CBS affiliate in Charleston, South Carolina
WCSC-TV
(channel 5) is a
television station
in
Charleston, South Carolina
, United States, affiliated with
CBS
and owned by
Gray Television
. The station's studios are located in the
West Ashley
section of Charleston, and its transmitter is located in
Awendaw, South Carolina
. Both the studio and road are named for long-time WCSC personalities:
Bill Sharpe
, a news anchor from 1973 until his retirement in 2021, and Charlie Hall, the station's original personality who died just months before its relocation to the current facilities in 1997.
History
[
edit
]
WCSC-TV began broadcasting on June 19, 1953.
[2]
Originally operating from studios located on East Bay Street in downtown Charleston, it was the second television station in South Carolina and the oldest continuously operating station in the state (the first was
WCOS-TV
in
Columbia
, which broadcast from May 1953 to January 1956). It is the only station in Charleston to keep its original network affiliation since sign-on. The channel aired an
analog
signal on
VHF
channel 5 and was originally owned by the Rivers family along with WCSC radio (AM 1390, now
WSPO
, and 96.9 FM, now
WIWF
).
Many of WCSC's early on-air staff were former radio disc jockeys who became involved with the new medium of television in 1953, including Al Stone, formerly recruited from
WGAR
who at the time worked alongside Alan Freed (Moondog) in
Cleveland
. Al Stone started with WCSC in 1952 as a radio DJ and the following year started hosting as emcee local program in 1953 called
Waxworks
and later a local popular
American Bandstand
?type dance show reviewing music for local teens. Carroll Godwin hosted a local daytime
talk show
in the 1960s. Loraine (Rainee) Evans hosted the popular children's program
The Happy Raine Show
. Ken Klyce was another popular news announcer.
The Rivers family sold WCSC-TV to Crump Communications of
Houston
in 1987 while the radio stations were sold to Ralph Guild of
New York City
. Crump kept the station until selling it to
GE Capital
in 1991.
[3]
Three years later, WCSC-TV was sold to the
Jefferson-Pilot Corporation
in 1994.
[4]
Jefferson-Pilot merged with the
Lincoln Financial Group
in 2006 with its broadcast properties assuming the new corporate name of
Lincoln Financial Media
. In 1997, the station moved to newly built studios on Charlie Hall Boulevard in the West Ashley section of Charleston. The street was named for WCSC's longtime weatherman, Charlie Hall, who had been the first person seen on the station when it signed on in 1953. One of the station's most popular personalities, Hall stayed at channel 5 there covering events including
Hurricane Hugo
's impact on Charleston in 1989 until his death in March 1997. Local sports coverage has also been prominent at WCSC. In the early 1980s,
Charleston Cougars
games were aired on the station. It aired the
Cooper River Bridge Run
from 1986 until 1990 and resumed the telecasts in 2004. The broadcasts feature reporters on the course.
WCSC was the local outlet for
Atlantic Coast Conference
basketball
and
Southeastern Conference
football
which have been produced by its parent company since the 1980s. In 2004, Jefferson-Pilot management effectively forced out Warren Peper (who had been with the station since 1974) by only offering him a one-year extension of his contract with no renewal option.
[
citation needed
]
The popular anchor, who had handled both news and sports during his time at WCSC, was also the play-by-play announcer for the station's live coverage of college basketball and the
Cooper River Bridge
Run.
After the station was sold to Jefferson-Pilot, Peper was a sideline reporter for the company's syndicated college football broadcasts. Peper went to
Media General
's
WCBD-TV
after a one-year non-compete agreement in the
market
expired. Viewers wrote that they hoped WCSC would not force out longtime anchors Bill Sharpe and Debi Chard in the same way. WCSC had lured meteorologist Bill Walsh away from rival
WCIV
in 1994 and had to hide his identity with thunderclouds when running station promotions during his non-compete agreement.
[
citation needed
]
On November 12, 2007, Lincoln Financial Media entered into an agreement to sell WCSC and the company's two other television stations (
WBTV
in
Charlotte, North Carolina
, and
WWBT
in
Richmond, Virginia
) and Lincoln Financial Sports to Raycom Media for $583 million. Raycom took ownership of the station on April 1, 2008. This made WCSC sister to
WIS
in Columbia,
WTOC-TV
in
Savannah, Georgia
, and
WMBF-TV
in
Myrtle Beach
. Between them, the four stations cover the eastern two-thirds of South Carolina.
On October 3, 2013, in honor of Bill Sharpe's 40 years at the station, the studio was renamed the Bill Sharpe Studio.
On June 25, 2018, Gray Television announced its intent to acquire Raycom for $3.65 billion, pending regulatory approval.
[5]
[6]
The sale was completed on January 2, 2019.
[7]
Local programming
[
edit
]
Sports
[
edit
]
Since 2024, WCSC's 3rd subchannel has aired select matches featuring the
Charleston Battery
of the
USL Championship
.
[8]
News operation
[
edit
]
WCSC's newscasts have long dominated the ratings in Charleston.
[
citation needed
]
The station's various owners have always poured significant resources into the news department, resulting in a much higher-quality product than conventional wisdom would suggest for a market of Charleston's size. The station had the same two news anchors weeknights at 6:30 from the mid-1970s until 1991 and the same three news anchors were together until 1997. Bill Sharpe became an employee at the station in 1973 after a short time at
WTMA
and has been with the station for over 40 years, with the station naming the primary studio for him in 2013. For most of the time since 1991, he has been teamed with Debi Chard. Sharpe retired on October 28, 2021. WCSC has been a trend-setter in South Carolina for newscasts as it expanded its local evening news programming on weeknights from thirty minutes to two and a half hours and has the most newscasts in the state within a broadcast day.
[9]
After
Fox
requested its affiliates to air local news in the early 1990s,
WTAT-TV
(then owned by
Act III Broadcasting
) entered into a news share agreement with WCSC. This resulted in a nightly prime time broadcast known as
The Fox 24 News at 10
to debut. It was the first prime time show in South Carolina, in the early 90s, followed by Fox affiliate
WACH
in Columbia which had a similar arrangement with
NBC
affiliate WIS, in that market, during the mid to late 90s. Eventually, an hour-long morning show on weekdays called
The Fox 24 News at 7
also produced by WCSC launched on WTAT. Both shows originate from a secondary studio at 2126 Charlie Hall Boulevard (not the Sharpe studio). The 10 o'clock news is currently the second highest rated broadcast in the area.
In 1991, this station began airing a one-hour broadcast weeknights at 6 which later became ninety minutes from 5 to 6:30 followed by
CBS Evening News
in 1997. Prior to this, the national news aired at 7. In January 2000, WCSC launched its regional weather radar called "Live Super Doppler 5000". Now known as "Super Doppler HD", the system comprises four regional live
NOAA
National Weather Service
radars and its own Collins radar sold by Advanced Designs Corporation in
Bloomington, Indiana
(which makes the station the only one in the market to operate its own radar). The station has often shared weather radars with fellow Raycom stations since the practice started after being purchased by Jefferson-Pilot.
In 2004, it added a thirty-minute newscast weekdays at 4 p.m. now totaling two hours of local broadcasts between 4 and 6:30. WCSC is the only station in the area to air local news at 4. In August 2006, with anchor and format changes at the
CBS Evening News
and concerns over ratings, it added a prime time show weeknights at 7 to "piggyback" with the network newscast. WCSC and
ABC
affiliate WCIV-DT2 are the only stations in the area to offer news in this time slot, and is similar to fellow Raycom stations in the Carolinas, following the lead of WIS, which has run 7 p.m. since 1963.
The station expanded its weather product with the "Live 5 Storm TRACKER Mobile Storm Center". It is the first vehicle of its kind in the region and allows WCSC meteorologists access to weather data away from the station and ability to send back live weather data for display on-air. On September 29, 2008, WCSC set another broadcasting benchmark in the area when it became the first to offer newscasts in high definition. The upgrade included new custom Raycom corporate graphics, a re-designed HD logo, and updated music package. The WTAT broadcasts were initially not included in the new HD production because that station was not yet equipped to broadcast local or syndicated programming in high definition. As of January 24, 2011, the WTAT news shows are now in HD. Starting August 31, 2009, the weeknight prime time show at 10 on WTAT was expanded to an hour and added a second news anchor.
On January 25, 2014, WCSC-TV expanded its news presence, again, by adding a Saturday and Sunday morning broadcast of
Live 5 News This Morning
from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m.
On
December 31
, 2015, WCSC-TV produced its last broadcast for WTAT-TV (with production for that station moving to sister station WCIV). WCSC-TV began producing an expansion to
Live 5 News
on its Bounce digital subchannel from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. The station also began airing a 7:30 p.m. newscast, in late November, weeknights to bring its 7 p.m. news to a full hour.
[10]
Notable former on-air staff
[
edit
]
Technical information
[
edit
]
Subchannels
[
edit
]
The station's signal is
multiplexed
:
Broadcast on behalf of another station
WCSC-TV launched a second subchannel on January 8, 2010, that carries additional programming, branded as
Live 5+
.
[12]
Until 2013, the schedule consisted of additional syndicated programming (some of which has moved to other stations) as well as select programming from the main channel aired on 5.2. On December 26, 2013, select programming from
This TV
was added the channel. As of 2016, syndicated programs are no longer seen on the schedule. WCSC-TV added Bounce TV to 5.3 upon its launch on September 26, 2011.
Analog-to-digital conversion
[
edit
]
WCSC-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 5, at 6 a.m. on June 12, 2009, as part of the
federally mandated transition from analog to digital television
.
[13]
Reporter Bill Burr and chief meteorologist Bill Walsh conducted the switch inside the transmitter room during the station's morning newscast.
[14]
The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition
UHF
channel 47,
[15]
using
virtual channel
5.
On June 1, 2018, as part of the
repacking
process, WCSC-TV moved its digital signal to channel 19.
[16]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Facility Technical Data for WCSC-TV"
.
Licensing and Management System
.
Federal Communications Commission
.
- ^
FCC History Cards for WCSC-TV
.
Federal Communications Commission
.
- ^
"For the Record"
(PDF)
.
Broadcasting
. May 6, 1991. p. 56
. Retrieved
September 12,
2023
.
- ^
"Changing Hands"
(PDF)
.
Broadcasting
. August 30, 1993. p. 36
. Retrieved
August 12,
2023
.
- ^
Hufford, Austen (June 25, 2018).
"Gray TV to Buy Raycom in $3.65 Billion Deal"
.
Wall Street Journal
.
ISSN
0099-9660
. Retrieved
June 25,
2018
.
- ^
Hayes, Dade (June 25, 2018).
"Gray Acquiring Raycom For $3.65B, Forming No. 3 Local TV Group"
.
Deadline
. Retrieved
June 25,
2018
.
- ^
"Press Releases"
(PDF)
.
gray.tv
.
- ^
"Battery's 2024 home matches to broadcast locally on WCSC and WIS"
. Charleston Battery. March 20, 2024
. Retrieved
April 12,
2024
.
- ^
Live 5 News Web Staff (October 3, 2013).
"Taking a look back at Bill Sharpe's 40 years at Live 5 News"
. Retrieved
February 19,
2016
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
"Live 5 Plus adds new programming to line-up"
. December 26, 2013
. Retrieved
February 19,
2016
.
- ^
"RabbitEars TV Query for WCSC"
.
RabbitEars.info
. Retrieved
February 19,
2016
.
- ^
"About LIVE 5+"
.
Live 5 Insider
. December 31, 2009
. Retrieved
February 19,
2016
.
- ^
"List of Digital Full-Power Stations"
(PDF)
.
hraunfoss.fcc.gov
.
- ^
WCSC-TV's DTV Transition (2009-06-12)
, July 11, 2009
, retrieved
July 6,
2022
- ^
"CDBS Account Login"
. Retrieved
February 19,
2016
.
- ^
"Rescan reminder: Over-the-air antenna Live 5 viewers need to rescan channels"
.
WCSC-TV
. June 1, 2018
. Retrieved
June 6,
2018
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with
cable television
|
Digital television
|
- WCBD-TV
(2.1
NBC
,
2.2
CW+
, 2.3
Ion
, 2.4
Laff
)
- WGWG
(4.1
MeTV
, 4.2
Catchy
, 4.3
ANT
, 4.4
Start
, 4.5
H&I
)
- WCSC-TV
(5.1
CBS
, 5.2
Bounce
, 5.3
The365
, 5.4
Grit
, 5.5
Quest
, 5.6
Ion Mystery
)
- WITV
(7.1
PBS
/
SCETV
, 7.2
South Carolina
, 7.3 ETV World, 7.4
ETV Kids
)
- WTAT-TV
(24.1
Fox
, 24.2
Crime
, 24.3
Comet
, 24.4
Charge!
, 24.5
TBD
)
- WCIV
(36.1
MNTV
, 36.2
ABC
, 36.3
The Nest
)
|
---|
Low-power digital
|
- WHDC-LD
(12.1
NewsNet
, 12.2 Sports News Highlights, 12.3
ShopHQ
,
12.4
Rel.
Ind.
)
- WLCN-CD
(18.1
CTN
HD, 18.2 Lifestyle, 18.3
CTNi
, 18.4
CTN
SD, 18.5 Biz)
- WLOW-LD (19.1
Heartland
, 19.2
Retro
, 19.3
Rev'n
, 19.4
Action
, 19.5
FAM
, 19.6 Revival TV Network, 19.7 Inspiration TV)
- WBSE-LD
(20.1
JTV
, 20.2
Get
, 20.3
Outlaw
, 20.4
Cozi
, 20.5
LX
, 20.6
Ads
)
- WAZS-LD
(29.1 Quiero TV, 29.2 Quiero Musica)
- WJNI-LD (31.1
Estrella
)
- WZCH-LD
(35.1
TMD
)
|
---|
ATSC 3.0 digital
| |
---|
Defunct
| |
---|
|
|
---|
ABC
| |
---|
CBS
| |
---|
Fox
| |
---|
NBC
| |
---|
The CW
| |
---|
MyNetworkTV
| |
---|
Ion Television
| |
---|
PBS
(
SCETV
)
| |
---|
Other
|
- WGWG 4
ATSC 3.0
(
MeTV
,
Charleston
)*
- WHDC-LD 12
(
Court
,
Charleston
)*
- WWJS 14
(
SBN
,
Hickory, NC
)**
- WGGS-TV 16
(
Rel.
Ind.
,
Greenville
)*
- WLCN-CD 18
(
CTN
,
Charleston
)*
- WWMB 21
(.1
Dabl
, .2
TBD
, .3
Nest
, .4
Charge!
,
Florence
)*
- WAZS-LD 29
(Quiero TV,
Charleston
)*
- W30CV-D 30/48
(
Ind.
,
Hilton Head Island
)**
- WDKT-LD 31
(
GEB
,
Hendersonville, NC
)*
- WSCG-LD 34
(
Get
,
Baxley, GA
)**
- WMYA-TV 40
ATSC 3.0
(
Dabl
,
Anderson
)*
- WSQY-LD 51
(
Daystar
,
Greenville
)*
- WAXN-TV 64
ATSC 3.0
(
Ind.
,
Kannapolis, NC
)**
|
---|
(*) ? indicates station is in one of South Carolina's primary
TV markets
(**) ? indicates station is in an out-of-state TV market, but reaches a small portion of South Carolina
|