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|---|---|
| Channels | |
| Branding | WTOL 11 |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WUPW | |
| History | |
| Founded | December 5, 1958 (1958-12-05) |
Former channel numbers | |
| NBC (secondary, 1958–1969) | |
Call sign meaning | Toledo ("TOL" is also theIATA airport code forToledo Express Airport) |
| Technical information[3] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 13992 |
| ERP | 26kW |
| HAAT | 305 m (1,001 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 41°40′22″N83°22′47″W / 41.67278°N 83.37972°W /41.67278; -83.37972 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
WTOL (channel 11) is atelevision station inToledo, Ohio, United States, affiliated withCBS. It is owned byTegna Inc., which provides certain services toFox affiliateWUPW (channel 36) under ajoint sales agreement (JSA) withAmerican Spirit Media. The two stations share studios on North Summit Street in downtown Toledo; WTOL's transmitter is located on Cedar Point Road inOregon, Ohio.
WTOL-TV began broadcasting on December 5, 1958, as a CBS affiliate with a secondary NBC affiliation, sharing it with then-ABC affiliate WSPD-TV (channel 13, nowWTVG)[4] until 1969 when WDHO-TV (channel 24, now WNWO-TV) replaced WSPD-TV as the ABC affiliate. WTOL then became exclusively affiliated with CBS. WTOL is also the only station in Toledo to never change its primary affiliation.
The station was originally owned by the family of former area prosecutor and congressmanFrazier Reams along with WTOL radio (AM 1230, nowWCWA; and FM 104.7, nowWIOT). It was sold toFilmways (now part ofAmazon MGM Studios) in 1962. The Broadcasting Company of the South, a subsidiary ofSouth Carolina insurer Liberty Life Insurance Company, bought WTOL in 1965 and later changed its name to Cosmos Broadcasting Corporation; WTOL was that company's only station located outside the Southern United States. Liberty reorganized itself as a holding company, theLiberty Corporation, in 1974, and WTOL came directly under the Liberty banner after Liberty sold off its insurance business in 2003.
From the mid-1970s to 2003, WTOL was known on-air as "Toledo 11" (sometimes spelled out as "Toledo Eleven").In December 1994, WTOL replaced Detroit'sWJBK on the lineup of Cancom (laterShaw Broadcast Services), which provided American networks to cable and satellite viewers in many areas acrossCanada (particularlyAtlantic Canada and thePrairies). The changeover occurred shortly before WJBK was due to switch its affiliation fromCBS toFox as part of Fox's deal with New World Communications. CBS was unable to sign a new Detroit affiliate (WGPR, nowowned-and-operated stationWWJ-TV) until mere days before the change, partly because of a deal reached byScripps which sawWXYZ-TV renew its affiliation with ABC and causedthreeotherstations to switch to the network. As Cancom had to seek regulatory approval several months in advance, it elected to go with WTOL, the largest CBS station closest toDetroit. WTOL was carried by Cancom until 1999, when it was replaced with WWJ-TV. During this time, WTOL was the de facto CBS affiliate for the southern part of the Detroit market, as WWJ-TV was all but unviewable in that area at the time. The station provides city-grade coverage to most ofMonroe County and much of southernWayne andWashtenaw counties, and grade B coverage to most of Detroit itself.
Raycom Media announced its acquisition of Liberty Corporation in 2005. Raycom already owned WNWO, but couldn't keep both because theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) does not allow one entity to own two of the top four rated stations in a single market. It opted to keep the higher-rated WTOL and sold WNWO toBarrington Broadcasting, who acquired that station in 2006.
WTOL's broadcasts became digital-only, effective June 12, 2009.[5] Digital channel 11 transmits at a lower power than it did on digital channel 17, so in some locations, there has been a reduction in coverage. Many VHF stations are applying to the FCC for power increases to restore their coverage area after moving fromUHF back to VHF.
On January 30, 2012, WTOL replaced its News 11 Now on 11.2 withMeTV.[6] In January 2012,LIN TV Corporation announced it would sell its local Fox affiliateWUPW toAmerican Spirit Media for $22 million. As most of American Spirit Media's stations are operated asduopolies with a Raycom-owned station in the same market, it was expected that WTOL would establish ajoint sales agreement with WUPW.[7] On April 20, 2012, WUPW finalized its acquisition and its shared services agreement with WTOL. WUPW's remaining staff now operate from WTOL's facilities (though its management and sales departments will remain separate). A shared news site was also unveiled for the two stations,Toledo News Now.[8]
On June 25, 2018,Atlanta-basedGray Television announced it had reached an agreement with Raycom to merge their respective broadcasting assets (consisting of Raycom's 63 existing owned-and/or-operated television stations, and Gray's 93 television stations) under Gray's corporate umbrella, in a cash-and-stock merger transaction valued at $3.6 billion. Because Gray owned WTVG (which the company acquired in 2014 fromSJL Broadcasting), and since WTOL and WTVG rank among the four highest-rated stations in the Toledo market in total day viewership, Gray announced that it would retain WTVG and sell WTOL to an unrelated third party, in order to comply with FCC ownership rules; the JSA involving WUPW would be included in the sale of WTOL.[9][10][11][12][13][14] On August 20, it was announced thatMcLean, Virginia–basedTegna Inc. would purchase WTOL and sister stationKWES-TV inOdessa, Texas, for $105 million.[15] The deal was completed on January 2, 2019.[16] This made WTOL a sister station to NBC affiliateWKYC inCleveland (and later to fellow CBS affiliateWBNS-TV inColumbus from a separate deal), while separating it from WOIO/WUAB.
Even with the ownership changes that have occurred since 2006, WTOL retains its Liberty-era logo.
As of September 2023[update], WTOL presently broadcasts 45 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with seven hours each weekday, three hours on Saturdays and two hours on Sundays). In addition, WTOL produces18+1⁄2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week for Fox-affiliated sister station WUPW (with3+1⁄2 hours each weekday and a half-hour each on Saturdays and Sundays). Through the shared services agreement with WUPW, WTOL may also simulcast long-form severe weather coverage on channel 36 in the event that atornado warning is issued for any county in its northwestOhio viewing area.
In October 2011, WTOL was certified by WeatheRate as having the most accurate forecasts for Northwest Ohio and SoutheastMichigan.[17]
On January 2, 2014, it was officially announced that longtime evening news anchor Chrys Peterson would be leaving WTOL after nearly twenty years at the station. Peterson decided to leave the station in order to spend more time with her family. Chrys Peterson's final news broadcast was on February 28, 2014, and an hour-long special aired at 8 p.m. in celebration of Peterson's twenty years at WTOL.[18] On April 24, 2014, it was officially announced that Emilie Voss would succeed Chrys Peterson and join Jerry Anderson as the evening anchor on WTOL.[19]
In January 2017, Emilie Voss announced she would leave WTOL after five years.[20] In February, Kristi Leigh (formerly of WNWO, WUPW and WTVG) was named co-anchor of the 5, 5:30, 6 and 11 p.m. broadcasts.[21] In June 2018, Jerry Anderson announced his retirement, with June 15 being his final day on the air.[22] Morning anchor Andrew Kinsey was promoted to the evening shift[23] while longtime reporter and fill-in anchor Tim Miller assumed morning anchor duties as of June 18, 2018. Longtime sports director Dan Cummins, a fixture at WTOL since 1980, also moved to the news desk and is co-anchor of the noon news. Jordan Strack was named the new sports director.
In March 2019, WTOL attracted viral attention for video it posted onFacebook to motivate local high school students heading into their exams, which featured its anchors excessively usingslang. The segment received mixed attention, with some observers considering it to be an exaggerated attempt to appeal to thedemographic, but others applauding the anchors' willingness to participate in the video. It was quickly removed by the station, but mirrored copies on sites such asTwitter reached as high as 3 million views.[24]
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WTOL | CBS |
| 11.2 | 480i | Crime | True Crime Network[25] | |
| 11.3 | Grit | Grit | ||
| 11.4 | Quest | Quest | ||
| 11.5 | Shop LC | Shop LC | ||
| 11.6 | Get TV | GetTV | ||
| 11.7 | Nest | The Nest | ||
| 11.8 | Laff | Laff |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the state ofOhio | ||
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