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.