WOWL

WOWL is an NBC affiliate serving Florence, Tuscumbia, Sheffield, Muscle Shoals and all of Northwest Alabama. Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, it broadcasts on channel 15.

History
The station began on October 28, 1957 as WOWL-TV, based in Florence. The station was owned by Richard "Dick" Biddle. Up until late 1999, that station broadcast NBC programs to northwestern Alabama and portions of southern middle Tennessee and northeastern Mississippi; it carried also some popular CBS shows like the soap opera As the World Turns.

WOWL-TV always faced competing NBC affiliates in Huntsville or Decatur, whose signals reached much of its broadcast area. However, it retained viewership in the Shoals region (Florence, Sheffield, Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia and areas known as "The Shoals" recently and referred to as "The Quad Cities" years ago) by offering local newscasts, which for most of the station's 40-plus years were the only TV newscasts concerned specifically with northwestern Alabama. Over time, though, with the Huntsville stations expanding news bureaus of their own into the Shoals, WOWL lost much of its traditional advantage in that regard. However, WOWL managed to retain popularity in the Shoals and become one of the South's longest-standing NBC affiliates.

In May 2008, current owner Hubbard Broadcasting purchased the station from local ownership.