WQCW

Encyclopedia : W : WQ : WQC : WQCW

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WQCW is the WB and UPN affiliate for the Huntington/Charleston, West Virginia television market. It is licensed to Portsmouth, Ohio and is the only commercial station in the market licensed outside of West Virginia. Its transmitter is located in West Portsmouth, Ohio.

The station along with its low-power sister stations will become affiliates of The CW Television Network starting September 18, 2006.

History

The station signed on 1984 as WUXA, an independent station. It became a WB affiliate in 1995 and changed its calls to WHCP in 1997. UPN programming was added in 2000 after it was dropped from WVAH-TV. The WB is its primary affiliation, hence its on-air name, WB30. It shows WB programming in-pattern, but it shows UPN programming at odd hours, sometimes after the WB primetime programming end or on weekends. The station also offers local professional wrestling on Saturday afternoons, from Portsmouth-based promotion Revolutionary Championship Wrestling.

Version of current WB30 logo with the WHCP call letters

Another WB30 logo, using the WHCP call letters.

Channel 30's transmitter, despite its over 2 million-watt ERP, was (and still is) not strong enough to cover the entire Huntington-Charleston market, even though it identifies itself on-air as "WB30, WHCP-TV, Portsmouth-Charleston." The market, the largest geographic market east of the Mississippi River, covers 61 counties in central West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and southern Ohio. Most of this territory is a very rugged dissected plateau, making UHF reception difficult. WVAH faced similar problems when it originally signed on in 1981 on channel 23, forcing it to move to channel 11 in 1989. WHCP, on the other hand, couldn't move to another channel or increase the power on its transmitter because it would interfere with digital television stations in Roanoke, Virginia and Knoxville, Tennessee. Shortly after it became a WB affiliate, it signed on a low-power satellite in Huntington, WBWV, on channel 69. In 1998, it signed on a low-power satellite in Charleston, WOWB, on channel 53. Even with these satellites, it still has to rely on cable for most of its viewership, especially in the market's share of Kentucky. The station's digital signal, on channel 17, has far better reception.

The station was not carried on DirecTV's Huntington-Charleston local feed when DirecTV began airing local channels because its signal did not meet DirecTV's technical requirements. However, DirecTV added WHCP to its lineup on January 25, 2006. It has always been carried on Dish Network's local feed, however.

When CBS and Time Warner announced formation of The CW in January 2006, it was generally expected that WHCP would join the new network. On March 9, WHCP officially agreed to become a CW affiliate.

On May 26, WOWB and WBWV became WOCW and WVCW, respectively. WHCP followed suit on May 31, changing its calls to WQCW.

Newscasts

On November 7, 2005 WHCP began airing newscasts at 6 and 10 p.m. with popular, but controversial local anchor Tom McGee at the helm. The newscast was regarded as very amateurish, with no teleprompters, no IFB system and generally sloppy presentation.

McGee had previously worked as an anchor at WCHS-TV from 1983 to 1993. He was charged with drunk driving in 1991, and WCHS didn't renew his contract. He faced similar charges in 1997 while working at WOWK-TV. WCHS hired him again in 2000, but another drunk driving charge in 2003 ended his tenure there.

On February 21, 2006, Charleston police were called to the new WHCP studios in Charleston to escort McGee from the building. A dispute had broken out between him and station manager Chuck Jones. McGee left the building on his own (while yelling "I'm done. I'm outta here!") and stated that he was speaking up for station employees. Part of the problem was while insurance was promised in their contracts and employees had filled out forms, the coverage never went into effect. There were also false promises of raises and the addition of a news helicopter. The station did not even subscribe to The Associated Press newswire. Other staffers were paid in food coupons at a nearby Chinese restaurant. That idea came from WHCP operations manager Tommy Syner.

Two days later, on February 23, the entire news staff was fired and the 4-month-old newscast was cancelled.

External links

• [WB30 Web site]
• [Query the FCC's TV station database for WQCW]
• [Query the FCC's TV station database for WOCW]
• [Query the FCC's TV station database for WVCW]