WIS

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WIS
station_
station_slogan = Count on WIS News 10
station_branding = WIS News 10
analog = 10 (VHF)
digital = 41 (UHF)
subchannels = (see article)
affiliations = NBC
founded = November 7, 1953
location = Columbia, South Carolina
callsign_meaning = Wonderful
Iodine
State
(derived from former sister station WIS radio)
owner = Raycom Media
licensee = WIS License Subsidiary, LLC
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = ABC (secondary, 1953-1961)
effective_radiated_power = 316 kW (analog)
874 kW (digital)
HAAT = 479 m (analog)
462 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 13990
coordinates = coord|34|7|29.5|N|80|45|22.4|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.wistv.com/ www.wistv.com]

WIS, channel 10, is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Columbia, South Carolina, owned by Raycom Media. WIS' studios are located on Bull Street in downtown Columbia, and its transmitter is located in Lugoff, South Carolina.

Traditionally, WIS has served as the NBC affiliate for the Florence/Myrtle Beach television market as a "virtual station" on most Pee Dee cable systems and sold advertising in Florence. That changed on August 7, 2008 when WMBF-TV, the new NBC affiliate for the Florence/Myrtle Beach area, went on the air; it is also owned by Raycom.

WIS is also the Columbia home of the Sunday morning football highlights shows for the South Carolina State University Bulldogs and the University of South Carolina Gamecocks. WIS is also the home of Southeastern Conference football and basketball (which, in some cases, makes the station the home of the South Carolina Gamecocks). However, that distinction will be removed after the 2008-09 season as a result of the SEC's new ESPN television contract, as Raycom O&O stations will likely not bid on the new syndicated package.

History

WIS-TV signed on the air on November 7, 1953. The station was originally owned by the Broadcasting Company of the South, a subsidiary of the Liberty Life Insurance Company, and was a sister station to WIS radio (560 AM, now WVOC). It was South Carolina's fourth television station and the third in Columbia, signing on just four months after WCOS-TV (channel 25) and two months after WNOK-TV, channel 67 (now WLTX, channel 19). With WCOS going dark (television terminology for ceasing operations) in 1956, channel 10 became the third-longest continuously operating station in the state and the second-longest in Columbia (behind WCSC-TV in Charleston).

WIS radio received the last new three-letter call sign in the U.S. on January 23, 1930, and the call sign was later shared with its television sibling. WIS was chosen to stand for "Wonderful Iodine State" because of the abundance of iodine in the South Carolina soil. It has always been an NBC affiliate, owing to its radio sister's long affiliation with NBC Radio. However, in the early years before channel 25 returned to the air as WCCA-TV (now WOLO-TV), it was a secondary ABC affiliate, sharing ABC shows with WNOK.

WIS-TV was a major beneficiary of an exception to the Federal Communications Commission's "2 1/2 + 1" plan for allocating VHF television bandwidth. In the early days of broadcast television, there were twelve VHF channels available, and 69 UHF channels (later reduced). The VHF bands were more desirable because they carried a longer distance. Because there were only twelve VHF channels available, there were limitations as to how closely the stations could be spaced. After the FCC opened the UHF band in 1952, it devised a plan for allocating VHF licenses. Under this plan, almost all of the country would be able to receive two commercial VHF channels plus one noncommercial channel. Most of the rest of the country ("1/2") would be able to receive a third VHF channel. Other areas of the country would be designated as "UHF islands," since they were too close to larger cities for VHF service. The "2" networks became CBS and NBC, "+1" became PBS, and "1/2" became ABC, which, as the weakest network, usually wound up with the UHF allocation where no VHF was available.

However, Columbia was sandwiched between Charlotte to the north, Florence and Charleston to the east, Augusta to the west and Savannah, Georgia to the south. This created a huge "doughnut" in central South Carolina where there could be only "one" VHF license. WIS-TV was fortunate to gain that license, providing many people in that part of South Carolina with their first clear television reception. One of the country's most dominant television stations, it has been the far-and-away market leader for most of its history.

Channel 10 originally broadcast from a self-supporting tower atop its studios on Bull Street. In 1959, WIS-TV activated its tall tower in Lugoff. The tallest structure east of the Mississippi River at the time, it more than doubled the station's coverage area and provided at least secondary coverage of all but five of the state's 46 counties. It would remain the tallest structure in South Carolina until Florence's WPDE-TV activated its tower in 1981. The station's original tower is still used as a backup; it is longtime fixture of Columbia's skyline and is turned into a "Christmas tree of lights" during the holiday season.

In 1963, the station's long running children's program, "Mr. Knozit," made its debut, hosted by weatherman Joe Pinner, who had joined the station a few months before. Four years later, the show would receive the Peabody Award for excellence in public service by way of children's programming. The show would run for 37 years, airing its final episode in 2000. Pinner, the station's best-known personality, remains at the station today; now semi-retired, he provides weather reports and feature segments on Friday's Midday newscast.

The Broadcasting Company of the South acquired several other television stations over the years. It was renamed Cosmos Broadcasting Corporation in 1965, with WIS radio and television as the flagship stations. Later in the decade, Liberty Life reorganized itself as The Liberty Corporation, with Liberty Life and Cosmos as subsidiaries. Cosmos sold WIS radio in 1986, but kept the WIS calls for channel 10. Liberty sold off its insurance businesses in 2000, bringing channel 10 directly under the Liberty Corporation banner.

In 1970, WIS-TV premiered "Awareness," a weekly public affairs program aimed towards the issues that concern the minority population of the Midlands, both socially and politically. The program is currently hosted by evening anchor Craig Melvin.

In 1991, after being known on-air as "WIS-TV 10" for most of its history, the station began branding itself as simply "WIS" (though it was another year before it officially dropped the "-TV" suffix from its callsign). This is because it is located on channel 3, rather than 10, on most cable systems in the Midlands, and station management felt it would be a better way to brand the station. This lasted until 2003.

WIS-DT went on the air in February 2003 as the last of the "Big Three" commercial stations to go digital in the Columbia market. WLTX-DT was first, going on less than a year earlier in May 2002, and WOLO-DT went on later on in 2002.

On August 25, 2005, Liberty agreed to merge with Raycom Media of Montgomery, Alabama. One of Raycom's stations at the time was Columbia's Fox affiliate, WACH (channel 57). WIS had produced WACH's 10:00 p.m. newscast since its launch in 1996. Raycom could not keep both stations due to FCC rules which forbid common ownership of two of the four largest stations in the market. Raycom opted to keep WIS and sold WACH to Barrington Broadcasting. The news agreement between the two stations ended in March 2007; WACH now produces its own newscast independent of WIS.

In 2006, WIS built a new studio set in preparation to air its newscasts in High Definition, debuting the new set in January 2007.

WIS has won numerous awards for station quality and its news productions, including the Southeast Emmy Award for Best Newscast, the Edward R. Murrow award, and the South Carolina Broadcaster Association's "Best Station of the Year" designation several times. In August 2007, Craig Melvin was named "Anchor of the Year" by SCBA. The station is popular among Columbia viewers, as its personalities are named in the Best of the Media awards by the Columbia Free Times, and the station has been voted the "Best" by readers of "The State" newspaper several times.

Logos

News Operation

Channel 10 has led the news ratings in Columbia for as long as records have been kept. Its dominance was helped by the fact that it was and still is the only VHF station in the market -- in fact, until the arrival of cable television in the market in the late 1970s, channel 10 was one of only two stations that brought a clear picture to much of the outlying portions of the market (the other being one of the two South Carolina Educational Television stations serving the market).

Cosmos/Liberty made it a point to invest a large amount into its stations' news departments from the 1950s onward. This resulted in a higher-quality product than conventional wisdom would suggest for Columbia, which has always been a small-to-medium market. The station took full advantage of its near-statewide coverage to establish a tradition for strong local news coverage that continues today.

Another factor behind WIS' long dominance has been talent continuity. Many of its personalities stayed at the station for 10 years or more. These staffers included news anchors Ed Carter and Susan Audé, who gained notoriety for her accomplishments as a reporter and anchor while being confined to a wheelchair (she was paralyzed as a result of an automobile accident). Carter and Audé co-anchored together on weeknights from 1982 until Carter's retirement in 1998; Audé left the station in 2006.

Nevertheless, channel 10 continues to enjoy a staff with remarkably long tenures, including Joe Pinner, Jack Kuenzie, David Stanton, Judi Gatson, Dawndy Mercer and Rick Henry, some of whom have been figures at the station for decades. David Stanton has received national exposure on numerous occasions, having hosted televised presidential debates from the University of South Carolina.

In 1963, WIS moved its main newscast from 6 pm to 7 pm, in hopes of taking advantage of "The Huntley-Brinkley Report" as a lead-in. It was one of the few stations in the country to air a local newscast at 7 pm. It added a 6 pm newscast in 1991 as part of increased Persian Gulf War coverage.

While WIS continues to dominate the television news scene, its dominance is not as absolute as it once was. In recent years, it has consistently lost the noon newscast to WLTX, and the early morning ratings crown has switched between the two stations multiple times.WIS runs syndicated programs such as Live with Regis and Kelly, Inside Edition, Rachael Ray, Dr. Phil,The Oprah Winfrey Show, and Entertainment Tonight.

Cable and Satellite Carriage outside the Columbia market

To the southwest, WIS-TV is carried as far as Aiken and the city of Augusta, Georgia and to the northeast, it is carried as far as Wadesboro, North Carolina. Despite the WIS carriage in Wadesboro, the Charlotte NBC affiliate, WCNC-TV has a translator (W24AY) in nearby Lilesville that covers the Wadesboro area. Until August 8th, 2008, WIS-TV was carried on cable in Rowland, North Carolina and Laurinburg, North Carolina (via Digital Cable) until WMBF-TV signed on the air. WMBF is the new Florence-Myrtle Beach-Lumberton NBC affiliate. DirecTV customers in Scotland and Robeson counties in North Carolina received WIS as the default NBC station instead of nearby WECT-TV, the NBC affiliate out of Wilmington, North Carolina. For a long time, WECT has served this area, especially Lumberton, North Carolina. This will change on October 1st, 2008 when WMBF is on the DirecTV system. There is no word if WIS and/or WECT is still on the Metrocast cable lineup in Bennettsville (formerly Northland Cable). Just outside of the Florence-Myrtle Beach-Lumberton market, WIS is still on cable in many areas around South Carolina such as Georgetown and Williamsburg counties.

Digital Television

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

In 2009, WIS will remain on channel 10 when the analog to digital conversion is complete.http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf]

Current personalities

;Anchors
* Brian DeRoy - Weekends 6 & 11 PM/Reporter
* Judi Gatson - Weeknights 5 & 6 PM/"Troubleshooter"
* Kara Gormley - Weekday Mornings/Reporter
* Ben Hoover - Weeknights 6 & 11 PM/Reporter
* Dawndy Mercer - Weeknights 7 & 11 PM/Health Reporter
* Stewart Moore - Weekday Mornings/"Awareness" Host/Reporter
* Trey Paul - Saturday Morning/Reporter
* David Stanton - Weekdays Noon & 7 PM/"Newswatch" Moderator

;Reporters
* Brandi Cummings
* Jack Kuenzie - Senior Reporter
* Jordan Sandler
* Jennifer Wilson
* Taylor Kearnes

;Weather
* Brooks Garner - Weeknight Meteorologist
* Brandon Lokits - Saturday Morning Meteorologist
* Joe Pinner - Friday Noon (also was host of "Mr. Knozit" 1963-2000)
* Ben Tanner - Morning Meteorologist

;Sports
* Rick Henry - Sports Director/Weekday Anchor
* Mandy Mitchell - Weekend Anchor/Reporter
* Drew Stewart - Reporter/Producer/Fill-in Anchor

Notable alumni

*Ken Aucoin
*Susan Audé (Fisher)
*Ed Carter
*Sean Callebs (now at CNN)
*Steve Caparotta
*Joe Daggett
*Gary Frick
*Jim Gandy (now at WLTX)
*Lou Green
*Angie Goff (now at WUSA)
*Shanai Harris (now at WOLO)
*Hannah Horne
*Sagay Johnson
*Joe Loy
*Craig Melvin (now at WRC-TV)
*Joe Petty
*Mark Quinn
*Diane Roberts
*Malachi Rodgers (now at WESH)
*Carolyn Sawyer
*Brady Smith
*Fred Steppe (now at WLTZ)
*Alan Taylor
*Don Upton

References

External links

* [http://www.wistv.com/ WIStv.com: WIS-TV Website]
* [http://www.raycommedia.com/stations/wis.htm WIS Page on Raycom Media Web Site]
*TVQ|WIS