WACH
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| WACH | |
|---|---|
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| Columbia, South Carolina | |
| Branding | WACH FOX57 WACH FOX News |
| Channels | 57 (UHF) analog, 48-1, 48-2 (The Tube) (UHF) digital |
| Affiliations | Fox |
| Owner | Barrington Broadcasting |
| Founded | September 8, 1980 |
| Call letters meaning | WACH: The word "watch", but without the "t" |
| Former callsigns | WCCT-TV (1980-88) |
| Former affiliations | Religious (1980-88) |
| Website | www.wach.com |
WACH is the Fox network affiliate serving the Columbia, South Carolina area.
The station broadcasts on UHF channel 57 at 2.766 million watts ERP and in high definition on channel 48, also on the UHF dial at 520 kilowatts ERP, owned and operated by Barrington Broadcasting. Its transmitter is located in Elgin, South Carolina.
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[edit] History
The station signed on September 8, 1980 as WCCT-TV, an independent Christian station. It was the first station in Columbia not to be affiliated with one of the major networks.
Initially as WCCT the station ran religious programs most of the broadcast day such as 700 Club, Richard Roberts, Jimmy Swaggart, PTL Club, and others. They also ran an in house Christian program called Niteline which was produced by sister station WGGS initially. Eventually WCCT began producing its own version of Niteline. For about 6 hours a day WCCT ran general entertainment family shows including cartoons, old sitcoms, westerns, and hunting/sports shows.
The station was sold to secular interests in 1988, who renamed it WACH and made it Columbia's Fox affiliate, under the on-air nickname "WACH-TV57" (pronounced "watch TV57"). For Fox' first seasons, Columbia viewers watched the fledgling network on WCCB in Charlotte, which had been available on cable systems for many years in Columbia. Initially WACH kept Christian programming on weekdays from 9 AM to Noon and from 12 Midnight to 2 AM. The new owners also agreed to continue producing and airing Columbia Niteline programming for an hour a day for 5 years. Niteline was gone by 1993, along with most of the religious shows. The station eventually renamed itself "WACH FOX57" in the 1990s.
On March 27, 2006 it was announced that WACH was one of the twelve television stations that would be sold to Barrington Broadcasting. This came as a result of Raycom's merger with The Liberty Corporation. Raycom could not keep WACH and Liberty's former flagship station, NBC affiliate WIS, due to FCC regulations preventing one company owning two of the four largest stations in a market.[citation needed] Raycom opted to keep the longer-established WIS and put WACH for sale. The transaction was completed on August 11, 2006.
After a 10-year cooperation with WIS in Columbia, WACH ended its news agreement with WIS and launched its own newscast at 10 PM on March 4, 2007. This was the first time the station airs its own newscast. It had depended on WIS in Columbia to co-produce the newscast. The station built its own news set as well as a brand-new weather center. The program will expand to an entire hour by the end of March. The station will launch a morning news program (6-9 AM) later on in the Spring.
In March of 2007, Mike Woolfolk, co-anchor and managing editor of WACH FOX News at Ten, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Region III of the National Association of Black Journalists.
[edit] Newscasts
WACH launched a 10 PM newscast in 1996 in conjunction with WIS. It was one of the first primetime newscasts in South Carolina, and the only 10 pm newscast in Columbia. It has been one of the highest-rated primetime newscasts in the country for many years. The station produced its own newscast starting on March 4 and ended the long-established relationship with WIS.
- WACH FOX News at 10 (10:00 PM-11:00 PM)
- Anchors: Mike Woolfolk, Arielle Riposta
- Weather: Tim Miller
- Sports: Ernest Robinson
- WACH FOX News at 10 (Weekend) (10:00 PM-10:35 PM)
- Anchors: Caroline Love
- Weather: Justin Kier
- Sports: Brian McConchie
- "WACH FOX NEWS MORNING 6-9"
- Anchor: Jennifer Timmons
TO LAUNCH SPRING OF 2007
[edit] Digital Television
WACH-DT is an ATSC digital television signal broadcast over channel 48 which is available over-the-air with a digital tuner, or through digital cable service from Time Warner Cable. With either, there is an offering of two sub-channels:
- WACH HD on DT 57.1 / 48.1 (Time Warner 820)
- The Tube on DT 57.2 / 48.2 (Time Warner 821)
As of March 20, 2007, the Newscasts on WACH are not broadcasted in High Definition. Most FOX programs broadcasted from 8 PM ET, are broadcasted in HD.
[edit] External links
| Broadcast television in the Columbia market (Nielsen DMA #83) |
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WIS 10 (NBC) (WX Plus) on DT2 - WLTX 19 (CBS) - WOLO 25 (ABC) - WRLK 35 (PBS/SCETV) - W39CL 39 (TBN) - WZRB 47 (The CW) - W55CQ 55 (TBN) - WACH 57 (Fox) (The Tube) on DT2- WKTC 63 (MNTV) |
| Fox Network Affiliates in the state of South Carolina | |
|---|---|
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WHNS 21 (Greenville) - WTAT 24 (Charleston) - WTGS 28 (Hardeeville) - WFXB 43 (Myrtle Beach) - WACH 57 (Columbia) |
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| See also: ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CW, MyNetworkTV and Other stations in South Carolina | |
| Corporate Management Roster: | Keith L. Bland (Senior VP) | Christoper H. Cornelius (COO) | Mary L. Flodin (Senior VP) | Warren Spector (CFO) | K. James Yager (CEO) |
| ABC Network Affiliates: | KTVO | KVII / KVIH | WHOI | WPDE |
| CBS Network Affiliates: | KGBT | KHQA | KRCG |
| The CW Network Affiliates: | KVII / KVIH | KXTU | WBSF | WEYI | WHOI | WSTM1 | WSTQ | WWMB2 |
| Fox Network Affiliates: | KXRM | KYOU3 | WACH | WFXL |
| NBC Network Affiliates: | WEYI | WLUC | WNWO | WPBN / WTOM | WSTM |
| 1This station carries the feed of its low-power sister station for owners of high-definition television sets. | |
| 2Barrington operates this station owned by SagamoreHill Broadcasting. | |
| 3Barrington operates this station owned by Ottumwa Media Holdings. | |
| Annual Revenue: Unknown at this time. | Employees: Unknown at this time. | Stock Symbol: None, privately held. | Website: www.barringtontv.com | |
