KWQC-TV

'KWQC-TV', channel 6, is the NBC affiliate for the Quad Cities television market (the Davenport, Iowa/Moline, Illinois/Rock Island, Illinois market). It is licensed to Davenport and is owned by Young Broadcasting. Its transmitter is located in Bettendorf, Iowa.
KWQC's audio signal transmits on a frequency of 87.76 MegaHertz (+10 kHz shift), and as a result, can be picked up on the lower end of the dial on most FM radios at 87.7. This is true of all other channel 6 stations in the United States, regardless of whether channel 6 is an over-the-air station like KWQC or a Cable TV system's channel 6 traveling strictly through the cable television wire on the exact same frequency/channel.

Contents

History

Ratings

Personalities

Anchors

First Alert Weather

Reporters

Sports

Also Appearing on KWQC-TV 6

The "Highlight Zone"

Syndicated programming

Digital Television

Transmitter

Trivia

References

External links

History

KWQC originally signed on the air on October 31, 1949, as 'WOC-TV'. It has the distinction of being Iowa's and the Quad Cities' first television station, carrying programming from all four networks at the time (NBC, CBS, ABC and DuMont). It lost CBS to WHBF-TV in 1950, and the two stations shared ABC until WQAD-TV signed on in 1963. Originally on channel 5, it moved to channel 6 in 1952 due to interference with WOI-TV in Des Moines.
The station was founded by B. J. Palmer, who owned the Palmer College of Chiropractic (the WOC calls stood for 'W'onders 'o'f 'C'hiropractic) along with WOC radio (AM 1420 and FM 103.7, now WLLR) and WHO-AM-FM-TV in Des Moines. It remained with the Palmer family after his death in 1961.
In 1986 the Palmers announced that they would sell channel 6, and in the process changed the call letters to KWQC-TV. KWQC was sold to Broad Street Television in 1989 and to Young Broadcasting in 1995.
KWQC was using Gari Communications' "Hello News" music since 1990 and was the last remaining station in the US to use the original package. However, some stations have begun using an updated version created in 2004.
On July 30, 2007, KWQC stopped using the "Hello News" package and changed to the, "U-Phonix" package by Stephen Arnold Music. Along with this music change, the station made major changes to their graphics. Among the changes, a spinning cube of the logo of KWQC. This spinning cube is very similar to the spinning cube of the Fox News Channel logo seen on the Fox News Channel except the Fox News Channel spinning cube is at the bottom left hand corner of the screen where KWQC's spinning cube is at the bottom right hand corner of the screen. The KWQC TV 6 cube had both positive and negative feedback. So KWQC asked people what they thought of the cube and over 2,000 people voted online about what to do with the cube. The cube was slowed down and the "Cube Controversy" finally came to an end.

Ratings

KWQC has been the ratings leader in the Quad Cities for most of its history. It briefly lost the lead to WHBF in the mid-1970s, but regained it in 1980 and has held the lead ever since. The July 2007 ratings show that KWQC holds the number one spot by a wide margin. Right now, its 10pm and Quad Cities Today newscasts triple the nearest competitor.

Personalities

Illinois 17th District Republican candidate Andrea Zinga was a former anchor for KWQC-TV (while it was still WOC-TV) during the mid-1980s.

Anchors

★ 'Mike Mickle' ''Quad Cities Today''

★ 'Jessica Tighe' ''Quad Cities Today''

★ 'Marcia Lense' Noon

★ 'Gary Metivier' 5, 6, 10 PM Weekdays

★ 'Paula Sands' 5, 6 Weekdays; Host ''Paula Sands Live''

★ 'Sharon DeRycke' 10 PM Weekdays

★ 'Fran Riley' ''Quad Cities Today Weekends'' (General Reporter)

★ 'Chris Williams' Weekend Anchor/Weekday reporter

First Alert Weather

★ 'Chief Meteorologist Terry Swails' 6, 10 PM Weekdays

★ 'Meteorologist Ryan Burchett' Quad Cities Today

★ 'Weather Specialist Theresa Bryant' Noon

★ 'Meteorologist Kristina Shiroma' Weekends

Reporters

★ 'Elizabeth Goodsitt' & Sunday Anchor

★ 'Matt Davis'

★ 'Jim Victor' (''QC Today'' Finance)

★ 'Lindsey Morone'

★ 'Meredith Hailey'

Sports

★ 'Thom Cornelis' Sports Director

★ 'Dan Pearson' Sports Anchor Friday/Saturday

★ 'Kory Kuffler' Sports Reporter/Fill In Anchor

Also Appearing on KWQC-TV 6

★ 'Linda Cook' ''Cook's Critique'' (''Paula Sands Live'')

★ '4 Legged Friends' (''Paula Sands Live'' Pet Segment)

★ 'Mr Food'

★ 'Food Guru Peter Harman'

★ 'Kevin Kraft' (''QC Today'' Financial)

The "Highlight Zone"

KWQC is well-known by locals for the "Highlight Zone," an Emmy award-winning Friday night feature showcasing area high school football and basketball. The "Highlight Zone" airs during the 10 p.m. newscast from roughly late August through early March, with a break in December. Each member of the news anchor staff, along with whomever is giving the weather that night, take turns recapping a featured game.
The camera crews invite fans from each of the games they cover to participate in a skit related to the night's theme. The theme usually centers on a holiday (e.g., Valentine's Day) or local promotion (e.g., The Student Hunger Drive, an initiative by area high schools to collect food for the needy).
The "Highlight Zone" was started for the 1989-1990 season, and the format has since been copied by many TV stations.

Syndicated programming

Syndicated programs on KWQC's schedule include ''Jeopardy!'', ''Wheel of Fortune'', ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'', ''Rachael Ray'', and ''The Oprah Winfrey Show''. Reruns of '' air during the weekends; the station also airs ''Cheers'', often on weekends or during telethons as part of a special marathon.
==KWQC 24-7 Weather Channel==
On Monday August 13, 2007, KWQC started up a local digital weather service called "24/7 Weather." This new weather service is available to viewers via KWQC's digital subcarrier channel 6.2 over the air and on Mediacom Digital Cable channel 247 in the Quad Cities and surrounding areas. While not affiliated with NBC Weather Plus, viewers can get the latest local and regional forecasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from the KWQC TV 6 First Alert Weather Center. The upper left hand corner of the screen displays the various weather maps that are shown online and on the KWQC newscasts and there is also a bar similar to the "L" Bar that is shown on NBC Weather Plus except KWQC's "L" Bar covers the right side third and bottom third of the screen where NBC Weather Plus' "L" bar covers the left side third and bottom third of the screen. KWQC's "L" bar is, therefore, actually more of a "backwards L" bar which displays current conditions and forecasts for individual times of the day for the next 36 hours. The purpose of 24/7 weather is similar to that of NBC stations who do offer NBC Weather Plus and other stations which either offer AccuWeather, The Weather Channel, or strictly local weather from their own weather centers, and that purpose is to bring the latest radar, local weather conditions and forecasts to viewers at their convenience regardless of the time of day or night.

Digital Television

'Digital channels'

Channel	Programming
6.1 / 56.1	Main KWQC programming / NBC HD
6.2 / 56.2	KWQC 24-7 Weather Channel

Transmitter

The 'KWQC-TV Tower' is a 1,381-foot (421 m) high guy-wired aerial mast for the transmission of FM radio and television programs in Bettendorf, west of the Scott Community College campus. (Geographical coordinates: ). It was built in 1982. In addition to KWQC, WHBF-TV and radio stations WOC, WLLR-FM, WDLM-FM, and WVIK transmit their signals from this site.
KWQC's digital transmission tower is located in Orion, Illinois.

Trivia

★ Mike Mickle did weather when he first joined KWQC in the early 90's

★ Paula Sands is a graduate of Moline High School

★ David Sands (Paula Sands' husband) is KWQC's voice-over

References

★ The Big Travelogue, Part Four Fybush.com

★ The History of KWQC-TV 6 KWQC.com

★ KWQC On-Airaccessed 2007-04-03

★ Making Waves: The People and Places of Iowa Broadcasting, , Jeff, Stein, WDG Communications, 2004, ISBN 0-9718323-1-5

External links

★ Station website

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★ WOC's Captain Ernie's Cartoon Showboat website

★ The Unofficial WOC Broadcast Center Website

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