Qualla: WDBJ https://qualla.com/wdbj en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:06 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/x/5/wdbj-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: WDBJ https://qualla.com/wdbj WDBJ: Introduction https://qualla.com/wdbj/ Photo credit Shaynedwyer, CC BY-SA 4.0. On August 26, 2015, Alison Parker, 24, was conducting a routine live interview at Bridgewater Plaza on Smith Mountain Lake. She was the morning correspondent for WDBJ's Mornin. Adam Ward, 27, was on camera. They were talking with Vicki Gardner, executive director of the local chamber of commerce, about plans for the lake's 50th anniversary. The interview ran a few minutes after 6:45 a.m. before everything went terribly wrong. The station to which Parker and Ward belonged had been on the air since 1955 — a tower on Poor Mountain, the corner of Brandon and Colonial Avenues for decades, and a long quiet history of being the most-watched newscast in Roanoke. After that morning, none of it would be quite separable from what was lost.

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Image: Shaynedwyer | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/x/5/wdbj-wp/dnx5-wdbj-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full WDBJ: Sign-On https://qualla.com/wdbj/ Photo credit Shaynedwyer, CC BY-SA 4.0. WDBJ-TV first signed on the air on October 3, 1955, owned by the Times-World Corporation, which also published the Roanoke Times and Roanoke World-News. It was the third TV station to launch in Roanoke, joining NBC affiliate WSLS-TV and the short-lived WROV-TV. CBS was the natura...

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Image: Shaynedwyer | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/x/5/wdbj-wp/dnx5-wdbj-sign-on.mp3 0:06 2 full WDBJ: Andy Griffith and the 5:30 Rerun That Wouldn't Quit https://qualla.com/wdbj/ Photo credit Shaynedwyer, CC BY-SA 4.0. For 35 years, reruns of The Andy Griffith Show held the 5:30 p.m. slot. It started in 1984 as a piece of programming and turned into a local institution — a half-hour of Mayberry that consistently beat first-run syndication and competing newscasts. Even when WDBJ's management rea...

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Image: Shaynedwyer | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/x/5/wdbj-wp/dnx5-wdbj-andy-griffith-and-the-5-30-rerun-that-wouldnt-quit.mp3 0:06 3 full WDBJ: Owners, Sales, and a $325,000 Mistake https://qualla.com/wdbj/ Photo credit Shaynedwyer, CC BY-SA 4.0. Times-World merged with Norfolk-based Landmark Communications in 1969 — and the WDBJ stations had to be divested, because FCC rules at the time barred the new combined company from owning the Roanoke broadcaster. WDBJ was sold to South Bend, Indiana-based Schurz Communications. T...

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Image: Shaynedwyer | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/x/5/wdbj-wp/dnx5-wdbj-owners-sales-and-a-325-000-mistake.mp3 0:06 4 full WDBJ: Alison Parker and Adam Ward https://qualla.com/wdbj/ Photo credit Shaynedwyer, CC BY-SA 4.0. Alison Bailey Parker grew up in Martinsville, attended Patrick Henry Community College and James Madison University, interned at WDBJ in 2012, worked for an ABC affiliate in New Bern, North Carolina, and was hired at WDBJ in 2014 as a correspondent for the morning show. Adam Lain...

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Image: Shaynedwyer | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 31 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/n/x/5/wdbj-wp/dnx5-wdbj-alison-parker-and-adam-ward.mp3 0:06 5 full