WLOS (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Asheville, North Carolina, United States, broadcasting ABC and MyNetworkTV programming to Western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group in an effective duopoly with WMYA-TV (channel 40) in Anderson, South Carolina. WLOS maintains studios on Technology Drive (near I-26/US 74) in Asheville and a transmitter on Mount Pisgah in Haywood County, North Carolina.
WLOS-TV began broadcasting in September 1954 as the ABC affiliate for Asheville and most of the western Carolinas and the city's second TV station. It was founded by the Skyway Broadcasting Corporation, owner of WLOS radio, and owned by Wometco Enterprises from 1958 to 1987; Sinclair has owned it since 1996. Its local news coverage has historically focused on western North Carolina, in contrast to the other major stations in the market, all of which broadcast from studios in South Carolina.
History
Early years
Prior to the 1948 freeze on television station applications imposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Skyway Broadcasting Corporation—owner of Asheville radio stations WLOS (1380 AM) and WLOS-FM 99.9—had applied for the use of channel 7, one of three channels assigned to the city along with channel 5 (applied for by actress Mary Pickford) and 12. However, the major overhaul of TV allocations accompanying the introduction of ultra high frequency (UHF) channels would result in only one VHF channel being allotted to Asheville: 13, along with UHF 56 (educational) and 62. The Skyway Broadcasting Company, corporate parent of WLOS, applied for channel 13 on December 7, 1951. It was soon joined by WSKY (1230 AM) in August 1952 and WWNC (570 AM), owned by the Asheville Citizen-Times Company, in March 1953. WSKY was out of the contest by August 1953, as was the Community Television Company, but Asheville tax attorney William W. Orr then filed in October, bringing the field back up to three contenders for channel 13.
However, in December 1953, the field cleared, and Orr and the Citizen-Times Company withdrew their applications to allow WLOS to get the construction permit; the latter received an option to buy stock in Skyway, though it was cautioned that such would require additional FCC approval. The next step was securing a transmitter site. WLOS immediately proposed to erect a tower atop Mount Pisgah, which was met with divided sentiment. Civic groups favored the location and claimed it was the only site in the mountainous area from which the station could provide regional coverage; others derided what they felt as the commercialization of the well-known summit. A United States Forest Service hearing in February 1954 drew 50 attendees and thousands of letters, telegrams, and postcards, but the federal government approved the Pisgah tower site at the end of February. Meanwhile, the station acquired the Battle House, a 1925-built residence on Macon Avenue described by The Asheville Citizen as "long considered one of Asheville's finest ... [with] a reputation as a residential showplace", to use as its studios. By July, work was under way on the Mount Pisgah transmitter facility, and a September 18 start date goal had been set; WLOS-TV had signed for affiliation with ABC and the DuMont Television Network.
WLOS-TV, as projected, began broadcasting on September 18, 1954. This gave Asheville its second station, as WISE-TV had begun broadcasting on channel 62 in August 1953. Local programming was immediately planned, including shows for housewives, children, and teenagers; the WLOS radio stations also occupied the Battle House. The Mount Pisgah transmitter site gave the station a wide coverage area; pre-launch advertising boasted of having the highest antenna in the South and a signal that reached Johnson City, Tennessee.