{{Infobox_Broadcast | call_letters = WCHS-TV | station_logo = Image:WCHS_Logo.gif| station_slogan = Eyewitness News 8 is On Your Side! | station_branding = WCHS TV8| analog = 8 (VHF)| digital = 41 (UHF)| affiliations = ABC (1958-62 and since 1986)
The_Tube (2006-present) (Secondary digital subchannel)| founded = 1954| location = Charleston-Huntington,_West_Virginia| callsign_meaning = '''CH'''arle'''S'''ton| owner = Sinclair_Broadcast_Group| former_affiliations = CBS (1954-58, 1962-86)| effective_radiated_power = 49.6 kW| homepage = www.wchstv.com | }} '''WCHS-TV''' is the ABC affiliate for Charleston and Huntington,_West_Virginia, the second-largest market (in terms of area) east of the Mississippi_River. It is licensed to Charleston and serves 61 counties in central West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and southern Ohio. Its transmitter is located in St._Albans,_West_Virginia. The station is owned by Sinclair_Broadcast_Group, and shares its news operations with FOX affiliate WVAH, which has an hour long 10pm newscast seen everyday, which WCHS produces. One of the first televised presidential debates featuring John_F._Kennedy took place at WCHS' studios in Charleston. The nationally syndicated Produce Corner segments were taped at WCHS as well. ==History== WCHS was founded by the Tierney Company in 1954, co-owned with WCHS-AM 580 (which is now owned by the West_Virginia_Radio_Corporation). It was actually the second television station in Charleston. WKNA-TV had signed on UHF channel 49 as an ABC affiliate in 1953, but went dark in 1955 due to lack of viewership. Originally affiliated with CBS, WCHS-TV joined ABC in 1958, swapping affiliations with WHTN-TV, channel 13 in Huntington. The WCHS stations were sold to Rollins Telecasting in 1960. WCHS-TV reversed the swap and went back to CBS in 1962. In 1986, WCHS swapped affiliations once again with channel 13, now known as WOWK-TV. The following year, Rollins Telecasting merged with Heritage Broadcasting to form Heritage Media. Heritage sold off WCHS-AM in 1991. Heritage sold all of its remaining broadcasting properties — four television stations, LMAs for two other television stations, and 24 radio stations — to Sinclair in 1997, just as Heritage itself was being swallowed up by NewsCorp. As such, the former Heritage stations retained their current network affiliations instead of becoming Fox O&O;s. The Sinclair purchase of WCHS forced the company to sell WVAH (which it had acquired three years before when it merged with Abry Communications) to Glencairn, Ltd. as the FCC did not permit duopolies at the time. However, Glencairn's stock was almost entirely controlled by the Smith family, owners and founders of Sinclair. In effect, Sinclair now owned both stations. Sinclair further circumvented the rules by entering into an LMA with WVAH, which allowed Sinclair to continue operating the station. WVAH, however, retained its own studio, although most of its operations were merged with those of WCHS. Sinclair tried to merge with Glencairn in 2001 after the FCC decided to allow duopolies, but could not repurchase WVAH because the FCC does not allow common ownership of two of the four highest-rated stations in a single market. Glencairn changed its name to Cunningham_Broadcasting, and the LMA with WCHS continues to this day. There is overwhelming evidence that Glencairn/Cunningham is merely a Shell_corporation used by Sinclair to circumvent FCC ownership rules. For most of its history, WCHS has been a distant runner-up to long-dominant WSAZ-TV. ==The_Tube== WCHS DT 8.2 is the home of The_Tube in the Huntington-Charleston area. This channel is carried by Adelphia on digital ch. 145. ==Suddenlink and Sinclair dispute== In the summer of 2006, Charter_Communications streamlined its operations, which included selling off portions of its cable system which were "geographically non-strategic." Charter accounts in WCHS's market area were purchased by Suddenlink_Communications (formerly known as Cebridge). Sinclair_Broadcast_Group, the parent company of both WCHS and WVAH, requested a $40 million one time fee and a $1 per sub per month fee from Suddenlink for retransmission rights of these stations on the Suddenlink cable system.http://multichannel.com/article/CA6349903.html This led to a protracted media battle and smear campaign between the two companies, and Sinclair pulled the two stations off the air in the Beckley market. After several weeks of negotiations, the two companies reached an agreement which allowed WCHS and WVAH to continue transmission over the Suddenlink cable system. The terms of the agreement were not released to the public.http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6361496.html ==Past personalities== *Tom McGee, evening anchor (1984-1993 and 2000-2003) *Jack Kane, anchor/reporter (1980-1999) *Bill Robertson, evening anchor (late 1990's) *Kelly Crawford, evening anchor *Russ Reisinger, evening anchor (mid 1990's) *Dave Weekly, sports (1986-?) *Marysue Jackson, anchor (1983-?) ==Address== 1301 Piedmont Road
Charleston, WV 25301 ==External links== *WCHS Website *Produce Corner website *{{TVQ|WCHS}} {{HuntingtonCharlestonTV}} {{ABC West Virginia}} {{SBGI}} Category:Television_stations_in_West_Virginia Category:ABC_network_affiliates Category:Sinclair_Broadcast_Group Category:Charleston,_West_Virginia Category:Channel_8_TV_stations_in_the_United_States