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51-668: WTAT-TV (channel 24) 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 (as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith), making it an effective sister to dual MyNetworkTV / ABC affiliate WCIV (channel 36), WTAT-TV

102-576: A barter in some cases. Allbritton Communications 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

153-516: A shell corporation that allows Sinclair to circumvent FCC ownership rules. On May 15, 2012, Sinclair and Fox agreed to a five-year extension of the network's affiliation agreement with Sinclair's 19 Fox stations, including WTAT, allowing them to continue carrying Fox programming until at least 2017. On March 20, 2014, as part of a restructuring of Sinclair's August 2013 deal to purchase Allbritton Communications (owner of ABC affiliate WCIV, then on channel 4) in order to address ownership conflicts with

204-420: A company owned by conservative talk show host Armstrong Williams . The stations would have remained operated by Sinclair under a local marketing agreement. In December 2013, FCC Video Division Chief Barbara Kreisman sent a letter demanding information from Sinclair Broadcast Group on the financial aspects of its "sidecar" operations, and warned that in these three markets, "the proposed transactions would result in

255-530: A deal between WTAT's owner and News Corporation , it became a charter affiliate of the fledgling Fox network. WTAT would have been the obvious choice as Charleston's Fox affiliate even without that affiliation deal, as it was the area's only general-entertainment independent station at the time. In 1987, Charleston Television Community Ltd. sold WTAT-TV to Act III Broadcasting , owner of WNRW-TV in Winston-Salem, North Carolina , for $ 3.3–3.7 million; this

306-803: A desire to focus exclusively on Politico ; they were ultimately sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group for $ 985 million. The sale was approved by the FCC on July 24, 2014, following a year-long delay to address improper duopolies in certain markets that would result from the purchase. The company was formed in 1975 when Joe Allbritton bought controlling interest The Washington Star Company, including its television and radio stations– WMAL-AM - FM -TV in Washington; WLVA-AM - TV in Lynchburg, Virginia ; and WCIV in Charleston, South Carolina . The Federal Communications Commission required him to sell off either

357-805: A high definition-capable master control at its separate facility in order to receive the newscast in HD. On August 31, 2009, the weeknight prime time show at 10 was expanded to an hour while the weekend edition remained 35 minutes in length. It would not be until January 24, 2011, when the station completed a master control upgrade allowing the reception and transmission of local programming, including local news, in high definition. During weather forecasts, WTAT features WCSC's own Collins ADC Doppler weather radar (known as "Live Super Doppler MAX") in addition to NOAA 's National Weather Service radar images from several regional sites. Since January 1 , 2016, WTAT's newscasts have been produced by WCIV. This change also came with

408-415: A much shorter wavelength, and thus requires a shorter antenna, but also higher power. North American stations can go up to 5000 kW ERP for video and 500 kW audio, or 1000 kW digital. Low channels travel further than high ones at the same power, but UHF does not suffer from as much electromagnetic interference and background "noise" as VHF, making it much more desirable for TV. Despite this, in

459-521: A new anchor for the 10 p.m. news hour and an expanded morning news (7–9 a.m.). On January 9, 2017, WTAT's newscasts expanded to include a traditional newscast at 6:30 p.m. and a news magazine -type program at 11 p.m. ( Fox 24 News Now ) which is broadcast from their studios on Arco Lane in North Charleston. The station's signal is multiplexed : WTAT-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 24, on February 17, 2009, to conclude

510-608: A result, Sinclair sold WTAT-TV, along with WRGT-TV and WVAH-TV to Glencairn, Ltd. That company was owned by Edwin Edwards, a former Sinclair executive, and appeared to be a minority-owned company. However, nearly all of Glencairn's stock was controlled by the Smith family, founders of Sinclair. In effect, Sinclair now had a duopoly in the Charleston market in violation of FCC regulations. Glencairn and Sinclair further circumvented

561-531: A result, WTAT entered into a news share agreement with CBS affiliate WCSC-TV (channel 5, then owned by Crump Communications). The partnership resulted in a nightly half-hour prime time broadcast to debut on this station (currently titled The Fox 24 News at 10 ). That program was one of the first prime time newscasts in South Carolina along with fellow Fox affiliate WACH in Columbia which established

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612-549: A semi-satellite of WJXX , which replaced WJKS as Jacksonville 's ABC affiliate upon its 1997 sign-on). In June 1998, ABC parent The Walt Disney Company entered into negotiations to purchase the eight Allbritton stations and its local marketing agreements involving fellow ABC affiliates WJSU-TV (now WGWW ) in Anniston, Alabama and WJXX in Jacksonville, Florida , for a reported offer totaling more than $ 1 billion;

663-405: A similar outsourcing arrangement with NBC affiliate WIS in that market several years later. Eventually, an hour-long extension of WCSC's weekday morning show was added to WTAT. Known as The Fox 24 News at 7 , this was seen until 8 offering the area's only local alternative to the national morning broadcasts aired on the big three networks . WTAT's shows had no WCSC branding and originated from

714-425: A variety of ways to generate revenue from television commercials . They may be an independent station or part of a broadcasting network , or some other structure. They can produce some or all of their programs or buy some broadcast syndication programming for or all of it from other stations or independent production companies. Many stations have some sort of television studio , which on major-network stations

765-400: A year of delays, Sinclair's deal to acquire Allbritton was approved by the FCC on July 24, 2014. Sinclair completed the acquisition on August 1; WHTM would be operated under a "hold separate agreement" until the sale of that station was completed to Media General on September 2. Allbritton launched Politico , a political news website and newspaper on 2007, the day of the 2007 State of

816-496: Is non-commercial educational (NCE) and considered public broadcasting . To avoid concentration of media ownership of television stations, government regulations in most countries generally limit the ownership of television stations by television networks or other media operators, but these regulations vary considerably. Some countries have set up nationwide television networks, in which individual television stations act as mere repeaters of nationwide programs . In those countries,

867-470: Is broadcast via terrestrial radio waves. A group of television stations with common ownership or affiliation are known as a TV network and an individual station within the network is referred to as O&O or affiliate , respectively. Because television station signals use the electromagnetic spectrum, which in the past has been a common, scarce resource, governments often claim authority to regulate them. Broadcast television systems standards vary around

918-422: Is currently the owner of Capitol News Company , the parent company of political newspaper and website Politico . Allbritton was the last remaining TV station group to have all of its stations be affiliated with ABC (other than its O&Os) and the last remaining TV station group to have all its stations have an exclusive affiliation deal with one network, rather than having affiliates aligned with any of

969-457: Is located in Awendaw, South Carolina . The station began operations on September 7, 1985, as Charleston's first independent station , under the ownership of Charleston Television Community Ltd., a local group led by Terry Trousdale, who also had the construction permit for the station. It aired an analog signal on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter near Awendaw. On October 9, 1986, as part of

1020-792: Is often used for newscasts or other local programming . There is usually a news department , where journalists gather information. There is also a section where electronic news-gathering (ENG) operations are based, receiving remote broadcasts via remote pickup unit or satellite TV . Outside broadcasting vans, production trucks , or SUVs with electronic field production (EFP) equipment are sent out with reporters , who may also bring back news stories on video tape rather than sending them back live . To keep pace with technology United States television stations have been replacing operators with broadcast automation systems to increase profits in recent years. Some stations (known as repeaters or translators ) only simulcast another, usually

1071-609: Is operated outright by Cunningham (outside of a news share agreement with WCIV), and is one of only two Cunningham stations not operated by Sinclair (the other is fellow Fox affiliate WYZZ-TV in Peoria, Illinois , which is operated by the Nexstar Media Group as virtual sister station of that market's CBS affiliate WMBD-TV ). WTAT-TV's studios are located on Arco Lane in North Charleston , and its transmitter

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1122-405: The broadcast range , or geographic area, that the station is limited to, allocates the broadcast frequency of the radio spectrum for that station's transmissions, sets limits on what types of television programs can be programmed for broadcast and requires a station to broadcast a minimum amount of certain programs types, such as public affairs messages . Another form of television station

1173-534: The electricity bill and emergency backup generators . In North America , full-power stations on band I (channels 2 to 6) are generally limited to 100 kW analog video ( VSB ) and 10 kW analog audio ( FM ), or 45 kW digital ( 8VSB ) ERP. Stations on band III (channels 7 to 13) can go up by 5 dB to 316 kW video, 31.6 kW audio, or 160 kW digital. Low-VHF stations are often subject to long-distance reception just as with FM. There are no stations on Channel 1 . UHF , by comparison, has

1224-470: The federally mandated transition from analog to digital television . The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 40 to channel 24. Television station The Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow ( TV Station Paul Nipkow ) in Berlin , Germany , was the first regular television service in the world. It was on the air from 22 March 1935, until it was shut down in 1944. The station

1275-524: The CBS affiliate's studio (studio 2) on Charlie Hall Boulevard in Charleston's West Ashley section along Glenn McConnell Parkway. The music package and graphics scheme used on all newscasts can be seen on other Sinclair-owned television stations that operate their own in-house news departments. Although WTAT featured the majority of WCSC's on-air personnel, this station maintained a separate second news anchor on weeknights that also contributes to WCSC. This outlet

1326-645: The Cunningham-owned Fox affiliate in Charleston to acquire Allbritton's WCIV , WHTM-TV , and WBMA-LD , while also creating a new duopoly between the ABC and CW affiliates in Birmingham), as well as foregoing any operational or financial agreements with the buyers of the stations being sold to other parties. However, in May 2014, Sinclair disclosed in an FCC filling that it was unable to find buyers for

1377-474: The FCC fined Sinclair $ 40,000 for illegally controlling Glencairn. Later that year, this was renamed Cunningham Broadcasting. However, nearly all of Cunningham's stock is still controlled by trusts in the names of the children of the Smith brothers. Then as now, all of Cunningham's stations are located in markets where Sinclair cannot legally form a duopoly, and are operated by Sinclair stations via LMAs. Glencairn, and later Cunningham, have been accused of serving as

1428-647: The U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is taking another large portion of this band (channels 52 to 69) away, in contrast to the rest of the world, which has been taking VHF instead. This means that some stations left on VHF are harder to receive after the analog shutdown . Since at least 1974, there are no stations on channel 37 in North America for radio astronomy purposes. Most television stations are commercial broadcasting enterprises which are structured in

1479-501: The Union Address . It was spun out to Capitol News Company , a company separately and still owned by Allbritton, in 2009. Allbritton launched Washington-area local news web site TBD in 2010. The site merged the web pages of the company's television stations, WJLA-TV (Channel 7) and its cable sibling, NewsChannel 8. Jim Brady, a former Washington Post editor, ran the site. Allbritton shut down TBD in 2012. Allbritton owned

1530-533: The WMAL stations of their grandfathered protection. Allbritton opted to sell the Star Company's non-television assets. Both WMAL-TV and WLVA-TV changed their call letters to WJLA-TV and WSET-TV , respectively in 1977, due to FCC rules at the time that prohibited TV and radio stations in the same market, but with different ownership from sharing the same call letters. In May 1994, Birmingham ABC affiliate WBRC

1581-409: The all four major broadcast networks. Allbritton was previously a major owner of broadcast television stations; it owned a chain of eight television stations affiliated with ABC , anchored by its Washington, DC flagship WJLA-TV , and NewsChannel 8 , a regional cable television network serving the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. In May 2013, the company put all of its stations for sale, citing

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1632-443: The deal involving WMMP's local marketing agreement with WTAT, Sinclair announced that it planned to terminate the shared services agreement with Cunningham Broadcasting (which would have made WTAT the first Cunningham station in which Sinclair would not hold any operational interest). Cunningham, which was to have acquired the non-license assets of WTAT, sought a shared services agreement with the prospective owner of WMMP, which Sinclair

1683-576: The elimination of the grandfathered status of certain local marketing agreements and thus cause the transactions to violate our local TV ownership rules." It was asserted that the deal might be legal only if the affected stations were operated under shared services agreements. Sinclair restructured the deal in March 2014, choosing to sell its existing stations in Harrisburg ( WHP-TV ), Charleston ( WMMP ) and Birmingham ( WABM ) and terminate an SSA with

1734-420: The highest point available in the transmission area, such as on a summit , the top of a high skyscraper , or on a tall radio tower . To get a signal from the master control room to the transmitter, a studio/transmitter link (STL) is used. The link can be either by radio or T1 / E1 . A transmitter/studio link (TSL) may also send telemetry back to the station, but this may be embedded in subcarriers of

1785-494: The latter two stations had been involved in an affiliation deal between Allbritton and ABC that was reached in response to the May 1994 affiliation deal between New World Communications and Fox that affected WBRC in Birmingham, Alabama . Negotiations between Disney and Allbritton broke down when the former dropped out of discussions to buy the stations the following month. In May 2013, reports surfaced that Allbritton

1836-400: The local television station has no station identification and, from a consumer's point of view, there is no practical distinction between a network and a station, with only small regional changes in programming, such as local television news . To broadcast its programs, a television station requires operators to operate equipment, a transmitter or radio antenna , which is often located at

1887-419: The main broadcast. Stations which retransmit or simulcast another may simply pick-up that station over-the-air , or via STL or satellite. The license usually specifies which other station it is allowed to carry. VHF stations often have very tall antennas due to their long wavelength , but require much less effective radiated power (ERP), and therefore use much less transmitter power output , also saving on

1938-484: The newspaper or the broadcast properties in Washington as a condition of the purchase. By this time, the FCC had tightened its rules on cross-media ownership, and had all but banned one person from owning newspapers and broadcast properties in the same market while grandfathering existing combinations. However, due to the way Allbritton's takeover of the Star was structured, the FCC considered it an ownership change and stripped

1989-719: The potential use of WJLA's NewsChannel 8 as a base to launch a national cable news channel. The planned acquisition was hit with a number of pitfalls due to conflicts between already Sinclair-owned or controlled stations in Allbritton's markets, and the FCC's recent actions involving local marketing agreements (LMAs) and joint sales agreements . Sinclair would have sold its existing stations in several Allbritton markets— WABM and WTTO in Birmingham, Alabama and WHP-TV in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Deerfield Media , and WMMP in Charleston, South Carolina to Howard Stirk Holdings,

2040-476: The programmes seen on its owner's flagship station, and have no television studio or production facilities of their own. This is common in developing countries . Low-power stations typically also fall into this category worldwide. Most stations which are not simulcast produce their own station identifications . TV stations may also advertise on or provide weather (or news) services to local radio stations , particularly co-owned sister stations . This may be

2091-470: The rules by crafting a local marketing agreement with WMMP as the senior partner, allowing Sinclair to continue operating WTAT. Sinclair tried to acquire Glencairn's stations outright in 2001. It could not legally own both WTAT and WMMP because Charleston has only six full-power stations—too few to legally permit a duopoly . Although WTAT was longer-established, Sinclair opted to keep WMMP instead of acquiring WTAT and selling WMMP to another company. In 2001,

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2142-705: The three affected stations, requiring changes to its transaction. In Harrisburg, Sinclair chose to retain WHP-TV, and instead sell WHTM to Media General . However, in Charleston and Birmingham, the company proposed to shut down stations entirely so it could maintain legal duopolies; surrendering the licenses for WCIV and the full-powered repeaters of WBMA-LD (WJSU and WCFT), and moving their ABC programming to Sinclair's existing stations WMMP and WABM respectively—which would planned shift their existing MyNetworkTV programming to digital subchannels , these station would since move ABC affiliation to digital subchannel. After nearly

2193-462: The world. Television stations broadcasting over an analog system were typically limited to one television channel , but digital television enables broadcasting via subchannels as well. Television stations usually require a broadcast license from a government agency which sets the requirements and limitations on the station. In the United States, for example, a television license defines

2244-473: Was Act III's second station acquisition. Abry Communications bought the Act III group in 1995, and formed Sullivan Broadcasting to operate the stations. WTAT carried UPN as a secondary affiliation from 1995 until 1997 when former WB affiliate WMMP joined UPN. In 1998, Sullivan Broadcasting sold its stations to Sinclair Broadcast Group . However, earlier that year, Sinclair acquired WMMP from Max Media. As

2295-596: Was also controversial and a requirement of all company-owned stations with newscasts until the series was discontinued in December 2006. On September 29, 2008, WCSC set a broadcasting benchmark in the area when it became the first television outlet to offer newscasts in high definition. The upgrade included new custom Raycom Media corporate graphics, a re-designed HD logo, and updated music package. The WTAT broadcasts at that time, however, were still only aired in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition as this station lacked

2346-522: 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

2397-539: Was named after Paul Gottlieb Nipkow , the inventor of the Nipkow disk . Most often the term "television station" refers to a station which broadcasts structured content to an audience or it refers to the organization that operates the station. A terrestrial television transmission can occur via analog television signals or, more recently, via digital television signals. Television stations are differentiated from cable television or other video providers as their content

2448-628: Was one of many company-owned stations (including WGME , WICS , WLOS , and KGAN along with others) that did not participate in the wider implementation of Sinclair's now-defunct, controversial News Central format. This centralized operation had national news segments, all weather forecasts , and some sports coverage based at company headquarters on Beaver Dam Road in Hunt Valley, Maryland that supplemented local content at most of Sinclair's in-house news departments. WTAT did air The Point (a one-minute conservative political commentary) that

2499-471: Was planning to sell its television stations; the move came as a result of the increasing success of Politico, which "continues to carry no debt, funds all investment with operating income and will still turn a profit, again, in 2013." On July 29, 2013, the Baltimore -based Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it would acquire all of Allbritton's stations for $ 985 million. In particular, Sinclair eyed

2550-462: 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. Both stations were sold to Fox directly in July 1995, but Fox

2601-497: Was to have sold in order to receive approval of its purchase of WCIV. This plan never materialized as Sinclair retained WWMP (to which Sinclair moved WCIV's ABC affiliation and call sign), and WTAT continued to be operated by Sinclair until some point in 2019 or 2020, when Cunningham took full control of the station although it continues its news share agreement with WCIV. In the early-1990s, Fox required most of its major market affiliates to add local newscasts or face disaffiliation. As

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