WCSC-TV began broadcasting on June 19, 1953. Originally operating from studios located on East Bay Street in downtown Charleston, it was the second television station in South Carolina and the oldest continuously broadcasting channel in the state (the first was WCOS-TV in Columbia, nowWOLO-TV). It is the only station in Charleston to keep its original network affiliation since sign-on. The channel aired an analog signal on VHF channel 5 and was originally owned by WCSC, Inc., which was headed by the Rivers family, along with WCSC radio (AM 1390 nowWSPO, and 96.9 FM nowWIWF).
The Rivers family sold WCSC-TV to Crump Communications of Houston in 1987 while the radio stations were sold to Ralph Guild of New York City. Crump kept the station until they sold channel 5 to theJefferson-Pilot Corporation in 1994.
On-screen logo with 1953 logo in different font
Print logo
Logo with callsign
Horizontal callsign
"Great Moments on TV-5" (1982-1983)
"You and TV-5, We've Got the Touch" ID (1984–1985)
1986
"TV-5 Spirit" ID (1987–1988)
"Get Ready for TV-5" ID (1989-1990)
1996–2003[]
2003–2008[]
Jefferson-Pilot merged with theLincoln Financial Group in 2006 with its broadcast properties assuming the new corporate name of Lincoln Financial Media. On November 12, 2007, Lincoln Financial Media entered into an agreement to sell WCSC-TV and the company's two other television stations (WBTV in Charlotte, North Carolina andWWBT in Richmond, Virginia) and Lincoln Financial Sports toRaycom Media for $583 million. Raycom took ownership of the station on April 1, 2008. This made channel 5 sister stations withWIS in Columbia,WTOC-TV in Savannah, Georgia andWMBF-TV in Myrtle Beach. Between them, the four stations cover the eastern two-thirds of South Carolina.
2008–2011[]
Variant used from 2010-2011
2011–2019[]
On June 25, 2018,Gray Television announced its intent to acquire Raycom for $3.65 billion, pending regulatory approval. The sale was completed on January 2, 2019.
1Owned by Branson Visitors TV, Gray holds a 50.1% interest in the company. 2Owned bySchurz Communications, Gray operated KGHZ through anSSA. 3Gray operates this station owned byAmerican Spirit Media. 4Gray operates this station owned byTegna through anSSA. 5Gray operates this station owned byThe E. W. Scripps Company through anSSA. 6Gray operates this station owned by Tougaloo College. 7Joint venture withRyman Hospitality Properties. 8Gray operates this station owned bySagamoreHill Broadcasting through anSSA.
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