states branding wbrz news 2 slogan turn to us . channels digital 13 vhf virtual 2 psip subchannels 2.1 abc 2.2 wbrz news rebroadcast 2.3 wbrz weather affiliations abc since 1977 ; secondary 1955 1971 owner manship family louisiana television broadcasting llc first air date april 14 1955 ; 61 years ago 1955 04 14 call letters meaning w baton rouge s z 2 sister station s kbtr ca krgv tv former callsigns wbrz 1955 1981 former channel number s analog 2 vhf 1955 2009 former affiliations primary nbc 1955 1977 per program pbs 1970 1975 transmitter power 30 kw height 515 m facility id 38616 transmitter coordinates 30 17 48.4 n 91 11 36.6 w 30.296778 n 91.193500 w 30.296778 ; 91.193500 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.wbrz.com wbrz virtual channel 2 digital channel 13 is an abc affiliate television station serving baton rouge louisiana south central and southeastern louisiana and southwestern mississippi . it is owned by the manship family who formerly published the baton rouge daily newspaper the advocate . its transmitter is located in sunshine louisiana and the station s studios are located on highland road in baton rouge just south of downtown . the station is seen via satellite through directv and dish network and on cable through cox communications and at & t u verse . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 4 news operation 4.1 notable former on air staff 5 external links 6 references history edit wbrz signed on the air on april 14 1955 as a primary nbc affiliate sharing abc with wafb . it began broadcasting in color one year later becoming the first baton rouge tv station to do so . at first the manships wanted to call the station wbra tv for the baton rouge advocate but went with the reverse z at the end instead avoiding the implications of having calls which could be understood to also mean the women s undergarment . station founder douglas l. manship sr. still wanted br in the station s calls explaining the choice of z at the end that it was a good choice . z is a phonetically good sound on the air . it s distinctive . the z was later expanded to mean 2 similar to wgrz tv in buffalo new york . the wbra call letters are currently used on the pbs member station in roanoke virginia standing for the blue ridge mountains though that entity emphasizes their blue ridge pbs branding over call letters except where required by the fcc . until 1989 wbrz was a sister station to wjbo am and wynk fm until the manships sold both radio stations . from the late 1960s until the late 1970s wynk was considered an affiliate of wbrz . 1 it dropped abc in 1971 after wrbt tv now wvla signed on . this made wbrz a sole nbc affiliate . because abc was seeking out new affiliates with stronger signal coverage at the time wbrz swapped affiliations with wrbt and became an abc affiliate again on september 5 1977 . in that same timeframe nbc sunk to third and last place while abc moved up to first place in the ratings . in july 1987 the station started broadcasting 24 hours a day except on sundays . in september 1988 the station became the first in louisiana to close caption its newscasts . in 1991 manship s son richard took over the station as its new president and would later be named broadcaster of the year by the louisiana association of broadcasters . in 1993 wbrz joined approximately 50 abc affiliates in not airing the pilot episode of nypd blue due to local protests ; the station decided on a week by week basis at first to air or not air episodes but eventually settled with airing episodes including a rerun of the pilot . wbrz became the first station in baton rouge to begin broadcasting in high definition on channel 13 on april 22 2002 . in november 2004 wbrz along with many other abc affiliates in the country opted not to air the movie saving private ryan when the network broadcast it uncut on veterans day . during hurricane katrina the station worked with new orleans abc affiliate wgno channel 26 to provide coverage of the storm and its aftermath . in late summer 2007 the manships acquired a low powered independent television station kbtr wbtr from veritas broadcasting company . in late 2012 wbrz and wbtr took the this tv affiliation from a subchannel of wvla . wbtr airs this tv on a secondary basis and wbrz airs this tv programming on a secondary basis during early morning weekend hours . wbrz launched its own web site wbrz.com on the week of september 14 2009 . prior to that wbrz and the advocate shared a website 2theadvocate . com . the station is a funding partner in the cinderella project of baton rouge a charity that provides free prom dresses to public high school students who can not otherwise afford them . the charity held its third annual prom dress giveaway in 2010 . digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital signal is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 2 2.1 720p 16 9 wbrz hd main wbrz tv programming abc 2.2 480i 4 3 news 2 wbrz news rebroadcast 2.3 wbrz wx wbrz weather analog to digital conversion edit wbrz tv shut down its analog signal over vhf channel 2 on june 12 2009 the official date in which full power television stations in the united states transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate . the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition vhf channel 13 . 3 4 through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former vhf analog channel 2 . due to its transmitter tower location wbrz can be seen over the air in most of the cities in the lafayette and new orleans viewing area s. programming edit the station airs syndicated programming like live with kelly and michael wheel of fortune and jeopardy ; the latter however aired on cbs affiliate wafb channel 9 prior to 1995 . it also airs reruns of former prime time network shows such as the abc sitcom mork and mindy and the classic cbs hit m a s h. in september 2006 it began airing dr. phil . the station was the first baton rouge station to air sally jessy raphael ; it was the second home of the oprah winfrey show until it moved to wvla in 2002 and the rosie o donnell show . other syndicated programming wbrz aired in the past included the arsenio hall show which preempted nightline from 1989 until wgmb acquired the rights to arsenio in april 1993 who s the boss the jerry springer show now on wbrl dear john inside edition now on wbxh cd pm magazine dallas the golden girls murphy brown three s company degrassi junior high what s happening dynasty the jeffersons the ray combs syndicated version of family feud hard copy geraldo hollywood squares coach in the heat of the night the weakest link the jerry springer show the donny osmond version of pyramid judge judy tyra judge joe brown thicke of the night and american journal . prior to the launch of lpb in 1975 wbrz aired episodes of sesame street in the mornings . on sundays it airs the services from the healing place church a local christian megachurch . wbrz currently airs all abc network programming in high definition and most of its syndicated programming such as live with kelly and michael the wendy williams show dr. phil jeopardy wheel of fortune the insider and comics unleashed with byron allen in hd . news operation edit wbrz tv 10 p.m. newscast title card used since late 2013 . in 2004 the station dropped its twenty year slogan of on your side and started describing their news as balanced . fair . accurate which was inspired by fox news s fair and balanced slogan . today wbrz refers to itself as news 2 with the slogan turn to us . as of july 29 2007 wbrz morning show 2une in and its noon 4 5 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts can now be viewed in high definition . wbrz is the second station in the baton rouge area and the fourth in louisiana to broadcast their newscasts in high definition . wbrz was baton rouge s news leader in the ratings for much of its early history until the mid 1990s given its history of always broadcasting on channel 2 rival wafb did not move to the vhf band until 1960 and its ties to the baton rouge newspapers the morning advocate and the state times . the station experienced a ratings decline when ed buggs the first african american anchor in baton rouge and many of its veteran anchors left the station in the mid to late 1990s amidst several format changes . this allowed cbs affiliate wafb to overtake the lead in local news ratings after competing with wbrz for the first place rating throughout the decade . 5 on november 17 2014 wbrz introduced their new state of the art upgrades set on their 5 p.m. newscasts while maintaining the news theme extreme by stephen arnold music which the station has used since its 2007 hd upgrade . 6 notable former on air staff edit kip holden public relations specialist now mayor president of baton rouge 7 margaret orr now at wdsu tv new orleans jay young news anchor external links edit wbrz homepage query the fcc s tv station database for wbrz biafn s media web database information on wbrz tv references edit broadcasting yearbooks various rabbitears tv query for wbrz dtv tentative channel designations for the first and the second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . cdbs print http www.businessreport.com news 2001 dec 31 ron winders heads back to savannah http www.wbrz.com videos wbrz s new set http brgov.com dept mayor bio.htm v t e television stations in eastern acadiana and the florida parishes including baton rouge and morgan city reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television local stations wbrz tv 2.1 abc 2.2 news2 louisiana 2.3 wx kjun cd 7.1 ind. wafb 9.1 cbs 9.2 bounce tv wbxh cd 9.4 mntv kpbn ld 11.1 pursuit channel kzup cd 19.1 independent wbrl cd 21.1 cw kwbj cd 22.1 youtoo wsty ld 23.1 the family channel wlpb 27.1 pbs lpb 27.2 lpb pbs 27.3 create wlft cd 30.1 religious metv 30.2 metv 30.3 gettv 30.4 anttv soon wvla tv 33.1 nbc 33.2 laff wbxh cd 39.1 mntv 39.2 grit 39.3 escape kbtr cd 41.1 independent this tv kgla dt 42.1 tmd wgmb tv 44.1 fox 44.2 the cw w48dw d 48.1 daystar klwb tv 50.1 metv 50.2 h & i kdcg cd cable channels metro 21 cox 4 catholic life adjacent locals lafayette katc 3.1 abc 3.2 the cw 3.3 grit klfy 10.1 cbs 10.2 gettv 10.3 ion television kadn 15.1 fox 15.2 nbc klaf ld 15.3 mntv kdcg cd 22.1 heroes & icons klpb 24.1 pbs lpb 24.2 pbs kids encore 24.3 create kxkw ld 32.1 asn 32.2 anttv klaf ld 46.1 nbc klwb 50.1 metv 50.2 heroes & icons kdcg cd new orleans wwl 4.1 cbs 4.2 justice 4.3 decades wdsu 6.1 nbc 6.2 metv wvue 8.1 fox 8.2 grit wyes 12.1 pbs 12.2 pbs kids world 12.3 create whno 20.1 lesea 20.2 weathernation tv 20.3 cozi tv wgno 26.1 abc 26.2 antenna tv 26.3 escape wlae 32.1 public ind. 32.2 mhz worldview 32.3 catholictv 32.4 v me wnol 38.1 cw 38.2 this tv 38.3 comet kgla 42.1 tmd