 | |
 | |
| |
|---|---|
| Channels | |
| Branding |
|
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
|
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | September 25, 1954 (71 years ago) (1954-09-25) |
Former call signs | WUSN-TV (1954–1971) |
Former channel numbers |
|
| |
Call sign meaning | Charleston,Berkeley,Dorchester (three counties inCharleston metro); calls shared with former 70s sister stationKCBD |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 10587 |
| ERP | 779kW |
| HAAT | 581 m (1,906 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 32°56′25″N79°41′44″W / 32.94028°N 79.69556°W /32.94028; -79.69556 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
WCBD-TV (channel 2) is atelevision station inCharleston, South Carolina, United States, affiliated withNBC. Its second subchannel serves as anowned-and-operated station ofThe CW (viaThe CW Plus). Owned byNexstar Media Group, WCBD-TV has studios on West Coleman Boulevard (SC 703) inMount Pleasant, and its transmitter is located inAwendaw, South Carolina.
The station signed on the air as WUSN-TV on September 25, 1954. The station was originally owned by Drayton Hastie. It aired ananalog signal onVHF channel 2 and was originally an NBC affiliate with a secondaryABC affiliation. Hastie sold the station to Reeves Telecom in 1960. It shared ABC programming with WCSC-TV until 1962, whenWCIV signed on and took the NBC affiliation. WUSN then became a full-time ABC affiliate. During the late-1950s, it was also briefly affiliated with theNTA Film Network. In 1971, Reeves then sold Channel 2 toState Telecasting Company, based in the state capital ofColumbia. On November 8, 1971,[2] the station adopted its current call letters, WCBD standing forCharleston,Berkeley, andDorchester counties (the three counties in theCharleston metropolitan area), calls also taken to coordinate with new sister stationKCBD inLubbock, Texas.Media General bought the station from State Telecasting in 1983.
In May 1994, Great American Communications announced that it would sell four of its six television stations toNew World Communications, who would subsequently announce anaffiliation agreement withFox.[3] Two of the stations that were involved in the deal were ABC affiliatesWBRC inBirmingham, Alabama, andWGHP inHigh Point, North Carolina. Fox was unable to purchase the two stations outright; both of them were placed in a blind trust and were sold directly to Fox in early 1995. While WGHP was able to switch to Fox in September 1995 (taking the affiliation fromWXLV-TV, which affiliated with ABC), Fox had to run WBRC as an ABC affiliate for a little over a year, as that station's affiliation contract with ABC did not expire until August 31, 1996.[4][5] In January 1996, ABC reached a groupwide affiliation agreement withAllbritton Communications, who had acquired WCIV in 1978; Allbritton would purchase CBS affiliatesWCFT-TV inTuscaloosa andWJSU-TV inAnniston (making them full-power satellites of Birmingham's replacement ABC affiliate,WBMA-LP, which began operations as independent station W58CK in November 1994). The affiliation deal caused WCIV and WB affiliate WBSG (nowWPXC-TV) inBrunswick, Georgia, to become ABC affiliates; the latter became a satellite ofJacksonville affiliateWJXX when it signed on in February 1997.[6][7] As a result of the affiliation deal, WCBD became an NBC affiliate for the second time in its history on August 19, 1996, fifteen days after that year'sOlympic Games (which were carried by WCIV locally) ended.
On January 27, 2016, Media General announced that it had entered into a definite agreement to be acquired by Nexstar Broadcasting Group for $4.6 billion. The combined company would be calledNexstar Media Group and own 171 stations (including WCBD-TV).[8] The deal was completed on January 17, 2017.[9]
WCBD spent most of the 1970s and 1980s in last place until Media General bought the station in 1983. Since then, it has been a solid runner-up to longtime leader WCSC. WCBD offers more than 30 hours of news per week. Each newscasts focus on WCBD's signature elements that have become a staple in the Lowcountry: "Storm Team 2", "CrimeTracker", "2 Your Health", "Cool School/Cool Teacher of the Week", "Count on 2 Sports", "Count on 2 Traffic" and "Count on 2 Investigators".
WCBD airs a newscast Saturday nights at 7, but unlike WCSC and WCIV, does not offer a broadcast at the same time on weeknights. The first HD telecast was on July 29, 2012, making it the lastLowcountry station to go HD.[10] WCBD started a weekend morning newscast that airs on Saturdays and Sundays at 9 a.m. In addition to its main studios, WCBD also operates a bureau located on Assembly Street/SC 48 covering theCapitol in Columbia, an operation shared by its sister Nexstar stations in and around the state.
WCBD-DT2 has two original newscasts produced by WCBD:News 2 at 7 on the CW weekday mornings, andWCBD News 2 at 10pm on The CW on weeknights. Previously, the subchannel carried a repeat of the 6 p.m. edition.
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WCBD-HD | NBC |
| 2.2 | 720p | eCBD-CW | The CW Plus | |
| 2.3 | 480i | ION | Ion Television | |
| 2.4 | 4:3 | Laff | Laff | |
| 4.4 | 480i | 16:9 | StartTV | Start TV (WGWG-DT4) |
WCBD-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 2, on June 12, 2009, as part of thefederally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[12] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transitionUHF channel 50, usingvirtual channel 2.[13]
Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the state ofSouth Carolina | ||
|---|---|---|
Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of South Carolina | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| MyNetworkTV | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
| Spanish | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
| ||
| ABC | .svg){kind=logo} | |
|---|---|---|
| CBS | ||
| The CW |
| |
| Fox | ||
| MyNetworkTV | ||
| NBC | ||
| Other stations | ||
| TV network |
| |
| Other assets |
| |
| Acquisitions | ||
** Owned by third parties but operated by Nexstar through various agreements. | ||
