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History
Continuing the LegacyBeginning October 6th, 2003, WBRZ expands the noon newscast from 30 minutes to one hour, making it the only local station to offer an hour-long noon show. The newscast will not only contain the day's top stories, but also in-depth interviews and coverage of events in the community.
In an effort to provide the most up-to-date news and weather information, WBRZ adds a 4:00 p.m. newscast beginning September 13, 2004, and is the only station in the area to offer news coverage in that time slot.
A new era of weather forecasting begins in South Louisiana on October 16th, 2004, when WBRZ officially launches its new TrueView weather system. Live TrueView Doppler Radar utilizes NEWRAD radar data from the National Weather Service, the most powerful radars in the world. Now, WBRZ has the power of four Dopplers that sweep beyond Dallas, Mobile and Memphis, covering the entire state of Louisiana, and reaching far out into the Gulf of Mexico. Using the TrueView system before its official launch, WBRZ Chief Forecaster Pat Shingleton was able to declare live on the air that "(Hurricane) Ivan's center of circulation has made landfall off the Alabama coast" at 1:21 a.m. on Thursday, September 16th, 2004. Shingleton issued the announcement well before the National Weather Service made its official announcement, and hours before any other station in Baton Rouge. "Weather forecasting is all about presenting the clearest 'picture' to the viewer," Shingleton said. "As the technology has changed, we've changed with it at WBRZ. With the TrueView technolgy we are presenting the most accurate weather picture available."
WBRZ General Manager Pat Cheramie announces that she will retire on January 31st, 2005 -- her 39th anniversary at the station. In making the announcement, Cheramie said, "I will always be committed to the mission and success of the station and available to anyone who wants to seek my counsel. Working for Richard Manship and with all of the WBRZ family is truly one of God's blessings in my life." While at WBRZ, Cheramie earned many prestigious honors, including LAB Broadcaster of the Year and Lifetime of Distinction Awards, Ad Fed's Pete Goldsby Award, YWCA's Women of Achievement, American Women in Radio and Television's Broadcaster of the Year, SME's Marketer of the Year, Baton Rouge Business Report's 25 Most Influential Women in Baton Rouge, and was inducted into LSU's Manship School of Mass Communications Hall of Fame.
WBRZ names Rocky Daboval to succeed Pat Cheramie as General Manager. Daboval served as Director of Sales for WBRZ for 16 years and is considered one of the leading experts on political advertising and has been instrumental in developing special convergence projects between The Advocate and WBRZ. In making the announcement, WBRZ President Richard Manship said, "Rocky is not only well respected by the business community in Baton Rouge and around the country, but in his 25 years of service to WBRZ, he has earned the respect of the Channel 2 staff."
The Louisiana Association of Broadcasters on March 19th, 2005 recognized WBRZ as the recipient of its 2005 Community Station of the Year award. WBRZ was honored for its yearlong commitment to serving the needs of the community, and this is the 6th time in the last 10 years that WBRZ has won this award.
Also honored by LAB was Andrea Clesi, anchor and reporter at WBRZ for more than 28 years, as the recipient of the 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award. Clesi was recognized for her commitment to giving help, hope and heart to her family, her viewers and her community. Throughout her career, Clesi has positively influenced and inspired others with her work and dedication.
WBRZ News 2 announces that the first ten minutes of its 6:00 p.m. newscast will be simultaneoulsy broadcast on Baton Rouge Citadel station 1300AM WIBR, beginning August 15, 2005. "I'm excited about this opportunity," said WBRZ News Director Chuck Bark. "We're going to be more aggressive in letting South Louisiana know what we're doing. Simulcasting the first portion of our 6 p.m. broadcast on radio will allow us to extend our brand and to get listeners to sample our product. Listeners are our viewers."
WBRZ History was excerpted from station press releases and "The Best of Baton Rouge," a public service booklet published by WBRZ in 1997 as a history of both Baton Rouge and WBRZ and dedicated to Douglas L. Manship Sr. (History from 1997 on was added in 2003.)
