WKCF

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WKCF
station_
station_slogan = Your Home For Laughs
station_branding = CW 18
WESH 2 News
analog = 18 (UHF)
digital = 17 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = The CW
network =
founded =
airdate = November 1988
location = Clermont / Orlando, Florida
callsign_meaning = Knights of
Central Florida
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers = 68 (1988-1992)
owner = Hearst-Argyle Television
licensee = Orlando Hearst-Argyle Television, Inc.
sister_stations = WESH
former_affiliations = Independent (1988-1995)
The WB (1995-2006)
effective_radiated_power = 5,000 kW (analog)
1000 kW (digital)
HAAT = 513 m (analog)
472 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 53465
coordinates = coord|28|35|12.6|N|81|4|57.5|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.cw18tv.com/ cw18tv.com]

WKCF, channel 18, is the CW-affiliated television station for Orlando, Florida, licensed to Clermont. Its transmitter is located at the antenna farm in Bithlo. Owned by Hearst-Argyle Television, the station is sister to NBC affiliate WESH. The two stations share studios on North Wymore Road in Winter Park. Syndicated programming on the station includes: "King of Queens", "Everybody Loves Raymond", "Seinfeld", "Sex and the City", and "Friends".

History

The station first went on the air in November 1988. The station originally broadcast on channel 68 from studios in Lake Mary. It was owned by Press Broadcasting which previously owned WMOD channel 43 (now WOTF-TV). WKCF's early programming lineup consisted of shows previously shown on WMOD. The station provided a Grade A signal to Orlando and a Grade B signal to Daytona Beach and Melbourne. This was not the case for WMOD which had no signal in Daytona Beach and a weak signal in Orlando. WKCF was branded on-air as "TV 68". In 1991, Press Broadcasting approached Brevard Community College, owner of educational station WBCC channel 18, about a channel swap. Channel 18 had the potential to provide the full market with a much stronger signal than channel 68. WBCC was a construction permit for relatively low power serving the Brevard County area but could move to the Bithlo antenna farm with 5 million watts. Channel 68 could not move its transmitter to Bithlo and still reach Clermont with a city-grade signal. FCC regulations require a station's transmitter to be located within 15 miles of its city of license. The college agreed and the FCC approved the swap. As a result, in 1992, WKCF moved to channel 18 (which was re-classified as a commercial license), and WBCC moved to channel 68 (which was re-classified as an educational license). The station was then re-branded as "TV 18".

WKCF started producing a Kids Club program called "The Buckaroo Club" hosted by Ranger Bob. Despite low ratings, it seemed most people in Central Florida knew who Ranger Bob was. The show was on the air from 1992 until 1994. A reunion show was aired on WKCF in 2004. Another move that put WKCF on the map was partnering up with the Orlando Magic and broadcasting many of their road games. Later, WKCF began carrying home games as well. However, the partnership with the Magic hindered the station's growth and the contract was not renewed. In 1994, the station was rebranded as "18-WKCF". WKCF joined The WB network on January 11, 1995 as a charter affiliate. A year after the network affiliation was in place, WKCF rebranded itself as "WB 18". For most of the WB's 11-year run, WKCF was consistently the network's top affiliate and was even the fourth-highest rated station in Central Florida. The station was sold to Emmis Communications in 1998 for $200 million dollars. From 2001 until 2005 the WKCF studios in Lake Mary served as the home of Emmis Communications. Using Florical Automation, Emmis was responsible for master control operations for several Emmis owned Fox and WB affiliates in the southeastern United States. These stations included: WVUE in New Orleans, WALA-TV and WBPG-TV in Mobile, Alabama, and WFTX in Fort Myers. Emmis maintained broadcast capabilities during several major hurricanes impacts including: Katrina (affecting WVUE), Ivan (affecting WALA), and Charley (affecting WFTX and WKCF). The Emmis model was later discontinued as the company sold off the stations.

On January 24, 2006, UPN and The WB announced that they cease broadcasting and merge. The new combined network would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of its corporate parents: CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner. On March 1, Emmis officials confirmed that WKCF would affiliate with The CW. On May 8, Emmis announced the sale of WKCF to Hearst-Argyle Television for $217.5 million dollars. The sale was finalized on August 31. This created a duopoly for Hearst-Argyle in the Orlando market as they already owned WESH. As part of the move, WKCF moved its operations to WESH's facility in Winter Park. WKCF may now take on the responsibility of airing NBC programs when WESH is not able to such as in a news-related emergency. For the time being, WKCF is the only Hearst-Argyle owned station whose web site is not powered by Internet Broadcasting. As was the case with WB affiliation, the station is currently the highest rated CW affiliate in the country.

Newscasts

From 2004 to 2007, the station was home to "The Daily Buzz", a nationally syndicated morning program (originally produced at WBDT in Dayton, Ohio). As a result of a station ownership changeover in 2007, the show moved their base of operation to the Disney-MGM Studios with local tetecasts moving to WRDQ. WKCF was the first television station in the Orlando area to air a 10 P.M. newscast. It launched in 1991 and was originally produced by WCPX-TV (now WKMG-TV). Later on, future sister station WESH took over the production of the newscast. It was canceled in September of 2002 in response to increased competition from WOFL and WRDQ (whose newscasts are produced by WFTV). After Hearst-Argyle bought WKCF, it led to speculation that WESH could bring back 10 o'clock news on the station. That station began producing a two-hour, weekday morning newscast (at 7 A.M.) for WKCF in January of 2007. More recently, a simulcast of the 6 o'clock hour of WESH's morning news as added. WESH began broadcasting its newscasts in high definition on November 1 of that year. The WKCF broadcasts were included in the upgrade.

News team

"WESH 2 News Sunrise"
"(Weekday Mornings 6 to 7 A.M., simulcasted from WESH)"
*Anchors:
**Scott Walker
**Syan Rhodes
*Weather:
**Jason Brewer
*Traffic:
**Kimberly Williams
*National Correspondent:
**Nikole Killion

"WESH 2 News on CW 18"
"(Weekday Mornings 7 to 9 A.M.)"
*Anchors:
**Erika Washington
*Weather:
**Jason Brewer
*Traffic:
**Kimberly Williams
*National Correspondent:
**Nikole Killion

"WKCF shares additional news personnel with WESH. See that article for a complete listing."

External links

* [http://www.cw18tv.com WKCF "CW 18"]
* [http://www.wesh.com WESH channel 2]
*TVQ|WKCF