This article is about the television station which formerly used the WLWC callsign. For the television station in Providence, Rhode Island that currently uses that callsign, see WLWC.
Columbus' first television station began operations on April 3, 1949, as WLWC on channel 3.[3] The station's original owner was the Cincinnati-based Crosley Broadcasting Corporation, a division of the Avco Company. Crosley also owned WLW radio and WLWT television in Cincinnati, as well as WLWD television (now WDTN) in Dayton. Together these stations comprised the "WLW Television Network", a regional group of inter-connected stations.[4][5] Until the mid-1960s, the stations emphasized their connection to each other within their on-air branding; the Columbus station was known as "WLW-C". The station's studios were originally located in the Seneca Hotel in downtown Columbus before WLWC moved into their present facility on Olentangy River Road, five months after the station signed on.
Like all of the WLW television stations in Ohio, WLWC was an NBC affiliate, though it carried some programming from the DuMont network until WTVN-TV (now WSYX) took the DuMont affiliation when that station launched in September 1949. In 1952, following the release of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s Sixth Report and Order which ended the four-year freeze on station license awards, a VHF frequency realignment resulted in WLWC being forced to move to channel 4, trading channels with then-NBC-owned WNBK (now WKYC) in Cleveland;[6][7] the switch took place in June 1953.[8]
1969 Advertisement for The Bob Braun Show appearing in TV Guide.
In 1969, the FCC enacted its "one-to-a-market" rule, which prohibited common ownership of AM radio and television stations with overlapping coverage areas under certain conditions while grandfathering some already existing instances. Avco's ownership of WLWC, WLWT, WLWD, and WLW radio (a 50,000-watt, clear-channel station which can also be heard throughout much of eastern North America at night) was granted protection under the clause. But as a condition of maintaining three television stations with common coverage areas Crosley/Avco operated WLWC, WLWT, and WLWD with shorter transmission towers. In 1975, Avco announced the sale of its broadcasting outlets; channel 4 was sold in February 1976 to the Providence, Rhode Island–based Outlet Company, who then changed the station's call letters to the current WCMH-TV on the 3rd.[1][9][10][11] The call letters were selected to match the IATA airport code for what is now John Glenn Columbus International Airport, "CMH".
The old WCMH TV "Chopper 4" landed at Wellston Heliport Base while covering a breaking news story, as Grant Lifeflight II's BK 117 N4493X sits nearbyWCMH-TV logo, 2008 to 2011.
For many years, WLWC/WCMH-TV has shared NBC programming in the eastern part of the market with WHIZ-TV (channel 18) in Zanesville despite channel 4 itself covering Zanesville and covering weather reports as far east as Cambridge (part of the Wheeling, West Virginia–Steubenville, Ohio market and served by WTOV-TV for NBC) and all other major network affiliates in Columbus covering Muskingum County as default affiliates, since Zanesville is considered a separate TV market from Columbus. WHIZ-TV would also serve somewhat as a buffer for WCMH-TV after WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh signed on in 1958 and had to "box in" its signal to protect then-WLWC and threeotherstations also broadcasting on channel 4.
Outlet merged with NBC in 1996, and channel 4 became an NBC owned-and-operated station, spending much of the next decade as one of two stations in the market to hold this status; the other was UPN's WWHO, (channel 53, owned by that network's corporate parent Viacom from 1997 to 2005). From 1996 to 1999, channel 4 was technically a sister station to Cleveland's WKYC through NBC's minority ownership of that station, though they had ceded operational control to Gannett (now Tegna Inc., which now also owns WBNS-TV) by that point.
WCMH-TV was placed up for sale by NBCUniversal on January 9, 2006, along with sister stations WJAR in Providence, WVTM-TV in Birmingham, Alabama, and WNCN-TV in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Media General, the Richmond, Virginia-based company which already owned five NBC affiliates in the southeastern United States, announced it would purchase the four stations on April 6, 2006; the sale was finalized on June 26, 2006.[12] As a result, channel 4 became Media General's first station in the Great Lakes region.
For several months after the sale closed, WCMH's website and those of the other three stations remained in the format used by the websites of NBC-owned stations. In December 2006, WNCN and WJAR launched redesigned websites, which are no longer powered by Internet Broadcasting. On December 11, 2006, WVTM's website followed suit, followed by WCMH on December 14. Media General has since located the master control for all Media General NBC affiliates at its Columbus studios.[13] In 2013, Media General migrated its television station web sites to Worldnow (who provided video services to the company's in-house web site operations prior to the hosting deal). Following the company's takeover by the principal staff of LIN, the Media General station web sites are now hosted by WordPress.com.
With subsequent sales and affiliation switches involving the other three stations NBC sold to Media General in 2006, WCMH was the last of the four that had had both the same owner and the same network affiliation that it had since 2006. (WJAR and WVTM were sold to Sinclair and Hearst Television, respectively, in 2014, while WNCN switched its network affiliation from NBC to CBS in 2016.) WCMH would be reunited with WDTN (the former WLWD) in 2014 when Media General purchased LIN Media, which also made WCMH a sister station to LIN's properties in Youngstown (CBS affiliate WKBN-TV, Fox affiliate WYFX-LD, and ABC-affiliated SSA partner WYTV) within Ohio.
On January 27, 2016, it was announced that the Nexstar Broadcasting Group would buy Media General for $4.6 billion. WCMH became part of "Nexstar Media Group". The deal closed on January 17, 2017.[14] Following the acquisitions of West Virginia Media Holdings (which closed two weeks after the Media General deal) and Tribune Media in 2019, WCMH is now a sister station to four other stations serving Ohio: Fox affiliate WJW in Cleveland, CBS affiliates WOWK-TV in Charleston–Huntington, West Virginia and WTRF-TV in Wheeling–Steubenville, and NBC affiliate WDTN in Dayton.
News operation
WCMH-TV's former studio in downtown Columbus, at the northeast corner of Broad and High streets.WCMH's former helicopter.1957 TV Guide Advertisement for WLW-C (WCMH) News with longtime anchor Hugh DeMoss, later Franklin County, Ohio Commissioner.WLWC's studio building, 3165 Olentangy River Road in Columbus, under Avco ownership in the 1960s. The station's transmitter and tower were also located here, until they were moved to WBNS-TV's then-new candelabra tower in the early 1980s.WCMH-TV's studios in 2021.
WCMH presently broadcasts 49 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with eight hours each weekday, five hours on Saturdays and four hours on Sundays); in regards to the number of hours devoted to news programming, it is the highest local newscast output among the Columbus market's television stations on an individual basis, though WSYX currently broadcasts 63+1⁄2 hours of local newscasts per week on both its main signal and WSYX-DT3.
For most of its history, WLWC/WCMH-TV has been second in the Columbus ratings, except for the station's 11p.m. news, which occasionally beats market leader WBNS-TV, though since WBNS-TV's sale to Tegna, Inc. in 2019, WCMH has been second behind WSYX, with WBNS-TV's ratings having plummeted.[15] Typical with Nexstar-owned stations, WCMH-TV generally carries a straight newscast with emphasis on local coverage; WBNS-TV drifted away from such coverage and more towards lifestyle news under Tegna ownership while WSYX has long favored a more activist-style approach. Channel 4 has also emphasized community involvement and reporters with local roots such as current evening anchor Kerry Charles, a native of Columbus's Linden neighborhood.
From 1957 to 1980 Hugh DeMoss anchored channel 4's evening newscasts, called The DeMoss Report; following the sale of the station to Outlet, the broadcasts were rebranded as NewsWatch 4. During the late 70s into the early 80s, the station languished in third place. But channel 4's fortunes began to change when, in 1983, the station brought in veteran news anchor Doug Adair and his then-wife, reporter Mona Scott, from WKYC-TV in Cleveland as the station's main anchoring team. They continued the "happy talk" format as well as launching the 5:30p.m. newscast. WCMH began a slow rise that would result in the station overcoming WBNS to reach number-one in the market, and in the process, the mid-1980s NewsWatch 4 team of Adair, Scott, meteorologist Jym Ganahl (with the station from 1979 until retiring in September 2016, currently at WSYX), and sportscaster Jimmy Crum (who joined the station shortly after its 1949 debut) became the most popular anchor team in Columbus television history. This also coincided with NBC's becoming the number one network during that time.
The 1990s brought changes to the normally stable WCMH-TV. In 1990, personal reasons forced Mona Scott to leave channel 4, and she was replaced at the anchor desk by Angela Pace. Pace would leave for WBNS-TV in 1992, and Doug Adair and Jimmy Crum both retired in 1994. WCMH's new anchoring team featured Colleen Marshall, who had been a reporter for the station since the mid-1980s; and Cabot Rea, a former weekend sports anchor and weekday features reporter. The pair helmed WCMH-TV's evening newscasts until Rea's retirement on December 18, 2015. Marshall and Rea worked together overall for 23 years, the longest tenured co-anchoring team in Columbus television history.
The changes resulted in an earlier audience fall-off, but channel 4 once again passed WBNS-TV for the overall lead for a time in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and often won 11 p.m. news ratings over WBNS (due to NBC winning prime time and late night ratings over CBS during those years). For much of the first decade of the new millennium, WCMH also won the morning news race, but the numbers dropped precipitously after the broadcast was moved into NBC 4 on the Square, a downtown studio facility located on Broad and High streets, in 2008.
On January 4, 2008, WCMH became the second major Columbus station to begin broadcasting local newscasts in high definition. Prior to the opening of NBC 4 on the Square on May 27, channel 4 had planned to move its entire news operation to that facility. However, when those plans fell through, WCMH's main studio was upgraded to high definition. (Ultimately, NBC 4 on the Square was used only for some of the station's weekday morning shows.) Like most other stations with high-definition newscasts, WCMH relied mostly on upconverted 16:9 widescreen standard definition footage for its remote field reports until the summer of 2014 where all remote field operations were upgrade to 16:9 1080i HD. On May 11, 2011, NBC 4 on the Square came to an end due to dismal ratings (it has remained a distant second to WBNS-TV on weekday mornings ever since NBC4 on the Square was founded), with the morning newscast productions returning to the main WCMH facility full-time, and the downtown space was soon leased to WBNS-TV.[16]
In January 2011, the station debuted a new rounded logo and new image promos emphasizing its long-time personalities and community involvement.
Notable current on-air staff
Monica Day – morning news anchor of NBC4 Today from 4 to 7 a.m.
WCMH replaced RTV with MeTV on September 26, 2011, as part of a groupwide affiliation agreement with Media General; the channel replaced RTV on some Media General-owned stations in other markets.[18] MeTV was replaced by Court TV on September 26, 2019. Court TV was replaced with Grit on April 1, 2023.
As part of a deal between Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcast Group (owner of WSYX and operator of WTTE and WWHO), on January 7, 2021,[21] WCMH-TV started hosting the ATSC 1.0 channel for WWHO 53.3 as part of Columbus's adoption of ATSC 3.0 using the HVEC video compression standard. Simultaneous with the move, WCMH-TV's main signal is now broadcasting in ATSC 3.0 on WWHO alongside WWHO's main signal, WSYX 6.3 (the former intellectual property of WTTE), and WTTE 28.2.[22] The move left WBNS-TV as the only major network station in Columbus not broadcasting in ATSC 3.0 in some capacity.
Video links
Crowds gathering in the 1950s to watch Lex's Live Wrestling broadcast from Memorial Hall in Columbus, Ohio on WLW-C (now WCMH).
1955 WLW Weathercast – Weather and news reports originated from WLW-T and were relayed to each station by microwave link for broadcast to Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton audiences. The Three City Final newscast aired on WLW-C until December 1957; WLW-T weather forecasts continued to air until 1965 or 1966.[24]
Paul Dixon Show – Another staple of WLW regional programming was the Paul Dixon Show originating in Cincinnati and airing mornings on all WLW stations. Comedian and talk show host David Letterman credits Paul Dixon as being the inspiration for his show.
WTTE is a television station in Columbus, Ohio, United States, airing programming from TBD. It is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Sinclair Broadcast Group—owner of ABC and Fox affiliate WSYX —for the provision of certain services, and is operated from studios on Dublin Road alongside CW affiliate WWHO. WTTE's transmitter is located in the Franklinton section of Columbus.
WWHO is a television station licensed to Chillicothe, Ohio, United States, serving the Columbus area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Manhan Media, Inc., which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of ABC/MyNetworkTV/Fox affiliate WSYX, for the provision of certain services. Sinclair also operates TBD station WTTE under a separate LMA with Cunningham Broadcasting; however, Sinclair effectively owns WTTE as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. The three stations share studios on Dublin Road in Grandview Heights ; WWHO's transmitter is located in the Franklinton section of Columbus.
WKEF is a television station in Dayton, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC, Fox, and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to Dabl affiliate WRGT-TV under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Cunningham Broadcasting. However, Sinclair effectively owns WRGT-TV as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. The two stations share studios on Corporate Place in Miamisburg; WKEF's transmitter is located off South Gettysburg Avenue in southwest Dayton.
WBNS-TV is a television station in Columbus, Ohio, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside the company's sole radio properties, WBNS and WBNS-FM (97.1). The stations share studios on Twin Rivers Drive west of Downtown Columbus, where WBNS-TV's transmitter is also located.
WDTN is a television station in Dayton, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to Springfield, Ohio–licensed WBDT, a de facto owned-and-operated station of The CW, under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Vaughan Media. The two stations share studios on South Dixie Drive in Moraine, Ohio.
WLWT is a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on Young Street, and its transmitter is located on Chickasaw Street, both in the Mount Auburn neighborhood of Cincinnati.
The Crosley Broadcasting Corporation was a radio and television broadcaster founded by radio manufacturing pioneer Powel Crosley Jr. It had a major influence in the early years of radio and television broadcasting, and helped the Voice of America carry its message around the world.
WNCN is a television station licensed to Goldsboro, North Carolina, United States, serving the Research Triangle area as an affiliate of CBS. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on Front Street in north Raleigh, and its transmitter is located in Auburn, North Carolina.
WOAI-TV is a television station in San Antonio, Texas, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Fox affiliate KABB ; Sinclair also provides certain services to Kerrville-licensed Dabl affiliate KMYS under joint sales and shared services agreements with Deerfield Media. The three stations share studios between Babcock Road and Sovereign Drive in northwest San Antonio; WOAI-TV's transmitter is located in northwest Wilson County.
WKRC-TV is a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to MyNetworkTV affiliate WSTR-TV under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Deerfield Media. The two stations share studios on Highland Avenue in the Mount Auburn section of Cincinnati, where WKRC-TV's transmitter is also located.
WTHR is a television station in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside low-power, Class A MeTV affiliate WALV-CD. The two stations share studios on North Meridian Street in downtown Indianapolis; WTHR's transmitter is located near Ditch Road and West 96th Street in Carmel.
WTVR-TV is a television station in Richmond, Virginia, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. Its studios are located on West Broad Street on Richmond's West End, and its transmitter is located in Bon Air near the studios of PBS member stations WCVE-TV and WCVW. WTVR-TV's former transmitter is located behind the station's studio, and only WTVR-FM broadcasts from that tower today. It still remains as part of WTVR-TV's history.
WTWO is a television station in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States, affiliated with NBC. Its second digital subchannel serves as an owned-and-operated station of The CW. WTWO is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to ABC affiliate WAWV-TV under joint sales and shared services agreements with Mission Broadcasting. The two stations share studios on US 41/150 in unincorporated Sullivan County, where WTWO's transmitter is also located.
WHIZ-TV is a television station in Zanesville, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC, Fox and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Marquee Broadcasting alongside the company's only radio properties—WHIZ, WHIZ-FM (92.7), and WZVL. The stations share studios on Downard Road in Zanesville, where WHIZ-TV's transmitter is also located.
WLWC is a television station licensed to New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States, serving the Providence, Rhode Island, area as an affiliate of Court TV. Owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings, the station shares transmitter facilities with former sister WPXQ-TV on Champlin Hill in Ashaway, Rhode Island.
WSYX is a television station in Columbus, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC and Fox. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to TBD station WTTE and Chillicothe-licensed CW affiliate WWHO under separate local marketing agreements (LMAs). However, Sinclair effectively owns WTTE as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. The three stations share studios on Dublin Road in Grandview Heights ; WSYX's transmitter is located in the Franklinton section of Columbus.
The Outlet Company was a corporation based in Providence, Rhode Island, which owned holdings in both retail and broadcasting. The centerpieces of the group was its flagship Providence store and WJAR radio and television, also in Providence.
KAMR-TV is a television station in Amarillo, Texas, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside low-power MyNetworkTV affiliate KCPN-LD ; Nexstar also provides certain services to Fox affiliate KCIT under joint sales and shared services agreements (JSA/SSA) with Mission Broadcasting. The three stations share studios on Southeast 11th Avenue and South Fillmore Street in downtown Amarillo; KAMR-TV's transmitter is located on Dumas Drive and Reclamation Plant Road in rural unincorporated Potter County.
WLW is a radio station licensed to Cincinnati, Ohio, United States.
KARZ-TV is a television station in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside NBC affiliate KARK-TV ; Nexstar also provides certain services to Fox affiliate KLRT-TV and Pine Bluff–licensed CW affiliate KASN under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Mission Broadcasting. The four stations share studios at the Victory Building on West Capitol Avenue and South Victory Street in downtown Little Rock; KARZ-TV's transmitter is located at the Shinall Mountain antenna farm, near the city's Chenal Valley neighborhood.
(*) – indicates station is in one of Ohio's primary TV markets (**) – indicates station is in an out-of-state TV market, but reaches a small portion of Ohio
2 These stations broadcast these networks on their digital subchannels.
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