WJZ-TV

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).

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 http://members.aol.com/cingram/television/dumont3.htm. Westinghouse bought the station in 1957 and renamed it WJZ-TV. In 1967, it adopted its current stylized "13" logo.

Related Topics:
November 2 - 1948 - Ben - Herman Cohen - ABC - Dumont Network - Westinghouse - 1957 - 1967

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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.

Related Topics:
Candelabra tower - WMAR-TV - WBAL-TV - Interstate 83

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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.

Related Topics:
The Buddy Deane Show - John Waters - Hairspray

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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.

Related Topics:
1976 - Oprah Winfrey - Newscast - People Are Talking - Richard Sher - August 14 - 1978 - Chicago - 1983

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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).

Related Topics:
1994 - E.W. Scripps Company - WMAR - NBC - WXYZ-TV - Detroit - WEWS-TV - Cleveland - Group W - KYW-TV - Philadelphia - WBZ-TV - KDKA-TV - Pittsburgh - KPIX-TV - January - 1995 - 1947 - 1981 - WBAL - 1996

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