WACH

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WACH
city =
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding = WACH Fox 57
WACH Fox News
analog = 57 (UHF)
digital = 48 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = Fox
network =
founded =
airdate = September 1981
location = Columbia, South Carolina
callsign_meaning = WACH:
The word "watch",
but without the "t"
former_callsigns = WCCT-TV (1981-1988)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Barrington Broadcasting Company, LLC
licensee = Barrington Columbia License, LLC
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = independent (1981-1988)
effective_radiated_power = 2766 kW (analog)
520 kW (digital)
HAAT = 484 m (analog)
464 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 19199
coordinates = coord|34|6|58.4|N|80|45|49.9|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.wach.com/ 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 tower is located in Elgin, South Carolina.

History

After several false starts dating to 1980, the station signed on November 25, 1985 as WCCT-TV, an independent Christian station owned by Carolina Christian Broadcasting, who also owned WGGS-TV in Greenville. It was the first station in Columbia not to be affiliated with one of the major networks, as well as the first completely new commercial license in the area since WIS-TV signed on in September 1953.

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. It also ran an in house Christian program called Niteline which was produced by 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. This programming, however, was carefully selected so as not to offend fundamentalist or Pentecostal sensibilities.

The station was sold to secular interests in 1988, who renamed it WACH that June 11 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 WTTG in Washington, D.C., which had been available on cable systems for many years in Columbia. WTTG continued to be available on Columbia's two major cable systems, Wometco and TCI, for several years afterward.

WACH significantly upgraded its programming, with a far racier schedule than had been available before. Initially WACH kept Christian programming on weekdays from 9 AM to Noon and from 12 Midnight to 2 AM, per an agreement with the former owners. They 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 Raycom 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 form a duopoly between 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. Raycom opted to keep the longer-established WIS and put WACH for sale. The transaction was completed on August 11, 2006.

News program

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.

WACH ended its news agreement with WIS on March 4, 2007 and moved the news operations from WIS into its location on Pickens Street. In the May 2007 books, the News at Ten performed very well, improving on its ratings compared to last May and garnering higher ratings than WOLO's 6 and 11 pm newscasts.

In March 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.

On April 23, 2007, WACH launched the new local morning show, "WACH FOX News Good Day." It airs head-on against WIS and WLTX for local news during the first hour. The station touts the fact that it is the only local news program during the time WIS, WLTX and WOLO air national morning news shows. The impact of the newscast on the market remains to be seen, but in the May 2007 books, "Good Day" fared poorly.

Good Day:
*Tim Miller - News/Weather Anchor
*Ashleigh Messervy - Anchor

News at Ten:
*Mike Woolfolk - Managing Editor/Weekday Anchor
*Ashley Norris - Weekday and Saturday Anchor/Reporter
*Justin Kier - Weekday Weather Anchor/Reporter
*Ernest Robinson - Sports Director/Weekday Sports Anchor
*Brian McConchie - Sunday Anchor/Reporter
*Jonathan Oh - Weekend Weather Anchor/Reporter

Reporters:
*Eric Cooper - Reporter
*Alison Rauch - Reporter
*Crystal Walker - Reporter

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:

High-Definition
* WACH HD on DT 57.1 / 48.1 (Time Warner 820)

As of March 20, 2007, the Newscasts on WACH are not broadcast in High Definition. Most FOX programs after 8 PM ET, are broadcast in HD as are many FOX sport programs on weekends.

External links

* [http://www.wach.com/ WACH Home]
*TVQ|WACH
*BIA|WACH|TV|TV