WBRC

WBRC Birmingham sat down with several residents who were blasted by fire hoses and attacked by dogs in the civil rights marches when they were students in 1963. Now senior citizens, they will never forget what happened.

WBRC, Gray’s Fox affiliate in Birmingham, Ala., plans to roll out a four-spot weather image campaign on Sunday during the Super Bowl. “This was a different type of campaign, built to not look or feel like a local news promo and to create a ‘stop and look’,” says Nate Mills, WBRC’s creative services director.

The return of J-P Dice to WBRC will bring the station’s total number of meteorologists to seven, making the team the largest and most experienced weather department in the state of Alabama and the entire Southeast region, according to the station.

“Nate has obvious talent and I look forward to having him work alongside our incredible creative services department here at WBRC and taking our #1 station to new heights,” says Collin R. Gaston, WBRC’s GM.

These awards honor the best examples from TV stations in the U.S. More than 100 judges from stations across the country chose 100 gold and silver award winners in 50 categories.

The event will offer voters an opportunity to hear candidates discuss the issues of importance to them ahead of the Birmingham mayoral election on Aug. 24.

TV stations make meaningful contributions and connections in a variety of beneficial ways with their communities. Here’s a round-up of how some stations are helping and serving their communities.

When a deadly tornado touched down in Birmingham, Ala., during the late news, WBRC’s coverage led the market in household viewers. Station management says strong First Alert branding and an all-hands approach made the difference.

WVUE, Gray’s Fox affiliate in New Orleans, took a tongue in cheek approach to its Super Bowl Sunday strategy with a series of promos for its 10 o’clock news. “We went hyper local,” said Blaine Strawn, WVUE’s marketing director. “Granted, most viewers outside of New Orleans won’t understand, but we knew our viewers would.”

“Rather than just one promo,” said Scott Brady, WDRB’s creative services VP, “we launched a whole new news campaign. This was a half-day of tremendous viewing sampling with much of our competitors’ audience tuning in as well! The Strategy was Super Bowl Sunday rather than just the Big Game Ad.”