WKRN-TV Information & WKRN-TV Links at HealthHaven.com

WKRN-TV
	Nashville, Tennessee
Branding	News 2
Slogan	First. Fast. Accurate.
Channels	Digital: 27 (UHF);
Subchannels	2.1 ABC; 2.2 Nashville WX Channel
Affiliations	American Broadcasting Company
Owner	Young Broadcasting, Inc.; (operated by Gray Television); (WKRN, GP Debtor-in-Possession)
First air date	November 29, 1953
Call letters’ meaning	Knight-Ridder Nashville; (former owner)
Former callsigns	WSIX-TV (1953–1973); WNGE-TV (1973–1983)
Former channel number(s)	Analog:; 8 (1953–1973); 2 (1973-2009)
Former affiliations	CBS/ABC (1953–1954)
Transmitter Power	1000 kW
Height	411 metres (1,350 ft)
Facility ID	73188
Transmitter Coordinates	Coordinates: 36°08′34″N 86°44′46″W / 36.1428°N 86.7460°W 36°02′50″N 86°49′49″W / 36.04733°N 86.83025°W
Website	www.wkrn.com

WKRN-TV is the ABC affiliate in Nashville, Tennessee. Its transmitter is located in Brentwood, Tennessee. It brands itself as News 2.

[edit] History

The station first signed on the air on Channel 8 on November 29, 1953 as WSIX-TV, the second television station in Nashville. It was owned by Louis and Jack Draughon along with WSIX-AM 980 (now WFYN-AM, a religious station). The calls came from the 638 Tire Company in nearby Springfield, where the Draughon brothers had started WSIX-AM in 1930; neither the radio nor the television stations have ever had the number six in their frequencies, which would explain it otherwise. Originally a CBS affiliate sharing ABC with WSM-TV (now WSMV), it became a full ABC affiliate after only one year when WLAC-TV (now WTVF) signed on and took the CBS affiliation due to WLAC's long history as a CBS radio affiliate. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.^[1]

Its original studio was on Old Hickory Boulevard, just outside Nashville. In 1961, WSIX-AM-FM-TV moved to a new studio located at 441 Murfreesboro Road, where the TV station is located today.

WSIX-TV, however, did not have much luck against WSM and WLAC. Part of the problem was a weak signal, as its transmitter was short-spaced to channel 8 in Atlanta--occupied first by WLWA-TV (now WXIA-TV) and currently occupied by WGTV. WSIX was also hampered by a weaker network affiliation (ABC was not truly competitive with CBS and NBC until well into the 1970s).

The Draughons sold WSIX-AM-FM-TV to General Electric in 1966. In 1972, GE cut a deal with Nashville's PBS station, WDCN-TV (now WNPT), then on channel 2, to swap dial positions. GE did this because the channel 2 signal travels farther than the channel 8 signal under most conditions. The swap occurred on December 11, 1973, in the middle of evening prime-time programming. At the same time, even though General Electric still owned WSIX-AM-FM, it changed WSIX-TV's callsign to WNGE-TV (for Nashville General Electric), leaving the radio stations' call letters intact. This was only the third facility swap in American television history.

Knight Ridder bought WNGE-TV in 1983 and changed the calls to the current WKRN-TV. Young Broadcasting bought the station in 1989. It is merely a coincidence that the call letters reflect Young Broadcasting's flagship outlet, KRON-TV in San Francisco. Like all other ABC affiliates owned by Young Broadcasting, WKRN preempted ABC's broadcast of the movie Saving Private Ryan in 2004.

In August 2009 Gray Television took over management of WKRN as a consequence of the bankruptcy of Young Broadcasting, who continues to hold the license and facilities of the station.

The station has an agreement with the Tennessee Titans to air Bridgestone Titans on 2 with Jeff Fisher, the team's coach's show from 8pm-9pm Tuesday evenings, pre-empting ABC programming in that timeslot during the NFL season (which has featured low-rated and critically drubbed sitcoms for the majority of the 2000s).

The station received heavy criticism from viewers in November 2009 for not airing V at the network's original timeslot. V then aired early Wednesday mornings after Jimmy Kimmel Live! ^[2]. WKRN claimed the thirteen-year agreement to air the coach's show does not allow for the moving of that show to accommodate high-demand network programming without notice months in advance. However, in the past the program has moved at times to accommodate other high-demand programs such as Dancing with the Stars during the early portion of the season and network holiday programming. The station also reversed a plan to air V over NashvilleWX 2.2 at 8pm Tuesdays day before the premier. WKRN's sister station in Green Bay, WBAY-TV also faced the same situation with a locally produced football program covering the Green Bay Packers NFL team, but after a week moved that program to air before primetime to accommodate V.

[edit] Digital Television

The station's digital channel:

Digital channels

Virtual Channel	Physical RF Channel	Video	Aspect	Programming
2.1	27	720p	16:9	Main WKRN programming/ABC HD
2.2		480i	4:3	Nashville WX Channel

In 2009, WKRN-TV remained on its current pre-transition channel number, 27.^[3]^[4] However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display WKRN-TV's virtual channel as 2.

[edit] News Operation

Although the station's news broadcasts remain in third place as they have throughout most of the station's history, the two main evening news anchors, Bob Mueller and Anne Holt, have been associated with WKRN since the early 1980s. WKRN is also the only traditional network affiliate in Nashville that does not run an hourlong newscast at 6 p.m., although its newscasts for the evening begin at 4 p.m., including ABC's World News with Charles Gibson at 5:30 p.m.

WKRN is one of the two network-affiliated stations in this market that have not switched to high definition local newscasts as of yet.

[edit] Personalities

[edit] Current On-Air Talent

(as of August 2009)
Current Anchors

John Dwyer - weekdays at 4, 4:30 and weeknights at 10PM
Anne Holt - weeknights at 5 and 6PM
Julie Kroenig - weekday mornings "News 2 This Morning"
Christine Maddela - Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10PM
Bob Mueller - weeknights at 5, 6 and 10PM (also host of "This Week with Bob Mueller")
Neil Orne - weekday mornings "News 2 This Morning"

Reporters

Jerry Barlar - general assignment reporter
Chris Bundgaard - general assignment reporter
Andy Cordan - general assignment reporter
Todd Dunn - general assignment reporter
Erin Holt - general assignment reporter
Tiani Jones - general assignment reporter (also fill-in anchor)
Lori Mitchell - general assignment reporter (also fill-in anchor)
Amy Napier Viteri - general assignment reporter
Melissa Penry - general assignment reporter
Brad Schmitt - entertainment reporter
Jamey Tucker - religion reporter
Teresa Weakley - morning reporter

Weather Team

Lisa Patton - Meteorologist; weekdays at 4, 4:30, 5, 6 and 10PM
Jeff Ray - Meteorologist; weekday mornings "News 2 This Morning"
Davis Nolan (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10PM
Justin Bruce - Meteorologist; fill-in

Sports Team

Cory Curtis - Sports Director; weeknights at 6 and 10PM
Joe Dubin - Sports Anchor; Saturdays at 6, Sundays at 5:30 and weekends at 10PM (also sports reporter)
Dawn Davenport - sports reporter

[edit] Former On-Air Talent

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

[edit] News/Station Presentation

[edit] Newscast Titles

Eyewitness News (1969-1973)
Dateline: Today (1973-1975)
NewsCenter 2 (1975-1976)
NewsWatch 2 (1976-1983)
Channel 2 News (1983-1994)
News 2 (1994-present)

[edit] Station Slogans

The Powerhouse! (1973-1975)
2 a New Beat (1979-1980)
The News Specialists (1981-1983)
Let's Get Involved (1983-1985)
The Winner's Circle! (1985-1986)
Something's Happening Here (1987-1990; local version of ABC ad campaign)
On Your Side (1990-1996)
Where Coverage Comes First! (1996-1998)
First. Fast. Accurate. (1998-present; news slogan)
Start Here (2007-present; local version of ABC ad campaign)