WWL-TV

WWL-TV virtual channel 4 (UHF digital channel 36) is a CBS-affiliated television station located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The station is owned by Tegna, Inc. as part of a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate WUPL-TV (channel 54). The two stations share studio and office facilities located on Rampart Street in the historic French Quarter district; WWL-TV's transmitter is located at 4 Cooper Road in Gretna.

On cable, the station is available on Cox Communications channel 3 in standard definition and digital channel 1003 in high definition. WWL serves as the primary CBS station for the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi, and formerly served as the default CBS affiliate for the area until ABC affiliate WLOX in Biloxi launched a CBS-affiliated digital subchannel in 2012 after 25 years where WWL-TV serves there when WHLT CBS 22 signed on in 1987.

History

Early history

The station first signed on the air on September 7, 1957; by coincidence, it was the fourth television station to sign on in the New Orleans market, behind WDSU-TV (channel 6) – which signed on in December 1948, WJMR-TV (channel 61, now WVUE-DT on channel 8) – which signed on in November 1953, and WYES-TV (channel 8, now on channel 12) – which signed on in April 1957, six months before WWL-TV's launch. It was originally owned by Loyola University New Orleans, which also owned radio station WWL (870 AM). WWL-TV has been an affiliate of the CBS television network since its inception, as WWL radio had been an affiliate of the CBS Radio Network since 1935. Channel 4 competed head-to-head with NBC affiliate WDSU for first place during the 1960s and 1970s. However, after Edgar B. Stern, Jr. sold WDSU to South Carolina-based Cosmos Broadcasting in 1972, it began deemphasizing local features in favor of its highly regarded newscasts. By comparison, WWL, as the only locally owned station, heavily stressed its local roots. By the early 1980s, WWL had emerged as the market's ratings leader.