Editing WVTH-FTV

{{Infobox broadcast
| call_letters             = WVTH
| station_logo             = [[File:WVTH_Logo.png|175px]]
| station_branding         = NBC 25 {{small|(general)}}<BR>NBC 25 Action News {{small|(newscasts)}}<BR>Wabash Valley's Action News {{small|(alterante)}}
| station_slogan           = Wabash Valley's News Leader {{small|(newscasts)}}
| digital                  = 25([[ultra high frequency|UHF]])<BR>[[Virtual channel|Virtual]]: 25 ([[Program and System Information Protocol|PSIP]])
| subchannels              = 25.1 NBC
| other_chs                = 
| affiliations             = NBC
| owner                    = NoSirGifts Venues
| licensee                 = NoSirGifts Fantasy Television Stations 
| location                 = Vincennes, Indiana
| country                  = [[United States]]
| airdate                  = {{start date|1953|9|06|mdy=y}}
| enddate                  = 
| callsign_meaning         = '''W'''abash '''V'''alley '''T'''erre '''H'''aute 
| sister_stations          = [[WJTH-FDT|WJTH]]
| former_callsigns         = 
| former_channel_numbers   = '''Analog:'''<br>25 (VHF, 1953–2009)<br>'''Digital:''' 59 (UHF, –2009)
| former_affiliations      = 
| effective_radiated_power =  1000 [[kilowatt|kW]]
| HAAT                     = 
| facility_id              = 
| coordinates              = 
| licensing_authority      = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]
| homepage                 = 
}}

'''WVTH''',  [[Ultra high frequency|UHF]] [[digital television|digital]] and [[virtual channel|virtual]] channel 25, is an NBC-[[network affiliate|affiliated]] [[television station]] serving Terre Haute, Indiana, [[United States]] that is [[city of license|licensed]] to nearby Vincennes. The station is owned by NoSirGifts Fantasy Television Stations subsidiary of NoSirGifts Venues, as part of a [[Duopoly (broadcasting)|duopoly]] with [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] affiliate [[WJTH-FDT|WJTH]] (channel 32).

On [[cable television|cable]], WVTH is available on [[Comcast|Comcast Xfinity]] channel 5 and [[AT&T U-verse]] channel 25 in [[standard-definition television|standard definition]] and in [[high-definition television|high definition]] on Xfinity and AT&T U-verse channel 1025.

==History==

===Early history===
WVTH was originally a primary NBC outlet with secondary CBS and DuMont affiliations. Both of those networks were dropped in August 1954 with the launch of WTHL (which took CBS) and the shutdown of DuMont two years later. This left WFIE as a full-time NBC affiliate. WVTH is the only station in the market to have never changed its primary affiliation; as such, WVTH, along with sister station WNEI-FTV in Evansville (which signed on six days after WVTH), are the longest-tenured NBC affiliates in the state of Indiana. Also in 1956, WVTH became the area's first station to telecast color programming (by virtue of its NBC affiliation).


On June 1, 1992, channel 25 adopted the new branding slogan "25 Wabash Valley". The accompanying station image campaign was titled ''We're 25 Wabash Valley'' and featured a musical theme composed by [[Edd Kalehoff]]. WVTH was rebranded again as "NBC 25" on September 5, 1998, with its newscasts remaining ''NewsCenter 25''. In March 2008, the newscasts rebranded to ''NBC 25 News'' after 40 years and the "25 Wabash Valley" branding was revived.

==Digital television==

===Digital channels===
<!---
The station's digital channel is [[Multiplex (TV)#Digital subchannels|multiplexed]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! [[Digital subchannel#United States|KZCO]]
! [[Display resolution|Video]]
! [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! [[Program and System Information Protocol|PSIP Short Name]]
! Programming
|-
| 24.1 || [[1080i]] || [[16:9]] || KZCO-FDT || Main KZCO programming / NBC
|-
| 24.2 || rowspan="2"|[[wikipedia:480i|480i]] || rowspan="2"|[[4:3]] || Cozi || Cozi TV 
|-
| 24.3 || Me TV || Me TV
|}
---->

===Analog-to-digital conversion===
<!----------
WTTV and WTTK shut down their respective analog signals, over VHF channel 4 and [[Ultra high frequency|UHF]] channel 29, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States [[Digital television transition in the United States|transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts]] under federal mandate. through the use of [[Program and System Information Protocol|PSIP]], digital television receivers display the station's [[virtual channel]] as its former VHF analog channel 4. WTTK relocated its digital signal from its pre-transition UHF channel 54, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to its analog-era UHF channel 29.


--------------------->

==Programming==



===Sports programming===


==News operation==

WVTH presently broadcasts 32 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with five hours on weekdays, 3½ hours each on Saturdays and Sundays); it also produces four 60-minute newscasts at 7 a.m., 4 and 7 p.m. weeknights and 10 p.m. nightly for WJTH. By 2001, WVTH's newscasts had all been rated number one in the market, with the long-running anchor team of Jack McClannahan and Beverly Gadsen. In the May 2010 sweeps, it placed first at 5:00&nbsp;a.m., 6:00&nbsp;a.m., 6:00&nbsp;p.m. and 11:00&nbsp;p.m. in total viewers, and first at 6:00&nbsp;a.m., 6:00&nbsp;p.m. and 11:00&nbsp;p.m. in the 25–54 demo. It still leads most time slots today, although WFAZ's morning news and WEKI's 11:00 pm news have given it much competition in the 25-54 demo.


From the late 1960s through the 1980s, WVTH was involved in a fierce three-way battle with WTHL and WATW for the top spot in the Wabash Valley television ratings. This continued during a lean period for NBC as a whole. WVTH's hallmark over the years has been strong coverage of breaking stories and straight news products that also feature light-hearted and/or entertainment element. Many of WVTH's personalities have been at the station for over 20 years. Jack McClannahan was been the station's main anchor from 1962 to 2011. From 1980 to 2011, he was teamed with Beverly Gadesn at 6 and 11 p.m., and the two were the longest-serving anchor team in Wabash Valley television history. 

For most of the time from 1980 to 1990, WVTH used various themes written by [[Scott Schreer]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.networknewsmusic.com/wp/article/that-iconic-wnbc-news-theme-turns-out-it-is-composed-by-njj-music/|title=That iconic WNBC news theme? Turns out it is composed by NJJ Music|accessdate=February 14, 2015|first=Victor|last=Vlan|work=Network News Music|date=September 18, 2012}}</ref> His theme for ''News 4 New York'' (which WVTH used) was based on a synthesized version of the [[NBC chimes]], with a graphics package featuring a [[Thunderbolt|lightning bolt]] striking its logo from 1980 to 1990, a fancy die-cut "25". In 1992, the station began calling itself ''25 Wabash Valley'' and the campaign song based on WNBC-TV's "4 New York", written by [[Edd Kalehoff]], was quickly adopted as the theme for the newscast. In 1995, Kalehoff wrote a new theme called "NBC Stations" featuring the NBC chimes, the chime sequence being the musical notes G-E-C. It remained in use for eight years, along with a graphics package using a simple red line for the [[lower third]]s.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}}

The 2003 graphics package was created by [[Emmy Award]]-winner [[Randy Pyburn]] of [[Pyburn Films]]. Pyburn has produced several promotions for the station. The graphics package was also used on other NBC stations. The music was written by Rampage Music and featured a brassy version of the NBC chimes, and lower thirds featured a shimmering [[peacock]]. In March 2008, concurrent with NoSirGifts ownership, the newscasts began to be called ''NBC 25 News''.

Former anchor/reporter [[Kellie Rock]] returned to WVTH in 2009 to co-anchor ''NBC 25 News Today'' before being promoted to anchor co-anchor ''First at Five'' with Gadsen in 2010, making Terre Haute one of the few small markets with two female anchors on an evening newscast and became the trend after NoSirGifts bought WVTH.  WVTH became the fifth NoSirGifts station pair two women for its main newscasts after Milwaukee's WXWI ([[Lanise White]] and [[Kathy Roberts|Kathy Fountaine]]), Denver's KDNC ([[Kymberly Alvaraz|Kym Christian]] and [[Janet Webb]]), Tampa's WWCF (Kellie Rock, later Wanda Washington and [[Marti McDaniel]]), and Fort Wayne's [[WTOR-FTV]] ([[Alexandra Moffitt]] and [[Season Atkins]]). 

The two woman main anchor format helped WVTH rise from a perennial third place into a contender for first in the news ratings (against WTHL, WFAZ, and WATW). 


In January 2008, channel 25 became the first fantasy television station in the Terre Haute market to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in [[High-definition television|high-definition]] and also updated its graphics and switched to the "The Tower" theme that has been in use by most of WVTH's sister stations until June 6, 2016, when the station debuted new graphics and music (an updated version of ''The Tower'' by [[wikipedia:615 Music|615 Music]]) that are also used by sister station [[KZCO-FTV]] (which became an NBC affiliate a year earlier) in Denver. 

On September 15, 2014, the station's newscasts shifted to a full 16:9 widescreen presentation, therefore becoming the second station (after WFAZ) in the Terre Haute market to do so. It is the only station in the Terre Haute market that shoots most of its remote field video in [[16:9]] [[widescreen]]; other stations still shoot live field video in [[4:3]] and then either [[pillarbox]] or stretch this content to widescreen—though WVTH's field video is shot in [[standard definition]]. 

===Notable current on-air staff===
* Beverly Gadsen - anchor seen weekdays at 5, 6, and 11 p.m. on WVTH and 7 and 10 p.m. on WJTH
* Sierra Huston - anchor seen weekdays at 5 and 11 p.m. on WVTH and 10 p.m. on WJTH
* Dave Winklespleck - anchor seen weekdays at 6 p.m. on WVTH and 7 p.m. on WJTH

===Notable former on-air staff===
* [[Leonard Lai]] - midday anchor (2011-2014; later a villain of [[Vote for the Girls (United States)|''Vote for the Girls'']]; died October 26, 2015 )
* [[Julia Passalt]]  - midday anchor (1979-1985 as Jeffrey Passalt; former moderator on [[Vote for the Girls (United States)|''Vote for the Girls'']])
* Jack McClannahan - longtime anchor (1962-2011; now retired)
* [[Kellie Rock]] - anchor (1984-1987 and 2009-2013; later at [[WWCF-FTV|WWCF]] Tampa Bay and also moderator of [[Vote for the Girls (United States)|''Vote for the Girls'']]; died April 19, 2016 )

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==




{{DEFAULTSORT:WVTH}}