WCBD-TV
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| History | |
First air date | September 25, 1954 |
Former call signs | WUSN-TV (1954–1971) |
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Call signmeaning | Charleston,Berkeley,Dorchester(three counties inCharleston metro); calls shared with former 70s sister stationKCBD |
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Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 10587 |
| ERP | 779kW |
| HAAT | 581 m (1,906 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 32°56′25″N79°41′44″W/ 32.94028°N 79.69556°W |
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Public license information | |
| Website | www |
WCBD-TV(channel 2) is atelevision stationinCharleston, South Carolina,United States, affiliated withNBCandThe CW Plus.Owned byNexstar Media Group,the station has studios on West Coleman Boulevard (SC 703) inMount Pleasant,and its transmitter is located inAwendaw, South Carolina.
History
[edit]The station signed on the air as WUSN-TV on September 25, 1954. The station was originally owned by Drayton Hastie. It aired ananalogsignal onVHFchannel 2 and was originally an NBC affiliate with a secondaryABCaffiliation. Hastie sold the station to Reeves Telecom in 1960. It shared ABC programming with WCSC-TV until 1962, whenWCIVsigned on and took the NBC affiliation. WUSN then became a full-time ABC affiliate. During the late-1950s, it was also briefly affiliated with theNTA Film Network.In 1971, Reeves then sold Channel 2 toState Telecasting Company,based in the state capital ofColumbia.On November 8, 1971,[2]the station adopted its current call letters, WCBD standing forCharleston,Berkeley,andDorchestercounties (the three counties in theCharleston metropolitan area), calls also taken to coordinate with new sister stationKCBDinLubbock, Texas.Media Generalbought the station from State Telecasting in 1983.
In May 1994, Great American Communications announced that it would sell four of its six television stations toNew World Communications,who would subsequently announce anaffiliation agreementwithFox.[3]Two of the stations that were involved in the deal were ABC affiliatesWBRCinBirmingham, Alabama,andWGHPinHigh Point, North Carolina.Fox was unable to purchase the two stations outright; both of them were placed in a blind trust and were sold directly to Fox in early 1995. While WGHP was able to switch to Fox in September 1995 (taking the affiliation fromWXLV-TV,which affiliated with ABC), Fox had to run WBRC as an ABC affiliate for a little over a year, as that station's affiliation contract with ABC did not expire until August 31, 1996.[4][5]In January 1996, ABC reached a groupwide affiliation agreement withAllbritton Communications,who had acquired WCIV in 1978; Allbritton would purchase CBS affiliatesWCFT-TVinTuscaloosaandWJSU-TVinAnniston(making them full-power satellites of Birmingham's replacement ABC affiliate,WBMA-LP,which began operations as independent station W58CK in November 1994). The affiliation deal caused WCIV and WB affiliate WBSG (nowWPXC-TV) inBrunswick, Georgia,to become ABC affiliates; the latter became a satellite ofJacksonvilleaffiliateWJXXwhen it signed on in February 1997.[6][7]As a result of the affiliation deal, WCBD became an NBC affiliate for the second time in its history on August 19, 1996, fifteen days after that year'sOlympic Games(which were carried by WCIV locally) ended.
On January 27, 2016, Media General announced that it had entered into a definite agreement to be acquired by Nexstar Broadcasting Group for $4.6 billion. The combined company would be calledNexstar Media Groupand own 171 stations (including WCBD-TV).[8]The deal was completed on January 17, 2017.[9]
News operation
[edit]WCBD spent most of the 1970s and 1980s in last place until Media General bought the station in 1983. Since then, it has been a solid runner-up to longtime leader WCSC. WCBD offers more than 30 hours of news per week. Each newscasts focus on WCBD's signature elements that have become a staple in the Lowcountry: "Storm Team 2," "CrimeTracker," "2 Your Health," "Cool School/Cool Teacher of the Week," "Count on 2 Sports," "Count on 2 Traffic" and "Count on 2 Investigators."
WCBD airs a newscast Saturday nights at 7, but unlike WCSC and WCIV, does not offer a broadcast at the same time on weeknights. The first HD telecast was on July 29, 2012, making it the lastLowcountrystation to go HD.[10]WCBD started a weekend morning newscast that airs on Saturdays and Sundays at 9 a.m. In addition to its main studios, WCBD also operates a bureau located on Assembly Street/SC 48covering theCapitolin Columbia, an operation shared by its sister Nexstar stations in and around the state.
WCBD-DT2 has two original newscasts produced by WCBD:News 2 at 7 on the CWweekday mornings, andWCBD News 2 at 10pm on The CWon weeknights. Previously, the subchannel carried a repeat of the 6 p.m. edition.
Notable current on-air staff
[edit]- Rob Fowler(NWAandAMSSeals of Approval) – chief meteorologist
Notable former on-air staff
[edit]- Amy Robach– later withABC News
- Jon Robinson– 2004–2006
Technical information
[edit]Subchannels
[edit]The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WCBD-HD | NBC |
| 2.2 | 720p | eCBD-CW | The CW Plus | |
| 2.3 | 480i | ION | Ion Television | |
| 2.4 | 4:3 | Laff | Laff | |
| 4.4 | 480i | 16:9 | StartTV | Start TV(WGWG-DT4) |
Analog-to-digital conversion
[edit]WCBD-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 2, on June 12, 2009, as part of thefederally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[12]The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transitionUHFchannel 50,[13]usingvirtual channel2.
See also
[edit]- Channel 2 virtual TV stations in the United States
- Channel 20 digital TV stations in the United States
References
[edit]- ^"Facility Technical Data for WCBD-TV".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
- ^"WCBD's new call"(PDF).Broadcasting.November 22, 1971. p. 51.
- ^"Fox Gains 12 Stations in New World Deal".Chicago Sun-Times.Hollinger International.May 23, 1994. Archived fromthe originalon October 11, 2013.RetrievedJune 1,2013.
- ^"Citicasters, Inc., announces completion of sale of three television stations".Citicasters.September 14, 1994.RetrievedAugust 17,2014– viaThe Free Library.
- ^"Fox Television Stations last week closed its deal to acquire WBRC-TV Birmingham".Broadcasting & Cable.Cahners Business Information. July 24, 1995. Archived fromthe originalon January 9, 2016.RetrievedDecember 5,2015.
- ^"Allbritton Communications Co. and ABC have signed a 10-year affiliation agreement".Broadcasting & Cable.Cahners Business Information.April 22, 1996. Archived fromthe originalon January 9, 2016.RetrievedNovember 30,2015.
- ^Patton, Charlie (August 21, 1997)."Jags fans in lather over TV".The Florida Times-Union.Morris Communications.RetrievedMay 20,2011.
- ^"Nexstar Broadcasting Group Enters into Definitive Agreement to Acquire Media General for $4.6 Billion in Accretive Cash and Stock Transaction".Archived fromthe originalon January 30, 2016.RetrievedMay 1,2017.
- ^"Nexstar Completes $4.6B Acquisition of Media General".January 17, 2017.
- ^"Market Eye: The Battery Is Fully Charged – Broadcasting & Cable".www.broadcastingcable.com.
- ^"RabbitEars TV Query for WCBD".www.rabbitears.info.
- ^"List of Digital Full-Power Stations"(PDF).
- ^"CDBS Account Login".fjallfoss.fcc.gov.
