- WDCW
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WDCW 
Washington, D.C. Branding DC 50 Slogan "Serious Fun" Channels Digital: 50 (UHF) Subchannels 50.1 The CW
50.2 Antenna TV
50.3 This TVTranslators W51CY Chambersburg, PA Owner Tribune Company
(WDCW Broadcasting, Inc.)First air date November 1, 1981 Call letters' meaning Washington D.C.'s CW Former callsigns WCQR (1981-1985)
WFTY (1985-1995)
WBDC (1995-2006)Former channel number(s) Analog:
50 (UHF, 1981-2009)
Digital:
51 (UHF, 2006-2009)Former affiliations Independent (1981-1995)
The WB (1995-2006)
The Tube (2006-2007, on DT2)Transmitter power 125 kW Height 253 m Facility ID 30576 Transmitter coordinates 38°57′44″N 77°1′36″W / 38.96222°N 77.02667°W Website dc50tv.com WDCW, channel 50, is the CW-affiliated television station for Washington, D.C. It transmits from the Hughes Memorial Tower located in the Brightwood section of the city. [1] Owned by the Tribune Company, the station has studios on Wisconsin Avenue Northwest in the Glover Park section of Washington D.C.
Contents
History
WDCW's CW logo used 2006-2008.
The channel 50 license was first assigned to WGSP. That station ran test patterns in early-1972 but never signed on. On April 6, 1981, channel 50 finally signed on as WCQR. Beginning on November 1, WCQR aired SuperTV subscription programming at night and live pictures of Washington D.C. from above its broadcasting tower by day. Early in the day, WCQR also ran some basic computer still images with music called "Morning Muse". The live pictures were soon replaced with programming from the Financial News Network. Hill Broadcasting purchased both channel 50 and WHLL-TV (now WUNI) in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1985. On July 1, the call letters were changed to WFTY to match the Channel FifTY allocation. The station then became a full-time independent station in early-1986. Initially, the station ran a lineup of classic off-network sitcoms, dramas, cartoons, movies, and some religious shows.
However, it was airing mostly religious, infomercials, low budget (but copyrighted movies), and a few off-network dramas by 1988. Ratings were very low in addition to the programming costs. WFTY did pick up a few cartoons for the weekday 7 to 9 A.M. slot in June 1990 when Fox affiliate WTTG dropped its children's block for a morning newscast. In 1993, WFTY (along with WHLL) were purchased by the Jasas Corporation. In the Fall of that year, WFTY added more cartoons, barter sitcoms, some low priced syndicated shows, and cut back on paid programming. On January 11, 1995, WFTY became a charter affiliate of The WB. On September 6, the call letters were changed to WBDC to reflect its network status, since the callsign was a portmanteau of WB and Washington DC. In 1996, the Tribune Company (which had an interest in the WB Network) began managing the station and purchased the station outright from the Jasas Corporation in 1999. On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced that they would cease broadcasting and merge into a new network called The CW. WBDC was listed as one of the first CW affiliates as Tribune signed a 10 year affiliation agreement foe its WB stations. On May 1, WBDC's call letters became the current WDCW to reflect the coming switch.
On July 20, the station began airing a promotional item that featured a new logo and branding as "The CW Washington". The station's web address changed to "thecwdc.com". WDCW began airing The CW on September 18. Until it ceased operations on October 1, 2007, The Tube (a 24-hour digital music channel) was broadcast on WDCW's second digital subchannel. It was aso available on digital cable systems including: Comcast channel 207, Verizon FiOS channel 863,Directv channel 50 and Cox channel 804. In August of 2008, WDCW became known on-air as "DC50" reducing the promotion of The CW to just the tagline. On August 14, Tribune launched a new logo for the station. It also launched a new website located at "dc50tv.com". The logo (used above in the infobox) was being used on-the-air while the previous logo was being used on their website. This changed on August 19 when the new "dc50tv.com" website launched and the current logo was used both on-air and online. On-air, the station used "DC 50" as their branding and at some points "Home of The CW" as their slogan while online they continued to use "The CW Washington" as their branding. In recent press releases seen online, WDCW is also using "Home of The CW". [2] The slogan began being used on-air and online on August 22. The CW logo has returned to the station's branding in Jan 2009.
WDCW is currently available on DirecTV as Standard Definition only "CW-E" in markets without a CW affiliate on the system.
Digital television
On June 12, 2009, WDCW returned its digital broadcasts to its analog channel frequency, 50.[3]
Channel Programming 50.1 Main WDCW programming / CW 50.2 Antenna TV 50.3 This TV Local programming
Chris Core hosts a news program on the station called Weekend News with Chris Core. The show can be seen on Saturday nights at 6 with a re-broadcast Sunday mornings at 9:30. The 30-minute program provide news and analysis of local and national events. It is taped at Tribune's national news bureau. Each broadcast concludes with the "Core Values" editorial segment that is also heard on WTOP-FM 103.5, WTOP-AM 1050, WTLP-FM 103.9, WWWT-FM 107.7, and 104.3 FM.
WDCW, in association with the Redskins Broadcast Network, airs a weekly football program highlighting the team leading up to game day. The program, hosted by Justin Jackson and Rebecca Mejia, airs on Saturday nights at 6:30 with a repeat on Sunday mornings at 10. WDCW also airs a community affairs show called The Inner Loop that is hosted by Lillie Hamer.
WDCW is also the terrestrial home of the Washington Nationals. The station regularly broadcasts the Nationals' Sunday afternoon games.
References
- ^ "Digital Signal Sources". The Washington Post. 2008-05-20. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2008/05/20/GR2008052000207.html?sid=ST2008051902978.
- ^ "Our World with Black Enterprise on DC50 Home of the CW" (Press release). http://thecwdc.trb.com/wdcw-ourworld-story,0,1746189.htmlstory.
- ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
External links
- WDCW website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WDCW
- Query the FCC's TV station database for W51CY
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WDCW-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on W51CY-TV
Broadcast television in the greater Washington, D.C. area Local stations Public television Spanish language Cable channels CN8 • Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic • NewsChannel 8 • FPA • AIM • PACDC • MASN
Hagerstown Adjacent locals Reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television Baltimore, MD: WMAR (2.1 ABC, 2.3 WX) • WBAL (11.1 NBC, 11.2 WX) • WJZ (13.1 CBS) • WUTB (24.1 MNTV) • WBFF (45.1 Fox) • WNUV (54.1 CW) • WMPB (67.1 PBS/MPT, 67.2 MPT2, 67.3 V-me)
Winchester, VA: WHSV1-DT (3.1 ABC, 3.2 Fox, 3.3 ABC/This, 3.4 MNTV) • WAZT-CA 10/WAZC-LP 16/WAZF-CA 28/WAZW-CA 48 (TBN) • WVPY (21.1 PBS, 21.2 Create, 21.3 V-me) • WDWA 23 (DS)
West Virginia: W07DN-D / W08EE-D / W09CT-D / W23DR-D / W41DK-D (24.1/24.3 PBS/WVPB SD/HD, 24.2 Create) • WWPX (60.1 ION, 60.2 Qubo, 60.3 ION Life)Silent station ATSC-M/H
(Mobile DTV)
encrypted channels
are italicizedVirginia Broadcast television: Bristol • Bluefield • Charlottesville • Hampton Roads • Harrisonburg • Richmond • Roanoke • Washington, DC
West Virginia Broadcast television: Bluefield • Clarksburg/Weston • Huntington/Charleston • Parkersburg • Washington, DC • Wheeling
Maryland Broadcast television: Baltimore • Pittsburgh, PA • Salisbury • Washington, D.C.Pennsylvania Broadcast television: Binghamton, NY • Buffalo, NY • Elmira, NY • Erie • Johnstown/Altoona/State College • New York City • Philadelphia • Pittsburgh • Scranton/Wilkes-Barre • Susquehanna Valley (Harrisburg) • Washington, DC • Youngstown, OH
CW Network Affiliates serving the state of Maryland WMDT-DT 47.2 (Salisbury) - WNUV 54 (Baltimore)
See also: ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, ION, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS and Other stations in Maryland Categories:- The CW Television Network affiliates
- Tribune Broadcasting
- Television channels and stations established in 1981
- Channel 50 digital TV stations in the United States
- This TV affiliates
- Antenna TV affiliates
- Major League Baseball over-the-air television broadcasters
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