2001 riots. News helicopters In 1967, WCPO introduced the Newsbird, the first news-gathering helicopter in Cincinnati and one of the first in the industry to feature live transmissions. On January 17, 1983, the Bell 206B ran out of fuel and crashed outside the station. From 1996 to September 2000, WCPO leased a Bell 206L-3 LongRanger III helicopter out of Lunken Field. Outfitted with several cameras, Chopper 9 was used for traffic reports, updates on construction of Paul Brown Stadium and Fort Washington Way, and Friday night football specials. The helicopter proved especially useful for covering the aftermath of the 1999 Blue Ash tornado. WCPO allowed the lease to expire in 2000, citing its high cost. On February 7, 2014, WCPO debuted another Chopper 9, this time a Bell 206B-3 JetRanger, for daily traffic and news coverage. In 2016, WCPO debuted Sky 9, a quadcopter drone featuring a 4K-resolution camera. WCPO allowed Chopper 9's lease to expire in February 2020 in favor of Sky 9 drone footage. Notable alumni Andrea Canning – evening anchor (former ABC News correspondent, now an NBC News reporter) Gretchen Carlson – reporter (later an anchor of Fox News Channel's Fox and Friends) Nick Clooney – host of The Nick Clooney Show (later an anchor at WKRC-TV) Pete Delkus – chief meteorologist (1996–2005; now chief meteorologist at WFAA in Dallas) Paula Faris – sports anchor (now correspondent for ABC News; former weekend anchor of Good Morning America; former co-host of The View) Brett Haber – weekend sports anchor (formerly sports director at WUSA in Washington, D.C.; formerly anchor of SportsCenter on ESPN) Bill Hemmer (now anchor for Fox News Channel) Bob Holtzman – news reporter (now correspondent for ESPN) "Uncle Al" Lewis – first art director for WCPO, and host of The Uncle Al Show for 35 years (died in 2009) Len Mink – singer/host of The Len Mink Show (now an evangelist/worship leader for meetings held by televangelist Kenneth Copeland) Al Schottelkotte – WCPO's first news anchor and news director (1953–94, died in 1996) Technical information Subchannels The station's digital signal is multiplexed: Subchannel 9.2 previously carried the same 24-hour local weather programming as the Weather Tracker channel on many local cable systems. Subchannel 9.3 previously carried the Live Well Network (2009–2015) until national distribution was discontinued. Subchannel 9.4 was added on May 8, 2019, and Escape, previously subchannel 9.2, was moved to 9.4 with the