News operation
WACH presently broadcasts 11 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with two hours each weekday and a half-hour each on Saturdays and Sundays); WACH is one of the largest Fox affiliates in the country whose prime time newscast does not air for one hour seven days a week (the Saturday and Sunday editions currently run for 30 minutes).
In 1996, NBC affiliate WIS entered into a news share agreement to produce a prime time newscast at 10 p.m. for WACH, the first such prime time newscast in the Columbia market and one of the first in South Carolina. For many years, it was one of the highest-rated prime time newscasts in the nation. Under Barrington Broadcasting ownership, the station terminated its news agreement with WIS and established its own in-house news department at its facilities on Pickens Street; WACH assumed production responsibilities for the prime time newscast on March 4, 2007. One month later on April 23, 2007, WACH debuted a three-hour weekday morning newscast from 6 to 9 a.m. titled WACH Fox News Good Day (which was renamed Good Day Columbia in April 2010). In March 2007, longtime 10 p.m. co-anchor and managing editor Mike Woolfolk was inducted into the Hall of Fame by Region III of the National Association of Black Journalists.
On September 28, 2009, WACH became the first television station in the Columbia market to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in 16:9 widescreen standard definition, alongside the introduction of a new graphics package. Video from within the main studio, field cameras and other station camera feeds are upconverted to a 16:9 widescreen format in the control room. On November 9, 2009, the station debuted a half-hour early evening newscast at 7:30 p.m. weeknights called the WACH Fox Report, which maintained an entertainment-focused format.
In April 2010, WACH introduced a new set and overhauled the graphics for its newscasts; former anchor Arielle Riposta also returned to the station as weeknight co-anchor of the 10 p.m. newscast. Woolfolk left WACH in February 2010, with Darryl Hood replacing him as co-anchor of the 10 p.m. newscast. In the summer of 2010, Good Day Columbia expanded to four hours with the addition of one hour to the broadcast from 5 to 6 a.m. The WACH Fox Report was concurrently moved to 6:30 p.m. and became a more traditional newscast helmed by 10 p.m. anchors Darryl Hood and Katie Williams. On July 7, 2011, the station became the fourth and last television station in the Columbia market (and the first Barrington-owned station) to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition; a new graphics package was phased in over within days of the upgrade. On September 19, 2011, WACH canceled its 6:30 p.m. newscast, replacing it with syndicated programming. Sinclair's graphics were fully implemented throughout all of WACH's newscasts in October 2015, providing a unified brand and music to the station since the broadcasting group's acquisition.
On March 5, 2018, WACH debuted a half-hour 5 p.m. newscast titled Fastcast @ 5, anchored by former WYFF weekend morning anchor Myra Ruiz. This newscast competes with the longer-established hour-long newscasts on WIS and WLTX.
On April 3, 2023, WACH replaced Good Day Columbia with a reairing of the 10 p.m. newscast followed by The National Desk, Sinclair's national news program. While local inserts are prepared for the national broadcast, the station no longer has a live morning news program. The station retained the 5 and 10 p.m. newscasts but made some personnel changes resulting in layoffs.[4]
