WDBJ 7: Your ‘Digitized’ Hometown Station

WDBJ 7 has been serving the Roanoke-Lynchburg area since 1955. The station came on-air under the ownership of the Times-World Corporation of Roanoke (owners of the Roanoke newspaper and founder of WDBJ Radio). In 1969, the station was sold to Schurz Communications and has been owned by this company ever since.

WDBJ 7 was first housed in the Mountain Trust Bank Building in downtown Roanoke. The station later moved to the mezzanine of the Times-World Building and then to its studios on Colonial Avenue in 1959.

And in an effort to accommodate the upcoming digital transition, the station moved once more to its current location on Hershberger Road in 2002.

A successful digital transition is one of the station’s biggest goals and it is preparing itself, as well as its viewers, for the change. “WDBJ 7 has a long way to go as far as educating the public on its nearly obsolete analog television sets,” states General Manager Robert Lee. “In 2009, these old sets simply will not work.”

The station has pointed out the positive aspects of the transition and reasons for making the investment to its viewers. Multiple choices in channel selection, high definition and wide screen are only a few advantages.

WDBJ 7 is operating under a five-year program, specifically designed to provide information on the digital transition, e.g. the difference between standard versus wide screen. Online forums are one vein that the station has tapped into, in an effort to relay this message.

Lee further explains that WDBJ 7 has the challenge of delivering information in a way that is attractive to its viewers. It is important for the station to fill the growing appetite of a consumer, who desires features such as Video-on-Demand (VoD).

In his sixteen years with the station, Lee has seen numerous technological advances. “When I came on, the station was working in a three channel universe. Today we function in a 300 channel universe.” Such progress has made operating more challenging, yet created possibilities predecessors could only imagine. Multiple satellite and microwave trucks have deepened and broadened news coverage in a way that otherwise would not have been possible.

And the station’s primary focus is on news: “Our newscast is the hallmark of our station. Most attention and passion is put towards maintaining leadership in that area,” contends Lee.

Political coverage, in particular is important to station viewers and WDBJ 7 strives to serve as “eyes and ears” on Capitol Hill. “They [viewers] depend on hearing prompt information on legislative issues,” Lee explains. The station has fostered notable newscasters, including White House Correspondent Ann Compton.

Serving the community remains a core goal of WDBJ 7. The station aims to be as responsive as possible to non-profit groups who are having an increasingly difficult time in getting news coverage. Lee explains: “We adhere to the old fashion notion that local TV and radio stations have the general responsibility to have an interest in serving their local community.”

The new WDBJ 7 facility features a community room, in which local organizations can reserve and conduct their meetings at no charge. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Red Cross conducted their disaster training in this room. The community appreciates the efforts of WDBJ 7 and this gratitude is reflected in the station’s ratings.

“Our central goal is to continue to be the leading TV station throughout central and southwest Virginia,” states Lee. “We have maintained that goal and really like being number one.”