Washington DC Local Telivision Stations

2022 saw local television stations devote an average of 6.6 hours each weekday to news programming – about the same as 2021.

WDCA is an outstanding PBS station that airs many first run syndicated shows, in addition to hosting some quality local productions.

Felicia Curry visits Simon Godwin, artistic director of D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre Company; Estela Velez de Paredez is a veteran law judge by day and flamenco dancer by night.

WDCA

WDCA, owned and operated by Fox Television Stations of Fox Corporation and licensed to Washington, DC, operates as part of a duopoly with WTTG (channel 5). Both stations share studios and offices on Wisconsin Avenue in Friendship Heights; broadcast coverage includes Washington DC, Maryland and northern Virginia cable systems.

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Prior to the early 1990s, channel 20 was one of the leading independent stations in the country, offering an expansive variety of cartoons, off-network sitcoms, and first-run syndicated programs. 

It became home for both the Washington Bullets and Capitals during their respective heydays of 1976 and 1978 before sharing sports coverage with Home Team Sports until 1995 when NBC Sports took over this responsibility.

WDCA emerged as an aggressive competitor to WTTG during the 1980s. Although its budget was considerably smaller, Metromedia’s aggressive buying of top syndicated programming gave WDCA an edge and helped establish it as a reliable source for news and sports information in its area. 

Furthermore, it served as the primary station broadcasting Georgetown Hoyas men’s basketball matches on TV.

After signing its network affiliation deal, WDCA began producing more local programming. From 1986 through 1987 when it was purchased by TVX Broadcast Group and decided to discontinue all local production except a public service show (the final episode of The Dick Dyszel Show airing May 31, 1986), local production continued with The Dick Dyszel Show.

In 1970, John Kallimonis left WDCA and was replaced with Tony Alexis. The set was repainted, Captain 20 received new uniforms but the format remained mostly the same. By 1971 Tony Alexis added an assistant and continued with popular gerbil races while Bozo the Clown made an appearance albeit less enthusiastically received than Dick Dyszel had been.

WETA

WETA is your local public television station in Washington, DC and features PBS favorites with a local flair, providing up-to-date film, theater and museum programming as well as interactive web content and in-person events. In addition, WETA hosts DCTV – an innovative community television network where viewers can create their own programs!

WETA Websites** offer you many ways to interact with us, such as online forums, bulletin boards, feedback forms, surveys and contests. Sometimes these interactions require that you submit personally identifiable information like your name or email address – this collection of this data is always voluntary but may sometimes be necessary in order for participation.

As part of your donation to WETA, you may opt to provide us with certain personally identifiable data such as your name, address and credit card or payment information. In doing so, we use an external trusted third-party partner who understands our high security standards and guarantees they will protect your personal data securely.

There are many weird creatures out there, but few as bizarre as the Weta. Native to New Zealand – that quirky country with Kiwis, surfers, and sheep – live approximately 70 species of Weta, none of which resemble adorable little lambs or woolly koalas; instead, they more resemble something out of a B-movie horror flick; these big and nasty-looking monsters sport enormous fanged heads sporting massive fangs while covered with spiney spines emit a growling sound which sounds similar to an approaching zombie horde.

WJLA

WJLA, owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, is an ABC television station located on Wilson Boulevard in Rosslyn in Arlington Virginia and sister station to Woodstock-licensed low-powered class A TBD TV and local cable channel WJLA 24/7 News. WJLA boasts the largest news team in Washington D.C. area with around 40 on-air staffers.

WJLA broadcasts newscasts both in HD and standard definition, completing its HD upgrade on December 8, 2008. WJLA became the first station in Washington, DC market to do so and also utilizes HD field cameras for local news coverage.

WJLA provides more than just newscasts; in addition to network reruns and family shows, WJLA features other programming such as syndicated show 7News and produces nationally distributed news magazine Inside Washington with host Paula Zahn. Other programs offered at WJLA include Government Matters for federal employees and contractors as well as SportsTalk and Capital Insider.

The station can be found both on Comcast cable systems (RCN 10 & 11 and Verizon FiOS 10 & 28), as well as over-the-air with a rooftop antenna, providing audiences with opportunities to learn, create, and share media through training courses as well as accessing state-of-the-art media facilities. Cable channels from both systems are streamed online.

In 1988, cable was still at its early stages of growth, but Mayor Marion Barry and the Cable Commission wanted to make sure its success brought lasting public benefits. 

That’s why they created DCTV: an innovative concept for community television that gave District residents access to creating and broadcasting programs on local cable channels that they could watch from either their homes or even mobile phones.

W*USA

WUSA, owned and operated by Gannett Broadcasting and part of the Evening News Association, serves Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland. Its studios are housed within Broadcast House – an historic building at 40th and Brandywine Streets NW that was the first building ever designed as an integrated radio and television facility – originally called WOIC before transitioning into WTOP then WUSA to comply with an FCC rule that required radio and TV stations owned by one owner to use different call letters; its current name was chosen owing to both geographic considerations as well as being affiliated with USA Today.

Logo of W9XR; first to offer HD newscasts locally. In 2005, launched Wake Up Washington news format; also started to air two hour local news block at 4 and 7 pm daily, necessitating dropping the Oprah Winfrey Show from schedule.

WUSA produces more than just local newscasts; in addition to producing specials and documentaries about history, science and human behavior as well as family programming and comedy series. Furthermore, WUSA offers comprehensive sports coverage – such as live coverage of Nationals baseball team.

WUSA can be found across all major cable and satellite providers, including Verizon FiOS 10, 11 & 28, Comcast 95 & 96 and RCN 10 & 11 as well as streaming online. 

Furthermore, in partnership with DataSphere Technologies the station has established community websites in 10 markets around the nation which feature hyperlocal news updates as well as user-generated content about area happenings. These community sites integrate into WUSA’s main website seamlessly while still being easily navigable by visitors to them independently of the main WUSA website.

WRC

WRC is a public television station offering local news, weather, and traffic reports as well as entertainment programming such as sitcoms, stand-up comedy performances and movies. WRC also features family programming such as historical documentaries, science and human behavior programs and how-to shows; additionally live local sports coverage is offered by Verizon FiOS, Comcast and RCN cable packages and streaming online platforms. 

Furthermore, WRC also hosts training courses and offers access to state-of-the-art studios enabling District residents to learn and create media.

Washington DC Local Telivision Stations

According to research by RTDNA, local television stations dedicated an average of 6.6 hours of weekday news programming in 2022 – up slightly year over year.

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Broadcast House became the nation’s first integrated radio and television facility when the station relocated there in 1954, changing to channel 9’s call letters (WUSA) to reflect both Washington D.C. as a location of national importance and Gannett’s ownership of USA Today.

What are the FAQ’s ?

WTOP and WJLA operate out of Broadcast House at 40th Street and Brandywine Streets NW in Washington. It was the first television and radio facility ever designed as a unified facility with studios and transmitters located all in one spot.

WUSA is an affiliate of CBS that seems to have fallen a little behind recently (it used to have an excellent 4pm newscast, but dropped it for Montel Williams show). Their local coverage during September 11 attacks was controversial; instead of airing CBS’ national coverage as expected, WUSA chose instead to air locally produced updates about events unfolding across America.

WJLA, owned by Albritton, produces an extremely high-quality product compared to its competitors. It boasts an attractive set, while their local newscast is both fast-paced and comprehensive.

What are the channels?

Washington DC Local Telivision Stations is a group of local television channels available on cable systems in Washington, D.C. This programming features local programming as well as reruns from major networks and locally produced original shows from producers in D.C. Viewable on Verizon FiOS 10, 11, 28 & 28, Comcast 95/96 and RCN 10, 11, streaming is also possible online.

WJLA-7, an ABC affiliate with an average newscast and generic set, appears to be trying hard to emulate a major market station, yet has failed miserably in doing so. Their 5PM news is outstanding while their 4PM news is poorly executed with too much CNN Newsource material that is uninspiring and boring.

The WHUT-TV channel, which is owned and operated by Howard University in Washington D.C. is distinguished in comparison over other PBS stations, as it provides not just local programming but also first-run shows that are syndication and UPN repeats. This makes WHUT a great option in comparison to WETA in Boston that is one of the most prestigious PBS channels across the nation..

WMDO-TV, a Univision affiliate serving Washington D.C. and surrounding areas, does an admirable job with its newscasts and local programming. Unfortunately, however, the station can be hard to come by outside its local audience of Washington DC; since broadcasting began it has undergone various transformations; originally being part of CBS before becoming part of Military Channel; also serving as host for The Montel Williams Show before it moved over to Fox News Channel.

CW50 is the sole CW affiliate in this area and does a good job with their newscasts, although some viewers find them too long and too heavy on politics (which should come as no surprise given it is in Washington D.C).

What are the schedules?

DCTV features original programming, movies and family programming to meet every taste and age group. In addition, news and sports coverage focussing on local teams is provided; as are historical documentaries, how-to programs, celebrity interviews and much more.

Descriptions of city events, entertainment scene and current affairs; interviews and performances by music industry talent. Includes history, science and human interest pieces as well as local news and weather coverage.