WRCB

WRCB (channel 3), branded Local 3, is a television station in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Sarkes Tarzian, Inc. The station's studios are located on Whitehall Road on Chattanooga's north side; its transmitter is located in the town of Walden on Signal Mountain.

WRCB began broadcasting on May 6, 1956, as WRGP-TV, the second TV station in Chattanooga. Originally owned by Ramon G. Patterson, it was an NBC affiliate from its launch. The Friendly Group purchased the station in 1959 and, as part of its renaming as Rust Craft Broadcasting, changed the call sign to WRCB on January 1, 1963. Under Rust Craft and Ziff-Davis, which acquired the Rust Craft group in 1979, the station remained in third place in local news ratings.

Sarkes Tarzian acquired WRCB in 1982. The station's news ratings saw a marked increased in the 1980s, propelled at first by the popularity of the syndicated game show Wheel of Fortune. For most of the time since the mid-1980s, WRCB and WTVC (channel 9) have competed for first place in local news viewership in Chattanooga.

History

When the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lifted its multi-year freeze on new television station applications in April 1952, Chattanooga was assigned two VHF television channels, 3 and 12, and several Chattanooga interests began considering filing for them.[1] Two applicants sought channel 3: Chattanooga radio station WDOD and Mountain City Television, a company owned by R. G. Patterson and Will Cummings, a former county judge.[2] Patterson was the owner of station WAPO.[3]

The two firms locked horns in a multi-year battle for the construction permit, as a comparative hearing was necessary.[4] In May 1954, FCC hearing examiner J. D. Bond ruled in favor of Mountain City because its program proposals were superior. WDOD contested because it believed that Patterson's work for the TV station would conflict with his activities at WAPO radio.[5] On an appeal to the full commission, the FCC voted 4–2 in favor of Mountain City's application on February 9, 1956, citing the "clear superiority" of WAPO's past broadcast record over WDOD. The news assured Chattanooga of a second television station in short order and set off a shuffle of network affiliations. Chattanooga's existing station, WDEF-TV (channel 12), elected to become a primary affiliate of CBS.[6] This left the new WRGP-TV to take NBC. The station reused the former transmitter facility of WAPO-FM on Signal Mountain.[7][8] WRGP-TV made its first broadcast on May 6, 1956,[9] from studios at 1214 McCallie Avenue.[10] In addition to NBC programs, some ABC programs aired on the new station,[11] though Chattanooga gained a primary ABC affiliate in 1958 with the startup of WTVC (channel 9), which moved in from Rome, Georgia.[12] In 1958, Jim Nabors—later known for playing Gomer Pyle—made his on-air television debut as a substitute performer on a WRGP-TV show.[13]

The Pattersons sold WRGP-TV to WSTV, Inc., the Friendly Group of Steubenville, Ohio, in a deal announced in October 1959 and completed in January 1960.[14][15] The Friendly Group was acquired by Massachusetts-based United Printers and Publishers in 1961, giving the firm its five TV stations and radio outlets from Florida to West Virginia.[16][17] United changed its name to Rust Craft Greeting Card Company in 1962, adopting the name of its most-known products.[18] WSTV, Inc. became Rust Craft Broadcasting.[19] To identify the station with the new ownership name, WRGP-TV became WRCB on January 1, 1963.[20] WRCB, outgrowing its original studios, moved to a new studio facility on Whitehall Road in the Stringers Ridge area in 1968. The new building was equipped for local color broadcasting.[21][22]

In June 1977, the Ziff Corporation, parent of magazine publisher Ziff-Davis, made a bid for Rust Craft, primarily seeking its six television stations. Ziff-Davis had previously hired I. Martin Pompadur, a former ABC executive, as part of the company's plan to acquire television stations.[23] The Rust Craft board approved of the sale that September for a total price of approximately $69 million,[24] but booming prices for broadcast properties and an objection by two Rust Craft directors and shareholders, seeking more money, caused the deal to be delayed and its price to continue to balloon. The original bid had been $25 a share; the board approved at $26.50 a share. By October 1978, Ziff was offering $33.50 per share.[25] The final sales price of $33.75 a share, or $89 million in total, was approved in February 1979; the transaction already had federal approval, so the new owners were able to take over the next month.[26] The new ownership invested in new equipment but on its own could not solve the station's reputation for high turnover.

Notable former on-air staff

• Doreen Gentzler – reporter, 1979[44]–1980[45]

Technical information

External links