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Charleston Daily Mail

By MATTHEW THOMPSON

DAILY MAIL STAFF

WSAZ-TV is planning to launch a new digital channel in 2006 that will carry family- oriented programming along with an originally produced 10 p.m. newscast.

The channel, tentatively called WSAZ 3.2, will be broadcast through the network's free-to-air digital signal. Viewers can get the signal through a digital, high-definition television set with a separate home antenna.

However, station official are currently talking with more than 180 area cable systems about the possibility of carrying the channel on basic cable tiers.

"The digital medium provides us with opportunities to give the public more of the WSAZ product of news and weather," said Jack Deakin, WSAZ's Charleston station manager. "We are all about delivering the best in local television because it's our bread and butter."

Deakin, a 26-year veteran of the station, will head the project under a new job title of director of interactive development and new media. An official start date has not been announced, but Deakin hopes the channel will be available by fall of 2006.

All current network affiliates in the area broadcast over both digital and analog frequencies, but that will change within the next few years. Earlier this year, Congress passed a law requiring television stations to turn off analog frequencies by Feb. 19, 2009, and primarily use digital signals.

Although the channel is in the early planning stages, Deakin said the schedule would consist of old shows such as "Happy Days" and "Perry Mason," along with possible reruns of WSAZ programming, including "Oprah."

"If you are a woman and you work, you miss 'Oprah' at 4 p.m.," Deakin said. "Well, wouldn't it be great if you could watch it at, say, 6 p.m. in the evening? That's just one of the things we are looking into."

WSAZ 3.2 also will offer a 10 p.m. newscast seven days a week, Deakin said. He said the channel has recognized there is an audience for a 10 p.m. newscast. WVAH-TV and the new WB's newscast currently offer newscasts in that time slot.

The venture is just one of many new things in store for the channel under its new owner, Gray Television, Inc.

Starting Jan. 1, Edwin Lake, WSAZ's production manager, will become the channel's creative service manager. Lake, a 26-year veteran of the station, said he will take on marketing duties along with current duties such as commercial and newscast production. WSAZ will add free streaming video of newscasts to its Web site on Jan. 27.

Gray, an Atlanta-based television conglomerate, last month purchased WSAZ for $186 million from its previous owner, Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications. Gray is the sixth owner of the 56-year-old station. Previous owners have included The Herald- Dispatch, Goodwill Broadcasting, Capital Cities Communications, Lee Enterprises and Emmis.

Gray Television operates 36 television stations in 30 markets across the country. In October, Forbes Magazine ranked the company 146 in the list of the 200 best small companies in the country.

Deakin said the dream of a new channel has been discussed for years, but Gray has been helpful in making the idea a reality.

"Gray believes in a new medium of interactivity," Deakin said. "They believe in the future of technology and staying ahead of the curb. Who's to say that now we can't deliver WSAZ to your cell phone?"

For more information on WSAZ's digital signal, visit www.wsaz.com and click on 'The Source."

Contact writer Matthew Thompson at matthewthompson@dailymail.com or 348-4834.