WLTX

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WLTX

Columbia, South Carolina
Branding	NEWS19
Slogan	On Your Side
Channels	19 (UHF) analog, 17 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	CBS
Owner	Gannett
Founded	September 1, 1953 on channel 67 (moved to channel 19 in early 1960s)
Call letters meaning	W Lewis Television X (Former owner, used same callsign format for other stations, such as WLTZ)
Former callsigns	WNOK-TV (1953-1977)
Former affiliations	DuMont (Secondary, 1953-1956), UPN (Secondary, 1995-98)
Transmitter Power	5,000 kW Analog 1,000 kW Digital 500 kW Digital STA
Website	www.wltx.com

WLTX, Channel 19, is the CBS television affiliate in Columbia, South Carolina, broadcasting on channel 19. Its transmitter is located in Lugoff, South Carolina.

1 History
2 Logos
3 Newscasts
4 Digital Television
5 External link

[edit] History

WLTX is the second oldest station in South Carolina, having begun life on September 1, 1953 as WNOK-TV. It signed on two months ahead of WIS-TV, and originally broadcast on channel 67. It has always been a CBS affiliate, but carried a secondary DuMont affiliation until that network's demise in 1956. Its studios were located in the Jefferson Hotel in downtown Columbia, along with WNOK radio. It moved to the much-stronger channel 19 in the early 1960s.

In 1969, WNOK-AM-FM-TV moved to a new studio on Garners Ferry Road, 5 miles east of downtown Columbia and one mile from Interstate 77 and the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. In 1977, WNOK was sold to Lewis Broadcasting; this company changed the callsign to the present WLTX.

The station was known in the 1980s for starting a trend, which ABC affiliate WOLO-TV also followed, by dropping news for reruns of old television comedies. This practice ended at WLTX following CBS' acquisition of David Letterman, when a five-minute newscast was added in order to accommodate the 11:35 p.m. start of Letterman's Late Show. It expanded to a full 35-minute newscast in 1995.

When CBS lost NFL broadcast rights at the end of the 1993-94 season, WLTX seriously considered leaving CBS for one of the new networks. From 1995 until 1998, WLTX was a secondary UPN affiliate, airing most UPN programming on weekends when the network had no programming on Sundays. Except for a NASCAR Busch Series (1995-97), the Craftsman Truck Series Championship doubleheader they aired from 1996-97, PGA golf, or college basketball, CBS had no sports programming on Sunday from 1995-97. The network's ratings suffered because of the loss of major affiliates to FOX.

The loss of the NFL cost CBS and WLTX major revenue sources as advertising rates suffered because of the loss of ratings. In 1998, the current owner, Gannett, purchased WLTX, and made its first major acquisition when, in a controversial move, it hired Jim Gandy, long-time weatherman at WIS. Long-time weather anchor Camille Bradford Hugg became the new Community Relations Director at the station. While Gandy could not legally be employed at WLTX because of a one-year noncompete agreement, Gannett found a loophole and signed Gandy as a consultant at Gannett for the one year he was not allowed to work in the Columbia market on the air. The loophole allowed him to be used in a fill-in role at other Gannett Television stations when necessary, including WXIA-TV in Atlanta, WUSA-TV in Washington, D. C., while employed by the firm, but not legally with WLTX.

Gannett invested large amounts of money into WLTX to compete against rival WIS, building a new set and hiring new station management and news talent. It also created new segments such as "On Your Side", "Restaurant Report Card", and "Big Money Monday."

In 2001, WLTX added a 7:00 PM newscast to its lineup, competing head-on against WIS' flagship news program, "The 7:00 Report". In 2002, WLTX became the flagship broadcaster of the South Carolina Education Lottery. J.R. Berry and Darci Strickland, the popular morning news duo at WLTX, also became the evening news anchors that year.

[edit] Logos

This was the previous logo for WLTX before they received a makeover in 1999.

This is the current logo for WLTX.

[edit] Newscasts

News 19 at 5:00 AM (5:00 a.m. - 7:00 a.m.)
- Anchors: Nat Roers, Curtis Wilson
- Weather: Meteorologist Scott Ryan

News 19 at Noon (12:00 p.m. - 12:30 p.m.)
- Anchor: Nat Roers
- Weather: Meteorologist Scott Ryan

News 19 at 6 (6:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.)
- Anchors: J.R. Berry, Darci Strickland
- Weather: Chief Meteorologist Jim Gandy
- Sports: Bob Shields

News 19 at 7 (7:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.)
- Anchors: J.R. Berry, Darci Strickland
- Weather: Chief Meteorologist Jim Gandy

News 19 at 11 (11:00 p.m. - 11:35 p.m.)
- Anchors: J.R. Berry, Darci Strickland
- Weather: Chief Meteorologist Jim Gandy
- Sports: Bob Shields

News 19 at 6 (Weekend Edition) (6:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.)
- Anchor: Jennifer Tomazic
- Weather: Meteorologist Todd Santos
- Sports: Matt Barrie

News 19 at 11 (Weekend Edition) (11:00 p.m. - 11:35 p.m.)
- Anchor: Jennifer Tomazic
- Weather: Meteorologist Todd Santos
- Sports: Matt Barrie

WLTX will launch a 5 PM newscast in the Fall of 2007.

[edit] Digital Television

WLTX-DT is an ATSC digital television signal broadcast over channel 17 which is available over-the-air with a digital tuner, or through digital cable service from Time Warner Cable. With either, there is an offering of three sub-channels:

High-Definition

WLTX HD on DT 19.1 / 17.1 (Time Warner 810)

Standard-Definition

WLTX Double Doppler Radar on DT 19.2 / 17.2 (Time Warner 811)
WLTX Weather NOW on DT 19.3 / 17.3 (Time Warner 812)

As of March 20, 2007, the Newscasts on WLTX are not broadcasted in High Definition. Most CBS programs broadcasted from 8 PM ET, are broadcasted in HD.

[edit] External link

Broadcast television in the Columbia market (Nielsen DMA #83)
WIS 10 (NBC, WX Plus on DT2) - WLTX 19 (CBS) - WOLO 25 (ABC) - WRLK 35 (PBS/SCETV) - W39CL 39 (TBN) - WZRB 47 (The CW) - W55CQ 55 (TBN) - WACH 57 (Fox, The Tube on DT2)- WKTC 63 (MNTV)

CBS Network Affiliates in the state of South Carolina
WCSC 5 (Charleston) - WSPA 7 (Spartanburg) - WBTW 13 (Florence) - WLTX 19 (Columbia)
See also: ABC, Fox, NBC, PBS, CW, MyNetworkTV and Other stations in South Carolina