, Kansas Ckity
• Tom Layson, reporter/anchor. (1996-2001)
• Rick Lord, reporter (2002-2005) now at WCHS-TV, Charleston-Huntington, WV
• Bill Martin weekend anchor (1988-1990) now at WJW-TV, Cleveland
• Tram Mai, anchor/reporter, now at KPNX-TV, Phoenix
• Karen Massie, anchor/reporter (-1987) now at KXTV, Sacramento
• Dawn Meadows, morning/noon anchor
• Jim Miller, anchor
• Steve Minich, sports anchor (1979-1990)now at WMTW-TV, Portland, Maine
• Meredith Paul, anchor.
• Megan Pringle, morning & noon anchor(2002-2006) now at WMAR-TV, Baltimore
• Liz Ogletree, reporter
• Mariza Reyes, reporter (2002-2005) now at KPRC-TV, Houston
• Ralph Robinson
• Tom Ryan, 6/11pm anchor. (1979-1987)
• Gary Somerset, reporter. (1999-2001)
• Scott Taylor, Troubleshooter Reporter (1999-2002) now at WOIO-TV, Cleveland
• Lorene Wagner, anchor. (1995-2001)
• Shelley Walcott, reporter(2003-2005) now at WTMJ-TV, Milwaukee
• Simone Wilkinson, Reporter
• Ben Woods, chief meteorologist. (1994-1998)

• Jan Ryan, anchor/reporter (1977-1980) now President CEO of NewsPowerOnline.com and Managing Partner, GlobalArtisanShowcase.com

• WSYX Website
• WTVN-TV History Page at the Early Television Foundation
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WSYX
• [2] -Columbus Dispatch story about WSYX running fake news

v • d • e Broadcast television in the Columbus market  (Nielsen DMA #32)
WCMH 4 (NBC) - WSYX 6 (ABC - MNTV on DT2) - WGCT 8 (IND) - WBNS 10 (CBS) - WDEM-LP 17 (AS) - WCLL-CA 19 (Daystar) - WOUB 20 / WOUC 44 (PBS) - WBKA-CA 22 (A1) - W23BZ 23 (TBN) - WTTE 28 (Fox - The Tube on DT2) - WCSN-LP 32 (CSN) - WOSU 34 (PBS) - WXCB-CA 42 (TBN) - WSFJ 51/WCPX-LP 48 (ION) - WWHO 53 (The CW) Local Cable Television Channels: Buckeye TV - ONN

v • d • e Radio stations in the Columbus, Ohio market (Arbitron #37)
By FM frequency	87.7 • 88.1 • 88.7 • 89.7 • 90.5 • 91.5 • 92.3 • 93.3 • 94.7 • 95.5 • 96.3 • 97.1 • 97.9 • 98.9 • 99.7 • 101.1 • 101.5 • 102.3 • 103.1 • 103.5 • 103.9 • 104.3 • 104.9 • 105.7 • 106.3 • 106.7 • 107.1 • 107.5 • 107.9
By AM frequency	610 • 700 • 820 • 880 • 920 • 1230 • 1270 • 1320 • 1460 • 1550 • 1580
By callsign	WBNS • WBNS-FM • WBWR • WBZX • WCBE • WCDR • WCKX • WCOL-FM • WCVO • WDLR • WHKC • WHOK-FM • WJYD • WJZA • WJZK • WLOH • WLVQ • WLW • WLZT • WMNI • WMRN • WNCI • WNKK • WOBN • WODB • WOSB-FM • WOSU • WOSU-FM • WRFD • WSNY • WSYX • WTDA • WTVN • WUCO • WUFM • WVKO • WVKO-FM • WWCD • WXMG • WYTS
Ohio Radio Markets: Akron • Canton • Cincinnati • Cleveland • Columbus • Dayton • Lima • Marietta • Toledo • Youngstown-Warren Other Ohio Radio Regions: Ashtabula • Ironton • Mid-Ohio • Sandusky See also: List of radio stations in Ohio

v • d • e ABC Network Affiliates in the state of Ohio
WEWS 5 (Cleveland) - WSYX 6 (Columbus) - WCPO 9 (Cincinnati) - WTVG 13 (Toledo) - WLQP-LP 18 (Lima) - WKEF 22 (Dayton) - WYTV 33 (Youngstown)
See also: CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS, MyNetworkTV, CW and Other stations in Ohio

v • d • e MyNetworkTV Network Affiliates in the state of Ohio
WSYX-DT 6.2 (Columbus) - WOHL-CA 25 (secondary) (Lima) - WYTV-DT 33.2 (Youngstown) - WUAB 43 (Cleveland) - WRGT-DT 45.2 (Dayton) WMNT-CA 48 (Toledo) - WSTR-TV 64 (Cincinnati)
See also: ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, NBC, PBS and Other stations in Ohio

v • d • e Sinclair Broadcast Group
Corporate Staff: David D. Smith (COB and President & CEO) · Frederick G. Smith · J. Duncan Smith · Robert E. Smnith · Daniel C. Keith · Martin R. Leader · Lawrence E. McCanna · Basil A. Thomas · David B. Amy · Lucy A. Rutishauser · Barry M. Faber · David R. Bochenek · Nat S. Ostroff · Donald H. Thompson · Thomas I. Waters III · Darren Shapiro · Gregg Siegel · Jeff Sleete · M. William Butler · Steven M. Marks · Delbert R. Parks III · Joe DeFeo ABC Network Affiliates: KDNL · WCHS · WEAR · WICD · WICS · WKEF · WLOS · WSYX · WXLV CBS Network Affiliates: KGAN · WGME The CW Network Affiliates: KOCB · KVCW · WLFL · WNAB1 · WNUV2 · WTTO / WDBB · WUCW · WVTV Fox Network Affiliates: KABB · KBSI · KDSM · KOKH · WBFF · WDKY · WMSN · WPGH · WRGT2 · WRLH · WSMH · WSYT · WTAT2 · WTTE2 · WUHF3 · WUTV · WVAH2 · WYZZ3 · WZTV MyNetworkTV Affiliates: KMYS · KVMY · WABM · WCGV · WDKA · WFGX · WMMP · WMYA2 · WMYV · WNYO · WNYS · WPMY · WRDC · WRLH · WSTR · WSYX · WTTA · WTVZ · WUXP NBC Network Affiliate: WTWC 1Owned by Tennessee Broadcasting. Sinclair (SBGI) is looking to acquire the station outright under an FCC "failed station" waiver. 2Owned by Cunningham Broadcasting and operated by SBGI under an LMA. Cunningham Broadcasting's stock, however, is almost completely controlled by trusts belonging to members of SBGI's founding Smith family. 3Operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group under an LMA.
Annual Revenue: $1.24 billion USD (2004) · Employees: Unknown at this time. · Stock Symbol: NASDAQ: SBGI · Website: www.sbgi.net