WDCA
Encyclopedia
WDCA, virtual channel 20, is a television station in Washington, D.C.
. Owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation
, WDCA is a sister station to Fox network
outlet WTTG
(channel 5), and is affiliated with the co-owned MyNetworkTV
programming service. The two stations share studio facilities in the Tenleytown
section of Washington, which is also where WDCA's transmitter is located.
From January 1995 to August 2006, WDCA was affiliated with the United Paramount Network (UPN)
. Prior to 1995, WDCA was an independent station.
WDCA-TV signed on as an independent station
on April 20, 1966, owned by the Capitol Broadcasting Corporation. It was Washington's third independent station, nearly 20 years younger than its future sister station WTTG, which had been founded as a DuMont
affiliate, and after WOOK, the nation's first African-American-oriented TV station. Veteran Washington broadcaster Milton Grant
, who previously worked at WTTG, was president of Capitol Broadcasting, and thus was WDCA's founding General Manager. Grant would sell channel 20 three years later to the Superior Tube Company, although he would stay on as WDCA's General Manager for the next decade.
In 1979, Superior Tube sold WDCA to the Cincinnati, Ohio
-based Taft Television and Radio Company
. In the 1970s and 1980s, WDCA's best-known personality was Dick Dyszel
, who played Bozo the Clown
, horror movie host "Count Gore de Vol
", kids show host "Captain 20
", and also served as the station's main announcer. The station was also home to Petey Greene's Washington, an Emmy award-winning show featuring the witicisms and observations of Ralph "Petey" Greene, civil-rights activist and native Washingtonian.
Under Taft's stewardship, channel 20 became very profitable. As Taft upgraded the programming (much of which was distributed by new sister company Worldvision Enterprises, especially Hanna-Barbera
cartoons), WDCA gained higher ratings but still trailed WTTG overall. Channel 20 also became a regional superstation appearing on cable television
systems up and down the East Coast. At one point, it was available on nearly every cable system in Maryland
and Virginia
, and was carried as far south as Charlotte, North Carolina
and as far north as Pennsylvania
.
As early as 1987—when it was displaced on Charlotte-area cable systems by WJZY
--WDCA began losing most of its large cable audience as more independent stations signed on in the areas where it was carried. However, it is still available on several cable systems in Maryland and Virginia.
In February 1987, Taft sold WDCA and its other independent and Fox-affiliated stations to the Norfolk, Virginia
-based TVX Broadcast Group
. At the same time, the station dropped its longtime branding of "TV20" and became known as "DC20."
The Taft purchase created a debt load for TVX and the sale of their smaller-market stations did not fully reduce the debt. In mid-1989, TVX sold a minority interest in its company to Paramount Pictures
. Two years later, in 1991, Paramount bought TVX's remaining shares and became full owner of the stations, which were renamed the Paramount Stations Group
and as a result, WDCA changed its branding to "Paramount 20", like its sister station in Houston, KTXH
. Viacom
purchased the group as part of its acquisition of Paramount Pictures in 1993.
On January 16, 1995, WDCA became a charter affiliate of the United Paramount Network (UPN), which was originally co-owned by Viacom and Chris-Craft Industries
.
In July 1995, WDCA experimented with a 10:00 p.m. newscast to compete with WTTG. UPN 20 News at 10 was a half-hour nightly newscast produced by, and featuring on-air talent from Allbritton Communications' News Channel 8
. The newscast was discontinued in the summer of 1996.
For most of the 1980s and early 1990s, WDCA was the flagship station of the Washington Bullets
and Washington Capitals
. It was also the Washington, D.C. home of the Baltimore Orioles
.
On October 29, 2001, Viacom traded WDCA to the News Corporation
's Fox Television Stations unit (along with KTXH
in Houston) in return for KBHK-TV in San Francisco, resulting in the first television duopoly in the Washington D.C. market. Fox merged the two stations' operations, with WDCA moving from its longtime studios in Bethesda, Maryland
, into WTTG's facilities on Wisconsin Avenue NW in Friendship Heights
, DC. WTTG was itself once related to Paramount Pictures - it was originally an O&O of the DuMont Television Network
, which Paramount had owned in part.
On January 24, 2006, UPN and the WB Television Network announced that they would merge to form a new network, known as the CW Television Network. WB affiliate WBDC (channel 50, now WDCW
), owned by Tribune Broadcasting
, was announced as Washington's CW station. On the day following the announcement of the creation of the CW, WDCA changed its branding from UPN 20 to DCA 20, and revamped its logo to highlight the brand change. The station also stopped promoting UPN programming. Similar changes were also made to Fox's other UPN affiliates, as The CW did not name any of the Fox-owned UPN stations as affiliates. The formation of MyNetworkTV
, of which WDCA and the other Fox-owned UPN stations have become affiliates, was announced on February 22, 2006, less than a month later.
Channel 20 began its on-air transition towards MyNetworkTV affiliation on May 5, 2006, when WDCA changed its branding again, this time from "DCA 20" to "My 20".
Despite the announced launch date of MyNetworkTV on September 5, 2006, UPN continued to broadcast on stations across the country until September 15, 2006. While some UPN affiliates who switched to MyNetworkTV aired the final two weeks of UPN programming outside its regular primetime period, the Fox-owned stations, including WDCA, dropped UPN entirely on August 31, 2006.
WDCA's digital signal on UHF channel 35 had been very weak due to a problem with Washington D.C. in constructing a new transmitter tower. However, around August 10, 2006, it was operating at full power and receivable in the suburbs.
, digital television receivers still display WDCA's virtual channel
as "20".
Like all of the DC-area Mobile DTV broadcasters, WDCA commenced ATSC-M/H
broadcasting on February 27, 2011. WDCA also has a Mobile DTV feed of sister station WTTG
, displaying as subchannel 5.1, labelled "WTTG Fox5" and a feed of WDCA on 35.2, with two encrypted video feeds of Fox News
(5.3) and the Fox Business
(5.4), broadcasting at 5.5 Mbit/s. This is tied with WFDC-DT for the highest bit rate of any DC-area television station mobile feed.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. Owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
, WDCA is a sister station to Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
outlet WTTG
WTTG
WTTG, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, located in the American capital city of Washington, D.C...
(channel 5), and is affiliated with the co-owned MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
programming service. The two stations share studio facilities in the Tenleytown
Tenleytown
Tenleytown is a historic neighborhood in Northwest, Washington, DC.-History:In 1790, Washington locals began calling the neighborhood "Tennally's Town" after area tavern owner John Tennally...
section of Washington, which is also where WDCA's transmitter is located.
From January 1995 to August 2006, WDCA was affiliated with the United Paramount Network (UPN)
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
. Prior to 1995, WDCA was an independent station.
1960s-1970s
Independent station
An independent station is in the category of television terminology used to describe a television station broadcasting in the United States or Canada that is not affiliated with any television network....
on April 20, 1966, owned by the Capitol Broadcasting Corporation. It was Washington's third independent station, nearly 20 years younger than its future sister station WTTG, which had been founded as a DuMont
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
affiliate, and after WOOK, the nation's first African-American-oriented TV station. Veteran Washington broadcaster Milton Grant
Grant Broadcasting System II
Based in Roanoke, Virginia, Grant Broadcasting System II is an owner of various television stations in the United States....
, who previously worked at WTTG, was president of Capitol Broadcasting, and thus was WDCA's founding General Manager. Grant would sell channel 20 three years later to the Superior Tube Company, although he would stay on as WDCA's General Manager for the next decade.
In 1979, Superior Tube sold WDCA to the Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
-based Taft Television and Radio Company
Taft Broadcasting
The Taft Broadcasting Company, also known as Taft Television and Radio Company, Incorporated, was an American media conglomerate based in Cincinnati, Ohio....
. In the 1970s and 1980s, WDCA's best-known personality was Dick Dyszel
Dick Dyszel
Richard E. Dyszel, known professionally as Dick Dyszel is an American television personality, best known for Count Gore De Vol, his television horror host alter-ego....
, who played Bozo the Clown
Bozo the Clown
Bozo the Clown is a clown character very popular in the United States, peaking in the 1960s as a result of widespread franchising in early television.Originally created by Alan W...
, horror movie host "Count Gore de Vol
Count Gore de Vol
Count Gore De Vol is a television horror host who originally appeared on Washington, DC's WDCA from 1973 to 1987.Originally named M. T. Graves, the character was played by announcer Dick Dyszel, and originated on the WDCA's version of the Bozo the Clown program. When the character got a positive...
", kids show host "Captain 20
Captain 20
Captain 20 was a fictional character, an astronaut who hosted Washington, D.C.'s WDCA afternoon children's television block of cartoons and live action shorts like Ultraman. Captain 20 was portrayed by Dick Dyszel from 1972-1987, who also played monster movie host Count Gore De Vol, Bozo the...
", and also served as the station's main announcer. The station was also home to Petey Greene's Washington, an Emmy award-winning show featuring the witicisms and observations of Ralph "Petey" Greene, civil-rights activist and native Washingtonian.
1980s-1990s
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
cartoons), WDCA gained higher ratings but still trailed WTTG overall. Channel 20 also became a regional superstation appearing on cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
systems up and down the East Coast. At one point, it was available on nearly every cable system in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, and was carried as far south as Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
and as far north as Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
As early as 1987—when it was displaced on Charlotte-area cable systems by WJZY
WJZY
WJZY is the CW-affiliated television station for Charlotte, North Carolina licensed to Belmont. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 47 from a transmitter in Dallas along the Catawba River. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 8 and in high definition...
--WDCA began losing most of its large cable audience as more independent stations signed on in the areas where it was carried. However, it is still available on several cable systems in Maryland and Virginia.
In February 1987, Taft sold WDCA and its other independent and Fox-affiliated stations to the Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
-based TVX Broadcast Group
TVX Broadcast Group
The TVX Broadcast Group was an American media company that owned a group of UHF television stations during the 1980s. Originally known as the Television Corporation, the company was headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, and was founded by a group of Norfolk-area businessmen led by Timothy McDonald...
. At the same time, the station dropped its longtime branding of "TV20" and became known as "DC20."
The Taft purchase created a debt load for TVX and the sale of their smaller-market stations did not fully reduce the debt. In mid-1989, TVX sold a minority interest in its company to Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
. Two years later, in 1991, Paramount bought TVX's remaining shares and became full owner of the stations, which were renamed the Paramount Stations Group
Paramount Stations Group
Paramount Stations Group was a television broadcasting company that was renamed from the TVX Broadcast Group in 1991 after Paramount Pictures gained full ownership of the group. At the time, it owned several Fox affiliates and independent stations...
and as a result, WDCA changed its branding to "Paramount 20", like its sister station in Houston, KTXH
KTXH
KTXH, digital channel 19 , is a MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station in Houston, Texas. It is owned by the Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, and is one-half of a duopoly with Fox network station KRIV .Along with programming from MyNetworkTV, the station also airs...
. Viacom
Viacom
Viacom Inc. , short for "Video & Audio Communications", is an American media conglomerate with interests primarily in, but not limited to, cinema and cable television...
purchased the group as part of its acquisition of Paramount Pictures in 1993.
On January 16, 1995, WDCA became a charter affiliate of the United Paramount Network (UPN), which was originally co-owned by Viacom and Chris-Craft Industries
Chris-Craft Industries
Chris-Craft Industries, Inc., formerly National Automotive Fibers, Inc., was a publicly-held American corporation traded on the New York and Pacific Stock Exchanges. It later took on the name of one of its acquisitions, Chris-Craft Boats...
.
In July 1995, WDCA experimented with a 10:00 p.m. newscast to compete with WTTG. UPN 20 News at 10 was a half-hour nightly newscast produced by, and featuring on-air talent from Allbritton Communications' News Channel 8
News Channel 8
NewsChannel 8 is a regional cable television network serving Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, and Suburban Maryland. The cable station is seen in more than 1.1 million cable television homes. NewsChannel 8 is owned by Allbritton Communications, along with ABC affiliate WJLA...
. The newscast was discontinued in the summer of 1996.
For most of the 1980s and early 1990s, WDCA was the flagship station of the Washington Bullets
Washington Wizards
The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...
and Washington Capitals
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup...
. It was also the Washington, D.C. home of the Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
.
2000s
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
's Fox Television Stations unit (along with KTXH
KTXH
KTXH, digital channel 19 , is a MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station in Houston, Texas. It is owned by the Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, and is one-half of a duopoly with Fox network station KRIV .Along with programming from MyNetworkTV, the station also airs...
in Houston) in return for KBHK-TV in San Francisco, resulting in the first television duopoly in the Washington D.C. market. Fox merged the two stations' operations, with WDCA moving from its longtime studios in Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
, into WTTG's facilities on Wisconsin Avenue NW in Friendship Heights
Friendship Heights
Friendship Heights is a residential neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C. and southern Montgomery County, Maryland. Though its borders are not clearly defined, Friendship Heights consists roughly of the neighborhoods and commercial areas around Wisconsin Avenue north of Fessenden Street NW and...
, DC. WTTG was itself once related to Paramount Pictures - it was originally an O&O of the DuMont Television Network
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
, which Paramount had owned in part.
WDCW
WDCW, channel 50, is the CW-affiliated television station for Washington, D.C. It transmits from the Hughes Memorial Tower located in the Brightwood section of the city. Owned by the Tribune Company, the station has studios on Wisconsin Avenue Northwest in the Glover Park section of Washington...
), owned by Tribune Broadcasting
Tribune Broadcasting
The Tribune Broadcasting Company is a group of radio and television stations located throughout the United States which are owned and operated by the Tribune Company, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois and named for the flagship Chicago Tribune newspaper.- History :Tribune Broadcasting...
, was announced as Washington's CW station. On the day following the announcement of the creation of the CW, WDCA changed its branding from UPN 20 to DCA 20, and revamped its logo to highlight the brand change. The station also stopped promoting UPN programming. Similar changes were also made to Fox's other UPN affiliates, as The CW did not name any of the Fox-owned UPN stations as affiliates. The formation of MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
, of which WDCA and the other Fox-owned UPN stations have become affiliates, was announced on February 22, 2006, less than a month later.
Despite the announced launch date of MyNetworkTV on September 5, 2006, UPN continued to broadcast on stations across the country until September 15, 2006. While some UPN affiliates who switched to MyNetworkTV aired the final two weeks of UPN programming outside its regular primetime period, the Fox-owned stations, including WDCA, dropped UPN entirely on August 31, 2006.
WDCA's digital signal on UHF channel 35 had been very weak due to a problem with Washington D.C. in constructing a new transmitter tower. However, around August 10, 2006, it was operating at full power and receivable in the suburbs.
Digital television
On June 12, 2009, WDCA left channel 20 and continued broadcasting on channel 35 to complete its analog to digital conversion. However, through the use of PSIPProgram and System Information Protocol
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
, digital television receivers still display WDCA's virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
as "20".
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 20.1 | Main WDCA programming / MNTV |
Like all of the DC-area Mobile DTV broadcasters, WDCA commenced ATSC-M/H
ATSC-M/H
ATSC-M/H is a standard in the USA for mobile digital TV, that allows TV broadcasts to be received by mobile devices.....
broadcasting on February 27, 2011. WDCA also has a Mobile DTV feed of sister station WTTG
WTTG
WTTG, channel 5, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Fox Broadcasting Company, located in the American capital city of Washington, D.C...
, displaying as subchannel 5.1, labelled "WTTG Fox5" and a feed of WDCA on 35.2, with two encrypted video feeds of Fox News
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
(5.3) and the Fox Business
Fox Business Network
Fox Business Network is an American cable news and satellite news television channel that began broadcasting on October 15, 2007. It is owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation...
(5.4), broadcasting at 5.5 Mbit/s. This is tied with WFDC-DT for the highest bit rate of any DC-area television station mobile feed.