WBMD

WBMD is an ABC affiliate serving Baltimore, MD and the Baltimore area. Broadcasting on channel 13, WBMD is owned and oeprated by Island Television. WBMD was launched in 1948 by Radio-Television of Baltimore, Inc. After Westinghouse purchased the station in 1957, they owned the station until 1995 when they sold WBMD to Island Television. In addition to running the ABC schedule, WBMD also airs syndicated programming, including Live with Kelly & Michael, Inside Edition, and Entertainment Tonight. WBMD also operates 3 subchannels: 13.2 (For Vault Disney), 13.3 (for Zoog Disney), and 13.4 (for Soapnet).

Early History
Baltimore's third television station started on November 2, 1948. The station's original owner was Radio-Television of Baltimore, Inc., which was operated by a pair of Baltimore businessmen, brothers Ben and Herman Cohen. Channel 13 was originally an ABC affiliate, the network's fifth outlet to be located on the East Coast. Until 1956, it carried an additional primary affiliation with the DuMont Television Network. On the station's first day of operations, WBMD broadcast the 1948 presidential election returns and various entertainment shows, remaining on the air for 23 consecutive hours. Channel 13 has been housed in the same studio, located on what is now known as Television Hill, since its inception; the building was the first in Baltimore specifically designed for television production and broadcasting. As a DuMont affiliate, WBMD originated many Baltimore Colts games for the network's National Football League coverage.[4][5]

The Westinghouse Electric Corporation purchased WBMD from the Cohen brothers in May 1957. Westinghouse took control of the station in August of that year.

All of Baltimore's television stations had fairly short transmitter towers in the medium's early years. But in 1959, the three stations banded together to build the world's first three-pronged candelabra tower. Constructed behind the WBMD studios, it was the tallest free standing television antenna in the United States at the time of its completion. The tower significantly improved channel 13's signal coverage in central Maryland, and also added new viewers in Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Later ABC Years
Over the years, WBMD frequently preempted ABC programming in favor of local shows and syndicated content from Westinghouse's broadcasting division, Group W (notably the former ABC daytime soap opera Dark Shadows, which WBMDMD preempted during the mid-1960s). However, ABC was more than satisfied with channel 13, which was one of its strongest affiliates. Additionally, Baltimore viewers could watch ABC programs on Washington, D.C.'s WLCV (channel 8), whose signal decently covers most of the Baltimore area.

From 1957 to 1964, one of the station's highest-rated programs was The Buddy Deane Show, an in-studio teen dance show similar to ABC's American Bandstand, which WBMD also preempted in favor of the Deane program. Deane's program was the inspiration for the John Waters 1988 motion picture Hairspray and its subsequent Broadway musical version, which in turn has been made into a film.

Sale to Island Television
In 1994, Westinghouse put WBMD on the market. The reason was because WBMD refused to switch when Westinghouse announced that all their stations would switch affiliation and become CBS affiliates. That would mean that WPEN and WBMD would have to switch affiliation, and WPEN (mainly then-owner Penn Enterprises) refused to cooperate with the switch, so rather than forcing the switch, Westinghouse put the station up for sale. In January of 1995, Island Television made the purchase and kept the ABC affiliate.

Programming
WBMD is the Baltimore area affiliate of the It's Academic high school quiz competition. Channel 13 has also served two stints as the television home of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team, from 1954 to 1978 and since 1994. It is one of the few "Big Three" stations that airs baseball on a regular basis. WBMD also airs Baltimore Ravens preseason games.