WTAT-TV

WTAT-TV

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
Transmitter coordinates	32°56′24.7″N 79°41′43.5″W
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 Cable channel 6. There is a high definition feed offered on Comcast channel 434, Time Warner Cable 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 a sister station to MyNetworkTV affiliate WMMP although Sinclair effectively owns WTAT due to Cunningham's ownership structure. The two outlets 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 among others.

History

The station began operations on September 7, 1985 as Charleston's first Independent outlet 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.

News operation

News open.

In the early-1990s, Fox required most of its affiliates to add local newscasts or face disaffiliation. As a result, WTAT entered into a news share agreement with CBS affiliate WCSC-TV (then owned by Crump Communications). The partnership resulted in a nightly half-hour prime time broadcast to debut on this station known as The Fox 24 News at 10. This was one of the first prime time news shows in South Carolina along with fellow Fox affiliate WACH in Columbia which established a similar outsourcing arrangement with NBC affiliate WIS in that market several years later. Eventually, an hour long extension of WCSC's weekday morning show was added to WTAT. Known as The Fox 24 News at 7, this can be seen from 7 until 8 and offers a local alternative to the national morning broadcasts.

Both productions originate from the CBS affiliate's primary set with separate duratans indicating the Fox newscasts. The music package and graphics theme featured on WTAT can be seen on other Sinclair outlets with news departments. It was one of the few company-owned stations that did not participate in the wider implementation of Sinclair's now-defunct, controversial News Central format. This operation had national news segments, weather forecasts, and some sports coverage based at company headquarters on Beaver Dam Road in Hunt Valley, Maryland that supplemented local content at most of Sinclair's in-house news departments. WTAT did air "The Point" (a one-minute conservative political commentary) that was also controversial and a requirement of all company-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 television outlet 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, however, were still seen in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition as this station lacked a high definition-capable master control at its separate studios in order to transmit the newscast in HD. On August 31, 2009, the weeknight prime time show at 10 was expanded to an hour and added a second news anchor. It would not be until January 24, 2011 when the station completed a master control upgrade allowing the transmission of local programming in high definition.

News team

Anchors

• Bill Burr - weekday mornings and reporter
• Ann McGill - weekday mornings and consumer reporter
• Keke Collins - weeknights and reporter
• Raphael James - weeknights
• Aisha Tyler - weekends and reporter

Fox 24 Storm Team Meteorologists

• Bill Walsh (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - Director of Meteorology and Chief seen weeknights (also heard on WCKN FM 92.5, WIOP-FM 95.9, WXST-FM 99.7, WAVF-FM 101.7, and WSPO-AM 1390/W255BW-FM 99.3)
• Chad Watson (NWA Seal of Approval) - weekday mornings
• Brad Miller - weekends

Sports

• Andy Pruitt - Director seen weeknights
• Kevin Bilodeau - weekends and sports reporter

Reporters

• Ayoka Lucas - "Fox Fashion Minute" segment producer
• Debi Chard - Managing Editor and medical
• Jordan Smith - weekday morning traffic
• Mark Davenport - multimedia journalist
• Harve Jacobs - crime
• Nicole Johnson
• Alan Campbell
• Deja Knight

External links

• WTAT-TV "Fox 24"
• WMMP "My TV Charleston"
• WCSC-TV "Live 5"
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WTAT-TV