WCFP

WCFP, channel 4, is an NBC-affiliated station licensed to and serving the Corinth, Midland, and Brewer, PA areas. The station is owned by Bahakel Communications. The studios are located on West A Avenue, in downtown Corinth. Syndicated programs on the station include Inside Edition, Family Feud, the syndicated version of the NBC soap opera Another World, Dr. Phil, and among others.
== History ==
The station first signed on the air on June 12, 1954 with the help of the then recently-graduated Corinth University Broadcasting Class of 1954, which formed a company called Florence Television Holdings. The station first broadcast from the studios of the university's broadcasting hall. Before launching the station, the broadcasting class was undecided on what call sign they would assign to the station, with one suggestion being "WCRT" for "Corinth Television", another being "WCBR" for "Corinth and Brewer", before ultimately deciding on the current callsign, "WCFP", for "Corinth and Florence County".
In 1973, almost 2 decades after the station's launch, the owners were close to bankruptcy, realizing that they didn't have enough funds to purchase new equipment, as well as moving the station out of the university area, Florence Television Holdings decided to sell the station to Spartanburg, SC-based Spartan Radiocasting, and under Spartan ownership, the station moved to its current studios in downtown Corinth off of West A Street. The station also expanded their offices there as well.
In 1984, Spartan sold the station to the Gannett Company in order to buy two CBS affiliates in Myrtle Beach and Mason City, WBTW and KIMT. In the years that the station was owned by Gannett, the station added more news bureaus in Abercorn, Brewer, Dudley, and Smithville.
On September 6, 1996, 3 of the station's people, reporters Mark Beau Pre and Eric Rivers, and chief meteorologist Sandi Thomas were killed in a rollover accident caused by high wind gusts as they were covering Hurricane Fran's wrath being unleashed into the Mid-Atlantic region. A newer wing of the station's studios/building were dedicated to them in 1998.
In September 1998, Gannett launched WBCP, the Corinth and Midlands' cable-only WB affiliate for the area through The WB 100+ Station Group. It was later added as a subchannel on the station in 2003 as 4.2.
On July 30, 2004, Gannett has explored the sale of the station to several parties. Among those mentioned were Pine Valley-based Chandler Enterprises (run by namesake founder Adam Chandler), LIN TV Corporation, Raycom Media, Barrington Broadcasting, among others. LIN TV emerged as the winner and bought the station on September 5 of that year. The deal was finalized thereafter on October 14.
A couple of years later on November 20, 2006, LIN TV sold the station to current owner, Charlotte, N.C.-based Bahakel Communications, making the station Bahakel's northernmost TV property.
==Website & Station Slogan History ==
===Website history ===
*www.wcfp.com (1996-2002)
*www.wcfpnews4.com (2002–present)
===Slogan history ===
*Straight from the Heart of the Midlands (1992-2014)
*Covering All of the Pennsylvania Midlands (1992–present)
==Digital television==
Channel	Video	Aspect	PSIP Short Name	Programming
4.1 	1080p	16:9 	WCFPTV 	
Main WCFP/NBC Programming
4.2 	1080p	16:9 	WB100+ 	WBCP/The WB 100+
===Analog-to-digital conversion===
On September 29, 2003, the station was the first in the Corinth market to transition to a digital signal by ending analog broadcasts on its old VHF analog channel. As a result, the station started broadcasting on its digital channel, UHF channel 21, with channel 4 now displayed as a virtual PSIP channel. Also noted in the signal change is the callsign suffix upgrade from "-TV" to "-DT".
==News==
===Newscast titles===
* Your University Midlands Report (1954–65)
* Channel 4 Evening News (1965–71)
* Action 4 News (1971–87)
* News 4 (1987-2001)
* WCFP News 4 (2001–present)
===Newscast themes===
* The Action News Theme - Tom Sellers (1971-1988)
* Promise News Package - Collier Concepts (1988-1992)
* Pinnacle - 615 Music (1992-1997)
* Image IX - Newsmusic Central (1997-2001)
* Heartland - 615 Music (2001–present)
=== Voiceover talent ===
* Murray Walters (1954-1976)
* Bill Barry (1976-1983)
* Drew Dimmel (1983-1993)
* Mike Lewis (1989-2004)
* Scott Chapin (1992-2009)
* Bill Ratner (1997-2003)
* Bob Tracey (2003–present)
==Owner(s)==
* Florence Television Holdings (1954-1973)
* Spartan Radiocasting (1973-1984)
* Gannett Company (1984-2004)
* LIN TV Corporation (2004-2006)
* Bahakel Communications (2006–present)
==Notable on-air staff==
===Anchors ===
*Frank Vitchard - Lead Anchor (2003–present)
*Lou Stratton - Lead Anchor (1990–present)
*Martha Wells - Lead Anchor (2000–present)
*Stephanie Andrews - Lead Anchor (1989–present)
*Lori Smith - Fill-In/Weekend Anchor (1994–present)
*Timothy Marsden - Weekend Anchor (1987–present)
===TrueView 4 WeatherCenter Meteorologists ===
*Mary Byrnes (AMS Certified) - Chief Meteorologist (1996–present)
===Reporters ===
*Jack Lime - Reporter (1990–present)
*John Stevens - Field Reporter (1997–present)
==Notable former on-air staff==
*Mark Beau Pre - Field Reporter (1979-1996), killed while covering Hurricane Fran
*Eric Rivers - Reporter (1988-1996), also killed while covering Hurricane Fran
*Arbelyn Guaimaran - Anchor (1998-2003), now at WBOU in Pine Valley
*Dana Alvarez - Reporter (1990-2002), now at WXPC-TV in Port Charles
*Merrill Vochek - Reporter (1983-1996), now at WTTB in Bonesborough
*Sandi Thomas - Chief Meteorologist (1982-1996), also killed while covering Hurricane Fran
*Murray Walters - Lead Anchor and Voiceover Talent (1954-2003), retired
==Gallery==
WCFP 92-01.png|1992 logo, used until 2001.
WCFP ID 1996.jpeg|Station ID from 1996 to 2001, designed by John Christopher Burns Design (jcbD)
WCFP 11pm Open 1996.jpeg|News open from 1996 to 2001, also designed by jcbD
WCFP ID.jpeg|WCFP ID from 2002, featuring the WUSA/WXIA graphics package, used from 2001 to 2004
WCFP 530 open 2002.jpeg|News open from 2001 to 2004, retaining the "Heart of the Midlands" slogan
Wcfp2004.jpeg|2004-08 talent open, with WFMY's graphics package. They still retain the "Heart of the Midlands" slogan.
Category:Channel 4
Category:Corinth, Pennsylvania
Category:Pennsylvania
Category:NBC network affiliates
Category:Bahakel Communications
Category:LIN Media
Category:Gannett Company