Always there with a one-liner. His funeral was held on Monday afernoon. Joe R Langston, 59. Joseph Leonard Langston (born January 1, 1932 in Brownsville, Tuscaloosa County; died June 21, 2014 in Vestavia Hills) was a long-time news director for WBRC-TV. According to . WBRC began producing live local programming in 1950 after it converted the building that formerly housed WBRC-FM into a makeshift television studio; the station also acquired additional studio camera equipment, including shows such as Coffee Break, Supersonic Sam and Cowboy Theatre. as a tentpole between the 9:00 and 10:00p.m. newscasts from the September 1996 switch until September 2002, when it expanded the prime time newscast to one hour (WBRC is one of several Fox stations that offer newscasts in both the final hour of prime time and the traditional late news timeslot, one of the few affiliated with the network that runs a nightly newscast in the latter slot and one of the few to continue its Big Three-era late-evening newscast after switching to Fox). I'm Sarah Verser. Langston, a well-known and respected journalist, died early Saturday morning. In September 1950, WBRC established a coaxial cable link with fellow NBC-DuMont affiliate WRGB (now a CBS affiliate) in Schenectady, New York, allowing the station to broadcast NBC and DuMont network programs both live and live-to-air. "There's the Joe Langston you got on the air, serious, sometimes stern," JSU assistant professor Jerry Chandler recalled. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - WBRC FOX6 News pioneer, Pat Gray, has passed away. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. Send flowers or a gift to a service or family's home. While a textbook was required for Langston's class, Hathcock recalls Langston not relying on it very heavily, choosing instead to talk about his real world work. [35] In July 2008, the station announced that James-Paul Dice a former meteorologist at CBS affiliate WHNT-TV in Huntsville would replace Neal as chief meteorologist. He also served on the boards of the Tuscaloosa County Tuberculosis Association, the Alabama Arthritis Foundation, and the Alabama Multiple Sclerosis Society, and served as a deacon for Mountain Brook Baptist Church. Langston died at his home Saturday. Channel 6 could make a plausible claim to be not only the most-watched station in the Birmingham market but in the entire state of Alabama, thanks in part to unusually weak competition. In May 2008, David Neal (who had been with WBRC since 1997) filed a breach of contract and fraud lawsuit against WBRC and members of the station's management team, after he was fired as chief meteorologist of the station's weather department without explanation that March. The FCC later granted WBRC to reclaim the top level of the tower for its main antenna, improving its digital coverage area (the former main antenna remains in use as an auxiliary antenna). She was among the . However, Taft had very good relations with ABC. Langston was inducted into the Alabama Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2009. Like many network affiliates, WBRC-TV would preempt ABC programming occasionally or regularly, in some cases. WBRC: Birthday Party (with Joe Langston) WBRC: Bozo the Clown (Bart Darby, Ward McIntyre) WBRC: The Bugs Bunny Show (with Benny Carle) WTTO, WDBB: 'Cartoon Clubhouse (with Cliff Holman) WVTM-TV, WABT: Channel 13 Theatre (Bill Wright) WBRC: Circle Six Ranch (with Benny Carle) WIAT, WBMG: The Dick Tracy Show (with Neal Miller) The call letters were immediately changed to WAAY-TV. Joe was born in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama and graduated from the University of Alabama in 1954. We used to play jokes on one another, do silly things. Later he joined the news team at WVTM TV, but returned to WBRC as News Director. However, ABC largely brushed off the preemption issue, even though it would eventually become the No. This also, however, may have been a move to forestall future commercial competition in the market; WBRC and WABT remained the only commercial stations in Birmingham, which would not get a third commercial broadcast television outlet until WBMG (now WIAT) debuted in October 1965, on UHF channel 42, a signal considerably weaker than that of either channels 6 or 13, and a problem which hampered that station's progress until the early 2000s. He was 82 Langston, a native of Tuscaloosa County and a graduate of the University. Langston graduated from Tuscaloosa County High School and began his career in broadcasting at WJRD-AM in 1950 while a student at the University of Alabama. Throughout his career Langston earned every major award from The Associated Press and United Press International. These moves, though, did not immediately affect WBRC's high standing in the ratings or its reputation in the community. He was named news director in 1969. . [1] the "-TV" suffix was dropped from the call sign in June 1999). 1 network nationwide by the late 1970s, because of WBRC's status as central Alabama's dominant station. Following graduation, he joined the army and served two years in Special Ops at Fort Bragg, North Carolina before returning to Tuscaloosa as Student Manager of WNPT. Langston was president of the Alabama Associated Press Broadcasters Association and on the board of directors of the Birmingham Press Club and University of Alabama School of Communication Alumni Association. It may take up to 1 hour for your comment to appear on the website. In a follow-up interview with AL.com this evening, Royer said he has a standard six-month non-compete clause in his contract with NBC 13, but he won't rule out the opportunity to come back at another station in the Birmingham market after those six months expire in mid-December. Veteran WBRC anchor Joe Langston died Saturday. Tim Hollis documented about 1,400 local children's shows in a 2002 book called Hi There, Boys and Girls! Also known as Joseph L Langston, Joseph Langsto, J L Langston. WBRC Fox 6 Chief Meteorologist JP Dice Leaving Fox 6 in July By David Smith. He was named news director in 1969. Following graduation, he joined the Army and served two years in Special Warfare at Fort Bragg, NC. [5] Storer had to sell its broadcast holdings in Birmingham after it purchased radio station WIBG (now WNTP) in Philadelphia and its television sister, WPFH (later WVUE) in Wilmington, Delaware (whose frequency is now occupied by WHYY-TV) to comply with the FCC's ownership limits of that time period. Joe was an active member and Deacon at Mountain Brook Baptist Church. On February 19, 1953, WBRC-TV moved to channel 6 as part of a frequency realignment ordered by the FCC, resulting from the Sixth Report and Order issued the year prior in 1952. On September 17 of that year, the WBRC stations moved to a new, much larger studio facility located on Red Mountain that was built by Storer, where channel 6 continues to operate from to this day. "I don't think he worried about anything. View contact information: phones, addresses, emails and networks. He was named news director in 1969. It also preempted the ABC Evening News (the forerunner to World News Tonight) from the program's debut in 1968 until August 7, 1972 (when both it and WJRT-TV in Flint, Michigan, became the last two ABC affiliates to begin airing the network newscast), as well as daytime network programs at aired during the 10:00a.m. hour. According to al.com, he was best known as the stations anchor, working with Mike Royer, Herb Winches, Pat Gray among others. These were locally produced commercial television programming intended for the child audience with unique hosts and themes. He retired from his post as Chairman of the Department in 1998. WBRC cemented viewer allegiances by carrying a heavy schedule of local programs during the 1960s and 1970s, most notably two long-running morning shows. KFMB, the CBS station in San Diego, debuted an updated news set, which the station described as a major renovation, with a new look and more tec Bri Eggers is joining Boston NBC affiliateWHDH. At that time, WBRC phased out its longstanding "Channel 6" brand and began branding itself as "Fox 6", becoming one of three Fox stations affected by the affiliation deal between the network and New World to adopt Fox's standardized station branding conventions prior to the group's 1996 merger with Fox Television Stations (WGHP and WJBK in Detroit, which became a sister station to WBRC as a result of the New World merger, were the only others to comply with the network's branding techniques; the remaining ten stations did not incorporate network branding until after the merger was finalized). Langston started at Birminghams WBRC in 1963 as the first reporter/anchor hired at the station. WBRC is a Raycom sister station to WSFA, and is located in Birmingham.. Visitation will follow in Hudson Hall. On March 1, 1961, WBRC-TV signed an agreement with ABC to become a full-time affiliate of the network. CBS affiliate WBMG (channel 42, now WIAT), which signed on in October 1965 as the market's third commercial television station, was not a factor and, in fact, was among the lowest-rated major-network affiliates in the nation at some points, making Birmingham a de facto two-station market to industry observers from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s. The station first signed on the air on July 1, 1949, originally broadcasting on VHF channel 4 as WBRC-TV (standing for Bell Radio Company, after Fountain Heights physician J. C. Bell, founder of radio station WBRC (960 AM). He began as a reporter and worked his way up to news anchor, and in 1969 was named Director of News and Editorial Policy. Service will be held on Monday, June 23, 2014 at 2:00 PM at Mountain Brook Baptist Church with visitation following in Hudson Hall. Joe Langston remembered for his years at JSU, Reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley report to prison, Langston, longtime WBRC-TV anchor and reporter, died Friday. In lieu of flowers the family suggest that donations be given to Mountain Brook Baptist Church. Eggers wrote on her facebook page, I am moving to Boston at the beginning of October! He had a great sense of humor.". Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. The terms of the settlement were not immediately disclosed. Call for Action [14][15], Although it was now owned by the O&O group of another network, Fox now had to run channel 6 as an ABC affiliate for more than a year after the purchase was announced as WBRC's affiliation agreement with that network was not set to expire until August 31, 1996. He was genuine, a Real Joe in the best sense of the word, and was a gentleman," Richards said. Beginning in 1966 he was assigned to host the Saturday morning children's show "Birthday Party", which lasted for two years. Refine Your Search Results. [23], On June 25, 2018, Atlanta-based Gray Television announced it had reached an agreement with Raycom to merge their respective broadcasting assets (consisting of Raycom's 63 existing owned-and/or-operated television stations, including WBRC), and Gray's 93 television stations) under the former's corporate umbrella. In October 1987, Taft was restructured into Great American Communications following the completion of a hostile takeover of the group. All rights reserved (About Us). According to . An urban legend regarding the ABC affiliation agreement suggested that the switch was partly motivated by CBS' plans to air Who Speaks For Birmingham?, a controversial CBS Reports documentary focusing on desegregation at Birmingham City Schools that later led to journalist Howard K. Smith's resignation from CBS News after he quoted an anti-desegregation statement by political scientist Edmund Burke in the closing narration, viewed by network president Bill Paley as editorializing his views in support of school integration; however, the special aired on May 18 of that year, two months after the ABC agreement was signed. Your entry has exceeded the maximum character limit. Several members of the news department staff in its early years started at WBRC radio including news anchors Harry Mabry and Joe Langston (the latter of whom would also take on a management role as its director of news and editorial policy in 1969), and sports anchor Tom York. All rights reserved. This type of programming began in the late 1940's and continued into the 1970s. In 1969, former WSGN radio anchor Bill Bolen joined WBRC to replace Harry Mabry as the station's main news anchor; Bolen would remain a fixture at channel 6 (eventually becoming anchor of the station's weekday morning newscast in 1990) for 42 years until his retirement in 2010. Karen Church Out at WBRC After 17 Years By Mark Joyella on Dec. 29, 2015 - 3:28 PM "I paved the way for people who are now becoming my replacements, which I don't appreciate." He graduated in 1954 and served in the U.S. Army as a Radio Broadcast and Propaganda Officer at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was survived by his wife, Margaret, and two children, Joey and Susan. And somehow the two merged into this one persona that we call Joe Langston," Chandler said. Here's something else affecting your wallet: the situation in Iraq is not helping with gas prices here at home. Originally broadcasting for three hours per day, it operated as a primary NBC affiliate (earning the affiliation as a result of WBRC radio's longtime affiliation with the NBC Red Network), and also carried secondary affiliations with ABC and the DuMont Television Network; during the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network. Langston started working at WBRC in 1963. Joe L. Langston January 1, 1932 - June 21, 2014 IN THE CARE OF Ridout's Valley Chapel Joe Leonard Langston, Sr., age 82, of Birmingham, passed away at his home on Friday, June 20, 2014. Unusual for a commercial broadcaster, Storer supported educational television, and the company donated two transmitters and frequencies in the Birmingham market (channels 7 and 10, which were respectively occupied by WCIQ and WBIQ when both stations signed on in 1955) to Alabama Educational Television (now Alabama Public Television). Get TVSpy delivered straight to your inbox, Veteran Birmingham Anchor Joe Langston Dies. The third result is Joe Bennie Langston age 50s in Chiefland, FL. WBRC: Birthday Party(with Joe Langston) WBRC: Bozo the Clown(Bart Darby, Ward McIntyre) WBRC: The Bugs Bunny Show(with Benny Carle) WTTO, WDBB: Cartoon Clubhouse(with Cliff Holman) WVTM-TV, WABT: Channel 13 Theatre(Bill Wright) WBRC: Circle Six Ranch(with Benny Carle) WIAT, WBMG: The Dick Tracy Show(with Neal Miller) Its newscasts were also among the highest-rated local news programs in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s; WBRC had won practically every news timeslot for many years, with WAPI-TV/WVTM-TV coming in at a distant second until the mid-2000s; CBS affiliate WBMG/WIAT was not a factor for either station for most of its history (to the point where it did not even air any newscasts at three different periods between the early 1980s and February 1998). WBRC would become the only remaining station in the BirminghamTuscaloosaAnniston market that was owned by a major commercial broadcast television network, after Media General completed its acquisition of WVTM from NBC Television Stations on June 26, 2006. He went on the air soaking wet that night," Bowen recalled. After WBRC became a Fox station in September 1996, the station shifted its programming focus heavily towards local news, increasing its output from about 25 hours a week to around 40 hours. [3] WBRC-TV originally operated from WBRC radio's facilities on 19th Street and 2nd Avenue, near downtown Birmingham, which originally only housed business and master control operations; the station originally relied mainly on network and film content for much of the programming it broadcast.
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