New Orleans Television Stations Rebuild | Community | ABC26.com | WGNO-TV

New Orleans Television Stations Rebuild

NEW ORLEANS — NEW ORLEANS TELEVISION STATIONS BUILD PERMANANT HOME AFTER KATRINA

NEW ORLEANS, LA – After being displaced for two years following the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, Tribune Television New Orleans, WGNO and WNOL, will finally have a permanent home. The respective local ABC and CW (formerly WB) affiliates have been operating out of temporary facilities since the day the storm hit the Gulf coast August 29th, 2005. ABC26 News operated out of the New Orleans Centre for just three weeks before Katrina struck.

"As with many people and businesses in New Orleans, our reconstruction has been a slow and steady one," says Larry Delia, Vice President and General Manager of Tribune Television New Orleans. "I hope our stations can be an example of the region's willingness and tenacity to rebuild and renew the community."

The stations will begin broadcasting from their new facility, a multi-million dollar studio, control room, news operation, and administrative office on August 29th, 2007. The new studios have been constructed at the Galleria building in Jefferson Parish. A more centralized location and greater access to the viewing area will be a new benefit to the stations' move to Metairie. In its efforts to serve the greater New Orleans area, the news department will be a short distance to New Orleans's City Hall, and will have easier access to the metropolitan areas of Jefferson and St. Bernard Parishes and the "North Shore" areas north of Lake Pontchartrain.

Broadcasting out of trailers and other makeshift newsrooms, WGNO's news operation kept the viewers of New Orleans informed and prepared during this time of rebuilding with little interruption. "Maintaining a quality newscast that the public relies on when your station is nomadic can be quite a challenge for anyone," says Bob Noonan, News Director for WGNO-TV. "We've been able to become creative with our storytelling while at the same time getting answers for people who need to get their lives moving forward. As we move into our new home, that will not change at all for us. The staff has learned from this experience, and we're going to move forward and be more involved with the community than ever."

After searching more than 40 locations ABC26 and New Orleans CW decided upon the Galleria due to it being the only available space that could accommodate the specific needs of both stations and its news operations.