WKRC-TV

WKRC-TV, VHF digital channel 12, is a CBS-affiliated television station located in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The station is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which operates MyNetworkTV affiliate WSTR-TV (channel 64) through a local marketing agreement with its owner Deerfield Media. WKRC broadcasts from a combined studio/transmitter facility on Highland Avenue in the Mount Auburn section of Cincinnati.

History

WKRC-TV first signed on the air on April 4, 1949, originally operating as a CBS affiliate on VHF channel 11; it is Cincinnati's second-oldest television station. The station was owned by the Ohio-based Taft family, who were active in both politics and in media. The Tafts published The Cincinnati Times-Star, and also owned WKRC radio (550 AM and 101.9 FM, now WKRQ) under their broadcasting subsidiary, Radio Cincinnati. In 1958, the Tafts sold the Times-Star to the locally based rival E. W. Scripps Company, owner of the The Cincinnati Post and WCPO-AM-FM-TV. The Tafts' broadcasting interests were then reorganized as Taft Broadcasting, with WKRC-AM-FM-TV as the flagship stations. The WKRC stations' call letters were derived from the original owner of WKRC radio, Clarence Ogden of the Kodel Radio Company ("Ko" for Clarence O. and "dell" for Della his wife).

WKRC

WKRC may refer to:

WKRC (AM)

WKRC (550 AM) is a radio station based in Cincinnati, Ohio that is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and broadcasts at 550 kHz. Broadcasting under the branding of 55KRC, the station is a news/talk outlet featuring a local morning show and national hosts like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Dave Ramsey, Mark Levin, and Coast to Coast AM. Studios are in Cincinnati, and the transmitter is in Cold Spring, Kentucky.

WKRC is the former sister station to WKRC-TV in Cincinnati, both having been owned by Taft Broadcasting and later Clear Channel (now known as iHeartMedia), until the television station was sold to Newport Television, LLC.

The station was a charter member of the CBS Radio Network, and was one of the 16 stations that aired the first CBS network program on September 18, 1927.

WKRC is now owned by iHeartMedia; ironically, 50,000 watt WLW and WKRC are now sister stations, even though they are major competitors.

Despite the similarities in their call letters, WKRC was not the inspiration behind the television show WKRP in Cincinnati. The show was inspired by show creator Hugh Wilson's experiences at WQXI in Atlanta. The similarity of the two sets of call letters was used as a joke on the program.