DWCE-TV

DWCE-TV (channel 8) is the flagship television station of Central TVPH licensed to Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines; and serves the entire National Capital Region and its surrounding regions (regions 3, 4A and 4B). It is owned by the Central Networks Corporation division of the network.
==History==
Channel 8 signed on the air as DZCE-TV, on August 17, 1972. The station was (and still is) the flagship station of the newly-formed Central TVPH. Both the network and the station started with around 200 employees, a surplus transmitter, film and video tape cameras, and lighting. The first program aired was a local program about the station. Further local programming and canned programs from the United States further sustained its success.
More than a month later, President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in the Philippines and the station was forced to shut down, though it only lasted for more than 3 months, and returned on the air in April 1973; this time, blocktimed by the National Media Production Center (NMPC) with limited three-month permits. That same year, Central TVPH and channel 8, now under the current DWCE-TV, was sold to a consortium made up of station employees and local investors.
When democracy in the Philippines was restored in the People Power Revolution in 1986, other television stations began to air, some with their original owners. The political instability of the country also added to the station's burden, when soldiers stormed into its studios for two days in a part of coup attempt to topple then President Corazon Aquino. Also because of that event, the network owner (Central themselves) revoked the 1973 deal and sold it back to the network, now under Capitol States-Central ownership. TVPH once again got a new parent company, as Quebecor Media had acquired Capitol Cities-Central a few months after taking TVPH back, and was renamed into Central Networks Corporation.
==Programming==
DWCE offers the entire Central lineup programming, although it airs some syndicated programming like the ones produced by locally-based 21 Communications Co. Ltd.
==Newscast operation==
DWCE-TV presently broadcasts 42 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with seven hours each weekday, three hours on Saturdays and four hours on Sundays). It is one of (if not) the highest rated television news organization in Metro Manila.
Channel 8's newscasts began the same day it launched, first at 6PM, then at 10. As DZCE, it was (obviously) placed last among the Metro Manila market's television stations. After its relaunch in 1973, it now had followed the lead of its Montreal sister station, CHCT-TV, and adopted the Eyewitness News format for its relaunched newscasts. DWCE also used an edited version of the "Tar Sequence" from the soundtrack of Cool Hand Luke as the theme music for its newscasts starting in 1973.
The Eyewitness News brand was eventually dropped in June 1993, as a result of the well-worn, "happy talk" format faltering. It reformatted into the present-day "8 News" (in Filipino, "Balita 8") on June 14, 1993, now slightly abandoning the traditional anchor desk and adopting the tabloid format, hence summarized in the phrase, "if it bleeds, it leads." Its main innovation in television news was to have its reporters play a more participatory role in their stories. An in-house team designed the massive newsroom, which is inspired from the Sunbeam "Newsplex", which included a rotating, three-section platform for studio interviews, with walls meant to resemble the Rizal Monument. Its new "newsplex" contained TVs and switchboards in the background. They were updated two times, the latest from Devlin Design in 2014.
===Branding===
*Tonight in the Capital (1972)
*Channel 8 Eyewitness News (1973-1993)
*News 8/Balita 8 (1993–present)
===Theme history===
*Cool Hand Luke: Tar Sequence - Lalo Schifrin (1973-1985)
*News Series 2000 - Gari Media Group (1985-1989)
*KXTV 1986 News Theme - Tuesday Productions (1989-1994)
*News Now - Mark Haffner Music (1994-1999)
*The One & Only - Gari Media Group (1999-2010)
*Icon News - 615 Music (2010-2022)
*Ascend - Stephen Arnold Music (2022–present)
==Technical information==
===Digital channels===
DWCE-TV's digital signal operates on UHF channel 32, and broadcasts on the following subchannels:
Channel	Video 	Aspect Ratio	PSIP short name	Programming 	Note
8.01 	1080p/480i	16:9/4:3 	DWCE-DTV 	Main DWCE programming / Central TVPH	Commercial broadcast (10 kw)
8.02 	1080p/480i	16:9/4:3 	NWLD 	NWLD Metro Manila 	Commercial broadcast (10 kw)
8.03 	1080p/480i	4:3 	AVG 	Avant Garde Network 	Commercial broadcast (10 kw)
8.04 	1080p/480i	4:3 	TBD 	TBD 	Commercial broadcast (10 kw)
8.31 	240i 	4:3 	TVPH 	TVPH 1-Seg (1seg broadcast) 	Commercial broadcast (10 kw)
On June 19, 1998, the National Telecommunications Commission awarded DWCE-TV the first experimental high-definition television license in the Philippines. The station, identified as "DWCE-HD", began digital television operations on UHF channel 32 over a month later, on July 23, 1998. The station's digital signal moved to channel 53 in March 2000.
DWCE-TV was the first in the Philippines to broadcast a live sports program in high definition (during the 2000 Palarong Pambansa), as well as the first HD newscast (on October 28 that same year). Central utilized DWCE-HD, as well as Raleigh sister WTVD in testing its own high-definition programming, and in 1999, began providing the station with a regular schedule of prime time programs in HD. HD sports programming recorded by DWCE was provided to other model stations as well. DWCE-TV's pioneering efforts in digital television have won wide recognition from within the television industry.
In 2018, National Telecommunications Commission released implementing rules and regulations on the re-allocation of the UHF Channels 14-20 (470–512 Megahertz (MHz) band) for digital terrestrial television broadcasting (DTTB) service. All operating and duly authorized Mega Manila VHF (very high frequency) television networks are entitled to a channel assignment from Channels 14 to 20.
==Gallery==
DWCE8_1.svg|Present logo since 1984, this version is in use since 2011
DWCE CTN News open 2011 4-3.png|News opening graphic (2000-2007)
DWCE screencap 2005.png|Screencap from Balita 8's 5:30pm newscasts, 2005
DWCE News open (2020).png|News opening graphic (2017–present)
DWCE watermark.svg|Watermark, used during main, syndicated and re-runs of Central network programming
Category:Channel 8
Category:Quezon City
Category:Manila
Category:Metro Manila
Category:Philippines
Category:Central Television Network
Category:Central owned and operated stations
Category:Central affiliates
Category:The Pierre Péladeau Company
Category:NewsWorld network affiliates
Category:Avant Garde Network affiliates
Category:TBD network affiliates
Category:Television channels and stations established in 1972