WJZ-TV

Categories: Television stations in Baltimore | CBS network affiliates | Viacom television stations

WJZ-TV
Image:Wjz cbs13 baltimore.jpg
Baltimore, Maryland
Branding WJZ 13
Slogan "Baltimore's News Station"
Analog channel 13 (VHF)
Digital channel 38 (UHF)
Affiliations CBS
Owner CBS Corporation
Founded 1948
Call letters meaning none (previous = jazz music)
Former affiliations ABC (1948-95)
Website www.wjz.com

WJZ-TV, "WJZ 13" is a CBS-owned and operated television station in Baltimore, Maryland. It broadcasts on channel 13. The station's call letters were formerly used by ABC flagship WABC-TV in New York City until 1952, named after WJZ-AM (now WABC-AM).


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History

Channel 13 started on November 2, 1948 as WAAM-TV, owned by Ben and Herman Cohen. It immediately joined ABC, becoming the network's second affiliate. WAAM-TV also carried programming from the DuMont Network [1]. Westinghouse bought the station in 1957 and renamed it WJZ-TV. In 1967, it adopted its current stylized "13" logo.

Two years later, WJZ built the world's first three-antenna candelabra tower, shared with WMAR-TV and WBAL-TV. It still operates from this tower today, which can be seen from Interstate 83 in Baltimore.

From 1957-1964, one of the station's highest-rated programs was "The Buddy Deane Show", an in-studio teen dance show modeled after American Bandstand. Deane's program was the inspiration for the John Waters 1988 motion picture "Hairspray",and its subsequent Broadway version.

In 1976, Oprah Winfrey became an anchor for the station's 6:00PM newscast. She also co-hosted WJZ's local talk show, People Are Talking with Richard Sher, which premiered on August 14, 1978, and ran until she left for Chicago in 1983.

In 1994, ABC cut a deal with E.W. Scripps Company to switch all but one of Scripps' television stations to ABC affiliates. Scripps owned WMAR, then Baltimore's NBC affiliate, and agreed to the deal as a condition of ABC keeping its affiliation on Scripps' two biggest stations, WXYZ-TV in Detroit and WEWS-TV in Cleveland. Group W, Westinghouse's broadcasting division, was very upset at how ABC treated WJZ after so many years of loyalty, and began looking for affiliation deals for its entire television unit. WJZ's sister stations included NBC affiliates KYW-TV in Philadelphia and WBZ-TV in Boston; and CBS affiliates KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh and KPIX-TV in San Francisco. Eventually, Westinghouse and CBS cut a deal to switch all of Group W's television stations to CBS. The affiliation switch occurred in January 1995, ending WJZ's 47-year link with ABC and making it the third station in Baltimore to affiliate with CBS (WMAR had held the affiliation from 1947 to 1981, then WBAL from 1981 until the switch). Westinghouse then bought CBS in 1996, making WJZ a CBS owned-and-operated station (O&O).

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Newscasts

Since the early 1970s, WJZ has had the highest-rated newscasts in Baltimore, with the Eyewitness News format and name borrowed from its sister station KYW-TV in Philadelphia. However, in recent years, WBAL has taken over the number 1 spot in some time slots.

WJZ currently airs newscasts at the following hours:

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Weekdays

  • 5:00am - 6:00am: Rise N' Shine
  • 6:00am - 8:00am: Morning Edition (with segments from The Early Show during the 7am hour)
  • 12noon - 12:30pm: Eyewitness News at Noon
  • 4:00pm - 5:00pm: Eyewitness News at 4
  • 5:00pm - 6:00pm: Eyewitness News at 5
  • 6:00pm - 7:00pm: Eyewitness News at 6
  • 11:00pm - 11:35pm: Eyewitness News at 11
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Saturday

  • 6:00am - 8:00am: Eyewitness News Saturday Morning
  • 6:00pm - 6:30pm: Eyewitness News at 6
  • 11:00pm - 11:35pm: Eyewitness News at 11
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Sunday

  • 8:00am - 9:00am: Eyewitness News Sunday Morning
  • 6:30pm - 7:00pm: Eyewitness News at 6:30
  • 11:00pm - 11:35pm: Eyewitness News at 11
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Personalities

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Current

 
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Former

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External links


Broadcast Television in the Baltimore market

WMAR 2 (ABC) - WBAL 11 (NBC) - WJZ 13 (CBS) - WUTB 24 (UPN) - WMPT 22 (PBS) - WBFF 45 (Fox) - WNUV 54 (The WB) - WMPB 67 (PBS)

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