History
KWQC originally signed on the air on October 31, 1949, as WOC-TV. The station was founded by B. J. Palmer, founder of the Palmer College of Chiropractic (located directly across the street from the station's studios) along with WOC radio (1420 AM and 103.7 FM, now WLLR-FM). The WOC stations were also sister stations to WHO-AM-FM-TV in Des Moines. According to local legend, the WOC calls stood for "Wonders of Chiropractic", though the Palmer family never acknowledged the phase in print or otherwise. WOC-TV has the distinction of being both Iowa's and the Quad Cities' first television station, carrying programming from all four networks at the time (NBC, CBS, ABC and DuMont). However, it has always been a primary NBC affiliate owing to WOC radio's long affiliation with NBC. Originally on channel 5, WOC-TV moved to channel 6 in 1952 due to interference with Iowa State University's WOI-TV in Ames. During it early years, original programming on WOC-TV included the daily Show Boat children's show hosted by Cap'n Ernie from 1964 to 1974.
WOC-TV lost CBS when Rock Island-based WHBF-TV (channel 4) was launched in 1950, and the two stations shared ABC until WQAD-TV (channel 8) signed on from Moline in 1963. The station was also affiliated with the short-lived Paramount Television Network; in fact, it was one of that network's strongest affiliates, carrying programs such as Dixie Showboat, Hollywood Reel, and Hollywood Wrestling.
Channel 6 remained with the Palmer family's broadcasting division after Dr. Palmer's death in 1961. In 1986, Palmer Communications sold its Quad Cities radio properties to Vickie Anne Palmer and her then husband J. Douglas Miller. Due to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules of the time, channel 6 changed its calls to the current KWQC-TV so as not to confuse the two properties. KWQC was sold to Broad Street Television in 1989 and to Young Broadcasting in 1995.
The January 9, 2008 episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno featured a brief clip of a KWQC broadcast showing former KWQC anchor Mike Mickle's reaction to difficulties with a tape on a story about a Boise, Idaho woman struck by lightning.
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