WWHO

WWHO, channel 53, is a television station licensed to Chillicothe, Ohio, USA. Serving as the CW affiliate for the Columbus, Ohio television market, WWHO's broadcast license is owned by Manham Media, Inc., while the station's operations are controlled by the Sinclair Broadcast Group under a shared services agreement (SSA) b. WWHO shares studios with sister stations WSYX (channel 6) and WTTE (channel 28) on Dublin Road in Grandview Heights (though the mailing address says Columbus); WWHO's transmitter is located in Williamsport, Ohio.

WWHO also served briefly as the default The CW affiliate (on cable) for the Zanesville, Ohio media market from March 2008 thru early July 2008, after WHIZ-TV discontinued WBZV, its cable-only CW Plus affiliate. The CW Plus has since been reinstated to the Zanesville cable line-up.

History

The station began operating on August 31, 1987 as a independent station using the call letters WWAT, named after its owner, Wendell A. Triplett. It filled in a void created when future sister station WTTE joined Fox in 1986. The station originally operated from studios located on River Road (U.S. Route 23) in Chillicothe. It operated a Columbus translator on W17AI channel 17 (now WDEM, which is still owned by Triplett) until 1992, when WWAT was added to many cable providers in the Columbus market due to cable must-carry legislation. It quickly established himself as a solid competitor to WTTE, even with its signal limitations.