Omaha, Nebraska/Council Bluffs, Iowa United States |
|
---|---|
City | Omaha, Nebraska |
Branding | WOWT NBC Omaha (general) WOWT 6 News (newscasts) The WOWT 6 Weather Authority (weather) |
Slogan | Your Home for News |
Channels |
Digital: 22 (UHF) Virtual: 6 () |
Subchannels | See below |
Affiliations | NBC (1949–1956 & since 1986) |
Owner |
Gray Television (Gray Television Licensee, LLC) |
First air date | August 29, 1949 |
Call letters' meaning | Woodmen Of the World (original owner of WOW radio) + Television |
Sister station(s) | KOLN/KGIN, KSNB-TV, KNOP-TV, KNPL-LD, KIIT-CD |
Former callsigns | WOW-TV (1949–1975) |
Former channel number(s) |
Analog: 6 (VHF, 1949–2009) |
Former affiliations |
Primary: CBS (1956–1986) Secondary: ABC (1949–1953, 1954–1957) DuMont (1949–1952) DT2: UPN (2005–2006) Independent (September 2006–2008?) Universal Sports (2008?–October 1, 2011) |
Transmitter power | 1000 kW |
Height | 398 m (1,306 ft) |
Facility ID | 65528 |
Transmitter coordinates | 41°18′40″N 96°1′37″W / 41.31111°N 96.02694°WCoordinates: 41°18′40″N 96°1′37″W / 41.31111°N 96.02694°W |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
Website | wowt.com |
WOWT, virtual channel 6 (UHF digital channel 22), is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Omaha, Nebraska, United States and also serving Council Bluffs, Iowa. The station is owned by Gray Television. WOWT's studios are located on Farnam Street near downtown Omaha, and its transmitter is located on a "tower farm" near North 72nd Street and Crown Point Avenue in north-central Omaha.
On cable, the station is available on Cox Communications channel 8 in both standard and high definition. It can also be seen on CenturyLink Prism channels 6 (SD) and 1006 (HD).
The station signed on the air on August 29, 1949 at 12 noon as WOW-TV; it was the first television station in Nebraska and is one of the oldest in the Upper Midwest. It also claims to have gone on the air earlier than any station in four other Midwestern states—Iowa, Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota. The station was owned by Radio Station WOW, Inc., alongside WOW radio (590 AM, now KXSP, and 92.3 FM, now KEZO). The owners operated under a United States Supreme Court ruling which had forced the Woodmen of the World, who had founded WOW in 1923, to divest itself of the radio stations because they threatened the Woodmen's tax-exempt status.