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WOIO, channel 19, is a CBS-affiliated television station licensed to Shaker Heights, Ohio, and serving the Cleveland-Akron, Ohio television market. WOIO is owned by Raycom Media, and is sister station to My Network TV affiliate WUAB (channel 43). The two station share a studio facility in Cleveland, and WOIO's transmitter is located in Parma, Ohio.

History

WOIO signed on the air on May 19, 1985. The station was locally owned by Hubert B. Payne, the local sales manager at WKYC-TV (channel 3). He had been the first African-American to hold that position at a network affiliate. Payne sold the station to Malrite Communications later in the year. WOIO aired a typical independent lineup of off-network sitcoms, old movies, off-network drama shows, and religious shows. That fall, WOIO added cartoons in the morning and the late afternoon.

By the end of 1985, channel 19 had surpassed WCLQ (channel 61, now WQHS-TV) as the market's second highest-rated independent station, and behind only WUAB. In 1986, WOIO became the market's Fox affiliate after WUAB turned it down. It branded itself as "Fox nineteen" or "WOIO nineteen", with the "nineteen" in cursive handwriting. Soon afterward, it became the over-the-air flagship of the Cleveland Cavaliers, a relationship that continued for eight years. It also appeared on cable systems in the Youngstown market, which had no Fox affiliate of its own until 1998. It still is on cable in that market today.

In 1994, Malrite signed a local marketing agreement (LMA) with WUAB's owner, Cannell Communications, and as a result, WOIO and WUAB became sister stations. Both stations moved to a location at downtown Cleveland's Reserve Square. WUAB also became the new over-the-air flagship of the Cavaliers, which it still is to this day.

CBS affiliation

In September 1994, WJW-TV (channel 8) dropped CBS after 40 years and took over the Fox affiliation as part of a group deal with WJW's parent, New World Communications. CBS briefly wooed ABC affiliate WEWS (channel 5), but WEWS' owner, the E.W. Scripps Company, used WEWS as a bargaining chip (along with WXYZ-TV in Detroit) to sign a long-term deal with ABC. CBS then quickly cut a deal with WOIO. After the switch became official, channel 19 moved its sitcoms and non-Fox cartoons to WUAB.

At first, WOIO had no intention to start a news department. However, CBS informed WOIO that it "preferred" that the station air newscasts. Since there was little time to form a news division, WOIO had LMA partner WUAB (which already produced the Cleveland market's original 10:00 p.m. newscast), produce its newscasts. WOIO began airing briefs during CBS This Morning, and started newscasts at 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. in February 1995. The two WOIO newscasts and the 10:00 p.m. WUAB broadcast became collectively known as Cleveland Television News.

However, the affiliation switch caused a major shakeup in the Cleveland market. WJW-TV switched to a more hard-hitting approach after the Oklahoma City bombing, one which turning off many longtime viewers. Also, WUAB's success at 10:00 p.m. did not transfer to WOIO's new 11:00 newscast. Even the presence of Denise Dufala, former longtime anchor at WJW, didn't help the cause. It was at this time that WEWS began its seven-year run as the top rated news station in Cleveland. Additionally, with the Fox affiliation, WJW moved its late night newscast to 10:00. This meant that now, for the first time, there were two 10:00 newscasts splitting the audience. WJW's newscasts made Cleveland Television News look somewhat amateurish by comparison. WKYC, which had been at the bottom of the Cleveland ratings for almost 30 years, moved to next-to-last place ahead of WOIO.

In 1996, WOIO and WUAB dropped the Cleveland Television News moniker. WOIO began identifying itself as CBS 19 and titled its newscasts CBS 19 News. WJW-TV had been one of the strongest CBS affiliates in the country, and WOIO hoped that viewers would associate CBS with a high-quality local newscast. Later that year, WOIO added news at 6:00 a.m. and pre-empted most of the first hour of CBS This Morning with local news. They also added a noon newscast around the same time. Still, WOIO failed to win viewers.

In 1997, WOIO tried a two-woman (Gretchen Carlson and Dufala) anchor team for its 6 and 11:00 newscasts. This has rarely been tried nationally, and had never been tried in Cleveland.

In 1999, both WOIO and WUAB rebranded themselves as "Hometeam 19" and "Hometeam 43" respectively. The stations tried to put an emphasis on local coverage, and play on the fact that at the time they carried all three major Cleveland sports teams -- Indians and Cavaliers games were carried on WUAB, while the Browns on WOIO by way of CBS' NFL coverage. While both WOIO and WUAB made minor gains during this period, both were still in last place.

Action News

In the late 1990s, Malrite was bought out by Raycom Media. Raycom was not impressed with both WOIO and WUAB's ratings and decided that a major change was needed. In late 2001, Raycom hired controversial station manager Bill Applegate as the GM at WOIO and WUAB. Raycom made this selection because Applegate was known for creating "different" newscasts and quick turnarounds of struggling TV stations to becoming contenders.

In May 2002, Action News debuted, using a theme based on the signature tune of WBBM-TV in Chicago. Applegate fired most of the news team (Dufala was one of the notable exceptions) and a popular press format was put into place. The pacing, the look, the style, and the language of each newscast took on a dramatically different look and feel.

Soon after, the newscasts' title would officially be changed to 19 Action News, airing on both WOIO and WUAB. Ratings improved almost immediately, especially in late news, where 19 Action News at 11 became the only late newscast to gain viewers an unprecedented four years in a row, as WKYC, WEWS, and WJW's late newscasts either remained flat or lost viewers. They added an hour of news at 5:00 p.m. in 2002, joining the newscasts of WEWS and WJW for a three-way competition for second place in the time slot (as WKYC's airing of Dr. Phil at 5:00 has long been in first place).

In June 2004, WOIO launched Cleveland's first 4:00 p.m. newscast with David Wittman and Sharon Reed. In late 2006 Reed was moved to 5pm. The newscast is now anchored by David Wittman and Lynna Lai, and also features chief meteorologist Jeff Tanchak, sports director Chuck Galletti, and traffic reports with Rick Abell. It debuted in last place, but began to grow steadily and today fights for second place with WJW's Judge Judy, but still trails WEWS' The Oprah Winfrey Show at that hour.

In November 2004, Cleveland viewers responded to what many say is the most talked about local news story ever. Earlier that year, Spencer Tunick, a photographer known for taking pictures of large groups of naked people, came to Cleveland. WOIO anchor Sharon Reed, regarded by many viewers as attractive, was asked by news director Steve Doerr to pose in the photo for a first hand account of the experience.

WOIO shot video of Reed getting up in the morning, going to the event, getting undressed, and finally nude shots of her from behind. The story, called "Body of Art", aired in the November sweeps period after being promoted heavily with promos that contained a "viewer discretion advisory".

WOIO insisted that the story was supposed to make viewers question whether Spencer Tunick's body of work is art or "something else". On the night the story aired WOIO received its highest ratings ever. The story also gave Reed and WOIO national attention, as she was invited to defend the piece on Fox News and on The Late Show with David Letterman.

WOIO has stayed in last place for most of the time since Raycom bought the station, but has been much more competitive than before. In the November 2006 ratings period, its 11:00 news came in a very close second behind WKYC, while winning the noon timeslot.

WOIO's newscasts are viewed by many as a "tabloid" newscast, with a confrontational "in your face" style of reporting.

Coverage in Canada

The station is readily available over-the-air to Kingsville, Leamington, and Pelee Island in southern Essex County, Ontario, and was once listed in the TV Guide edition for those communities (and Windsor, Ontario, until 2000 though the station's signal wasn't strong enough to reach Windsor and Detroit). Unlike WKYC-TV, WEWS, and WJW-TV, it was not one of the stations from Cleveland carried on local cable in those three locations.

Cleveland Browns

WOIO and the Cleveland Browns entered into a television partnership in April 2005. After the Browns contract with WKYC-TV expired, WOIO acquired the rights to air all of pre-season games as well as a pre-season draft show, execlusive training camp reports, and a Monday night coach's show.

On July 18, 2006, the Browns announced they were ending their partnership with WOIO. The partnership ended due to controversy over the station's coverage of the drowning of the six-year-old niece of team owner Randy Lerner. On its newscasts, WOIO aired a 9-1-1 recording of Nancy Fisher, Lerner's sister, calling for assistance. Although WOIO was within its legal bounds to air the tape, the Browns thought that it was an unnecessary invasion of the family's privacy.

On August 1, 2006, the Browns and WOIO ended their contract, and two days later, the team announced a new one-year deal with WKYC, which has since been expanded to a three-year deal.

Due to the NFL's contract with CBS, channel 19 will continue to air the majority of Browns' regular season games.

External links

• WOIO Website
• Template:TVQ
• TV ark: WOIO idents

• CBS affiliates
• CBS network affiliates
• Channel 19 TV stations in the United States
• Raycom Media
• Television channels and stations established in 1985