WANC-TV

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted radio station WISE (1310 AM) a construction permit for a new television station to broadcast on channel 62 in Asheville on October 29, 1952.[2] WISE was owned by Harold Thoms alongside stations in Charlotte (WAYS), Greensboro (WCOG), and Durham (WSSB); it was the only applicant for channel 62, whereas VHF channel 13 was being fought for by radio stations WLOS and WSKY.[3] The station plans were almost abandoned amid the first proposals to build a cable television system to import signals from Charlotte, which Thoms charged would have made his proposed channel 62 unviable.[4]

WISE-TV began telecasting on August 2, 1953 as Asheville's first television station.[5] Channel 62 aired programming (on kinescope) from all networks, but reflecting the association of WISE radio with NBC, it was a primary affiliate of that network.[6] The original studio facilities were on land leased from Asheville-Biltmore College, which received two hours a week in air time for educational programming;[6] the channel 62 transmitter was located on Beaucatcher Mountain.[7]

Competition arrived the next year when WLOS-TV, operating on VHF channel 13, started up; the new station assumed the ABC and DuMont affiliations.[8] WISE-TV attempted to get a VHF channel to improve its competitive position, proposing to operate on channel 2 instead of 62.[9] The station in its initial years on air operated under special temporary authority at just 1,000 watts.[2] It would not be until December 1957 that channel 62 broadcast at its intended effective radiated power of 24,000 watts.[2]

In 1964, Spartanburg CBS affiliate WSPA-TV improved its service to Asheville by building a translator on channel 72 at White Fawn Reservoir, which provided a stronger signal and reached homes shaded from its main transmitter at Hogback Mountain.[10] During the application process, it was noted that WISE-TV aired little more than NBC network shows and "extremely limited" live programming.[11]

In 1966, the station received a construction permit to move from channel 62 to channel 21.[2] WISE-TV became WANC-TV on February 3, 1967.[2]

Thoms expressed his interest in obtaining a cable television franchise for the Asheville area throughout the mid-1960s, being the first to file for the rights in 1964[12] and challenging city council decisions that would have granted the franchise to other applicants.[13] Thoms backed a successful referendum to win the franchise in July 1967.[14] When the system finally launched in 1968, it brought signals from NBC affiliates WFBC-TV in Greenville, South Carolina, and WCYB-TV in Bristol, Tennessee.[15] At that time, WANC-TV disaffiliated from NBC.[16] It was one of the last stations in a top-100 media market to not have color video tape equipment.[17]

It would not be until 1971 that channel 62 finally went silent to complete the conversion to channel 21, five years after receiving the original permit.[2]

In 1974, the station began to air programs from the Christian Broadcasting Network in prime time hours.[18] It also aired some programming from Christian independent station WGGS-TV in Greenville, including its local "Nightline" program.[19] A 1976 profile of WGGS-TV described channel 21 as rebroadcasting it in the evenings,[20] while the station was described as a satellite of the Greenville outlet in 1977.[21]

In June 1977, Thoms filed to sell WANC-TV to Carolina Christian Broadcasting, owner of WGGS-TV, for $60.000.[21] The FCC opted to designate a hearing on the matter; it found that the sale of WANC-TV to Carolina Christian would be an inefficient use of spectrum, as there were available sites for WGGS-TV to relocate and begin covering Asheville.[22] CCB opted to drop its bid to purchase the station and pursue other avenues of serving Asheville.[23]

After the sale to Carolina Christian Broadcasting collapsed, Thoms lost its lease on the channel 21 transmitter site, forcing the station to go off the air.[24] It then reached a deal to sell WANC-TV to Pappas Telecasting of Visalia, California, for $206,000 in June 1979.[25] The sale became effective September 14, and twelve days later, on September 26, the call letters were changed to WHNS.[2] Pappas embarked on a multi-year project to build a new channel 21 transmitter atop Slick Rock Mountain in Transylvania County, accompanied by a primary base in Greenville and studios in Asheville. After years of delays related to the transmitter change, channel 21 returned to the region April 1, 1984.[26]