WSPA-TV

Coordinates: 34°58′17″N 82°00′18″W / 34.9714°N 82.0049°W / 34.9714; -82.0049

WSPA-TV, virtual and VHF digital channel 7, is a CBS-affiliated television station located in Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. The station is owned by Media General, as part of a duopoly with CW affiliate WYCW (channel 62). The two stations share studio facilities located on International Drive (near I-26 and I-85 Bus) in Spartanburg, which also serves as the master control hub for Media General's CBS-affiliated stations; WSPA maintains transmitter facilities located on Hogback Mountain in northeastern Greenville County (southwest of Tryon, North Carolina).

History

The station first signed on the air on April 29, 1956. It was founded by Spartan Radiocasting (owned by broadcasting pioneer Walter J. Brown), owners of WSPA radio (950 AM, now WOLI at 910 AM; and 98.9 FM). The station has been a CBS affiliate since its sign-on. Spartan Radiocasting bought several other radio and television stations over the years, and was renamed Spartan Communications in 1995. WSPA began broadcasting a 24-hour schedule in July of that same year, after previously having signed off during the overnight hours on Fridays and Saturdays. The WSPA radio stations were sold off in 1998, but WSPA-TV remained the flagship of the company until it merged with Media General in 2000. Prior to this, channel 7 was the last remaining locally-owned television station in the market. The station shared some resources with WNEG-TV (now WGTA) in Toccoa, Georgia while that station was co-owned with WSPA beginning in 1995; this included that station receiving the CBS affiliation for northeast Georgia. This arrangement was terminated after WNEG was sold to the University of Georgia in 2008.