For many years, there were a couple of constants in the Columbus, Ohio, TV market: WBNS was a monster, and Dispatch Broadcast Group was its owner.
Dom Tiberi (l.) and Yolanda Harris, anchors at market leader WBNS, cross the Rich Street Bridge over the Scioto River.
Things change. In June, Tegna and Dispatch agreed to a deal that shifted WBNS and WTHR Indianapolis, along with the WBNS radio properties, to Tegna for $535 million.
John Cardenas, president and general manager of WBNS, said he couldn't be happier with the new owner. It means scale and leverage opportunities we may not have had before, he said.
Tegna owns stations in Cleveland and Toledo. Cardenas mentions content-sharing opportunities to cover the state, including election coverage in the swing state.
WBNS is aligned with CBS. Some in the area wonder what being part of a public company, versus WBNS's family-owned past, means for staffing.
WBNS, known as 10TV, has had a few challenges in terms of on-air talent. Anchor Jerry Revish retired in November. My career in journalism has afforded me the opportunity to help write the first drafts of history for 45 years, he said when his retirement was announced.
More Local News: Over the Air Is Over the Top
WBNS chief meteorologist Chris Bradley died of leukemia at 53 in December 2018, and meteorologist Mike Davis was arrested in September for charges related to child pornography.
The market leader gets hearty competition from WCMH, Nexstar Media Group's NBC affiliate. The station is focused on increasing and fine-tuning its local content. We've proven we can create content as compelling, if not more compelling, than syndicators, Ken Freedman, VP and general manager, said.
WCMH is also focused on connecting with younger consumers who may not tune in to scheduled shows. We continue to look at ways we can expand there, Freedman said.
Sinclair Broadcast Group has ABC affiliate WSYX and manages Cunningham Broadcasting's Fox outlet WTTE and Manhan Medias CW station WWHO. HC2 owns Telemundo station WDEM. Charter Communications/Spectrum is the primary pay TV operator.
It's a hearty news operation at WSYXWTTE. Tony D'Angelo, VP and general manager, said there's about 70 hours of news a week coming out of the newsroom. We've invested heavily in local news, he said.
WBNS does not subscribe to Nielsen, opting for Comscore. Syndicated programming includes Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy! and Dr. Oz.
In November, WBNS won the news races and WCMH or WSYX came in second. WBNS did a 5.4 household rating at 11 p.m., according to Comscore, and a 4.6 in viewers 25-54. WCMH had a 4.0 and 3.6.
We're truly connected to the community, Cardenas said. We have a rich history of having the top talent in the marketplace.
Buckeye Banter
Tegna also owns Columbus sports talk radio outlet 97.1 The Fan. Much of what is discussed on The Fan is Ohio State football. The team had its first loss of the season against Clemson in late December. We'll move on, said Freedman, and start thinking about next year.
WWHO does live high school football in the fall.
Columbus is market No. 34, but Freedman notes it is the 14th largest city in the U.S. Being No. 34 belies the sophistication and forward-thinking going on in Columbus, he said.
The Ohio capital, it is home to Nationwide, L Brands, Wendy's and other giant corporations. The economy covers all major areas, D'Angelo said.
This lively market should see a windfall as the presidential election heats up. I think 2020 is poised to be a big political showdown, Cardenas said.
There will be plenty for the newsrooms to cover. Columbus has really good stations and good operators who believe strongly in broadcasting, D'Angelo said.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
06/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
06/04/2026
From high school sports all the way up to the major leagues, building high-quali...
06/04/2026
Quickplay, an AI company for the media and entertainment industry, has been accepted into the Advanced tier of the TwelveLabs Ecosystem Partner Program. Quickpl...
06/04/2026
Grass Valley has announced the Future Playmakers Program, a global initiative to...
06/04/2026
El l der de operaciones impulsa la producci n en estudio mientras encuentra insp...
06/04/2026
The ops leader helps lead the charge in studio for the Spanish-language broadcas...
06/04/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
06/04/2026
The National Hockey League (NHL), in partnership with Verizon and the New Jersey Devils, today announced the opening of the NHL Innovation Lab powered by Verizo...
06/04/2026
Rock League, a new professional curling league, has announced that ESPN+ will stream its inaugural 2026 season for fans in the United States. The first Rock Lea...
06/04/2026
Advanced Systems Group has announced the appointment of Andrea (Andy) Cummis as Vice President of Systems Design and Engineering. In this role, she will lead de...
06/04/2026
Backed by Bolt Ventures, the venture brings Bryson DeChambeau, Grant Horvat, and...
06/04/2026
With this environment we can start that collaboration even earlier because we ca...
06/04/2026
Like the immortal lives of vampires, some stories never really end. That's t...
06/04/2026
As podcasting continues to evolve, growth increasingly means building beyond aud...
06/04/2026
Multiband dynamics plug-in enhanced
California-based developer FSK Audio have released a significant update for their innovative multiband dynamics processo...
06/04/2026
Share official & user-created full-rig presets
IK Multimedia's latest TONEX update makes it possible for users of the popular amp and effects modelling ...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Dalet Showcases Dalia Agentic AI and End-to-End Media Workflows at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Dalet, a leading technology and...
06/04/2026
OpenDrives Shows Off Sports Expertise in Sports Business Hub located in NAB Show...
06/04/2026
Proton to Demonstrate 3D Application at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Yet further creative potential unleashed through innovation in ...
06/04/2026
Autoscript Highlights Voice-Driven Prompting and PTZ Solutions at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Experience Autoscript Voice, PTZ prom...
06/04/2026
Mediaproxy Highlights Significant Enhancements to its LogServer suite at NAB Sho...
06/04/2026
Wayne, N.J., April 6th, 2026 Phantom High-Speed announces the release of PCC 4...
06/04/2026
April 6th, 2026
TRIBECA STUDIOS AND LILLY ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF INAUGURAL VITAL...
06/04/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Expands Kids Entertainment Lineup With Playground App ...
05/04/2026
Tackles all reported bugs!
SoundBridge have just announced the launch of a new update that introduces a couple of minor changes to their remote collaboratio...
04/04/2026
The University of Arizona's Men's Basketball team has only loss twice th...
04/04/2026
1080p HDR arrives, a new generation of storytelling tools takes center stage, an...
04/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
04/04/2026
Faster, cleaner and more intuitive than ever
The control software for Flock Audio's digitally controlled patchbay systems has just been treated to an up...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
DHD Introduces AI-Based Audio Noise Reduction to XD3 IP Core
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
The accompanying image shows the rear panel of the ...
04/04/2026
Macnica Redefines ST 2110 Flexibility with Two Speeds on One Card
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
New for NAB Show 2026, MEP100 SmartNIC now sup...
04/04/2026
Unified Media Workflows for Story-Centric Production
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
Framelight X unifies field capture, editing and publishing ...
03/04/2026
Michigan's Fab Five will reunite for an alternate presentation of the Mich...
03/04/2026
Avid will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (April 18-22, Booth N2226, Las Vegas Convention Center), demonstrating its Content Core platform and new AI-driven workflow c...
03/04/2026
Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) has announced the appointment of Nick Barthee as Chief Operating Officer.
The announcement follows MRMC's transition fro...
03/04/2026
Interra Systems has announced that Elite Media Technologies has selected its BATON file-based QC solution for media workflows. Elite Media Technologies speciali...
03/04/2026
Ateme has announced that Moldtelecom has deployed Ateme technologies across its streaming workflow, covering encoding, delivery, operations, and analytics.
Mol...
03/04/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate Framelight X, its content management platform, at NAB Show 2026. The platform connects capture, ingest, editing, and publishing in...
03/04/2026
Encompass Digital Media and Techex have announced a cloud-native Master Control ...
For many years, there were a couple of constants in the Columbus, Ohio, TV market: WBNS was a monster, and Dispatch Broadcast Group was its owner.
