.svg) | |
| |
|---|---|
| Channels | |
| Branding | WGNO ABC 26; WGNO News |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
|
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| WNOL-TV | |
| History | |
First air date | October 14, 1967 |
Former call signs |
|
Former channel number(s) |
|
| |
Call sign meaning | "Greater New Orleans"[1] |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 72119 |
| ERP | 1,000 kW |
| HAAT | 286 m (938 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 29°57′0″N 89°57′28.0″W / 29.95000°N 89.957778°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | wgno |
WGNO (channel 26) is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside CW owned-and-operated station WNOL-TV (channel 38). The two stations share studios at The Galleria in Metairie; WGNO's transmitter is located in Chalmette, Louisiana.
Channel 26 went on the air October 14, 1967, as WWOM-TV, the first independent station in New Orleans. After being sold in bankruptcy in 1971, the station was renamed WGNO-TV in 1972. For most of its first 16 years on air, the station was known for airing old movies, programs turned down by the local network affiliates, and a series of low-budget local shows. This changed in 1983, when Tribune Broadcasting acquired WGNO-TV; Tribune brought stronger programming purchases, improved local programming, and the resources needed to contend in a market that gained a second major independent station. It was a charter affiliate of The WB in 1995.
The purchase of New Orleans's previous ABC affiliate, WVUE, by a group linked to the Fox network led to an affiliation switch in New Orleans on January 1, 1996, in which ABC programming moved to WGNO. The station also began producing local newscasts, which found some viewers but generally were in fourth-place in the market. Tribune acquired WNOL-TV in 2000, but the stations' operations were not integrated in one facility until July 2005—a month before Hurricane Katrina evicted them from the New Orleans Centre.
In the wake of the hurricane, WGNO lacked permanent studios for two years; it produced local newscasts from a compound of trailers and with anchors reporting from outside for months, but there was little ratings movement. The station changed the format of its evening news programs in 2011 to News with a Twist, mixing news and entertainment features. This lasted until 2020, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and Nexstar's purchase of Tribune.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Stat720314was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Facility Technical Data for WGNO". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.