| Charleston, South Carolina | |
|---|---|
| Branding | Fox 24 (general) Fox 24 News |
| Slogan | The News You Want When You Want It |
| Channels | Digital: 24 (UHF) Virtual: 24 (PSIP) |
| Affiliations | 24.1 Fox |
| Owner | Cunningham Broadcasting (operated through LMA by Sinclair Broadcast Group) (WTAT Licensee, LLC) |
| First air date | September 7, 1985 |
| Sister station(s) | WMMP |
| Former channel number(s) | 24 (UHF analog, 1985-2009) 40 (UHF digital) |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1985-1986) |
| Transmitter power | 1,000 kW |
| Height | 583.3 m |
| Class | DT |
| Facility ID | 416 |
| Website | foxcharleston.com |
WTAT-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for South Carolina's Lowcountry licensed to Charleston. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter in Awendaw. The station can also be seen on Comcast, Knology, and Time Warner channel 6. There is a high definition feed offered on Comcast channel 434, Time Warner digital channel 820, and Knology channel 905. Owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, WTAT is operated through a local marketing agreement (LMA) by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. This makes it sister to MyNetworkTV affiliate WMMP. However, Sinclair effectively owns WTAT due to Cunningham's ownership structure. The two share studios on Arco Lane in North Charleston (with a Charleston address). Syndicated programming on WTAT includes: How I Met Your Mother, Judge Judy, Swift Justice with Nancy Grace, and The People's Court.
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The station began operations on September 7, 1985 as Charleston's first independent station, under the ownership of Act III Broadcasting. It aired an analog signal on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter near Woodville. A local group originally held its construction permit but sold it to Act III before the station went on-the-air. On October 6, 1986 as part of a corporate deal between Act III and News Corporation, it became a charter affiliate of the fledgling Fox network. It should be noted, however, that WTAT would have affiliated with the network even without the Act III affiliation deal as it was the only general-entertainment independent station on the air in Charleston at the time.
Abry Communications bought the Act III group in early-1994. Abry merged with Sinclair later that year but WTAT was sold along with WRGT-TV in Dayton, Ohio to Sullivan Broadcasting in compliance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ownership limits of the time. Sullivan, in turn, outsourced the operation of all of its stations (including WTAT) back to Sinclair. By the time Sinclair tried to acquire Sullivan's stations outright in 2001, it already owned WMMP, which it had purchased outright from Max Media Properties (a company partially related to the present-day Max Media) in July 1998.
Sinclair could not legally keep both WTAT and WMMP because Charleston has only six full-power stations (too few to legally permit a duopoly). Although WTAT was longer-established, Sinclair opted to keep WMMP and sold WTAT to Glencairn, Ltd. That company was owned by Edwin Edwards, a former Sinclair executive, and appeared to be a minority-owned company. However, nearly all of Glencairn's stock was controlled by the Smith family, founders of Sinclair. In effect, Sinclair now had a duopoly in the Charleston market which was a violation of FCC regulations. Glencairn and Sinclair further circumvented the rules by crafting a local marketing agreement with WMMP with that station being the senior partner allowing Sinclair to retain control of WTAT's operations.
In 2001, the FCC fined Sinclair $40,000 for illegally controlling Glencairn. Later that year, this was renamed Cunningham Broadcasting. However, nearly all of Cunningham's stock is still controlled by trusts in the names of the children of the Smith brothers. Glencairn, and later Cunningham, have been accused of serving as a shell corporation which Sinclair has been using for the purpose of circumventing FCC ownership rules. Sinclair and Fox recently finalized a six-year affiliation contract extension for Sinclair's 19 Fox affiliates (including WTAT). The station's affiliation contract now expires in March 2012. WTAT's broadcasts have been digital-only since February 17, 2009.
After Fox requested its affiliates to air local news in the early-1990s, WTAT entered into a news share agreement with CBS affiliate WCSC-TV (then owned by Crump Communications). This resulted in a nightly prime time broadcast known as The Fox 24 News at 10 to debut. It was one of the first prime time shows in South Carolina along with Fox affiliate WACH in Columbia which had a similar arrangement with NBC affiliate WIS in that market several years later. Eventually, an hour long morning show on weekdays called The Fox 24 News at 7 also produced by WCSC launched on WTAT.
Both shows originate from a secondary set at WCSC's studios on Charlie Hill Boulevard in the West Ashley section of Charleston. The 10 o'clock news is currently the second highest rated broadcast in the area behind WCSC's news operation. It did not participate in the wider implementation of Sinclair's now-defunct, controversial News Central format but did air "The Point" (a one-minute conservative political commentary) that was also controversial and a requirement of all Sinclair-owned stations with newscasts until the series was discontinued in December 2006.
On September 29, 2008, WCSC set a broadcasting benchmark in the area when it became the first to offer newscasts in high definition. The upgrade included new custom Raycom Media corporate graphics, a re-designed HD logo, and updated music package. The WTAT broadcasts were not included in the new HD production because it was not yet equipped to broadcast local or syndicated programming in high definition. As a result, the newscasts remained in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition until January 24, 2011. This is when the station underwent a master-control upgrade and began offering local programming in HD. Starting August 31, 2009, the weeknight prime time show at 10 was expanded to an hour and added a second news anchor.
Anchors
Fox 24 Storm Team
Sports
Reporters
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