WMAR was founded by the A. S. Abell Company, publisher of the Sunpapers (The Baltimore Sun and its evening counterpart, The Evening Sun) and was the first completed phase of the Sunpapers ' expansion into broadcasting; the newspapers also held construction permits for WMAR-FM, which signed-on at 97.9 MHz (frequency now occupied by WIYY) in January 1948 and a proposed WMAR (AM), which never made it to air. WMAR is also one of ten television stations that airs the "Don't Waste Your Money" series of consumer reports from John Matarese, based at sister station On October 4, 2010, WMAR-TV became the last station in the market and the last Scripps-owned station to air newscasts in high definition.On April 18, 2011 WMAR became Baltimore's first TV station to expand its local news to 4:30 a.m. WMAR-TV anchors Kelly Swoope and Jamie Costello prepare for live shot in downtown Baltimore, April 27, 2011WMAR Channel 2 - The Sunpapers station id from 1947WMAR Channel 2 - A Sunpapers Television Station ident from the mid 1960'sWMAR Newscene 2 5:30PM, 6PM & 11PM Weeknight - John Saunders With Sports - Weeknights promo from 1983WMAR Channel 2 - Wheel Of Fortune Syndicated-Version promo from late 1983WMAR Channel 2, Let's All Be There id from late 1984WMAR Channel 2 - Donahue - Weekdays promo from late 1984WMAR Newscene 2 Nightside - Tonight id for May 24, 1985WMAR Newscene 2 Nightside - Tonight id #2 for May 24, 1985WMAR Channel 2 - Next Question - Saturday promo for May 25, 1985WMAR Channel 2 - Baltimore Orioles Baseball Line-Up - Wednesday id for May 29, 1985NBC Network - NBC Sunday Night At The Movies bumper w/WMAR-TV Baltimore byline from Fall 1985WMAR Channel 2 News open from late 1985 - Day-VariationWMAR Channel 2 News open from late 1985 - Night-VariationWMAR Channel 2 - Come Home To Channel 2 promo from late 1986WMAR Channel 2 News Nightside Weeknight open from 1987WMAR Channel 2 - Come On Home To Channel 2 id from late 1987WMAR Newschannel 2 Nightside Weeknight - Next promo for January 25, 1994WMAR Newschannel 2 First At 5PM Weeknight - Today ident for April 29, 1996WMAR ABC2 News - Chief Meteorologist Norm Lewis w/Weather promo from late March 2003WMAR ABC2 News - All New At 6PM open from early October 2010WMAR ABC2 News - Democracy 2010 open from early October 2010WMAR ABC2 News - Baltimore Ravens open from early October 2010WMAR ABC 2 News - Maryland's Most Accurate Weather open from 2013WMAR ABC2 - Happy Halloween ident from late October 2014WMAR ABC2 - FABLife - Premiering Monday promo for September 14, 2015WMAR ABC2 - FABLife - Weekdays promo from Mid-September 2015WMAR ABC2 - FABLife - Weekdays promo #2 from Mid-September 2015WMAR ABC2 News - Pope Francis Visit open from late September 2015WMAR ABC2 - The Muppets - Thursdays promo for Fall 2015WMAR 2 News open from Mid-April 2018 - Night-VariationWMAR 2 News - Maryland's Most Accurate Weather open from Mid-April 2018WMAR 2 News - Baltimore Orioles open from Mid-April 2018WMAR 2 News 11PM Weeknight open from April 16, 2018WMAR 2 News - Working For You promo from Mid-April 2018WMAR 2 News - Working For You promo #2 from Mid-April 2018WMAR 2 News - Former First Lady Barbara Bush: 1925-2018 open from Mid-Late April 2018WMAR 2 News 11PM Weeknight - Next promo for April 20, 2018WMAR 2 News 11PM Weeknight open from April 20, 2018WMAR 2 News 11PM Weeknight close from April 20, 2018Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat.
One of WMAR's early local personalities was Jim McKay, who later moved over to CBS briefly before achieving greater fame on ABC as host of Wide World of Sports and Olympic coverage. It was the first television station in Maryland, and was the fourteenth television station in the United States to begin commercial operations. In the end, however, Scripps' license to operate WMAR-TV on channel 2 was reaffirmed by the FCC, and WBFF permanently remained on channel 45.
The Cincinnati-based E. W. Scripps Company announced its purchase of the station in the summer of 1990, but in February 1991 the transfer was canceled after Scripps accused Gillett of misreporting WMAR's financial statements. With the loss of the grandfathered protection between the former Abell media properties, Times-Mirror opted to keep The Sunpapers and sold WMAR-TV (and WRLH-TV in Richmond) to Gillett Communications in July 1986. On May 13, 2014, after a station security guard denied him entry into WMAR-TV's studio/offices, 28-year-old Vladimir Baptiste crashed a pickup truck into the building lobby–which was stolen around 12:00 p.m. from a Maryland State Highway Administration subcontractor.
Locally, it triggered Baltimore's second network affiliation swap, which saw WMAR-TV switch to ABC, WBAL-TV reuniting with NBC and CBS moving to WJZ-TV. Gillett then took legal action against Scripps, but both sides settled and the sale went forward. However, the combination of the Sunpapers and WMAR-TV was one of several combinations that were "grandfathered" under these rules.
Since the switch, WMAR-TV has seen a drastic drop in viewership for its 5:00–6:30 p.m. news block, while WBAL-TV has thrived in that time slot. WMAR-TV's studios, offices, transmitter and tower were initially located at the present-day Bank of America Building in downtown Baltimore; the studios were later shifted into a larger space adjacent to the building.
Indeed, ABC's ratings in Baltimore went into a steep decline after the switch, with a number of programs falling from first to third in the Baltimore ratings in one stroke.
The second switch occurred on January 2, 1995. After filing for bankruptcy sometime later, Gillett restructured its television holdings into SCI Television, and in the early 1990s, SCI put WMAR-TV back on the market. By contrast, WJZ-TV dominated the ratings in the Baltimore market when it was affiliated with ABC before it switched to CBS.However, WMAR boasts one of the most respected sports departments in the region, thanks in large part to the presence of longtime anchor and former All WMAR newscasts as well as other WMAR produced programming are streamed live on the station's website. The "bisected" 2 … WMAR-TV, virtual channel 2 (UHF digital channel 38), is an independent television station licensed to Baltimore, Maryland, United States. WMAR-TV moved into its present facility, known originally as "Television Park" on York Road, in May 1963. (Bentley later ran several times and was finally elected as the U.S. Representative from Maryland, serving several terms. Officers found weapons in the truck, but there were no reports of gunshots being fired. Channel 2 WMAR News TV is an ABC-affiliated TV Channel that works in South Dakota, United States.
No staffers inside the building were injured. BALTIMORE — WMAR-2 News can be found all across popular streaming devices, including Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV.