WBRZ-TV: Difference between revisions

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WBRZ-TV, channel 2, is an ABC affiliate serving Baton Rouge, Louisiana, south-central and southeastern Louisiana and southwestern Mississippi. It is owned by the Manship family, who also publishes the Baton Rouge daily newspaper, The Advocate. Its transmitter is located in Sunshine, Louisiana. The station is seen via satellite through DirecTV.

The station airs syndicated programming, like The Tyra Banks Show, Extra, Elimidate, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!. It also airs reruns of a former ABC program, Mork and Mindy and reruns of M*A*S*H. In September 2006, it will begin airing Dr. Phil. The station aired Oprah until 2002 and The Rosie O'Donnell Show

WBRZ signed on the air on April 14, 1955 as a primary NBC affiliate, sharing ABC with WAFB. It dropped ABC in 1971 after WRBT-TV (now WVLA) signed on. This made WBRZ a sole NBC affiliate. Because ABC was seeking out new affiliates with stronger signal coverage at the time, it swapped affiliations with WRBT and became an ABC affiliate again in 1977.

At first, the Manships wanted to call the station WBRA-TV, for Baton Rouge and The Advocate. However, they concluded that the call letters would cause confusion and controversy, as the letters "B-R-A" spelled "bra". Station founder Douglas L. Manship, Sr. retained the "B" and the "R" and chose the third letter at random, settling on Z. He explained, "It was a good choice. 'Z' is a phonetically good sound on the air. It's distinctive." The "Z" later was expanded to mean "2" (a similar connection is noted with WGRZ-TV in Buffalo), and the "W" was expanded to mean "We're".

In 1991, Manship's son Richard took over the station as its new president, and would later be named "Broadcaster of the Year" by the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters.

WBRZ began broadcasting in high definition on channel 13 on April 22, 2002.

During Hurricane Katrina, the station worked with New Orleans ABC affiliate WGNO (ABC26) to provide coverage of the storm and its aftermath.

Anchors

• Michael Cauble - sports director
• Andrea Clesi - 6 and 10 pm anchor
• Michael Marsh - 4, 5, 6 and 10 pm anchor
• John Pastorek - weekend anchor
• Todd Ross - "2une In" (weekday mornings) and noon
• Sylvia Weatherspoon - 5 pm. Also reports on health issues.
• Whitney Vann - "2une In"

Meteorologists

• Dave Nussbaum
• Pat Shingleton - chief meteorologist
• Chris Stevens

Reporters

• Michael Davies - sports
• Cassandra Garnas - Capitol reporter
• Claire Hatty
• Tony Jones
• Chelby Kosto
• Louis Miller - gardening expert
• Veronica Mosgrove
• Ken Pastorek
• Andy Pepper - sports
• Scott Satchfield

• Ed Buggs - now at WIBR-AM Baton Rouge
• Glen Duncan - meteorologist
• Summer Jackson - now at CLTV Chicago
• Bruce Katz - meteorlogist; now at WGNO-TV New Orleans
• Margaret Lawhon - anchor; now an actor and freelance writer
• Ben Lemoine - now at WWL-TV
• John Mahaffey - retired
• Mike Ross - now at WVLA-TV
• Bruce Webber - sports
• Melba Williams
• Jay Young (died of apparent heart attack on 08/23/2006)

• Louisiana Association of Broadcasters "Television Station of the Year" Award

1990, 1991, 1994 and 1997

• Louisiana Association of Broadcasters - Baton Rouge Branch "Community Station of the Year" Award

1996, 2002, 2005

• Louisiana Association of Broadcasters "Television Station of the Year" Prestige Award

1999

• Louisiana Association of Broadcasters "Promotion of the Year" Award

2000 - "Buckle Up for Tony"

• National Edward R. Murrow Award

2000

• Louisiana Association of Broadcasters "Community Service" Award

2001

• Outstanding Philanthropist Award

2001

Other Awards Won:

• Louisiana Association of Broadcasters Lifetime of Distinction Awards (2005)
• Ad Fed's Pete Goldsby Award (2005)
• YWCA's Women of Achievement Award (2005)
• American Women in Radio and Television's Broadcaster of the Year Award (2005)
• Baton Rouge Business Report's 25 Most Influential Women in Baton Rouge (2005)
• SME's Marketer of the Year Award (2005)

Won by Pat Cheramie, who retired after serving 39 years as General Manager of WBRZ-TV on January 31, 2005.

• Louisiana Association of Broadcasters Lifetime Achievement Award (2005)

Won by news anchor and reporter Andrea Clesi.

The Center for Media Democracy and Free Press, a nonpartisan media policy group, cite Baton Rouge's WBRZ as a culprit in a 10-month investigation of a national "fake news" epidemic. Specifically, the sting focused on corporate-sponsored videos passed off as news. Investigators found 77 TV stations, including WBRZ, actively disguising sponsored content from General Motors, Intel, Pfizer, Capital One and others to make it look like their own reporting. More than a third of the time, stations aired fake news in its entirety as their own, the report said.

Channel 2 was among six stations airing an optimistic news feature on ethanol plants earlier this year. The video was funded by Siemens AG, a global engineering firm doing business with two-thirds of U.S. ethanol plants. According to the report, the Baton Rouge station "blended the story into their newscast, replacing all visuals with network-branded graphics and introducing (the reporter/publicist) as if she were on their news team."

Chuck Bark, Channel 2 news manager, counters the report. He says the Siemens story was legitimate, provided information relevant to viewers and did not promote products. He says a story should be judged on its merit, and not be excluded just because it was generated by a corporation.

But the media watchdogs disagree with the use of corporate information as news. "It's shocking to see how product placement moves secretly unfiltered from the boardroom to the newsroom and then straight into our living rooms," says Dianne Farsetta, co-author of the report. "Local TV broadcasts, the most popular news source in the United States, frequently air (video news releases) without fact-checking, conducting their own reporting or disclosing that the footage has been provided and sponsored by big corporations." (Jeremy Alford)

In 2005, WBRZ celebrated it's fiftieth year on the air. During the course of 2005, the station aired old promos, mostly from the 1980s, during commercial breaks. Various slogans used by the station included: "The News Leader," "The One to Watch," and "2 is on Your Side." The promos used during the 1980s mostly featured songs about the station, and there were also several Ernest promos that Jim Varney produced for the station. Today, the station identifies itself as "News 2 Louisiana."

• promo for "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" from 1996.
  promo for "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" from 1996.
• promo for the 10:00 news from 1992.
  promo for the 10:00 news from 1992.
• station ID for WBRZ, the News Leader, from 1992.
  station ID for WBRZ, the News Leader, from 1992.
• promo end for a 1982 WBRZ promo.
  promo end for a 1982 WBRZ promo.
• ID for WBRZ, from 1980, at the end of a "Dance Fever" promo.
  ID for WBRZ, from 1980, at the end of a "Dance Fever" promo.
• Picture of the Eyewitness News Team from 1982.
  Picture of the Eyewitness News Team from 1982.
• Logo for WBRZ, from the "2 is on your side" promo from 1988.
  Logo for WBRZ, from the "2 is on your side" promo from 1988.
• Current Station ID for WBRZ, used for several years.
  Current Station ID for WBRZ, used for several years.

• WBRZ Homepage
• Template:TVQ