WCPO-TV Station History

WCPO-TV went on the air July 26, 1949. At that time, WCPO was broadcasting 75 to 80 hours per week.

Early programming was hard to come by so the station created its own. Before long, WCPO was one of only two TV stations nationwide feeding programming to the networks for rebroadcast.

In later years, WCPO was the first station in the country to launch an hour-long noon report. It was also the first Cincinnati station to use regular mobile reports and taped interviews. In addition, WCPO broke ground with live coverage of spot news, using remote vans and later a jet helicopter all led by legendary news veteran, Al Schottelkotte.

Today WCPO continues a strong news tradition with outstanding achievements recognized locally and nationally. 9News was the first local television news organization to create an investigative unit. This unit, the "I-Team", continues to serve the community as a watchdog against fraudulent business practices, crime and government waste of tax dollars. The station has won numerous awards for news excellence including: The Alfred I. DuPont award, the Edward R. Murrow award, the Jack R. Howard award and Ohio Associated Press awards.

The station was originally affiliated with the ABC-TV network, but switched to the CBS network to become its primary affiliate in Cincinnati in 1961. In June of 1996, WCPO switched back to the ABC television network.

The call letters, WCPO, were originally assigned to the company's former radio station in Cincinnati. When the television station went on the air, the same call was used for television. The call letters signify the relationship to the Cincinnati Post, a Scripps Howard newspaper.

Multiple Platforms

WCPO is a pioneer in another way: branching out to multiple platforms.

WCPO's first site went online in August 1996 and was the first Cincinnati entity to have updated news over the Internet . In 1998, WCPO launched CinciNow.com, one of the first fully-staffed local TV sites in the country.

CinciNow 's staff broke ground in many ways, including becoming the first (and still only) Cincinnati station to stream all of its newscasts online and on mobile platforms.

In 2002, WCPO changed its online brand back to WCPO.com, but continues a series of innovations, including providing information for smartphones, tablets and other mobile products..

Three Station Locations

The station was originally located at 2345 Symmes Street. The station's transmitter is still located on Symmes Street; however, the studios and business offices were moved to 500 Central Avenue on June 23, 1967.

During the weekend of May 15, 2004, WCPO moved to a state-of-the-art building on Gilbert Avenue, at the base of Mt. Adams. Check out our photos and archive of our move !

WCPO-TV operates by authority of the Federal Communications Commission on Channel 9, with the maximum permissible power of 316 KW visual. The station's antenna is 1,019 feet above average terrain, 909 feet above ground and 1,749 feet above sea level.

About Our Parent Company

WCPO-TV is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE:SSP), a diverse media concern with interests in newspaper publishing, broadcast television, national television networks, interactive media and television retailing. Scripps operates 21 daily newspapers, 15 broadcast TV stations, four cable and satellite television programming networks and a television retailing network. All of the company’s media businesses provide content and advertising services via the Internet.

Scripps Networks brands include Home & Garden Television, Food Network, DIY -- Do It Yourself Network and Fine Living. HGTV reaches about 85 million U.S. television households and Food Network can be seen in about 84 million households. Scripps Networks Web sites include FoodNetwork.com, HGTV.com, DIYnetwork.com and fineliving.com. Scripps Networks programming can be seen in 86 countries.

The company’s television retailing subsidiary, Shop At Home Network, markets a growing range of consumer goods directly to television viewers and visitors to the Shop At Home Web site, shopathometv.com. Shop At Home reaches about 48 million full-time equivalent U.S. households, including 5 million households via five Scripps owned, Shop At Home affiliated broadcast television stations.

Scripps also operates Scripps Howard News Service and United Media, which is the worldwide licensing and syndication home of PEANUTS and DILBERT.