WTOL - History

History

WTOL-TV began broadcasting on December 5, 1958 as a CBS affiliate with a secondary NBC affiliation. It shared NBC with then ABC affiliate WSPD-TV (now WTVG) until 1969, when WDHO-TV (now WNWO-TV) replaced WSPD-TV as the ABC affiliate. WTOL then became exclusively affiliated with CBS. WTOL is also the only station in Toledo to never change its primary affiliation.

The station was originally owned by the Reams family along with WTOL radio (AM 1230, now WCWA; and FM 104.7, now WIOT). It was sold to Filmways (now part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) in 1962. The Broadcasting Company of the South, a subsidiary of South Carolina insurer Liberty Life Insurance Company, bought WTOL in 1965 and later changed its name to Cosmos Broadcasting Corporation; WTOL was that company's only station located outside the Southern U.S. Liberty reorganized itself as a holding company, The Liberty Corporation, in 1974, and WTOL came directly under the Liberty banner after Liberty sold off its insurance business in 2003. Liberty merged with Raycom Media in 2005. Raycom already owned WNWO, but couldn't keep both because the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) does not allow one entity to own two of the four biggest stations in a single market. It opted to keep the higher-rated WTOL and sold WNWO to Barrington Broadcasting.

In December 1994, WTOL replaced Detroit's WJBK on the lineup of Cancom (later Shaw Broadcast Services), which provided American networks to cable and satellite viewers in many areas across Canada (particularly Atlantic Canada and the Prairies). The changeover occurred shortly before WJBK was due to switch its affiliation from CBS to Fox. CBS was unable to sign a new Detroit affiliate (WGPR, now WWJ-TV) until mere days before the change, and as Cancom had to seek regulatory approval several months in advance, it elected to go with the affiliate in the largest market in close proximity to Detroit, WTOL. WTOL was carried by Cancom until 1999, when it was replaced with WWJ-TV.

During this time, WTOL was the de facto CBS affiliate for the southern part of the Detroit market, as WWJ-TV was all but unviewable in that area at the time.

WTOL had preempted some network programming for many years, but in recent years has carried the entire CBS network schedule. The only significant exceptions are for the airing of Billy Graham and St. Jude's Hospital specials. As of April 2006 it is still the most watched television station in Toledo. As of May, WTOL topped the ratings in every newscast, except for mornings, where WTVG took the ratings crown.

Since their debuts in syndication, both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune have aired on WTOL.

Ever since its national debut, The Oprah Winfrey Show was shown on WTOL. Oprah Winfrey ended her show on May 25, 2011. WTOL's 4:00 p.m. time slot was then taken over by the daily lifestyle magazine show America Now co-hosted by Leeza Gibbons and Bill Rancic beginning September 12, 2011. However, due to poor ratings, WTOL switched timeslots for America Now and Dr. Phil beginning on January 23, 2012. Therefore, Dr. Phil is shown at 4 p.m., leading into WTOL's 5 p.m.

On June 1, 2012, WTOL began broadcasting all of its syndicated programming in high definition.

From the mid-1970s to 2003, WTOL was known on-air as "Toledo 11" (sometimes spelled out as "Toledo Eleven").

WTOL is also one of ten television stations that air consumer reports from John Matarese of ABC affiliate WCPO in Cincinnati. WTOL is also one of a few television stations that air the "Does it Work?" reports by Lauren Keith of sister station KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

The Ohio Lottery drawings have been originally shown on WTOL since the televised drawings began. However, on July 1, 2011, WTOL no longer broadcasted the nightly drawings or the game show Cash Explosion. The drawings and Cash Explosion were moved over to rival station WTVG channel 13.

In late September 2011, WTOL's anchors began using iPad tablets during newscasts. WTOL is the second television station in Toledo to use iPads. WTVG was the first station to start using the technology.

In October 2011, WTOL was certified by WeatheRate as having the most accurate forecasts for Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.

In January 2012, the LIN TV Corporation announced it would sell its local Fox affiliate WUPW to American Spirit Media for $22 million. As most of American Spirit Media's stations are operated as duopolies with a Raycom-owned station in the same market, it was expected that WTOL would establish a shared services agreement with WUPW. On April 20, 2012, WUPW finalized its acquisition and its shared services agreement with WTOL. WUPW's remaining staff now operate from WTOL's facilities (though its management and sales departments will remain separate). A shared news site was also unveiled for the two stations, Toledo News Now.