WCMH-TV

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WCMH-TV ("NBC4") is the NBC owned & operated television station in Columbus, Ohio. The station broadcasts in stereo and broadcasts a Secondary Audio Program (SAP) channel. The station's digital signal, WCMH-DT, operates on channel 14. The station's transmitter is located in Columbus and their studios are located on Olentangy River Road. However, in the next few years, they will planning to move to downtown at the corner of Broad and High Streets, the most important intersection in Columbus.

1 History
2 Newscasts
3 Personalities
4 References
5 External links

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History

Although currently operating on channel 4 as WCMH-TV, at one time, the station operated on channel 3 as WLWC. WLWC was one of 4 stations which made up the Cincinnati-based WLW television network in the early days of television. The other stations were WLWT in Cincinnati, WLWI (now WTHR) in Indianapolis, and WLWD (now WDTN) in Dayton. WLWC began operations on April 3, 1949. At one time, the station carried both DuMont and NBC programming. In 1953 WLWC changed the channel from Ch. 3 to Ch. 4. The station changed its call letters to WCMH in April 1976 when it was purchased by Outlet Broadcasting. (The WLWC call letters are now used on the UPN O&O in Providence, Rhode Island.) In 1984, the station greatly expanded its broadcasting facilities and newsroom.

Channel 4's newscasts are mostly in second place, except for the station's 11:00 news, which frequently beats market leader WBNS-TV. For nearly 20 years, Hugh DeMoss anchored Channel 4's evening newscast, called "The DeMoss Report." By the late 1970s into the early 1980s, however, WCMH languished in third place. In 1983, Channel 4 brought in Doug Adair and Mona Scott as the station's main news anchors. They brought a "happy talk" format to the market that had not been done before. The "NewsWatch 4" team of Doug Adair, Mona Scott, Jym Ganahl, and Jimmy Crum became the most popular anchor team in Columbus television history.

The 1990s brought changes to the normally stable Channel 4. In 1990, Mona Scott decided to leave WCMH, and was replaced by Angela Pace. In 1992, Angela Pace left for rival WBNS. Colleen Marshall became the coanchor with Doug Adair until Adair's retirement. Adair was replaced by Cabot Rea. Jimmy Crum, Channel 4's celebrated "dean of sports" retired in 1994. Outlet merged with NBC in 1995, making WCMH an NBC O&O.

WCMH was one of four NBC O&Os in smaller markets that were placed up for sale on January 9, 2006, along with stations in Providence, Rhode Island, Birmingham, Alabama and Raleigh, North Carolina. On April 6, 2006, Media General purchased WCMH and the three other stations. If the sale goes through, WCMH would become Media General's first TV station in the Great Lakes-Ohio Valley region. After the sale of WWHO to LIN TV, WCMH was the last network owned-and-operated station in the Columbus market.

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