branding fox 20 general wcov news channels digital 20 uhf virtual 20 psip subchannels 20.1 fox 20.2 antenna tv 20.3 this tv owner woods communications corporation first air date april 17 1953 ; 63 years ago 1953 04 17 call letters meaning will covington sister station s wale ld former channel number s analog 20 uhf 1953 2009 digital 16 uhf 1997 2009 former affiliations primary cbs 1953 1986 independent january october 1986 all secondary nbc 1953 1954 abc 1953 1960 dumont 1953 1956 transmitter power 460 kw height 518 m facility id 73642 transmitter coordinates 31 58 28.6 n 86 9 44.2 w 31.974611 n 86.162278 w 31.974611 ; 86.162278 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.wcov.com www.studio20mgm.com wcov tv is the fox affiliated television station for central alabama licensed to montgomery . it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on uhf channel 20 from a transmitter southeast of grady along the montgomery and crenshaw county line . owned by david woods and his woods communications corporation the station has studios on wcov avenue in the normandale section of montgomery . wcov is carried on cable systems all over central and south alabama including charter cable wow cable brighthouse cable directv dish at & t u verse and many others . in addition to the fox network programs like american idol empire nascar and the nfl wcov carries syndicated programming which includes the ellen show the big bang theory the people s court judge mathis and the andy griffith show . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 news operation 4 references 5 external links history edit wcov tv was the first television station in montgomery making its first broadcast on april 17 1953 . it was a primary cbs station but carried affiliations with all networks that were airing at the time nbc abc and dumont . during the late 1950s the station was also briefly affiliated with the nta film network . 1 it was originally supposed to broadcast on vhf channel 12 now occupied by wsfa but rca could not deliver a vhf transmitter in time for the launch . however rca could deliver a uhf transmitter . this historical accident would come back to haunt wcov three decades later . the station was owned by oscar covington and his family along with wcov radio now wgmp and two other radio stations in alabama . oscar s brother george william will covington who had founded wcov radio in 1939 had applied for a television license in 1949 and was on a trip to chicago to buy equipment at the time of his death later that year . it lost nbc when wsfa launched in 1954 and abc when wsla tv in selma started up in 1960 . dumont programming went away in 1956 after that network shut down . the covington family sold the station to gay bell corporation in 1964 . from 1960 to 1984 wcov blocked several requests by wsla by then a cbs affiliate to increase its power in order for that station to better cover montgomery claiming that the federal communications commission fcc would not be fostering the growth of uhf stations if it allowed wsla to do this . in truth wcov feared losing its cbs affiliation if wsla were allowed to move into montgomery . but finally in 1984 wsla was indeed granted a construction permit for a taller tower that would cover montgomery and changed its call letters to waka . gay bell saw the writing on the wall and sold wcov in december 1985 to a group of investors led by david woods son of veteran alabama broadcaster charles woods . years later woods bought out the investors and became the sole owner . in april 1985 waka activated its new tower officially and wcov indeed lost its cbs affiliation to that station on new year s day in 1986 . for the first half of 1986 wcov carried on as montgomery s first general entertainment independent station with a schedule heavy on network reruns . however at the same time woods signed an affiliation deal with the upstart fox network which was due to launch in october . wcov was one of the first longstanding big three affiliates to join fox . for all intents and purposes however wcov continued to be programmed as an independent for most of fox early years as was the case with most fox affiliates ; the network wouldn t air a full week s worth of programming until 1993 . the original tower in montgomery was destroyed by a massive tornado on march 6 1996 . the station was able to restore service for cable customers later that afternoon with help from wsfa and at & t cable later to become charter . one month later wcov returned to the air on a temporary 350 foot 107 m tower . the station applied to the fcc to resume full power operations from a new 1 700 foot 518 meter tower in grady with a power increase to a full five megawatts . the fcc granted the request and issued a construction permit . in january 1997 the station activated its new tower . wcov started broadcasting a special nightlight service on its analog signal featuring digital conversion information following the discontinuance of its analog service . the station currently produces one local program mpd the television series a police reality show which features the work of the montgomery police department . mpd has been in production since november 1991 . digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital signal is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 2 20.1 720p 16 9 wcov dt main wcov tv programming fox 20.2 480i 4 3 antenna antenna tv 20.3 this tv this tv analog to digital conversion edit wcov tv began transmitting a digital signal in 1997 on channel 16 and the transmission plant was located next to its studios in montgomery . the station also started broadcasting a special nightlight service on its analog signal featuring digital conversion information following the discontinuance of its analog service . the station shut down its analog signal over uhf channel 20 on february 20 2009 . the station s digital signal relocated from its pre transition uhf channel 16 to channel 20 . 3 at the same time the station digital converted from channel 16 to channel 20 and moved digital transmission from montgomery to grady . news operation edit news logo . as a cbs affiliate wcov operated its own news department . it spent most of its history as a distant runner up to wsfa . the station dropped all news programming after losing cbs programming . eventually a two hour simulcast of the four hour long good day alabama was added from fellow fox affiliate wbrc in birmingham . this aired weekday mornings from 7 until 9 and originated from wbrc s studios . at some point in september 2010 the simulcast was dropped . on january 7 2008 woods communications contracted with nbc affiliate wsfa owned by raycom media to air a prime time broadcast in conjunction with another fox affiliate and raycom owned station in dothan wdfx tv . originally airing for 35 minutes on weeknights a weekend half hour edition began in summer 2008 . on august 3 wsfa upgraded its newscasts to high definition level . the primary news set and graphics were redesigned in the transition . initially the 9 p.m. shows were not included because they originated from an older secondary set at wsfa s studios on east delano avenue . however in spring 2010 those broadcasts began airing in hd with updated graphics separate from programs seen on wsfa . since wdfx and wcov both aired fox news at 9 there was regional coverage of the montgomery and dothan areas provided . reporters based at wdfx s studios referred to as the wiregrass newsroom were also featured in the show . after wcov s outsourcing contract with wsfa expired at the end of 2010 it entered into a new agreement with cbs affiliate waka owned by bahakel communications to produce a nightly 35 minute prime time newscast at 9 covering montgomery . at that time the new show known as wcov news at 9 reverted to pillarboxed 4 3 standard definition since waka had yet to make any upgrades to newscasts and originated from studios on eastern boulevard us 80 us 231 . in addition waka operates bureaus in selma on landline road sr 22 truck sr 219 known as the west alabama newsroom and in troy as well as greenville both known as south alabama newsrooms . despite merging with wncf and wbmm on february 4 2013 waka continues to produce wcov news at 9 which now airs in high definition from an updated set at the shared waka wncf studios on harrsion road in montgomery . references edit require prime evening time for nta films boxoffice 13 november 10 1956 rabbitears tv query for wcov dtv tentative channel designations for the first and the second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . external links edit wcov tv fox 20 wcov dt2 antenna tv wcov dt3 this tv waka cbs 8 query the fcc s tv station database for wcov tv v t e broadcast television in alabama s black belt including montgomery selma and tuskegee stations waka 8.1 cbs 8.2 metv wsfa 12.1 nbc 12.2 bounce tv 12.3 grit tv wale ld 17.1 justice network 17.2 laff wdsf ld 19.1 drtv mynetworktv 19.2 sbn wcov 20.1 fox 20.2 antenna tv 20.3 this tv wbmm 22.1 the cw 22.2 heartland 22.3 weather radar wkni lp 25 launch tv waiq wiiq 26.1 41.1 pbs apt 26.2 41.2 world 26.3 41.3 create wbih 29.1 the walk tv waxc ld 31.1 retro tv wncf 32.1 abc 32.2 the cw 32.3 weather radar wfrz ld 34.1 worship fn insp 34.2 sd simulcast wetu ld 39.1 daystar waao ld 40.1 retro tv w43dl d 43.2 total praise channel wmcf 45.1 tbn 45.2 the church channel 45.3 smile juce 45.4 enlace 45.5 salsa wiyc 48.1 cozi tv see also columbus tv birmingham tv dothan tv pensacola mobile tv meridian tv hattiesburg tv v t e fox network affiliates in the state of alabama wbrc 6 birmingham wala 10 mobile wcov 20 montgomery wgbc 30.1 demopolis wdfx 34 dothan wxtx 54 auburn wzdx 54 huntsville see also abc cbs cw fox ion mynetworktv nbc pbs other stations in alabama retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title wcov tv & oldid 716525546 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