On Tuesday, September 1, 1953, WNOK-TV, Channel 67 signed on the air as a CBS/Dumont affiliate with studios located in the old Jefferson Hotel in downtown Columbia. This was the "Golden Age" of television as viewers tuned into programs like Art Linkletter's House Party, The Arthur Godfrey Show, The Red Skelton Show, and of course, I Love Lucy.
Soon after signing on, WNOK-TV began broadcasting the Sunday services of The First Baptist Church. Those live broadcasts, still on the air today, represent one of the longest continually running local programs in the USA. WNOK-TV was also the first Midlands television station to air a live, local baseball game (the Columbia Reds).
In the early 1960's, the station changed channel numbers by moving to the much stronger Channel 19. In 1969, a new facility was constructed on Garners Ferry Road for both WNOK-TV and WNOK-AM & FM. In 1977, Lewis Broadcasting purchased WNOK-TV and changed the call letters to WLTX-TV. At the same time, WNOK radio was sold.
In 1985, WLTX-TV constructed a new tall tower that nearly doubled the signal strength of the station and delivered a signal into 24 counties.
In April of 1998, Gannett Broadcasting purchased WLTX-TV. An immediate effort was undertaken to grow the station's news operations into one of the premiere news departments in the Southeast. In November 1999, a morning edition of News 19 was added from 5am - 7am. The 5am start was a first for The Midlands.
On December 31, 1999, WLTX ushered in the new millennium with the addition of Jim Gandy, the most trusted name in South Carolina weather. Soon thereafter, News 19's Double Doppler was introduced with one location atop the Lexington Medical Center and the other location in Atlanta. The Double Doppler sweeps of the Georgia/Carolina skies means that WLTX viewers are protected by the most advanced severe weather warning system in the state.
The extensive growth of News 19 was recognized in June of 2000 by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences when WLTX-TV won the prestigious EMMY Award for Outstanding Daily Newscast in a competition that covered the states of South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama. In 2001, News19 was recognized with seven major awards from the Associated Press. In addition, WLTX was presented with a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for journalism excellence, plus another EMMY. Late in 2001, the South Carolina Broadcasters Association named WLTX-TV their Television Station of the Year!
To accentuate our commitment to news, WLTX-TV completed a construction project that added a much larger newsroom for News19, along with news support facilities, and a new studio control room. The parent company of WLTX-TV is Gannett Television, which has 21 television stations covering 17.4% of TV homes across the USA.
On May 3, 2003, WLTX-DT became the first commercial station in Columbia to sign on with a digital signal. WLTX-DT is broadcasting on Channel 17, but digital receivers receive it as Channel 19-1, 19-2 and 19-3. Time Warner cable subscribers can view WLTX-DT’s programming via cable channels 810, 811, and 812. CBS' The Price is Right was the first program to be broadcast in digital and the first true HDTV program (High Definition Television) was The Young & The Restless. WLTX-DT is on the air 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.
In addition, all sporting events broadcast in HDTV by CBS are carried on WLTX-DT, including the NFL, NCAA Football, and NCAA basketball, along with major golf and tennis events. Speaking of NCAA Basketball, WLTX was one of the first stations in the country to broadcast all games of the March Madness Tournament. Through the use of our digital technology, WLTX broadcast up to 4 games, simultaneously, using Channel analog channel plus digital channels 19, 19-1, 19-2 and 19-3.
In November of 2005, WLTX launched News 19 Weather Now, the only all-local 24/7 weather channel in Columbia. News 19 Weather Now is broadcast on digital channel 19-3 which is Channel 812 on Time Warner Cable. It’s also streamed live on wltx.com.
WLTX’s website, www.wltx.com, is a major source of information and has grown to be one of the top news websites in South Carolina. The site is updated continuously and features news, weather, and sports along with streaming video covering a variety of topics. wltx.com also features live streaming video of News 19’s Doppler Radar, along with regular news, weather and sports online updates.
Today, WLTX is more than just a television station. WLTX is a digital media center, utilizing all the newest technology available to distribute news, information and entertainment. From digital television to the web, WLTX is On Your Side.
Gannett Co., Inc. is a leading international news and information company that publishes 101 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA TODAY, the nation's largest-selling daily newspaper. The company also owns more than 750 non-daily publications in the USA and USA WEEKEND, a weekly newspaper magazine. Gannett subsidiary Newsquest is the United Kingdom’s second largest regional newspaper company. Newsquest publishes more than 300 titles, including 17 daily newspapers, and a network of prize-winning Web sites. Gannett also operates 21 television stations in the United States and is an Internet leader with sites sponsored by its TV stations and newspapers including USATODAY.com, one of the most popular news sites on the Web
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