WJLA-TV

WJLA-TV ("Washington's ABC7") is the local ABC television affiliate in Washington, DC, and is located on channel 7 (digital channel 39). Its transmitter is located in the Tenleytown section of Washington.

The station is the flagship of the Allbritton Communications Company, which also owns local cable station News Channel 8. The two stations share broadcast facilities in Arlington, Virginia. Currently, it has the largest news team in the Washington area. As the flagship station, WJLA provides national news headlines for other Allbritton owned stations.

History

On October 3, 1947, channel 7 began broadcasting as WTVW, a CBS affiliate owned by the Washington Star along with WMAL-AM 630. It was the first high-band VHF station (channels 7-13) in the United States. A few months later, the station renamed itself WMAL-TV.

WMAL had long been an ABC Radio affiliate, dating to its days as the NBC Blue Network. Due to this long relationship, WMAL-TV took over the ABC affiliation when WOIC-TV (now WUSA-TV) signed on in 1949.

In 1976, Joe L. Allbritton purchased the Star, along with WMAL-AM-FM-TV. He sold the Star to Time, Inc. in 1978, and kept the WMAL stations. He later sold the radio stations to ABC and renamed the television station WJLA, after his initials.

Rumors abounded in the mid 1990s that ABC might buy WJLA, thus reuniting it with its former radio sisters, WMAL-AM and WRQX-FM 107.3 (the former WMAL-FM). However, ABC recently announced it was selling most of its radio properties, including WMAL and WRQX, to Citadel Communications, and there is virtually no liklihood that ABC will purchase the station.

Logos and idents

Since 1970, WMAL/WJLA has used a variation of the Circle 7 logo, which has long been associated with ABC affiliates. From 1970 to 2001, WMAL/WJLA used its own version of the circle 7 logo, with the "7" modified to accommodate the circle. This version was probably the longest continuously used numeric logo in Washington's television history. The only real modification came in 1998, after it began calling itself "ABC7" on-air and added the ABC logo to the left. In 2001, WJLA adopted the standard version of the Circle 7 logo, fueling speculation that ABC would buy the station. Ironically, WJLA is the largest ABC affiliate to use the Circle 7 that is not an ABC O&O; also, its Allbritton sibling KATV has used the standard Circle 7 since the 1960's, longer than all WJLA versions combined. The only Circle 7 stations preceding WJLA in market rank are WABC-TV in New York City, KABC-TV in Los Angeles, WLS-TV in Chicago and KGO-TV in San Francisco.


Image:http://www.dcrtv.com/photo/90jla.jpg]]Image:wmal50s.jpg|First WMAL logo used in the 1950's.Image:wmaltv68.jpg|A WMAL 1968 TV ad.Image:wmaltvnews.jpg|A WMAL TV from the 1970's.Image:wjlascene.jpg|A promo for the Scene Tonight, WJLA's old 11 p.m. NewsCast.Image:wmal1970s.jpg|Last WMAL ident, used from the 1970's to 1976. This was the first appearance of WMAL/WJLA's version of the Circle 7 logo.Image:wjla76.jpg|First WJLA ident used from 1976 to 1977.Image:wjla77.jpg|WJLA 1977 to 1981 ident.Image:wjla81.jpg|WJLA 1981 to 1986 ident.Image:wjla84.jpg|WJLA News open.Image:wjla86.jpg|Beginning of the popular 7 on Your Side slogan, this ident was used from 1986 to 1987.Image:wjla87.jpg|Used from 1987 until 1992.Image:wjla92.jpg|Used from 1992 to 1995.Image:wjla95.jpg|Used from 1995 to 1998.Image:wjla90s.jpg|Last WJLA ident to use its stylized circle 7 logo, used from 1998 to 2001.Image:wjlaabc7.jpg|ABC 7 Logo.Image:wjlanews7.jpg|News 7 Logo.Image:Abc7tvw.JPG|The current ABC 7 logo.

Notable Personalities

Current Personalites

WJLA-TV Anchors
*Tim Brant, Sports Anchor/Reporter
*Maureen Bunyan, Evening Anchor/Reporter
*Elliott Francis, Weekend Anchor/Reporter
*Leon Harris, Evening Anchor/Reporter/"Capital Sunday" Co-Host
*Kathleen Matthews, Evening Anchor/Reporter/"Capital Sunday" Co-Host
*Doug McKelway, Morning and Midday Anchor/Reporter
*Gordon Peterson, Eveing Anchor/Reporter/"Inside Washington" Host
*Alison Starling, Morning and Midday Anchor/Reporter
*Greg Toland, Sports Anchor/Reporter

NewsChannel 8 Anchors
*Bruce DePuyt, Afternoon Anchor/Reporter
*Cheryl Conner, Weekend Anchor/Reporter
*Glenn Harris, Sports Anchor/Reporter
*Melanie Hastings, Afternoon Anchor/Reporter
*Beverly Kirk, Evening Anchor/Reporter
*Dave Lucus, Morning and Midday Anchor/Reporter/"Capital Golf Weekly" Host
*Stephen Tschida, Evening Anchor/Reporter

WJLA-TV and NewsChannel 8 Reporters and Meteorologists
*Lisa Baden, Traffic Reporter
*Brad Bell, General Assignment Reporter
*Matt Brock, General Assignment Reporter
*Adam Caskey, Meteorologist
*Leslie Cook, General Assignment Reporter
*Rebecca Cooper, General Assignment Reporter
*Jennifer Donelan, General Assignment Reporter
*Sam Ford, General Assignment Reporter
*Dr. Kathy Fowler, Medical Reporter
*Doug Hill, Chief Meteorologist
*Horace Holmes, General Assignment Reporter
*Suzanne Kennedy, General Assignment Reporter
*Nikole Killion, General Assignment Reporter
*Greta Kreuz, General Assignment Reporter
*Jay Korff, General Assignment Reporter
*Sarah Lee, General Assignment Reporter
*Andrea McCarren, Investigative Reporter
*Ross McLaughlin, Consumer Reporter
*Kyle Osborne, Meteorologist
*Aru Pande, General Assignment Reporter
*Alisa Parenti, General Assignment Reporter
*Julie Parker, General Assignment Reporter
*Gail Pennybacker, General Assignment Reporter
*Ron Riley, Meteorologist
*Scott Thuman, General Assignment Reporter
*Brian van de Graaff, Meteorologist
*Dave Willingham, Traffic Reporter
*Joe Witte, Meteorologist
*Dave Zahran, Meteorologist

Former Personalities

*Kerri Kazarba, Anchor/Reporter (?, now at KCPQ-TV)
*Christianne Klien, Weekend Anchor/Reporter (2005-2006)
*Melissa McDermott, Weekend Anchor/Reporter (?)
*Gary Reals, General Assignment Reporter (1983-1990, now at WUSA-TV)
*Angela Russell, Weekend Anchor/Reporter (2003-2005, now at KYW-TV)

News Programs

The station's radar is known as "Live Super Doppler 7" and is featured on FM radio station WTOP.All newscasts can be watched live on WJLA's website.

Monday-Friday
Good Morning Washington (5-7 a.m.)
**Anchors: Doug McKelway and Alison Starling
**Weather: Brian van de Graaff
**Traffic: Lisa Baden
ABC 7 News at Noon (Noon-12:30 p.m.)
**Anchors: Doug McKelway and Alison Starling
**Weather: Brian van de Graaff
ABC 7 News at 5:00 (5-6 p.m.)
**Anchors: Leon Harris and Kathleen Matthews
**Weather: Doug McKelway
**Sports: Tim Brant
ABC 7 News at 6:00 (6-6:30 p.m.)
**Anchors: Gordon Peterson and Maureen Bunyan
**Weather: Doug Hill
**Sports: Tim Brant
ABC 7 News at 11:00 (11-11:35 p.m.)
**Anchors: Leon Harris and Maureen Bunyan
**Weather: Doug Hill
**Sports: Tim Brant

Saturday
ABC 7 News at 6:00 (6-6:30 p.m.)
**Anchor: Elliott Francis
**Weather: Joe Witte
**Sports: Greg Toland
ABC 7 News at 11:00 (11-11:30 p.m.)
**Same as 6:00 newscast.

Sunday
Inside Washington (10-10:30 a.m.)
**Host: Gordon Peterson
Capital Sunday (10:30-11 a.m.)
**Hosts: Leon Harris and Kathleen Matthews
Wizards Magazine (12:30-1 p.m.)
ABC 7 News at 6:30 (6:30-7 p.m.)
**Anchor: Leon Harris
**Weather: Joe Witte
**Sports: Greg Toland
ABC 7 News at 11:00 (11-11:30 p.m.)
**Same as 6:30 newscast.

See also

* Circle 7 logo

External links

* ABC7 Official Website