WGWG

Last updated

WGWG
ATSC 3.0 station
Channels
BrandingMeTV Charleston
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
October 23, 1962(62 years ago) (1962-10-23)
Former call signs
  • WCIV (1962–2014)
  • WMMP (2014–2015)
Former channel number(s)
Analog: 4 (VHF, 1962–2009)
  • NBC (1962–1996)
  • ABC (1996–2014)
  • ZUUS Country (2014–2015)
  • Heroes & Icons (2015−2022)
Call sign meaning
Graham Williams Group (consulting firm co-owned by HSH owner Armstrong Williams)'
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 21536
ERP 630 kW
HAAT 522 m (1,713 ft)
Transmitter coordinates 32°55′29″N79°41′57″W / 32.92472°N 79.69917°W / 32.92472; -79.69917
Links
Public license information
Website www.howardstirkholdings.com/stations

WGWG (channel 4) is a television station in Charleston, South Carolina, United States, affiliated with the multicast network MeTV. The station is owned by Howard Stirk Holdings. WGWG's transmitter is located near Awendaw, South Carolina.

Contents

From 1962 through 2014, what is now WGWG was the original home of WCIV, and had been Charleston's ABC affiliate since 1996; however, in August 2014, WCIV owner Allbritton Communications was acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group, owner of MyNetworkTV affiliate WMMP (channel 36) and operator of Fox affiliate WTAT-TV (channel 24, owned by Cunningham Broadcasting). Due to ownership conflicts with WMMP and WTAT, and a recent crackdown on joint sales agreements by the FCC, Sinclair elected to sell the WCIV channel 4 license to Howard Stirk Holdings, and moved WCIV's ABC programming and news operation to a subchannel of WMMP's channel 36 signal. At the same time, the two stations also switched call signs, with WCIV moving to channel 36 and channel 4 becoming the new WMMP, though the MyNetworkTV affiliation remains on channel 36.1 and did not move to channel 4.

The FCC approved HSH Charleston's purchase of channel 4 on December 4, 2014; [2] [3] the call letters became WGWG on March 11, 2015. Howard Stirk Holdings operates WGWG independently of WCIV and WTAT, and has not entered into a local marketing agreement with Sinclair.

History

WGWG began operations on October 23, 1962, as WCIV, the third commercial outlet in Charleston. [4] The original license was granted to WTMA-TV but the call letters were later changed to WCIV before it signed on. It took the NBC affiliation from WCBD-TV (known as WUSN-TV at the time), leaving that station to become a full-time ABC affiliate. The station was originally owned by the Washington Star Company. In 1976, businessman Joe Allbritton bought the Star and sold off the non-television assets in 1978 to form Allbritton Communications.

In May 1994, Birmingham ABC affiliate WBRC was sold to New World Communications, which signed an affiliation agreement with eleven other stations which would become Fox affiliates. WBRC, along with Piedmont Triad ABC affiliate WGHP, were placed in a blind trust in the fall of 1994, as the FCC prohibited a company from owning more than twelve television stations at the time. [5] [6] Both stations were sold to Fox directly in July 1995, but Fox was forced to run WBRC as an ABC affiliate for over a year after the sale, as WBRC's affiliation contract with ABC did not expire until August 1996. Before WBRC became a Fox owned-and-operated station, Allbritton purchased WCFT-TV and WJSU-TV, and made them full power satellites of WBMA-LP; this prompted Allbritton to sign a groupwide affiliation deal with ABC which caused WCIV and Brunswick sister station WBSG-TV (now Ion Television O&O WPXC-TV) to become ABC affiliates. The latter had joined ABC as a semi-satellite of WJXX, which replaced WJKS as Jacksonville's ABC affiliate upon its 1997 sign-on). [7] [8] WCIV became an ABC affiliate on August 19, 1996; the NBC affiliation subsequently returned to WCBD on that day. The last NBC program to air on WCIV was an NBC Sunday Night Movie presentation of A Friend to Die For at 9 p.m. Eastern Time on August 18, while the first ABC program to air on the station was Good Morning America at 7 a.m. Eastern Time on August 19.[ citation needed ]

Sale to Howard Stirk Holdings; ABC and MeTV move to channel 36

On July 29, 2013, Allbritton Communications announced that it would sell its entire television group, including WCIV, to Sinclair. [9] As part of the deal, Sinclair was planning to sell the license assets of WMMP to Howard Stirk Holdings (owned by conservative talk show host Armstrong Williams), but would still operate the station through shared services and joint sales agreements. [10] However, in December 2013, FCC Video Division Chief Barbara Kreisman ruled that "the proposed transactions would result in the elimination of the grandfathered status of certain local marketing agreements and thus cause the transactions to violate our local TV ownership rules." [11] [12]

While Sinclair attempted to sell WMMP and planned to terminate an SSA with the Cunningham-owned Fox affiliate WTAT, as well as foregoing any operational or financial agreements with the buyers of the stations being sold to other parties, [13] [14] on May 29, 2014, Sinclair informed the FCC that it had not found a buyer for WMMP and proposed surrendering the WCIV broadcast license; through the use of multicasting, WMMP would both carry its existing programming and inherit WCIV's ABC affiliation, syndicated programming, and news operation. [15] [16] Sinclair opted to retain WMMP because its facilities are superior to those of WCIV. [16] However, following the closure of the Allbritton deal, Sinclair reached a deal to sell WCIV's license to Howard Stirk Holdings, and offer it studio space at WMMP's existing facilities. [17] [18] [19]

logo after changed callsign to WGWG WGWGtelevision4logo.png
logo after changed callsign to WGWG

The transition process began on September 25, 2014, as a simulcast of WCIV was added to WMMP's second subchannel, along with MeTV on 36.3 (replacing ZUUS Country on that channel), and MyTV Charleston remaining on 36.1. The two stations then swapped licenses four days later; WCIV's call sign was moved to the WMMP license and virtual channel 36, while WMMP's call sign was moved to the WCIV license which will be sold to Howard Stirk Holdings. The original WCIV signal went silent on September 30, 2014, making ABC exclusive to WCIV-DT2. [20] As of October 8, channel 4 returned to the air with programming from the ZUUS Country network, which had displaced on 36.3 by WCIV's former DT2 affiliation, MeTV. On March 11, 2015, WMMP changed its call letters to WGWG. [21]

On August 1, 2015, the station switched its primary affiliation to Heroes & Icons. On August 2, 2016, the station launched its 4.2 subchannel, affiliated with Decades. On September 12, 2022, the station switched its primary affiliation to MeTV, with Heroes & Icons moving to the fifth subchannel. [22] This marked the first time MeTV aired on WGWG since 2014, when the network moved to WCIV-DT3. That subchannel switched to Stadium.

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's ATSC 1.0 channels are carried on the multiplexed signals of other Charleston television stations:

Subchannels provided by WGWG (ATSC 1.0) [23]
Channel Res. Aspect Short nameProgrammingATSC 1.0 host
4.1 720p 16:9 WGWG-HI MeTV WTAT-TV
4.2Catchy Catchy Comedy WCSC-TV
4.3 480i Antenna Antenna TV WCIV
4.4StartTV Start TV WCBD-TV
4.5H&I Heroes & Icons WCIV

In exchange, the market's main commercial stations are broadcast in ATSC 3.0 on this multiplex:

Subchannels of WGWG (ATSC 3.0) [23]
Channel Res. Short nameProgramming
2.1 WCBD NBC (WCBD-TV)
4.1WGWGMeTV
5.1WCSC CBS (WCSC-TV)
24.1 WTAT Fox (WTAT-TV)
36.101080pT2 T2
36.11PBTVPickleball TV
36.2WCIV ABC (WCIV)
  Subchannel streamed via the Internet [24]

On October 1, 2011, WCIV added MeTV on digital subchannel 4.2, [25] replacing The Local AccuWeather Channel. With the transition to WMMP, 4.2's signal moved to 36.3.

Analog-to-digital conversion

WGWG (as WCIV) shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 4, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television. [26] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 34, [27] using virtual channel 4.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WDBB</span> TV station in Alabama, United States

WDBB is a television station licensed to Bessemer, Alabama, United States, serving Tuscaloosa and west Alabama as a satellite of Birmingham-based CW affiliate WTTO. It is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, a partner company of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns WTTO, MyNetworkTV affiliate WABM, and regional ABC affiliate WBMA-LD, which WDBB also rebroadcasts. Sinclair supplies all of WDBB's programming under a programming services agreement, a form of local marketing agreement. However, Sinclair effectively owns WDBB, as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. The transmitter is located near Windham Springs, east of State Route 69.

In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or time-buy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WABM</span> TV station in Birmingham, Alabama

WABM is a television station in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Homewood-licensed CW affiliate WTTO and low-power ABC affiliate WBMA-LD ; Sinclair also operates Bessemer-licensed WDBB, which serves as a full satellite station of WTTO, under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Sinclair partner company Cunningham Broadcasting. However, Sinclair effectively owns WDBB as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBMA-LD</span> LPTV station in Birmingham, Alabama

WBMA-LD is a low-power television station in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WABM and Homewood-licensed CW affiliate WTTO ; Sinclair also operates Bessemer-licensed WDBB, which serves as a full satellite station of WTTO, under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Sinclair partner company Cunningham Broadcasting. However, Sinclair effectively owns WDBB as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith.

WPXH-TV is a television station licensed to Hoover, Alabama, United States, serving the Birmingham area as an affiliate of Ion Television. The station is owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings, and maintains offices on Golden Crest Drive in Birmingham and a transmitter atop Red Mountain, near the city's southern edge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTTO</span> TV station in Homewood, Alabama

WTTO is a television station licensed to Homewood, Alabama, United States, serving the Birmingham area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WABM and ABC affiliate WBMA-LD. The stations share studios at the Riverchase office park on Concourse Parkway in Hoover ; WTTO's transmitter is located atop Red Mountain, near the Goldencrest neighborhood of southwestern Birmingham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WCIV</span> Television station in South Carolina, United States

WCIV is a television station in Charleston, South Carolina, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV and ABC. The station is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, and maintains studios on Allbritton Boulevard along US 17/701 in Mount Pleasant and a transmitter in Awendaw, South Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WCBD-TV</span> TV station in Charleston, South Carolina

WCBD-TV is a television station in Charleston, South Carolina, United States, affiliated with NBC. Its second digital subchannel serves as an owned-and-operated station of The CW. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, WCBD-TV has studios on West Coleman Boulevard in Mount Pleasant, and its transmitter is located in Awendaw, South Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSES</span> TV station in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

WSES is a television station licensed to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States, serving the western portion of the Birmingham market as an affiliate of the digital multicast network Heroes & Icons. The station is owned by Howard Stirk Holdings, a partner company of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. WSES' advertising sales office is located on Golden Crest Drive in Birmingham, and its transmitter is located near County Road 38/Blue Creek Road, east of State Route 69 near Windham Springs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WGWW</span> TV station in Anniston, Alabama

WGWW is a television station licensed to Anniston, Alabama, United States, serving the eastern portion of the Birmingham market as an affiliate of the digital multicast network Heroes & Icons. The station is owned by Howard Stirk Holdings, a partner company of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. WGWW's transmitter is located at Bald Rock Mountain, near Moody in unincorporated southern St. Clair County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KATV</span> ABC affiliate in Little Rock, Arkansas

KATV is a television station in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group. The station's studios are located on Riverfront Drive in the Riverdale section northwest of downtown Little Rock, and its transmitter is located at the Shinall Mountain antenna farm in the Chenal Valley area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTAT-TV</span> Fox affiliate in Charleston, South Carolina

WTAT-TV is a television station in Charleston, South Carolina, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. The station is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, a partner company of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. However, although Sinclair effectively owns WTAT-TV, making it an effective sister to dual MyNetworkTV/ABC affiliate WCIV, WTAT-TV is operated outright by Cunningham, and is one of only two Cunningham stations not operated by Sinclair. WTAT-TV's studios are located on Arco Lane in North Charleston, and its transmitter is located in Awendaw, South Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allbritton Communications</span> American media company

The Allbritton Communications Company was an American media company. Based in Arlington, Virginia, Allbritton was the leading subsidiary of Perpetual Corporation, a private holding company owned by the family of company founder and former Riggs Bank president Joe L. Allbritton. Joe’s son, Robert L. Allbritton, was the Chairman and CEO of Allbritton Communications from 2001 to 2014. He is currently the owner of Capitol News Company, the parent company of political newspaper and website Politico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHTM-TV</span> TV station in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

WHTM-TV is a television station licensed to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Susquehanna Valley region as an affiliate of ABC. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on North 6th Street in Harrisburg. Through a channel sharing agreement with Red Lion–licensed religious independent station WLYH, the two stations transmit using WHTM-TV's spectrum from an antenna on a ridge north of I-81 along the Cumberland–Perry county line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WHP-TV</span> TV station in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

WHP-TV is a television station licensed to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Susquehanna Valley region as an affiliate of CBS, MyNetworkTV, and The CW. Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station has studios on North 6th Street in the Uptown section of Harrisburg, with the building bisected by the city line for Harrisburg and Susquehanna Township. Through a channel sharing agreement with Lancaster-licensed Univision affiliate WXBU, the two stations transmit using WHP-TV's spectrum from an antenna on a ridge north of Linglestown Road in Middle Paxton Township.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXBU</span> TV station in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

WXBU is a television station licensed to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States, serving the Susquehanna Valley region as an affiliate of the Spanish-language network Univision. The station is owned by Howard Stirk Holdings, a partner company of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. WXBU's advertising sales office is located on Butler Road in West Cornwall Township; the station shares transmitter facilities with Sinclair-owned, Harrisburg-licensed CBS affiliate WHP-TV on a ridge north of Linglestown Road in Middle Paxton Township.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cunningham Broadcasting</span> American media company

Cunningham Broadcasting Corporation is an owner of broadcast television stations in the United States. The company currently owns fifteen stations – eight affiliated with Fox, three affiliated with The CW, two affiliated with ABC, and two affiliated with MyNetworkTV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WGHP</span> TV station in High Point, North Carolina

WGHP is a television station licensed to High Point, North Carolina, United States, serving the Piedmont Triad region as an affiliate of the Fox network. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains studios on Francis Street ; its transmitter is located in Sophia, North Carolina.

ABC Owned Television Stations is a division of Disney Entertainment operated by Disney Networks Group that oversees the owned-and-operated stations of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), a division of The Walt Disney Company. The division also operates the Localish network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intermountain West Communications Company</span> American television broadcast company

Intermountain West Communications Company was an American telecommunications company, formerly owned by James E. Rogers (1938–2014), that remains as the licensee company for a number of local television stations in the United States, operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group and subsidiary companies Howard Stirk Holdings and Cunningham Broadcasting. The company was known for its liberal leaning.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WGWG". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ "Official FCC Blog". Federal Communications Commission (FCC). December 4, 2014. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
  3. ↑ "FCC Broadcast Actions". Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Retrieved December 13, 2014.
  4. ↑ FCC History Cards for WCIV (WGWG). Federal Communications Commission.
  5. ↑ Geoffrey Foisie; Julie A. Zier (August 22, 1994). "Fox et al. to buy three stations; affiliation shuffle continues". Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  6. ↑ Kim McAvoy (April 10, 1995). "The FCC last week approved New World's plans to transfer WGHP-TV Greensboro, N.C., and WBRC-TV Birmingham, Ala., into a trust for eventual sale to Fox". Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Allbritton Communications Co. and ABC have signed a 10-year affiliation agreement". Broadcasting & Cable . Cahners Business Information. April 22, 1996. Archived from the original on January 9, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  8. ↑ Charlie Patton (August 21, 1997). "Jags fans in lather over TV". The Florida Times-Union . Morris Communications . Retrieved May 20, 2011.
  9. ↑ Heath, Thomas; Wilgoren, Debbi (July 29, 2013). "Allbritton to sell 7 TV stations, including WJLA, to Sinclair for $985 million". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Sinclair Buying Allbritton Stations For $985M". TVNewsCheck. July 29, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
  11. ↑ Halonen, Doug (December 6, 2013). "FCC Targets Sinclair Sidecar Deals In 3 Mkts". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheckMedia. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
  12. ↑ Hagey, Keach (December 6, 2013). "FCC Asks Sinclair to Revise Plans to Use 'Sidecar' Companies". The Wall Street Journal . Dow Jones & Company . Retrieved December 7, 2013.
  13. ↑ Eck, Kevin (March 21, 2014). "Sinclair Offers to Sell Stations Ahead of FCC Decision". TVSpy. Mediabistro . Retrieved July 26, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Sinclair Proposes Restructuring of Allbritton Transaction in Order To Meet Objections of the Federal Communications Commission" (Press release). Baltimore: PR Newswire. March 20, 2014. Retrieved July 26, 2014– via The Wall Street Journal.
  15. ↑ Eggerton, John (May 29, 2014). "Sinclair Proposes Surrendering Three Licenses to Get Allbritton Deal Done". Broadcasting & Cable . Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  16. 1 2 Jessell, Harry A. (May 29, 2014). "Sinclair Giving Up 3 Stations To Appease FCC". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Application For Consent To Assignment Of Broadcast Station Construction Permit Or License". CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission . Charleston Television, LLC. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Howard Stirk Holdings Grabs WCIV for $50,000". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  19. ↑ "DESCRIPTION OF TRANSACTION AND UNIQUE SERVICE TO BE PROVIDED". Howard Stirk Holdings. Retrieved September 21, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Time to rescan for ABC News 4's new channel". ABCNews4.com. Sinclair Broadcast Group. September 25, 2014. Archived from the original on January 6, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  21. ↑ "Call Sign History". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission . Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  22. ↑ WGWGTV4 on Facebook.
  23. 1 2 RabbitEars TV Query for WGWG
  24. ↑ "ATSC 3.0 Streams Delivered Via Internet". RabbitEars.info . Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  25. ↑ Me-TV Beefs Up Roster With 10 New Stations, TVNewsCheck, September 15, 2011.
  26. ↑ List of Digital Full-Power Stations
  27. ↑ CDBS Print
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.