WGCT-CD (channel 39) is a low-power,

Class A television station The class A television service is a system for regulating some low-power television (LPTV) stations in the United States. Class A stations are denoted by the broadcast callsign suffix "-CA" (analog) or "-CD" (digital), although very many analog - ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, United States, affiliated with

Tri-State Christian Television Tri-State Christian Television, Inc., trade name, doing business as TCT Network and TCT Ministries (formerly Total Christian Television), is a religious broadcasting, religious television network in the United States. The network was founded in M ...

(TCT). The station is owned by the Central Ohio Association of Christian Broadcasters, and is relayed on WOCB-CD in

Marion Marion or MARION may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Marion (band), a British alternative rock group * ''Marion'' (miniseries), a 1974 miniseries * ''Marion'' (1920 film), an Italian silent film * ''Marion'' (2024 film), a UK short People a ...

, WXCB-CD in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

and WQIZ-LD in Ashland.

History

W08BV era (1983–1998)

In 1983, the station's

construction permit Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...

was assigned by the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(FCC). The station began broadcasting in 1985, under the callsign of W08BV, as the first low-power television station in the Columbus

media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...

. In its first years on the air, it aired

syndicated programming Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...

, and it also boasted an in-house sports broadcasting unit. Sports coverage on W08BV included

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

games involving more than 30 high schools in the area, mainly in Franklin County. It also held a contract to cover

Ohio State Buckeyes women's basketball The Ohio State women's basketball team represents Ohio State University and plays its home games in the Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center, which they moved into in 1998. Prior to 1998, they played at St. John Arena. They hav ...

, women's

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

, as well as

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

and

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

WINJ-LP/WGCT-CA era (1998–2010)

It changed its calls to WINJ-LP ("We're Into Jesus") in 1998 and WGCT-CA in 2006. Prior to the purchase by its current owners, the station showed a variety of programs, the bulk of which were old

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

movies, old

cartoons A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

, and religious programs, as well as

children's programming Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

created by the station. Former owner Ella Flowers (1938–2017) was featured prominently in many of the musical and religious programs. The animated segments produced by Flowers would later gain some notoriety online after a few clips of the program were uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

back in 2007 with no context as to their production or origins, with one upload titling the show as the ''Pink Morning Cartoon''. Eventually, the uploads of these animated segments would be brought to the attention of many on the Internet, which set forth a search for any information and more potential footage of the cartoon.

WGCT-CD era (2010–present)

The station switched to digital on June 13, 2010, and changed its call letters to WGCT-CD. It previously broadcast at 83

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

s, but has recently increased its power to 3,000 watts. The station is not available on any local

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

systems. Even with the power increase, its signal is limited to the immediate Columbus area.

Subchannels

The station's signal is

multiplexed In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource— ...

References

External links

Central Ohio Association of Christian Broadcasters (COACB) website

TCT website
* * * Buzzr affiliates Daystar Television Network stations GCT-CD Television channels and stations established in 1983 GCT-CD Tri-State Christian Television stations {{Ohio-tv-station-stub