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WRDW-TV
WRDW-TV (channel 12) is a television station in Augusta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with CBS and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Gray Media alongside low-power Telemundo affiliate WGAT-LD (channel 17) and Class A NBC affiliate WAGT-CD (channel 26). The three stations share studios at The Village at Riverwatch development in Augusta; WRDW-TV's transmitter is located in Beech Island, South Carolina.
WRDW-TV commenced operations in February 1954; it is the second-oldest television station in Augusta. The station was originally owned by Radio Augusta, the parent company of the original WRDW radio (1480 AM, later WCHZ and now defunct). WRDW-TV has been Augusta's CBS affiliate for its entire history, owing to its radio sister's long affiliation with the CBS Radio Network. However, it shared ABC with then-primary NBC affiliate WJBF (channel 6).
In 1956, Radio Augusta was sold to the Morris family and their company, Southeastern Newspapers, publishers of the Augusta Chronicle.
On September 1, 1967, WJBF switched its primary affiliation to ABC, and began splitting NBC with WRDW-TV. This was very unusual for a two-station market, especially one as small as Augusta. However, WJBF's namesake owner, J. B. Fuqua, wanted to get that station in line with two ABC affiliates he had just purchased, WTVW in Evansville, Indiana, and KTHI-TV (now KVLY-TV) in Fargo, North Dakota.
When WATU (channel 26, later WAGT) appeared as the market's third station in late 1968, NBC allowed WRDW-TV and WJBF to keep their secondary NBC affiliations because of WATU's painfully weak signal. This situation mostly shut WATU out of access to network programming, thereby forcing it to go dark in 1970. Channel 12 continued to split NBC with WJBF until WATU resumed broadcasting in 1974 with a primary NBC affiliation. WATU's return forced channel 12 to drop NBC programming for good, per a 1971 FCC order that required VHF stations in markets with three or more commercial outlets to affiliate with only one network.
In 1960, the Morrises exited Augusta broadcasting, with channel 12 being sold to what would eventually become Rust Craft Broadcasting. (Channel 12 and 1480 AM continued to share the WRDW call letters until the early 1980s, when the radio station was sold by entertainer and Augusta native James Brown; it later became WCHZ). Magazine publisher Ziff-Davis purchased Rust Craft in 1979. Channel 12 was sold along with then-sister stations WEYI-TV in Saginaw, Michigan, WROC-TV in Rochester, New York, WRCB-TV in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and WTOV-TV in Steubenville, Ohio, to Television Station Partners, a group composed of Ziff Davis's broadcast executives, in 1983. Television Station Partners sold off all of its stations in early January 1996, with WRDW going to Gray Communications Systems (now Gray Television).
Ever since CBS began broadcasting the Masters Tournament in 1956, WRDW has been the de facto flagship station of the annual golf tournament played at Augusta National Golf Club.
On July 12, 2018, WRDW broke ground on a new building to replace its facility on Georgia Avenue in North Augusta, South Carolina, where it had been based since its inception. The new 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2) facility houses operations for both WRDW and WAGT, and opened in February 2021. As a nod to Augusta National and the Masters, the new facility also features a putting green.
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WRDW-TV
WRDW-TV (channel 12) is a television station in Augusta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with CBS and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Gray Media alongside low-power Telemundo affiliate WGAT-LD (channel 17) and Class A NBC affiliate WAGT-CD (channel 26). The three stations share studios at The Village at Riverwatch development in Augusta; WRDW-TV's transmitter is located in Beech Island, South Carolina.
WRDW-TV commenced operations in February 1954; it is the second-oldest television station in Augusta. The station was originally owned by Radio Augusta, the parent company of the original WRDW radio (1480 AM, later WCHZ and now defunct). WRDW-TV has been Augusta's CBS affiliate for its entire history, owing to its radio sister's long affiliation with the CBS Radio Network. However, it shared ABC with then-primary NBC affiliate WJBF (channel 6).
In 1956, Radio Augusta was sold to the Morris family and their company, Southeastern Newspapers, publishers of the Augusta Chronicle.
On September 1, 1967, WJBF switched its primary affiliation to ABC, and began splitting NBC with WRDW-TV. This was very unusual for a two-station market, especially one as small as Augusta. However, WJBF's namesake owner, J. B. Fuqua, wanted to get that station in line with two ABC affiliates he had just purchased, WTVW in Evansville, Indiana, and KTHI-TV (now KVLY-TV) in Fargo, North Dakota.
When WATU (channel 26, later WAGT) appeared as the market's third station in late 1968, NBC allowed WRDW-TV and WJBF to keep their secondary NBC affiliations because of WATU's painfully weak signal. This situation mostly shut WATU out of access to network programming, thereby forcing it to go dark in 1970. Channel 12 continued to split NBC with WJBF until WATU resumed broadcasting in 1974 with a primary NBC affiliation. WATU's return forced channel 12 to drop NBC programming for good, per a 1971 FCC order that required VHF stations in markets with three or more commercial outlets to affiliate with only one network.
In 1960, the Morrises exited Augusta broadcasting, with channel 12 being sold to what would eventually become Rust Craft Broadcasting. (Channel 12 and 1480 AM continued to share the WRDW call letters until the early 1980s, when the radio station was sold by entertainer and Augusta native James Brown; it later became WCHZ). Magazine publisher Ziff-Davis purchased Rust Craft in 1979. Channel 12 was sold along with then-sister stations WEYI-TV in Saginaw, Michigan, WROC-TV in Rochester, New York, WRCB-TV in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and WTOV-TV in Steubenville, Ohio, to Television Station Partners, a group composed of Ziff Davis's broadcast executives, in 1983. Television Station Partners sold off all of its stations in early January 1996, with WRDW going to Gray Communications Systems (now Gray Television).
Ever since CBS began broadcasting the Masters Tournament in 1956, WRDW has been the de facto flagship station of the annual golf tournament played at Augusta National Golf Club.
On July 12, 2018, WRDW broke ground on a new building to replace its facility on Georgia Avenue in North Augusta, South Carolina, where it had been based since its inception. The new 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2) facility houses operations for both WRDW and WAGT, and opened in February 2021. As a nod to Augusta National and the Masters, the new facility also features a putting green.
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