WUSA9 Station History

On January 16, 1949, Channel 9, then a new CBS network affiliate station, began its first official broadcast. Four days later, President Harry S Truman made history as the first American president to give a live, televised inaugural address. Of course, that speech was carried by WOIC-TV, Channel 9.

Since that time much has changed. We've had several sets of call letters (WOIC, WTOP, WDVM, and today, WUSA) and Washington has grown from a small television market to one of the top ten markets in the country. Some of the most revered names in the business have shared desks here at Channel 9 - Walter Cronkite, Sam Donaldson, Arthur Godfrey, Max Robinson, Eric Sevareid, Howard K. Smith and Lowell Thomas. WUSA 9 is now part of Gannett, Inc., an internationally diverse news and information company.

The one constant throughout the WUSA 9's 60 year history in Washington is our commitment to innovation. WUSA 9 was the first station with a Noon newscast, and the first at 5:00am, 5:30 am, 6:00 am, 4:00 pm, 5:00 pm, and 7:00 pm. Today, WUSA 9 remains the only local TV station to have a 7 pm local newscast. On Monday, May 2, 2005, WUSA 9 was the first television station in Washington, DC, and the sixth in the nation to present its local live newscasts in HD, or high definition. Viewers are able to experience the difference of the technological advancement of HD in all of WUSA 9's more than 35 hours of local news each week. On January 23, 2007, WUSA 9 was the first television station in the world to stream live on the web HD video of the State of the Union address. Our customers can now watch HD video on-air and online! Additionally, WUSA9.com was the first local broadcast station website to offer streaming video for local news as well as the first station to offer video news to be downloaded to computers, laptops and mp3 players in the form of vodcasts.

Another way that WUSA 9 serves our local community is through Buddy Check 9 - a breast cancer awareness and prevention campaign spearheaded by longtime anchor Andrea Roane. WUSA 9 also supports the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society, the American Heart Association, and other organizations through our comprehensive media partnerships.

WUSA 9 expanded its reach to the residents of the Washington metropolitan area by creating dynamic new websites that cater to niche audiences: JChayward.com and Platts Energy Week. These sites are geared towards specific audiences and are only the beginning of this kind of niche marketing that provides valuable information and benefits to "viewsers" of all kinds.

After 26 years on WRC-TV, The McLaughlin Group moved over to WUSA 9 in May of 2008. The McLaughlin Group is also fed out each week to WCBS-TV in NY as well as 315 PBS stations across the country. The McLaughlin Group is the preeminent political talk show on television, and caps off a Sunday morning of news and information including CBS Sunday Morning, Face the Nation, This Week in Defense News, and now, The McLaughlin Group.

All in all, WUSA 9 is determined to provide the best content possible in a way that serves the interests and the needs of our viewers and users.

Gannett Co., Inc. is an international news and information company that publishes 99 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA Today, the nation's largest-selling daily newspaper. The company also owns in excess of 200 non-daily publications in the USA, including USA Weekend, a newspaper magazine. In the United Kingdom, Gannett subsidiary Newsquest plc publishes nearly 300 titles, including 15 daily newspapers. Gannett is an Internet leader with sites sponsored by most of its TV stations and newspapers including USATODAY.com, one of the most popular news sites on the web.

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