WCHS-TV signed-on August 15, 1954, and was originally owned by the Tierney Company, alongside WCHS radio (580 AM). WCHS-TV was the second station in Charleston after WKNA-TV, which launched on UHF channel 49 as an ABC affiliate in 1953 but went dark in 1955 due to lack of viewership. Originally a CBS station sharing ABC with WSAZ-TV (channel 3), channel 8 became a full CBS affiliate when WHTN-TV (channel 13, now WOWK-TV) in Huntington signed-on in 1955. During the late-1950s, it was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.
1958–1962[]
LOGO MISSING
In 1958, WCHS swapped affiliations with WHTN and became an ABC affiliate. The WCHS stations were sold to Rollins Telecasting in 1960. The station reversed the swap and went back to CBS in 1962. For reasons that remain unknown, WCHS did not carry the CBS Evening News for several years after returning to CBS.
1962–1966[]
1966–1973[]
1973–1977[]
LOGO MISSING
1977–1982[]
1982–1994[]
This famous logo set in Gill Sans survived an affiliation switch on June 1, 1986 when WCHS switched back to ABC and CBS was sent to WOWK-TV. In 1987, Rollins Telecasting merged with Heritage Broadcasting to form Heritage Media.
"We've Got the Touch, You and TV8"
”If it's Charleston and Huntington, It Must Be WCHS-TV8"
1994–1999[]
1994–1995[]
1995–1999[]
Heritage sold all of its remaining broadcasting properties (four television stations, LMAs for two other television stations, and 24 radio stations) to Sinclair Broadcast Group in 1997 just as Heritage itself was being swallowed up by News Corporation (that sale being for Heritage's supermarket marketing operations, rather than for its television stations).
News 8 6:00 p.m. open (1995–1999)
News 8 Nightdesk 11:00 p.m. open (1995–1999)
1999–2007[]
Designer:
Giant Octopus (1999-2002)
Typography:
Helvetica Neue Futura
Launched:
1999
WCHS 8 Eyewitness News logo (1999-2002)
WCHS 8 Eyewitness News 11pm open (1999-2002)
WCHS Eyewitness News logo (2002-2006)
WCHS 8 Eyewitness News logo (2006-2007)
2007–present[]
On February 1, 2021, Sinclair moved its Fox network affiliation from WVAH 11.1 to WCHS 8.2, although it still markets the signal as "Fox 11" and more formally as "Fox 11, WCHS 8.2", likely due to similar moves of Fox affiliations (which were on stations owned by Cunningham Broadcasting like WVAH, which has nearly all services outside of license holding provided to it to Sinclair) at the beginning of 2021 to subchannels of sister stations owned by Sinclair in the Cedar Rapids, Columbus, and Dayton markets.
Monochrome logo
Variant featuring glossy version of ABC logo (2009-2013)
Variant featuring shiny version of ABC logo (2013–present)
Eyewitness News logo (2007–present)
Eyewitness News logo (WCHS/WVAH variant; 2007–present)
1Owned by Tennessee Broadcasting and operated by Sinclair under an outsourcing agreement. 2Nominally owned by Cunningham Broadcasting and operated by Sinclair under an LMA. However, trusts belonging to members of Sinclair's founding Smith family control almost all of Cunningham's stock. 3Operated by Nexstar Media Group under an LMA. 4Owned by Second Generation of Iowa, Ltd. and operated by Sinclair under a LMA. 5Owned by Manhan Media and managed by Sinclair. 6Owned by Howard Stirk Holdings, operated by Sinclair under an LMA. 7Owned by Mercury Broadcasting Company and operated by Sinclair. 8Owned by Deerfield Media and operated by Sinclair under an LMA. 9Owned by Roberts Media, but operated by Sinclair. 10Owned by Mitts Telecasting and operated by Sinclair. 11Owned by GOCOM Media and operated by Sinclair. 12Owned by Waitt Broadcasting, but operated by Sinclair under an SSA. 13Owned by Granite Broadcasting Corporation and operated by Sinclair through a JSA and SSA. 14Owned by New Age Media and operated by Sinclair under an MSA. 15Owned by MPS Media, but operated by New Age Media under an LMA. 16Owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint venture of Sinclair and Entertainment Studios. 17Co-owned with Yankee Global Enterprises, The Blackstone Group, Amazon, RedBird Capital and Mubadala Investment Company. 18Co-owned with Chicago Cubs. 19Owned by Sinclair and operated by Jukin Media. 20Owned by Palm Television, L.P. and operated by Cunningham Broadcasting under an LMA.
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