WCMH-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WCMH-TV
station_
station_slogan = Working 4 You
station_branding = NBC 4
analog = 4 (VHF)
digital = 14 (UHF)
affiliations = NBC
founded = | airdate = April 3, 1949
location = Columbus, Ohio
callsign_meaning = Columbus
Municipal
Hangar
(CMH = Columbus's IATA airport code)
former_callsigns = WLWC (1949-1976)
former_channel_numbers = 3 (1949-1952)
owner = Media General
licensee = Media General Communications Holdings, LLC
effective_radiated_power = 95.5 kW (analog)
902 kW (digital)
HAAT = 274 m (analog)
264 m (digital)
facility_id = 50781
coordinates = coord|39|58|15.5|N|83|1|39.2|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.nbc4i.com/ www.nbc4i.com]

WCMH-TV, channel 4, is a television station in Columbus, Ohio, affiliated with the NBC television network and owned by Media General. The station's studio and transmitter are located in Columbus.

History

Columbus' first television station began operations on April 3, 1949 as WLWC on channel 3. The station's original owner was the Cincinnati-based Crosley Broadcasting Corporation, a division of the Avco Company. Crosley also 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 launched in August 1949.

In 1953, following an FCC-dictated frequency realignment, WLWC moved to channel 4. The Crosley TV station group, which would later grow 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 and Indianapolis also aired common programming, including "The Paul Dixon Show", "Midwestern Hayride", "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, and 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.

Outlet sold its broadcast interests to NBC in 1996, and channel 4 was converted into an NBC owned-and-operated station, spending the next decade as the only station in the market to hold such status.

WCMH-TV was placed up for sale by NBC-Universal on January 9, 2006, along with sister stations WJAR-TV in Providence, WVTM-TV in Birmingham, Alabama, and WNCN-TV in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Media General, the Richmond, Virginia-based company which already owned five NBC affiliates in the southeastern United States, announced it would purchase the four stations on April 6, 2006; the sale was finalized on June 26, 2006. [http://www.mediageneral.com/press/2006/june26_06.htm] As a result, channel 4 became Media General's first station in the Great Lakes region.

For several months after the ownership change, WCMH's website and those of the other three stations remained in the format used by the websites of NBC-owned stations. In December 2006, WNCN and WJAR launched redesigned websites, which are no longer powered by Internet Broadcasting. On December 11, 2006, WVTM's website followed suit, followed by WCMH on December 14. Media General has since located the master control for all Media General NBC affiliates at its Columbus studios. [cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Media General Mid-Year Media Review
work =
publisher = Media General
date =
url = http://www.media-general.com/investor/presentations/mymr_07/MYMR2007.pdf
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2008-03-13]

Digital television

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Analog-to-digital conversion

After the analog television shutdown, scheduled for February 17, 2009http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf] , WCMH-DT will remain on channel 14 [http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101233853&formid=387&fac_num=50781 CDBS Print ] ] using PSIP, to display WCMH's virtual channel as 4 on digital television receivers.

News operation

For most of its history, WLWC/WCMH-TV has been second in the Columbus ratings, except for the station's 11:00 p.m. news, which frequently beats market leader WBNS-TV. For nearly 20 years, Hugh DeMoss anchored channel 4's evening newscast, called "The DeMoss Report". By the late 1970s into the early 1980s, however, the NBC affiliate languished in third place. In 1983, the station brought in veteran news anchor Doug Adair and his then-wife, reporter Mona Scott, from WKYC-TV in Cleveland as the station's main anchoring team. They brought a "happy talk" format to the market for the first time, as well as launching the 5:30 p.m. newscast. WCMH began a slow rise that would result in the station overcoming WBNS to reach number-one in the market, and in the process, the mid-1980s "NewsWatch 4" team of Adair, Scott, meteorologist Jym Ganahl, and sportscaster Jimmy Crum (who joined the station shortly after its 1949 debut) became the most popular anchor team in Columbus television history. This also coincided with NBC's becoming the number one network during that time.

The 1990s brought changes to the normally stable WCMH-TV. In 1990, Mona Scott decided to leave channel 4, and was replaced by Angela Pace. Pace would leave for WBNS-TV in 1992, and Doug Adair and Jimmy 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 4 once again passed WBNS-TV for the overall lead for a time in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and often won 11 o'clock news ratings over WBNS (due to NBC winning prime time and late night ratings over CBS during those years).

Current Personalities

;Anchors
*Amy Basista - weeknights 5:30 PM
*Mindy Drayer - weekend mornings
*Anietra Hamper - mornings/middays
*Mike Jackson - weeknights 5:30 PM
*Candice Lee - weekend evenings
*Colleen Marshall - 5, 6 & 11 PM
*Cabot Rea - 5, 6 & 11 PM
*Marshall McPeek - weekend morning co-anchor/meteorologist/reporter
*Marcus Thorpe - weekday mornings

;Weather
*Jym Ganahl - chief/weeknight meteorologist
*Ben Gelber - weekend evening meteorologist
*Marshall McPeek - weekend morning meteorologist
*Bob Nunnally - morning/midday meteorologist ;Sports
*Omar Ruiz - weekends
*Jerod Smalley - sports director/weeknights

;Reporters
*Matt Alvarez
*Mike Bowersock
*Monica Day (traffic)
*Lauren Diedrich
*Mikaela Hunt
*Ana Jackson
*Tom McNutt (garden expert)
*Tacoma Newsome
*Patrick Preston (investigative)
*Ron Specht (home improvement expert)
*Paul Stelzer
*Erin Tate
*Marcus Thorpe
*David Wayne

Notable alumni

*Doug Adair
*Ron Allen
*Kyle Anderson
*Allison Ashe
*Bret Atkins
*Tylar Bacome
*Jerry Beck
*Leon Bibb
*Diann Burns
*Nancy Burton
*Robb Case ( [http://www.nbc4i.com/midwest/cmh/home.apx.-content-articles-CMH-2007-09-13-0026.html] )
*Paul Chambers
*Lauren Crowner
*Jimmy Crum
*Hugh DeMoss
*Andy Dominianni
*Michelle Gailiun
*Angela Ganote
*Duarte Geraldino
*Phil Hayes
*Larry Hoff
*Gail Hogan
*Holly Hollingsworth
*John Huffman (former host of "PM Magazine")
*John Ivanic
*Lee Jordan (former host of "PM Magazine")
*Margot Kim
*Doug Lessells
*Dave Maetzold
*Robin Meade
*Larry Mendte
*Jill Miles
*Monique Ming Laven
*Andre Moreau
*Stu Nicholson
*Katrina Owens
*Angela Pace
*Clark Powell
*Jerry Rasor
*Marty Reid
*Larry Roberts
*Elizabeth Scarborough
*Dennis Schreefer
*Jim Schroeder
*Jim Scott
*Mona Scott
*Rich Skidmore
*Leslie Siegel
*Dave Trygar
*Mike Valpredo
*Joe Weasel

Past Slogans

*"4 Country" (early-mid 1970s)
*"Proud of the Difference" (late 1970s, custom version of NBC's "Proud as a Peacock" campaign)
*"That's What Friends are 4" (early 1980s)
*"Sharing it all Together" (late 1980s)
*"News 4: The News Channel" (1992-1994)
*"Where News Comes First (24 Hours a Day)" (1997-2002)
*"Working 4 You" (1994-1997 & 2002-2007)

References

* [http://www.nbc4i.com/midwest/cmh/about.html NBC 4 Station History. "NBC4i.com"] .

External links

* [http://www.nbc4i.com/ WCMH-TV website]
*TVQ|WCMH