Note, the “S” is upside-down, and they tried to hide an old tree-shaped element of their logo by painting it brown
WEEK 16 – Elsewhere around Greenville
(2/4)
WXVT and WABG quickly became rivals. Over time, Greenville’s population waned, ultimately reaching the point where having two separate local news operations didn’t really seem warranted anymore. But on they both went, even into the mid-2010s. In 2015, the two stations – and the Greenville market in general – hit the national spotlight, when truTV debuted the reality series “Breaking Greenville.”
Originally filmed as a pilot in 2013 focusing solely on WABG, the show eventually morphed into a showcase of the small-town rivalry between WABG and WXVT. WABG was the older of the two stations and also always the consistently higher-rated, but WXVT was creeping up on them. The series was to culminate with the reveal of which station won the ratings books for that period.
An interesting concept, but one sure to be full of mimicking and mocking, as it felt more like this would be a comedy than a true, heartfelt documentary. Indeed, in its review of the show, The New York Times wrote, “We’ve had mockumentaries that look almost exactly like the shows or movies they’re parodying, and now we have a reality show that looks almost exactly like a mockumentary.” It probably didn’t help that all of the newscasters featured in the program were, by their own admissions, a cast of characters in their own right. But hey, for a place like Greenville, any publicity is good publicity, right?
I’m guessing the show was not successful enough, as it lasted only the one season. Unfortunately, I only learned about it after the fact. I’d like to watch it one day, but I’m not ready quite yet to pay $15 for it. The best I could find otherwise was this TV interview about the show on MSNBC’s “Reporter’s Notebook,” which contains some clips from the series. (Even without the clips, though, that’s a must-watch interview.)
Read more reviews of “Breaking Greenville” from The Clarion Ledger, The Boston Herald, and The Wrap. Also check out “A brief history of Delta television,” as well as a 1987 newspaper article on the “battle for supremacy” between WXVT and WABG, but be warned of spoilers of my next descriptions in the former.
WXVT-TV (abandoned) // 3015 E Reed Road, Greenville, MS 38703
(c) 2020 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
Note, the “S” is upside-down, and they tried to hide an old tree-shaped element of their logo by painting it brown
WEEK 16 – Elsewhere around Greenville
(2/4)
WXVT and WABG quickly became rivals. Over time, Greenville’s population waned, ultimately reaching the point where having two separate local news operations didn’t really seem warranted anymore. But on they both went, even into the mid-2010s. In 2015, the two stations – and the Greenville market in general – hit the national spotlight, when truTV debuted the reality series “Breaking Greenville.”
Originally filmed as a pilot in 2013 focusing solely on WABG, the show eventually morphed into a showcase of the small-town rivalry between WABG and WXVT. WABG was the older of the two stations and also always the consistently higher-rated, but WXVT was creeping up on them. The series was to culminate with the reveal of which station won the ratings books for that period.
An interesting concept, but one sure to be full of mimicking and mocking, as it felt more like this would be a comedy than a true, heartfelt documentary. Indeed, in its review of the show, The New York Times wrote, “We’ve had mockumentaries that look almost exactly like the shows or movies they’re parodying, and now we have a reality show that looks almost exactly like a mockumentary.” It probably didn’t help that all of the newscasters featured in the program were, by their own admissions, a cast of characters in their own right. But hey, for a place like Greenville, any publicity is good publicity, right?
I’m guessing the show was not successful enough, as it lasted only the one season. Unfortunately, I only learned about it after the fact. I’d like to watch it one day, but I’m not ready quite yet to pay $15 for it. The best I could find otherwise was this TV interview about the show on MSNBC’s “Reporter’s Notebook,” which contains some clips from the series. (Even without the clips, though, that’s a must-watch interview.)
Read more reviews of “Breaking Greenville” from The Clarion Ledger, The Boston Herald, and The Wrap. Also check out “A brief history of Delta television,” as well as a 1987 newspaper article on the “battle for supremacy” between WXVT and WABG, but be warned of spoilers of my next descriptions in the former.
WXVT-TV (abandoned) // 3015 E Reed Road, Greenville, MS 38703
(c) 2020 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)