WEAR-TV
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Pensacola/Fort Walton Beach, Florida/Mobile, Alabama United States |
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| City | Pensacola, Florida |
| Branding | WEAR ABC 3 or Channel 3 (general) Channel 3 News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | First. Live. Local. |
| Channels |
Digital: 17 (UHF) Virtual: 3 () |
| Subchannels | 3.1 ABC 3.2 TBD 3.3 Charge! |
| Affiliations | ABC (secondary until 1955) |
| Owner |
Sinclair Broadcast Group (WEAR Licensee, LLC) |
| First air date | January 13, 1954 |
| Call letters' meaning | the words EAR or WEAR |
| Sister station(s) | WPMI-TV, WFGX, WJTC |
| Former channel number(s) |
Analog: 3 (VHF, 1954–2009) |
| Former affiliations |
DT1: CBS (1954–1955) DT2: The Tube (until 2007) |
| Transmitter power | 1,000 kW |
| Height | 579 m |
| Class | DT |
| Facility ID | 71363 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 30°36′45.4″N 87°38′41.6″W / 30.612611°N 87.644889°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
| Website | weartv |
WEAR-TV, virtual channel 3 (UHF digital channel 17), is an ABC-affiliated television station located in Pensacola, Florida, United States, that also serves Mobile, Alabama. The station is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, as part of a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate WFGX (channel 35); Sinclair also operates Mobile-based NBC affiliate WPMI-TV (channel 15) and independent station WJTC (channel 44) under a local marketing agreement with owner Deerfield Media.
WEAR and WFGX share studios on Mobile Highway (U.S. 90) in unincorporated Escambia County, Florida (with a Pensacola mailing address), WEAR's transmitter is located in unincorporated Baldwin County, Alabama east of Rosinton. The station can also be seen on Comcast, Mediacom and Cox channel 3.
The station first signed on the air on January 13, 1954. Broadcasting on VHF channel 3, it was founded by Charles Smith and Mel Wheeler, who also owned WEAR radio (1230 AM, now WDWR). Initially, the station was a primary CBS affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation. Shortly after WEAR signed on, the Federal Communications Commission collapsed Mobile and Pensacola into a single market. In early 1955, channel 3 activated a new tower in Baldwin County. Shortly afterward, WKRG-TV (channel 5) signed on as the CBS affiliate for the enlarged market, and WEAR became an exclusive ABC affiliate. In 1959, it was sold to Rollins Telecasting, which in turn merged with Heritage Broadcasting to form Heritage Media in 1987.
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