WAFB

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WAFB
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Branding	"9 News"
Slogan	Louisiana's News Channel
Channels	9 (VHF) analog, 46 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	CBS The Tube (DTV 46.4 / 9.4)
Owner	Raycom Media
Founded	April 19, 1953
Call letters meaning	American Family Broadcasting (former owner)
Former affiliations	NBC (secondary, 1953-55), ABC (secondary, 1953-71), DuMont (secondary, 1953-1955)
Transmitter Power	316 kW Analog 46 kW Digital
Website	www.wafb.com

WAFB is a CBS affiliate that broadcasts from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to most of south-central and southeast Louisiana and parts of southwestern Mississippi. The station is seen via satellite through DirecTV and Dish Network. Since 1997, it has been owned and operated by Raycom Media. Its transmitter is located in Baton Rouge.

Contents 1 History 2 WAFB Weather Channel 3 News Staff 3.1 Former Staff 4 Former Station IDs/Logos 5 External links

[edit] History

The station began on April 19, 1953 as the second television station in Louisiana. Originally broadcasting on channel 28, WAFB moved to channel 9 in 1960. The station has always been a CBS affiliate, but carried some NBC programs until WBRZ-TV signed on in 1955, some ABC programs when WRBT (now WVLA) signed on in 1971, and some programs from the Dumont Network until the network folded.

The station's news department produces 25 hours of news programming each week, with a two-hour morning newscast at 5 AM and three half-hour newscasts at 12 PM, 5 PM, and 6 PM, as well as a 35 minute newscast at 10 PM. The station will eventually produce a 9 PM newscast for sister station, WBXH (My BR TV). Encore airings of the most recent newscast can be found on Cable Channel 9. WJBO broadcasts the 6 PM news over the radio on a daily basis, also. Station alumni include Jennifer Donelan of CBS News, sportscaster Tim Brando, Isiah Carey of [and FOX News] and filmmaker Jay Gormley.

WAFB is one of a handful of stations that shifts the air times of various CBS programming. "The Price Is Right" airs at 11 am instead of 10 am (back-to-back episodes of "Family Feud" airs from 10-11 am) and "The Young and The Restless" airs at 4 pm instead of 11 am.

The station's current syndicated library includes: Montel, Friends, CSI, Soul Train, Taxi, The Odd Couple, Family Feud, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and others. The station aired Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune until 1995. It used to also air Donahue, Hard Copy, and Sally Jesse Raphael, among other syndicated shows. It also airs the Sunday services from the First United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge.

[edit] WAFB Weather Channel

WAFB-TV is poised to launch a new 24-hour weather channel on Cox Digital Cable. According to sources familiar with the plans, the channel will feature high-tech graphics with round-the-clock weather updates and live radar maps, as well as a crawl running advertising copy across the bottom of the screen. WAFB General Manager Nick Simonette declined to comment. While the new channel is designed to compete with WBRZ-TV's 24-hour weather channel on Cox channel 18, it will target a slightly different market. It will air on Cox channel 121 and will therefore only be available to viewers who have digital cable. The new channel will mark WAFB's sixth product. In addition to CBS-affiliate and market-leader WAFB-TV, the station also has WBXH, a news rebroadcast channel, the Web-based WAFB.com and digital cable radio station The Tube.

[edit] News Staff

Anchors

• Julie Baxter - weekend anchor
• Donna Britt - 6 and 10 PM anchor
• Jeanne Burns - anchor, 9 News This Morning
• Jacques Doucet - weekend sports anchor
• Paul Gates - 5 PM anchor, reporter
• Kellee Henessey - 9 News Saturday/Sunday Morning anchor
• Steve Schneider - weekday sports anchor
• George Sells - 6 and 10 PM anchor
• Matt Williams - 9 News This Morning anchor, Crime Stoppers reporter

Weather Staff

• Steve Caparotta - weekend meteorologist
• Dianne Deaton - morning forecaster
• Jay Grymes - climatologist
• Scott Oswalt - weekend morning meteorologist

Reporters

• Avery Davidson - GA reporter
• Greg Meriwether - "Street Beat" reporter
• Phil Rainier - health
• Jim Shannon - GA reporter
• Allen Tumey - feature reporter
• Cheryl Mercedes - GA reporter
• Keitha Nelson - GA reporter

Sports

• Steve Schneider - sports director
• Jacques Doucet - sportscaster
• James Verrett - sports reporter

Other Behind-the-Scenes Staff

• Monica Craig - assignment editor
• Robbie Chandler - newsroom operations
• Nick Simonette - general manager
• Vicki Zimmerman - news director
• Robb Hays - assistant news director

[edit] Former Staff

• Tim Brando - sports. Now broadcasts for various sports outlets, including CBS Sports and Jefferson Pilot Sports.
• Jennifer Donelan - now at CBS News
• Mike Graham - retired meteorologist, has since become active in performance arts.
• Nancy Parker - now at WVUE-TV New Orleans
• Isiah Carey - now at KRIV Houston
• Vernon Roger - anchor of 12pm and 5pm broadcasts. Remembered for his cajun cooking segments and his "taste test. Committed suicide in 2002. [1]
• Pat Simon - now in Asheville, North Carolina
• Cyndi Nguyen - now at WGNO-TV in New Orleans
• Matt Clough
• Marie Centanni - now on LA Governor Kathleen Blanco's staff

[edit] Former Station IDs/Logos

WAFB started branding itself as "Louisiana's News Channel" around 1988. Also during this time, the station IDs were conducted by various newscasters for the station, usually saying, "You're watching WAFB, Channel 9, Louisiana's News (or sometimes, sports, health, or weather) Channel." This practice is still done today by the station.

a newspaper clipping of WAFB's logo from 1967.	a holiday ID from WAFB, taken from a 1985 broadcast.	Station ID for WAFB, from 1986.	Holiday ornament ID for WAFB, done in 1986.
CBS Spirit logo with WAFB logo, from 1987.	station ID for WAFB, done in 1988 by Donna Britt.	a station ID for the WAFB news, announced by George Sells, from 1991.	station ID for WAFB, done in 1996 by George Sells.
station ID for WAFB, done in 1999 by Diane Deaton.	station ID for WAFB, done in 2003 by current climatologist Jay Grymes.	current News ID for WAFB, used since late-2004.

[edit] External links

• WAFB.com - The station's official website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WAFB