WMC-TV
Encyclopedia
WMC-TV is the NBC
affiliate
television station for the Memphis, Tennessee
metropolitan area. The station serves roughly the western third of Tennessee, northwestern Mississippi
, northeastern Arkansas
and the southeastern corner of Missouri
over the air on satellite and on various cable systems. Its transmitter is located in Memphis. Action News 5 Weather Plus and This TV
are offered through WMC's digital signal.
and WMC radio (AM 790
and FM 99.7
). As the only television station in Memphis for the first several years of operation, it aired programming from all four national networks of the time: NBC, CBS
, ABC
and the now-defunct DuMont Television Network
. However, then as now, it was a primary NBC affiliate owing to WMC-AM's long affiliation with NBC Radio. It lost CBS when WHBQ-TV
started in 1953, but continued to share ABC programming with WHBQ until 1956, when WREC-TV (now WREG-TV
) began as a full-time CBS affiliate and WHBQ took the ABC affiliation full time. It lost DuMont when that network ceased operations in 1956. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
.
It moved to channel 5 in 1952 due to interference with WSM-TV in Nashville (now WSMV), incidentally also an NBC affiliate (however, this would later make WMCT short-spaced to another Nashville station, WLAC, now WTVF
, in 1954). It dropped the "T" from its callsign on New Year's Day 1967 (at the same time, the co-owned FM station changed its calls from WMCF to WMC-FM
). Also in 1967, it began using a "5" logo resembling the one found on a five-dollar bill, which would be used for over two decades.
The WMC stations moved to their current location at 1960 Union Avenue in Midtown Memphis in 1959 and celebrated with a broadcast hosted by comedian George Gobel
. Some of its most notable broadcasts in 1960 were live remotes of John F. Kennedy
and Richard Nixon
, who both came to Memphis to campaign for President. When Dr. Martin Luther King came to Memphis to support the sanitation workers' strike that set the stage for his assassination in 1968, then-station general manager Mori Greiner established an unprecedented program called "The 40% Speaks," in an effort to promote racial healing in the community.
Like many NBC affiliates during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, WMC-TV began pre-empting a handful of NBC shows, mostly a good part of the network's daytime lineup, for syndicated talk fare, although NBC's daytime reruns of sitcoms could often be found airing early in the morning (between 5 and 6 a.m.). In 1979, in an effort to build its viewership for The Today Show, WMC created a lead-in program titled Wake-Up Call. For the first three years it was hosted by Dick Hawley and Peggy Rolfes. Denise DuBois replaced Rolfes in 1982 and co-hosted for the next ten years. By the mid-1980s, Wake Up Call was the highest-rated local TV talk show in the U.S., with a 52% share of the viewing audience.
After many years of solid management, Scripps sold WMC-AM-FM-TV to Ellis Communications in 1993; Ellis in turn sold to a new broadcasting group formed by the Retirement Systems of Alabama
, and subsequently named Raycom Media
, that also purchased AFLAC
's broadcasting unit in 1996; Raycom sold off the radio stations in 2002.
One of the station's first broadcasts was a live football game at Crump Stadium
in Memphis. WMCT first broadcast wrestling by stringing cables across the street from its studio to Ellis Auditorium (no longer standing) in downtown Memphis early in the 1950s. Wrestling returned to Channel 5 in 1977, after some years on WHBQ-TV
, and for many years the very popular live in-studio professional wrestling
program was broadcast live on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Some of the wrestlers became regional celebrities from their exposure on the program, perhaps most notably Jerry "The King" Lawler
, whose fame earned him his own locally-produced TV sports show, seen on channel 5 on Sundays during the 1980s. The wrestling show eventually became the last remaining program of its kind in the U.S., before its cancellation in the 1990s. (It might be noted that independent wrestling promotions are sometimes seen on local television stations to this day, but they most often are shows made from footage of local house show
s, not broadcast live from the studio.) Long before national PGA Tour
broadcasts began, WMC-TV broadcast live professional golf from the Memphis Open, with a three-camera remote truck providing coverage from three greens.
Another popular local series was Magicland
, a live-audience magic series for children, hosted by WMC-TV anchor/announcer Dick Williams
. Magicland aired Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. from 1966 until "Mr. Magic" retired in 1989. It is cited in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running magic series in television history, having amassed 1200 original episodes in its 23-year run.
The station's newsroom is named after long time employee Ed Greaney, who died June 19, 2005. Greaney began at WMCT in 1949, only two months after the station started operations and worked until late 2000. In October 2006, WMC debuted a fresh news set, along with updated graphics and music. The set makeover was the first at the station since 1995.
On June 12, 2009, at 12:01am, WMC-TV remained on channel 5 when the analog to digital conversion completed.
. The syndicated version of Jeopardy!
was originally on WMC-TV but has since moved to WREG-TV.
, and only the second station in Tennessee to do so (behind WTVF
in Nashville).
On August 8, 2011, WMC-TV released information that viewers would now be able to catch an hour-long 4 PM newscast on weekdays, beginning on August 22, 2011. This decision was made to fill the slot of the now-defunct Oprah Winfrey Show. WMC-TV is now the second station in Memphis to have a 4 PM newscast, along with WREG-TV
. The 4 PM newscast is anchored by Jarvis Greer and Lindsey Brown, an Ole Miss graduate who comes to Memphis from WTOK-TV
in Meridian, MS.
Action News 5 Storm Tracking Team
Sports Anchors
Reporters
, a symbol of the Mississippi River
region which the station serves. For many years, the station's sounder included the riverboat's whistle--something which dates to the 1930s on its former AM sister. The whistle is still heard at the opening of WMC-TV's current newscasts. The station was known as "The Showplace of the South" during the 1960s.
WMC's current logo resembles the same style of logo also used by Cox's
stations WSB-TV
Atlanta, WHIO-TV
Dayton and KIRO-TV
Seattle. This graphics package was adopted when long time Atlanta businessman Bert Ellis purchased WMC-TV, Raycom Media and several other stations in 1993 to create Ellis Communications. Ellis was a long time fan of WSB-TV and subsequently styled his new broadcast chain after WSB-TV. Under Ellis, two of WMC's siblings adopted the logo style as well: KSLA
in Shreveport and WECT in Wilmington, both of which use modified versions today.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate
Affiliate
An affiliate is a commercial entity with a relationship with a peer or a larger entity.- Corporate structure :A corporation may be referred to as an affiliate of another when it is related to it but not strictly controlled by it, as with a subsidiary relationship, or when it is desired to avoid...
television station for the Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
metropolitan area. The station serves roughly the western third of Tennessee, northwestern Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, northeastern Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
and the southeastern corner of Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
over the air on satellite and on various cable systems. Its transmitter is located in Memphis. Action News 5 Weather Plus and This TV
This TV
This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....
are offered through WMC's digital signal.
History
WMC-TV, Tennessee's first television station, started as WMCT on December 11, 1948 on channel 4 and broadcast from the Goodwin Institute Building in Downtown Memphis. It was owned by the E.W. Scripps Company along with the city's main newspaper, The Commercial AppealThe Commercial Appeal
The Commercial Appeal is the predominant daily newspaper of Memphis, Tennessee, and its surrounding metropolitan area. It is owned by The E. W. Scripps Company, a major North American media company. Scripps also owned the former afternoon paper, the Memphis Press-Scimitar, which it folded in...
and WMC radio (AM 790
WMC (AM)
WMC is a radio station in the Memphis, Tennessee market, broadcasting at 790 AM. It is one of the city's oldest radio stations and presently programs a sports format....
and FM 99.7
WMC-FM
WMC-FM is a "Hot AC" radio station serving the market of Memphis, Tennessee. The station is notable for being an FM "superpower," with a transmitter that greatly exceeds current Federal Communications Commission restrictions. Of stations in the FCC's Zone II, WMC is the most powerful...
). As the only television station in Memphis for the first several years of operation, it aired programming from all four national networks of the time: NBC, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
and the now-defunct 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...
. However, then as now, it was a primary NBC affiliate owing to WMC-AM's long affiliation with NBC Radio. It lost CBS when WHBQ-TV
WHBQ-TV
WHBQ-TV, channel 13, is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Memphis, Tennessee. Its studios and transmitter are located in Memphis.-Under RKO General:...
started in 1953, but continued to share ABC programming with WHBQ until 1956, when WREC-TV (now WREG-TV
WREG-TV
WREG-TV is Memphis, Tennessee's CBS television affiliate, operating on digital channel 28, and uses PSIP 3 as its virtual channel. The station is owned by Local TV, which took over all of the television stations formerly owned by The New York Times Company on May 7, 2007. Its transmitter is...
) began as a full-time CBS affiliate and WHBQ took the ABC affiliation full time. It lost DuMont when that network ceased operations in 1956. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network
NTA Film Network
The NTA Film Network was an early American television network founded by Ely Landau in 1956. The network was not a full-time television network like CBS, NBC, or ABC. Rather, it operated on a part-time basis, broadcasting films and several first-run television programs from major Hollywood studios...
.
It moved to channel 5 in 1952 due to interference with WSM-TV in Nashville (now WSMV), incidentally also an NBC affiliate (however, this would later make WMCT short-spaced to another Nashville station, WLAC, now WTVF
WTVF
WTVF is the CBS-affiliated television station for Middle Tennessee that is licensed to Nashville. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 5 from a transmitter north of downtown along I-24. Owned by Landmark Media Enterprises, the station has studios on James Robertson Parkway...
, in 1954). It dropped the "T" from its callsign on New Year's Day 1967 (at the same time, the co-owned FM station changed its calls from WMCF to WMC-FM
WMC-FM
WMC-FM is a "Hot AC" radio station serving the market of Memphis, Tennessee. The station is notable for being an FM "superpower," with a transmitter that greatly exceeds current Federal Communications Commission restrictions. Of stations in the FCC's Zone II, WMC is the most powerful...
). Also in 1967, it began using a "5" logo resembling the one found on a five-dollar bill, which would be used for over two decades.
The WMC stations moved to their current location at 1960 Union Avenue in Midtown Memphis in 1959 and celebrated with a broadcast hosted by comedian George Gobel
George Gobel
George Leslie Gobel was an American comedian and actor. He was best known as the star of his own weekly NBC television show, The George Gobel Show, which ran from 1954 to 1960 .-Early years:He was born George Leslie Goebel in Chicago, Illinois, His father, Hermann Goebel, was a...
. Some of its most notable broadcasts in 1960 were live remotes of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, who both came to Memphis to campaign for President. When Dr. Martin Luther King came to Memphis to support the sanitation workers' strike that set the stage for his assassination in 1968, then-station general manager Mori Greiner established an unprecedented program called "The 40% Speaks," in an effort to promote racial healing in the community.
Like many NBC affiliates during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, WMC-TV began pre-empting a handful of NBC shows, mostly a good part of the network's daytime lineup, for syndicated talk fare, although NBC's daytime reruns of sitcoms could often be found airing early in the morning (between 5 and 6 a.m.). In 1979, in an effort to build its viewership for The Today Show, WMC created a lead-in program titled Wake-Up Call. For the first three years it was hosted by Dick Hawley and Peggy Rolfes. Denise DuBois replaced Rolfes in 1982 and co-hosted for the next ten years. By the mid-1980s, Wake Up Call was the highest-rated local TV talk show in the U.S., with a 52% share of the viewing audience.
After many years of solid management, Scripps sold WMC-AM-FM-TV to Ellis Communications in 1993; Ellis in turn sold to a new broadcasting group formed by the Retirement Systems of Alabama
Retirement Systems of Alabama
Retirement Systems of Alabama is the administrator of the pension fund for employees of the state of Alabama. It is headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama. David G. Bronner is the chief executive officer....
, and subsequently named Raycom Media
Raycom Media
- History :Although Raycom Media dates its birth to 1996, the core of the company was formed in 1992 when Atlanta native Bert Ellis formed Ellis Communications. He eventually controlled 13 television stations and two radio stations....
, that also purchased AFLAC
Aflac
Aflac Incorporated is the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States, founded in 1955 and based in Columbus, Georgia. In the United States, Aflac underwrites a wide range of insurance policies, but is perhaps more known for its payroll deduction insurance coverage, which pays...
's broadcasting unit in 1996; Raycom sold off the radio stations in 2002.
One of the station's first broadcasts was a live football game at Crump Stadium
Crump Stadium
Crump Stadium was a sports stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, built in 1934 and largely demolished in 2006. It was built as a WPA project with a capacity of 7,500. In 1939 it was enlarged to hold 25,000 spectators. In 1948 and 1949 it staged the NCAA football Delta Bowl; in 1950 the college football...
in Memphis. WMCT first broadcast wrestling by stringing cables across the street from its studio to Ellis Auditorium (no longer standing) in downtown Memphis early in the 1950s. Wrestling returned to Channel 5 in 1977, after some years on WHBQ-TV
WHBQ-TV
WHBQ-TV, channel 13, is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Memphis, Tennessee. Its studios and transmitter are located in Memphis.-Under RKO General:...
, and for many years the very popular live in-studio professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
program was broadcast live on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Some of the wrestlers became regional celebrities from their exposure on the program, perhaps most notably Jerry "The King" Lawler
Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
, whose fame earned him his own locally-produced TV sports show, seen on channel 5 on Sundays during the 1980s. The wrestling show eventually became the last remaining program of its kind in the U.S., before its cancellation in the 1990s. (It might be noted that independent wrestling promotions are sometimes seen on local television stations to this day, but they most often are shows made from footage of local house show
House show
A house show is a professional wrestling show run by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive during televised events, as well as test reactions to matches, wrestlers, and...
s, not broadcast live from the studio.) Long before national PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
broadcasts began, WMC-TV broadcast live professional golf from the Memphis Open, with a three-camera remote truck providing coverage from three greens.
Another popular local series was Magicland
Magicland
Magicland was a television magic show for children that ran for 23 years on the Memphis, Tennessee, station WMC-TV. It holds the Guinness World Record for the longest continuously running television magic series in the world....
, a live-audience magic series for children, hosted by WMC-TV anchor/announcer Dick Williams
Dick Williams (magician)
Dick Williams is a former television and radio presenter and magician who holds the record for hosting the longest-running television magic show in the world. Under the name "Mr Magic" he presented the show Magicland on WMC-TV in Tennessee from 1966 until his retirement in 1989...
. Magicland aired Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. from 1966 until "Mr. Magic" retired in 1989. It is cited in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running magic series in television history, having amassed 1200 original episodes in its 23-year run.
Digital television
| Virtual Channel |
Video | Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.1 | 1080i 1080i 1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
Main WMC programming / NBC |
| 5.2 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | Bounce TV Bounce TV Bounce TV is a United States television network airing on digital terrestrial television stations. Promoted as "the first 24/7 digital multicast broadcast network created exclusively for African Americans," Bounce TV launched on September 26, 2011 and features programming geared toward blacks in... |
| 5.3 | This TV This TV This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies.... |
On June 12, 2009, at 12:01am, WMC-TV remained on channel 5 when the analog to digital conversion completed.
Programming
Syndicated programming on WMC-TV includes The Rachael Ray Show and Wheel of FortuneWheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
. The syndicated version of Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
was originally on WMC-TV but has since moved to WREG-TV.
News operation
On July 2, 2008, WMC-TV became the first Memphis television station to broadcast its local news programming in High DefinitionHigh-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
, and only the second station in Tennessee to do so (behind WTVF
WTVF
WTVF is the CBS-affiliated television station for Middle Tennessee that is licensed to Nashville. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 5 from a transmitter north of downtown along I-24. Owned by Landmark Media Enterprises, the station has studios on James Robertson Parkway...
in Nashville).
On August 8, 2011, WMC-TV released information that viewers would now be able to catch an hour-long 4 PM newscast on weekdays, beginning on August 22, 2011. This decision was made to fill the slot of the now-defunct Oprah Winfrey Show. WMC-TV is now the second station in Memphis to have a 4 PM newscast, along with WREG-TV
WREG-TV
WREG-TV is Memphis, Tennessee's CBS television affiliate, operating on digital channel 28, and uses PSIP 3 as its virtual channel. The station is owned by Local TV, which took over all of the television stations formerly owned by The New York Times Company on May 7, 2007. Its transmitter is...
. The 4 PM newscast is anchored by Jarvis Greer and Lindsey Brown, an Ole Miss graduate who comes to Memphis from WTOK-TV
WTOK-TV
WTOK-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Meridian, Mississippi. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter south of the city along MS 145 . The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 431. Owned by...
in Meridian, MS.
Current staff
News Anchors- Kontji Anthony - Weekend mornings; also a reporter
- Joe Birch - Weeknights at 5 PM, 6 PM, and 10 PM
- Kym Clark - Weekday mornings (4:30-7 a.m.) and noon; formerly 5 PM
- Andrew Douglas - Weekdays at 4:30 AM and 12 PM; also a reporter
- Anna Marie Hartman - Saturdays at 6 PM, Sundays at 5 PM, and Weekends at 10 PM; also a reporter
- Ursula Madden - Weeknights at 5, 6 and 10 PM
- Lindsey Brown - Weekday afternoons at 4 PM
- Jarvis Greer - Weekday afternoons at 4 PM; also a Sports Anchor
Action News 5 Storm Tracking Team
- Dave Brown (AMS Certified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...
and NWANational Weather AssociationThe National Weather Association is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities...
Seal of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist; Weeknights at 5 PM, 6 PM, and 10 PM - John Bryant (NWA Seal of Approval) - Meteorologist; Saturdays at 6 PM, Sundays at 5 PM, Weekdays at 4 PM, and Weekends at 10 PM
- Ron Childers (AMS Member, NWA Member) - Meteorologist; Weekdays at 4:30 AM and 12 PM
- Tim Van Horn (AMS Certified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...
and NWA Seals of Approval) - Meteorologist; Weekends
Sports Anchors
- Carrie Anderson - Saturdays at 6 PM, Sundays at 5 PM, and Weekends at 10 PM
Reporters
- Janice Broach - General Assignment Reporter
- Lori Brown - General Assignment Reporter
- Justin Hanson - West Tennessee Reporter; also Traffic Reporter
- Nick Kenney - General Assignment Reporter
- Jamel Major - General Assignment Reporter
- Jason Miles - General Assignment Reporter
- Amy Speropoulos - Morning Assignment Reporter
- Ben Watson - Morning Assignment Reporter
- Andy Wise - Chief Investigative Reporter
Notable former staff
- Iain McDonald
- Dick WilliamsDick Williams (magician)Dick Williams is a former television and radio presenter and magician who holds the record for hosting the longest-running television magic show in the world. Under the name "Mr Magic" he presented the show Magicland on WMC-TV in Tennessee from 1966 until his retirement in 1989...
- Lance RussellLance RussellLance Russell is a former professional wrestling announcer in the Memphis region from 1959 to 1997, particularly in NWA Mid-America and its descendant as the dominant promotion in Memphis, the Continental Wrestling Association...
joined the station in 1977 from WHBQWHBQ-TVWHBQ-TV, channel 13, is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Memphis, Tennessee. Its studios and transmitter are located in Memphis.-Under RKO General:...
. Free-lance host, Russell was best known as the host of the live Championship WrestlingContinental Wrestling AssociationThe Continental Wrestling Association was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually referred to as Mid-Southern Wrestling...
program on Saturday mornings.
Logos and imagery
Since at least the 1950s, WMC-TV's logo has included an illustration of a riverboatRiverboat
A riverboat is a ship built boat designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury units constructed for entertainment enterprises, such...
, a symbol of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
region which the station serves. For many years, the station's sounder included the riverboat's whistle--something which dates to the 1930s on its former AM sister. The whistle is still heard at the opening of WMC-TV's current newscasts. The station was known as "The Showplace of the South" during the 1960s.
WMC's current logo resembles the same style of logo also used by Cox's
Cox Enterprises
Cox Enterprises is the successor to the publishing company founded in Dayton, Ohio, United States, by James Middleton Cox, who began with the Dayton Daily News. He was the Democratic candidate for the President of the United States in the election of 1920...
stations WSB-TV
WSB-TV
WSB-TV, virtual channel 2.1 , is the ABC affiliate in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship television station of Cox Enterprises and its Cox Media Group subsidiary...
Atlanta, WHIO-TV
WHIO-TV
WHIO-TV, virtual channel 7, is the CBS-affiliated television station licensed to Dayton, Ohio, serving that state's Miami Valley area. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 41 from its transmitter on Germantown Street in western Dayton....
Dayton and KIRO-TV
KIRO-TV
KIRO-TV, virtual channel 7, is the CBS affiliate television station in Seattle, Washington. It broadcasts on digital channel 39. The station's offices and broadcasting center are located near Seattle Center in Belltown, and its transmitter is located on Queen Anne Hill...
Seattle. This graphics package was adopted when long time Atlanta businessman Bert Ellis purchased WMC-TV, Raycom Media and several other stations in 1993 to create Ellis Communications. Ellis was a long time fan of WSB-TV and subsequently styled his new broadcast chain after WSB-TV. Under Ellis, two of WMC's siblings adopted the logo style as well: KSLA
KSLA-TV
KSLA, virtual channel 12, is the CBS-affiliated television station for Shreveport, Louisiana and the Ark-La-Tex region. Owned by Raycom Media, it broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 17. The sole transmitter is located in Mooringsport, Louisiana...
in Shreveport and WECT in Wilmington, both of which use modified versions today.