WDCW
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| Washington, D.C. | |
|---|---|
| Branding | DC 50 |
| Slogan | "Serious Fun" |
| Channels | Digital: 50 (UHF) |
| Subchannels | 50.1 The CW 50.2 Antenna TV 50.3 This TV |
| Translators | W51CY Chambersburg, PA |
| Owner | Tribune Company (WDCW Broadcasting, Inc.) |
| First air date | November 1, 1981 |
| Call letters' meaning | Washington D.C.'s CW |
| Former callsigns | WCQR (1981-1985) WFTY (1985-1995) WBDC (1995-2006) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 50 (UHF, 1981-2009) Digital: 51 (UHF, 2006-2009) |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1981-1995) The WB (1995-2006) The Tube (2006-2007, on DT2) |
| Transmitter power | 125 kW |
| Height | 253 m |
| Facility ID | 30576 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 38°57′44″N 77°1′36″W / 38.96222°N 77.02667°W |
| Website | dc50tv.com |
WDCW, channel 50, is The CW-affiliated television station for Washington, D.C. It transmits from the Hughes Memorial Tower located in the Brightwood section of the city.[1] Owned by the Tribune Company, the station has studios on Wisconsin Avenue Northwest in the Glover Park section of Washington D.C.
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[edit] History
The channel 50 license was first assigned to WGSP. That station ran test patterns in early-1972 but never signed on. On April 6, 1981, channel 50 finally signed on as WCQR. Beginning on November 1, WCQR aired SuperTV subscription programming at night and live pictures of Washington D.C. from above its broadcasting tower by day. Early in the day, WCQR also ran some basic computer still images with music called "Morning Muse". The live pictures were soon replaced with programming from the Financial News Network. Hill Broadcasting purchased both channel 50 and WHLL-TV (now WUNI) in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1985. On July 1, the call letters were changed to WFTY to match the Channel FifTY allocation. The station then became a full-time independent station in early-1986. Initially, the station ran a lineup of classic off-network sitcoms, dramas, cartoons, movies, and some religious shows.
However, it was airing mostly religious, infomercials, low budget (but copyrighted movies), and a few off-network dramas by 1988. Ratings were very low in addition to the programming costs. WFTY did pick up a few cartoons for the weekday 7 to 9 A.M. slot in June 1990 when Fox affiliate WTTG dropped its children's block for a morning newscast. In 1993, WFTY (along with WHLL) were purchased by the Jasas Corporation. In the Fall of that year, WFTY added more cartoons, barter sitcoms, some low priced syndicated shows, and cut back on paid programming. On January 11, 1995, WFTY became a charter affiliate of The WB. On September 6, the call letters were changed to WBDC to reflect its network status, since the callsign was a portmanteau of WB and Washington DC. In 1996, the Tribune Company (which had an interest in the WB Network) began managing the station and purchased the station outright from the Jasas Corporation in 1999. On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced that they would cease broadcasting and merge into a new network called The CW. WBDC was listed as one of the first CW affiliates as Tribune signed a 10 year affiliation agreement foe its WB stations. On May 1, WBDC's call letters became the current WDCW to reflect the coming switch.
On July 20, the station began airing a promotional item that featured a new logo and branding as "The CW Washington". The station's web address changed to "thecwdc.com". WDCW began airing The CW on September 18. Until it ceased operations on October 1, 2007, The Tube (a 24-hour digital music channel) was broadcast on WDCW's second digital subchannel. It was aso available on digital cable systems including: Comcast channel 207, Verizon FiOS channel 863, DirecTV channel 50 and Cox channel 804. In August 2008, WDCW became known on-air as "DC50" reducing the promotion of The CW to just the tagline. On August 14, Tribune launched a new logo for the station. It also launched a new website located at "dc50tv.com". The logo (used above in the infobox) was being used on-the-air while the previous logo was being used on their website. This changed on August 19 when the new "dc50tv.com" website launched and the current logo was used both on-air and online. On-air, the station used "DC 50" as their branding and at some points "Home of The CW" as their slogan while online they continued to use "The CW Washington" as their branding. In recent press releases seen online, WDCW is also using "Home of The CW".[2] The slogan began being used on-air and online on August 22. The CW logo has returned to the station's branding in Jan 2009.
WDCW is currently available on DirecTV as Standard Definition only "CW-E" in markets without a CW affiliate on the system. It is also The CW feed for DirecTV's feed on JetBlue airlines in-flight entertainment system. All of the other network channels are predominantly New York-based.
[edit] Digital television
On June 12, 2009, WDCW returned its digital broadcasts to its analog channel frequency, 50.[3]
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 50.1 | Main WDCW programming / The CW |
| 50.2 | Antenna TV |
| 50.3 | This TV |
[edit] Local programming
NewsPlus With Mark Segraves is a locally produced news program that airs every Friday 7:30-8AM and Sunday 10-10:30AM. Hosted by investigative reporter Mark Segraves, the 30-minute program features local investigative reports and interviews with regional and national newsmakers.
Direct Access with Big Tigger is a locally produced entertainment program highlighting entertainment, sports, music, and DC nightlife. The show airs original episodes on Saturdays 11-11:30pm and encores on Fridays 12-12:30am. Host Darian "Big Tigger" Morgan is an American television and radio personality.
SportsWeek with Lavar Arrington is a weekly sports talk program hosted by the former Redskins linebacker. SportsWeeks airs Thursdays at Midnight, with an encore Sundays at 11:30am.
WDCW is also the broadcast home of the Washington Nationals.
[edit] References
- ^ "Digital Signal Sources". The Washington Post. 2008-05-20. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2008/05/20/GR2008052000207.html?sid=ST2008051902978.
- ^ "Our World with Black Enterprise on DC50 Home of the CW" (Press release). http://thecwdc.trb.com/wdcw-ourworld-story,0,1746189.htmlstory.
- ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
[edit] External links
- WDCW website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WDCW
- Query the FCC's TV station database for W51CY
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WDCW-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on W51CY-TV
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