WOI-TV
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Ames/Des Moines, Iowa United States |
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| Branding | Local 5 (general) Local 5 News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | We Are Iowa |
| Channels |
Digital: 5 (VHF) Virtual: 5 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 5.1 ABC 5.2 Laff |
| Translators | 50 (UHF) Ames |
| Affiliations | ABC (secondary until 1955) |
| Owner |
Nexstar Media Group (Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.) |
| First air date | February 21, 1950 |
| Call letters' meaning | reverse spelling of "IOWa" (from WOI-AM-FM) |
| Sister station(s) | KCWI-TV, WHBF-TV, KCAU-TV |
| Former callsigns | WOI-TV (1950–2009) |
| Former channel number(s) |
Analog: 4 (VHF, 1950–1952) 5 (VHF, 1952–2009) Digital: 59 (UHF, 2003–2009) |
| Former affiliations |
Primary: CBS (1950–1955) Secondary: NBC (1950–1954) DuMont (1950–1956) NET (1952–1959) DT2: RTV (2008–2012) Live Well Network (2012–2015) |
| Transmitter power | 13.9 kW |
| Height | 566 m |
| Facility ID | 8661 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 41°48′33″N 93°36′53″W / 41.80917°N 93.61472°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
| Website | www.weareiowa.com |
WOI-DT, channel 5, is the ABC-affiliated television station licensed to Ames, Iowa, and serving the Des Moines market. WOI is owned and operated by Nexstar Media Group as part of a duopoly with CW affiliate, KCWI-TV (channel 23). Both stations share studios on Westown Parkway in West Des Moines, while its transmission tower is located near Alleman.
WOI-TV signed on the air on February 21, 1950. It was Iowa's second television station (following WOC-TV, now KWQC-TV, in Davenport), and the first in Des Moines. Originally on channel 4, it moved to channel 5 in 1952. Programming came from ABC, CBS, NBC, and the DuMont network during the station's early years, but it was a primary CBS affiliate. NBC disappeared from the schedule when WHO-TV signed on in 1954, and CBS disappeared when KRNT-TV (now KCCI) signed on in 1955 owing to KRNT radio's long affiliation with CBS radio, leaving channel 5 as the ABC affiliate. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.
WOI-TV was originally owned by Iowa State University in Ames along with its noncommercial WOI radio stations (AM 640 and FM 90.1), making it the first commercial television station in the United States to be owned by a major college. As such, it carried some educational programming from sign-on until the Des Moines Public Schools signed on KDPS-TV (channel 11, now KDIN-TV) in 1959. The startup costs for WOI-TV were paid by the remaining monies from a federal grant awarded to the university for work on the Manhattan Project. WOI's facilities were used by the university to deliver lectures by satellite.
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