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WOWT-TV, channel 6, is the NBC affiliate in Omaha, Nebraska. With its strong signal, it also serves the state capital 52 miles away in Lincoln.
History Channel 6 signed on the air in the summer of 1949 as WOW-TV, the first television station in Nebraska and one of the oldest in the Upper Midwest. It was first owned by Meredith Corporation along with WOW radio. In 1956, it switched affiliations with KMTV and became Omaha's CBS affiliate. When Meredith sold the stations in 1975, WOW-TV changed its call letters to WOWT under special FCC approval and was sold to Chronicle Broadcasting, later rejoining NBC under a special agreement with KMTV in 1986. In 1999, Chronicle sold its media holdings and WOWT was sold to Benedek Broadcasting via LIN TV in a three-way deal for WWLP in Springfield, Massachusetts; three years later, Benedek Broadcasting was bought out by current owner Gray Television. WOWT was the first station to broadcast locally in color, starting in the mid-1950s; it was the first station to provide live reports during its daily newscasts; it was the first of the three local stations to broadcasts three live daily newscasts, at 5, 6, and 10pm; and in 1993, WOWT was the first of all local stations to offer a web site. In 1991, WOWT changed the name of its news division from "Action News 6" to its current moniker of "Channel 6 News". In 1995 Channel 6 began live simulcasts and taped replays of its daily newscasts on Omaha Cox Cable channel 1. The venture is known as "NEWS on ONE". That same year WOWT's sports division launched a weekly 30 minute sports news program titled "Channel 6 Sunday Sports Extra". It is the only program of its kind in Omaha, and it has been hosted since its inception by Sports Producer Ross Jernstrom. The station's studios are located near 35th and Farnam streets, near downtown Omaha. Its transmitter tower is located on a "tower farm" near North 72nd and Crown Point. Former employees of WOWT include The Tonight Show host Johnny Carson, who worked at WOW-TV in the early 1950s, and former ABC Good Morning America reporter Steve Bell, who worked for Channel 6 in the early and mid-1960s. He was the only local reporter to go to Dallas in November 1963 to cover the aftermath of the John F. Kennedy assassination. Bell left channel 6 in 1967 to join ABC News, where he stayed until 1986. 6
Channel 6 News Team Weeknights at 5, 6, & 10 John Knicely (lead anchor) Tracy Madden (lead anchor) Jim Flowers (chief meteorologist) Dave Webber (sports director) Notable Past Personalities Pat Persaud (1986-2005; lead anchor) Gary Kerr (1960s-1999; anchor/reporter; lead anchor from 1971-1991, 5 p.m. co-anchor from 1992 until 1998) Byron Wood (1970s-early 1990s; anchor/reporter; later an anchor with KPTM in the late 1990s) Dale Munson (1960s-1991; weather/chief meteorologist) Brian Durst (1990s; chief meteorologist 1991-1992) Bryce Anderson (1980s-1990s; midday agricultural news/weather) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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