The State from Columbia, South Carolina • 200

i Thanks to FCC, WIS- dominated the area from the beginning The long-time dominance of WIS in the Columbia television market isn't surprising to those who were around when the station began operating. True, much of it has to do with the NBC affiliate's own determination to remain on top. But a lot of it also had to do with the fact that WIS started out with a huge advantage. It was the only VHF station in the market. The first television station to sign on in Columbia and in South Carolina was WCOS-TV, channel 25, which began broadcasting May 1, 1953.

Next came WNOK-TV, channel 67, which signed on Sept. 1, 1953. WIS was the third one to sign on, starting up in November of 1953. But the late start didn't hurt. In those days, television sets were made with a tuner for only the VHF band covering channels 2-13.

Viewers had to purchase a converter box to tune in the UHF stations, which covered channels 14-83. Many people never bothered to purchase the box. So during the 1950s, the only Columbia station those people watched was DOUG WIS. In addition, a VHF station's NYE signal was much powerful TV more and, thus, cov- Editor ered a wider range territory. Even those folks with boxes often had trouble picking up the UHF stations, especially channel 67.

After a few months, the station's signal would begin to fade if a particularl tube was not replaced in the converter. By the early 1960s, when all television sets were required to come equipped with the UHF bands, Columbians had gotten in the habit of watching WIS and its newscasts. It shouldn't have been that way, though. Originally, the Federal Communications Commission had assigned two VHF channels, 7 and 10, to the Columbia market. In 1949, the FCC had been so swamped with applications for television stations, that it declared a freeze on all such applications.

The FCC wanted to take time to find ways to more equitably assign the remaining VHF channels (so their strong signals wouldn't intefere with each other) and also to open up the unused UHF band. When the freeze was lifted and allocations were announced, the four Columbia radio stations in operation wasted little time in getting in on the action WNOK and WCOS applied for Channel 7 and WMSC and WIS applied for Channel 10. The fact that Spartanburg was awarded APRIL 13-APRIL 19, 1997 DOUG NYE a weaker UHF allocation stunned pioneer South Carolina broadcaster Walter Brown, who has put the state's first commercial radio station, WSPA, on the air in 1929. Brown turned to his friend and Spartanburg native, Gov. James F.

Byrnes, who used his influence on the FCC to have Channel 7 moved to Spartanburg. It remains there to this day as WSPA-TV. That left Columbia, South Carolina's largest city, with just one VHF. Charleston ended with four VHF outlets and the Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville market had three. Even Augusta and Savannah picked up a pair of VHF's each.

Obviously, no one who knew the value of VHF was around to lobby on Columbia's behalf. Many UHF stations couldn't survive during that period. Their weaker signals made it nearly impossible to charge premium rates for advertising. In March, 1956, WCOS-TV packed it in and went dark, leaving WNOK to go it alone against the 300- pound gorilla, WIS. WNOK knew it had to do something about that fading 67 signal so it made a bid to get channel 5, requesting that the FCC move it from Charleston to the Columbia market.

But that effort failed. Finally, after unsuccessfully trying to get the FCC to move channel 8 to the Midlands, WLTX had to be content with moving Channel 67 to 19. Several years later, the station changed ownership and its call letters became COVER STORY From Page 3 plished, then it can start thinking about WIS. Dave Aiken, WOLO director of operations, says the station has no illusions about overnight success. "We know it will take time to win viewers over," Aiken said.

"We're in it for the long haul." Randy Covington, WIS news director, has been through all of this before and takes such challenges in stride. "I think generally when there is increased competition, viewers benefit," Covington said. "It makes us work harder. I wish them all the best. "News leadership is something that is earned, day by day, struggling to do the best job possible.

This is truly a marathon, not a sprint." Covington said it takes more than "new sets, new music and new faces" to make a solid newscast. "We're proud of our team and the depth TV STATE WLTX. Meanwhile, in the early 1960s, a new company turned on channel 25 as WCCA. It eventually became WOLO. But as the 1970s came, nothing much had changed.

WIS still was the leader especially when it came to news. While WIS expanded its number of newscasts, WLTX and WOLO eventually curtailed theirs, offering only news shows at 6 p.m. Then along came cable in the 1980s. As it grew, it helped to level the playing field. For cable subscribers, WLTX's and WOLO's signals were on the same plain as WIS's.

It was if, suddenly, everybody was on the UHF band. That inspired WOLO to add its 11 p.m. newscast in the early 1990s. WLTX followed in 1993 with its own news entry at 11. Since then, WLTX has gone to seven days a week and WOLO is promising to do the same.

Meanwhile, WACH, which was "born" in 1989, launched a 10 p.m. newscast a year ago and, according to the ratings, the response has been good. It, too, is planning on expanding to the weekends later this year. Despite the "level playing field" brought on by cable, WLTX, WOLO and WACH continue to fight and uphill battle against WIS. That edge the NBC affiliate had in the beginning continues to be a factor.

According to the Nielsen ratings service, more viewers still turn to WIS for news. A nearly 45-year-old habit is difficult to break. of their commitment. Many or them grew up here or have worked in the area for a long time. "I think we've managed to stay on top, because, historically, WIS has cared.

When the tornado ripped through Lexington, we were the station that stayed on the air six hours. The others didn't." If Cox has his way, that will change in the not-too-distant future. "These additions strengthens us in other ways," Cox said. "Amy Johnson will continue to anchor the 5 o'clock newscast and she'll also do our midday show which we'll launch in a few Still, while WIS and WLTX airs newcasts seven days a week, WOLO continues to be a five-day-a-week operation. But that, too, will change, according to Cox.

"Those (weekend newcasts) are definitely in the works," Cox said. "We're in the process of designing them now. We'll have the first stage in a couple of months and then complete the process before the summer is over." 35.