| WBRE-TV | |
|---|---|
| Wilkes-Barre / Scranton, Pennsylvania | |
| Branding | WBRE (general) WBRE Eyewitness News (newscasts) |
| Channels | Analog: 28 (UHF) Digital: 11 (VHF) |
| Translators | see article |
| Affiliations | NBC |
| Owner | Nexstar Broadcasting Group |
| First air date | January 1, 1953 |
| Call letters' meaning | Baltimore Radio Exchange (original owners, call sign was kept when radio sisters were sold and it unofficially means Wilkes-BarRE) |
| Sister stations(s) | WYOU |
| Transmitter Power | 3,020 kW (analog) 30 kW (DT) |
| Height | 509 m (analog) 471 m (DT) |
| Facility ID | 71225 |
| Website | WBRE Eyewitness News' Website |
WBRE-TV, ch. 28, is the NBC-affiliated TV station for northeastern & north central Pennsylvania that is licensed to Wilkes-Barre. It's transmitter is located in Mountaintop. Owned by Nexstar Broadcasting, the station operates CBS affiliate WYOU (which is owned by Mission Broadcasting) through a JSA. WBRE & most of WYOU's operations are based @ studios on South Franklin Street in downtown Wilkes-Barre. Syndicated programming on WBRE includes: Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, I Love Lucy & Oprah.
Repeaters[]
Like most stations in northeastern & north central Pennsylvania, WBRE must rely on repeaters to serve it's coverage area. The market is 1 of the largest east of the Mississippi River & is very mountainous. In addition, Scranton / Wilkes Barre is a "UHF island" due to the fact that it's too close to Philadelphia & New York City for VHF analog service.
| Call Letters | Analog Channel | Digital Channel | City of License | Transmitter Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W24BL | 24 | 24 1 3 | Pottsville | southwest of downtown |
| W30AN | 30 | 30 1 3 | Williamsport | tower near downtown |
| W51BP | 51 | 51 1 3 | Clarks Summit | north of Scranton between I-81 & I-476 |
| W64AL | 64 | 47 1 4 | Stroudsburg | Foxtown Hill |
- WBRE currently has a construction permit for a digital TV translator on this channel.
- The channel will be a digital flash cut.
- The channel will be a displacement of the current analog channel.
- W47CY on UHF ch. 47 is a translator run under special temporary authority by Florida Power & Light in Waymart, PA. Windmills run by FP&L in the area surrounding Waymart interfere with full power TV signals from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre market.
History[]
On January 1 1953, WBRE signed on becoming the 1st TV station in the market. It was owned by the Baltimore family along with WBRE radio (1340 AM - now WYCK & 98.5 FM - now WKRZ). Although it appears that the call letters stand for Wilkes-BaRrE, they actually refer to Baltimore 'Radio Exchange, the Baltimore family's company. The radio stations were sold off in 1980. In 1972, disaster struck @ WBRE when it's offices were flooded by Hurricane Agnes. Most of the station's equipment was moved above ground & survived but a film archive located in the basement was destroyed. After numerous changes of ownership, Nexstar Broadcasting Group acquired the station in January of 1998. Nexstar already owned WYOU but opted to keep WBRE & sold WYOU to Mission Broadcasting. However, Nexstar continues to control WYOU's operations through a JSA. On January 3 2007, Nexstar named Louis J. Abitabilo as VP & GM for the station. In 2009, WBRE will continue DT broadcasts on ch. 11 when the analog to DT transition is complete.
Newscasts[]
- WBRE Eyewitness News @ 5 AM
- WBRE Eyewitness News @ 5:30 AM
- WBRE Eyewitness News @ 6 AM
- WBRE Eyewitness News @ 6:30 AM
- WBRE Eyewitness News @ 9 AM (Weekend Mornings)
- WBRE Eyewitness News @ 9:30 AM (Weekend Mornings)
- WBRE Eyewitness News @ 11 AM
- WBRE Eyewitness News Live @ 5
- WBRE Eyewitness News @ 5:30
- WBRE Eyewitness News @ 6
- WBRE Eyewitness News @ 11
News operation[]
WBRE led the ratings for most of the 1950s until ABC affiliate WNEP-TV jumped ahead in 1959. During the 1950s and 1960s, mirroring the century-long rivalry between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, WBRE ruled Wilkes-Barre while WDAU-TV (now WYOU) dominated Scranton. Channel 28 jumped back in the lead in the early-1960s and went back and forth for first place with WDAU until 1978 when WNEP took the lead. It fell to third for most of the 1980s, even with NBC's powerhouse primetime lineup. In the mid-1990s, the station briefly surpassed long-dominant WNEP, then fell again to second after the sale to Nexstar.
In 2002, WBRE and WYOU dropped their separate weekday morning and noon newscasts in favor of Pennsylvania Morning and Pennsylvania Midday which were jointly-produced and simulcasted on both stations. Since the two have both trailed WNEP in the news ratings by a wide margin for most of the last thirty years, a major shakeup in format occurred in fall 2006. While WYOU went with a talk/debate format for its weeknight shows, WBRE News became more of the traditional news program. This set a more clear competition against WNEP. At the beginning of 2008, WYOU dropped the weekday shared productions and started airing the first hour of the nationally syndicated morning show The Daily Buzz at 6 while debuting its own noon news.
On June 9, 2008, there were several more changes made on the two stations. WBRE re-launched its news operation as WBRE Eyewitness News. It had previously used the Eyewitness News moniker from the mid-1980s until 2001. This coincided with news set, music package, graphics, and weather system upgrades. There were also some on-air personnel changes. Anchor Andy Mehalshick became a weeknight field anchor. Candice Kelly, who had been anchoring on WYOU, moved to the weeknight newscasts on WBRE back in mid-May and was joined by newcomer Drew Speier. In addition, WBRE and WYOU’s midday shows switched anchors. Mark Hiller moved from WBRE to WYOU while Eva Mastromatteo switched over to this station. Hiller also debuted as anchor of WYOU News First at 4 on weeknights. That station became the first in the area to broadcast local news at that time. This was followed at 4:30 by The Insider which moved from its 7 o'clock slot. WYOU then dropped its 5 p.m. newscast and aired two episodes of Judge Judy. Finally weeknights at 6 o'clock, Lyndall Stout (who anchored on WBRE) joined Eric Scheiner for the half-hour WYOU Inter@ctive. That station also launched a new weeknight newscast, WYOU News at 7. WNEP already aired local news at that time on weeknights. All of the preceding changes were an attempt to better compete against WNEP and get more ratings.
On April 4, 2009, WYOU shut down its news operation resulting in the layoff of fourteen personnel while others were integrated with WBRE. Syndicated programming began airing in place of the newscasts. The station saved nearly $1 million a year as a result of closing down its news department.[14][15]
Newscast titles[]
- 28 Eyewitness News (?–2001)
- 28 News (2001–2004)
- WBRE News (2004–2008)
- WBRE Eyewitness News (2008–2012)
- Eyewitness News (2012–present)
Station slogans[]
- Keep Your Eye on Eyewitness News (early 1980s)
- 28, Let's All Be There (198?-198?; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- Come Home to 28 (1986-1987; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- Nobody Works Harder (1986-1988)
- Your Hometown Station (1990-mid 1990s)
- The Station That's Taking the Lead (mid 1990s–1998)
- On Your Side (2000–2008)
- Everywhere You Are (2011–present)
News team[]
Anchors
- Doug Currin - WBRE Eyewitness News @ 5, 6 & 11 AM
- Eva Mastromatteo - WBRE Eyewitness News @ 5, 6 & 11 AM
- Candice Kelly - WBRE Eyewitness News LIVE @ 5, 5:30, 6 & 11 PM
- Drew Speier - WBRE Eyewitness News LIVE @ 5, 5:30, 6 & 11 PM
- Kyla Campbell - WBRE Eyewitness News @ 9 & 9:30 AM (weekends)
- Eva Mastromatteo - WBRE Eyewitness News @ 6 & 11 PM (weekends)
- Dia Wallace - WBRE Eyewitness News @ 6 & 11 PM (weekends)
WBRE Eyewitness News AccuWeather Meteorologists
- Josh Hodell (AMS & NWA Seals of Approval) - WBRE Eyewitness News LIVE @ 5, 5:30, 6 & 11 PM
- Kristi Capel - WBRE Eyewitness News @ 5, 6 & 11 AM
- Kevin Derk - WBRE Eyewitness News @ 9 & 9:30 AM (weekends)
- Dave Skutnik - WBRE Eyewitness News @ 6 & 11 PM (weekends) & weather reporter
Sports
- Phil Schoener - WBRE Eyewitness News @ 6 & 11 PM
- Colin Riccobon - WBRE Eyewitness News @ 6 & 11 PM (weekends) & sports reporter
Reporters
- Andy Mehalshick - WBRE I-Team Lead Investigator
- Jeff Chirico - Consumer Reporter & WBRE I-Team
- Joe Holden - WBRE I-Team
- Laurie Monteforte - Stroudsburg Bureau seen weeknights
- Jeremy Deebel - Williamsport Bureau Chief
- Mike Trim - Fill in Anchor/WBRE I-Team
- Eric Deabill
- Kyla Campbell