WGBC (channel 30) is a television station in Meridian, Mississippi, United States, affiliated with Fox and NBC. It is owned by Coastal Television Broadcasting Company LLC, which provides certain services to CBS affiliate WMDN (channel 24) under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Big Horn Television. The two stations share studios and transmitter facilities on Crestview Circle, in unincorporated Lauderdale County, south of Meridian. Together, WGBC and WMDN are known as "The Meridian Family of Stations".
History
The first channel 30 to operate in Meridian began broadcasting as WCOC-TV in 1954. It was owned by the Crystal Oil Company along with WCOC radio (910 AM, now WMOG). The station had hoped to pick up the CBS affiliation for the area due to its radio sister's long affiliation with CBS Radio. However, the network ended up affiliating with WTOK-TV on the more powerful VHF channel 11. This resulted in WCOC going dark after only a few months on the air, as it began telecasting on April 7, 1954, and signed off on August 1.[2]