WCMH-TV

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WCMH-TV, channel four, is the NBC affiliate in Columbus, Ohio. The station's studio and transmitter are located in Columbus. The station's current owner is Media General.

History

Columbus' first television station began operations on April 3, 1949 as WLWC on channel three. The station's original owner was the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation, a division of the Avco Company, and based in Cincinnati. Crosley owned WLW radio and WLWT television in Cincinnati, as well as WLWD television (now WDTN) in Dayton. Together these stations comprised the "WLW Network", and they emphasized their connection to each other within their on-air branding: the Columbus station was known as WLW-C.

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 signed-on in August 1949. In 1953, following a FCC-dictated frequency realignment, WLWC moved to channel four. The Crosley station group, which had grown to include WLWI (now WTHR) in Indianapolis, WOAI-TV in San Antonio, and WLWA (now WXIA-TV) in Atlanta (sold in 1962), adopted the Avco name during the middle-1960s. Along with NBC programming, the Crosley/Avco stations in Ohio also aired common programming, including The Paul Dixon Show, The Ruth Lyons 50-50 Club (later to become The Bob Braun Show), The Phil Donahue Show, and telecasts of Cincinnati Reds baseball.

In 1970 the common ownership of WLWC, WLWT, and WLWD, was given protection through a "grandfather clause" from a new FCC rule which prohibited media companies from owning two or more television stations with overlapping signals. In 1975, Avco announced the sale of its broadcasting outlets. WLWC was sold in April 1976 to the Providence, Rhode Island-based Outlet Company, who changed the station's call letters to the current WCMH-TV.

For most of its history, WLWC/WCMH-TV has been second in the Columbus ratings, except for the station's 11:00 news, which frequently beats market leader WBNS-TV. For nearly 20 years, Hugh DeMoss anchored channel four's evening newscast, called The DeMoss Report. By the late 1970s into the early 1980s, however, channel four languished in third place. In 1983, the station brought in veteran Cleveland news anchor Doug Adair and his then-wife, Mona Scott, as the station's main anchoring team. They brought a "happy talk" format to the market for the first time, and WCMH began a slow rise that would result in the station overcoming WBNS to reach number-one in the market. In the process, the mid-1980s NewsWatch 4 team of Adair, Scott, meteorologist Jym Ganahl, and sportscaster Jim Crum (who joined the station shortly after its 1949 sign-on) became the most popular anchor team in Columbus television history.

The 1990s brought changes to the normally stable WCMH-TV: in 1990, Mona Scott decided to leave channel four, and was replaced by Angela Pace, who would leave for WBNS-TV in 1992. Doug Adair and Jim Crum both retired in 1994. Pace's and Adair's replacements, respectively, were Colleen Marshall and Cabot Rea, and the pair have helmed WCMH-TV's evening newscasts since then. The changes resulted in an earlier audience fall-off, but channel four once again passed WBNS-TV for the overall lead for a time in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Outlet sold its broadcast interests to NBC in 1996, and channel four was converted into an NBC owned-and-operated station, spending the next decade as the only station in Columbus to hold such status.

WCMH-TV was placed up for sale by NBC-Universal on January 9, 2006, along with stations in Providence, Birmingham, Alabama, and Raleigh, North Carolina, and soon found a buyer in Media General (which, prior to the announcement, owned five NBC affiliates in the southeastern United States). The transaction was announced on April 6, 2006, and was finalized on June 26, 2006. [link] As a result, WCMH became Media General's first station in the Great Lakes region, and will retain its NBC affiliation under the terms of the four-station deal. For the time being, WCMH's website and those of the other three stations are still in the format used by the websites of NBC O&O stations.

In the spring of 2007, WCMH-TV will debut a glass-fronted satellite studio located at Broad and High streets in downtown Columbus, from which the station will broadcast their early morning and noon newscasts.

Newscasts

• NBC4 Today 5-7am
• NBC4 Midday 12-1pm
• NBC4 News at 5 5-6pm
• NBC4 News at 6 6-6:30pm
• NBC4 News at 11 11-11:35pm

Weekends

• NBC4 Today Saturday 6-7am & 9-10am
• NBC4 Today Sunday 6:30-8am & 9-10am
• NBC4 News at 6 6-6:30pm
• NBC4 News at 11 11-11:30pm

Personalities

The 6pm and 11pm weekday newscasts are anchored by the team of Cabot Rea and Colleen Marshall. Meteorologist Jym Ganahl provides weather information.

Other current personalities

• Kyle Anderson, reporter/anchor (1998-).
• Amy Basista, reporter.
• Mike Bowersock, reporter (1989-1994, 2004-).
• Nancy Burton, reporter (1997-).
• Beth Dal Ponte, reporter (1998-).
• Andy Dominianni, anchor.
• Mindy Drayer, anchor (1998-).
• Barbra Flannigan, reporter (2002-).
• Jym Ganahl, meteorologist (1979-).
• Ben Gelber, meteorologist (1980-).
• Duarte Geraldino, reporter (2003-).
• Anietra Hamper, reporter (1999-).
• Monica Day, traffic reporter (2006-).
• Holly Hollingsworth, anchor (1996-).
• John Ivanic, anchor/reporter (1998-).
• Mike Jackson, lead anchor (1994-).
• Monique Ming Laven, lead anchor.
• Colleen Marshall, lead anchor (1984-).
• Tom McNutt, garden expert (1989-).
• Marshall McPeek, meteorologist/reporter (2002-).
• Bob Nunnally, meteorologist.
• Cabot Rea, lead anchor (1985-).
• Elizabeth Scarborough, reporter (2004-).
• Jerod Smalley, sports.
• Ron Specht, home improvement expert.
• Erin Tate, reporter (2003-).
• Mike Valpredo, anchor (2000-).
• David Wayne, reporter.
• Joe Weasel, sports.

Past personalities

• Doug Adair, anchor. (1983-1994)
• Allison Ashe, anchor.
• Bret Atkins, meteorologist (1985-1997)
• Tylar Bacome, anchor.
• Leon Bibb, anchor (1976-1979).
• Jimmy Crum, sports (1949-1994).
• Hugh DeMoss, anchor (1957-1980).
• Michelle Galiun, anchor (1970s).
• Angela Ganote, anchor.
• Larry Hoff, roving anchor.
• Gail Hogan, anchor (1986 to 2004).
• John Huffman, anchor, PM Magazine co-host.
• Lee Jordan, PM Magazine co-host.
• Margot Kim, anchor.
• Doug Lessells, sports (1994-1998).
• Dave Maetzold, sports (1998 to August 9, 2004).
• Larry Mendte, reporter (1980s).
• Jill Miles, anchor.
• Andre Moreau, anchor.
• Stu Nicholson, reporter.
• Katrina Owens, anchor.
• Angela Pace, anchor. (1979-1992)
• Clark Powell, anchor.
• Jerry Rasor, weather (1960s-1979).
• Marty Reed, sports (1970s)
• Larry Roberts, anchor (1979-1983), reporter (2002-2004).
• Dennis Schreefer, anchor (1980-1983).
• Jim Scott, anchor.
• Mona Scott, anchor. (1983-1990)

References

• [NBC 4 Station History. NBC4i.com].

External links

• [WCMH website]
• [Query the FCC's TV station database for WCMH]

Broadcast television in the Columbus market  [(Nielsen DMA #32)]
WCMH 4 (NBC) - WSYX 6 (ABC - MNTV on DT2 starting 09/06) - WGCT 8 (IND) - WBNS 10 (CBS) - WDEM-LP 17 (AS) - WCLL-CA 19 (Daystar) - WOUB 20 / WOUC 44 (PBS) - WBKA-CA 22 (A1) - WTTE 28 (Fox) - WCSN-LP 32 (REL) - WOSU 34 (PBS) - WXCB-CA 42 (TBN) - WSFJ 51 (i) - WWHO 53 (UPN/The WB - to be The CW 09/06)

'''NBC Network Affiliates in the state of Ohio
WDTN 2 () - WKYC 3 () - WCMH 4 () - WLWT 5 () - WTOV 9 () - WHIZ 18 () - WFMJ 21 () - WNWO 24 () - WLIO 35 ()
See also: , , , , , and stations in Ohio

 

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