View source for WSPA-TV

{{Short description|Television station in Spartanburg, South Carolina}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = WSPA-TV
| city = Spartanburg, South Carolina
| logo = WSPA 7 logo.svg
| logo_upright = .5
| logo_alt = A large red rectangle with a yellow-orange border on the bottom, inside the rectangle is a large numerical 7 with the CBS eye logo at the bottom right, both in white; underneath the yellow-orange border is a black box with "WSPA" in a white serif font.
| branding = 7 News
| digital = 11 ([[VHF]]), shared with [[WYCW]]
| virtual = 7
| translators = ''see {{section link||Translators}}''
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''7.1:''' [[CBS]]|'''7.3:''' [[Ion Television]]}}
| owner = [[Nexstar Media Group]]
| licensee = Nexstar Media Inc.
| location = {{ubl|[[Spartanburg]]–[[Greenville, South Carolina|Greenville]]–|[[Anderson, South Carolina]]|[[Asheville, North Carolina]]}}
| country = United States
| airdate = {{start date and age|1956|4|29|p=y|br=y}}
| callsign_meaning = Spartanburg
| sister_stations = WYCW
| former_callsigns = WORD-TV (CP, 1953–1954)
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 7 (VHF, 1956–2009)|'''Digital:''' 53 ([[UHF]], 2000–2009), 7 (VHF, 2009–2020)}}
| former_affiliations = {{ubl|[[The WB]] (secondary, 1995–1997)}}
| erp = 33.5 kW
| haat = {{convert|674.2|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id = 66391
| coordinates = {{coord|35|10|12.7|N|82|17|25.8|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| website = {{URL|https://www.wspa.com/}}
}}

'''WSPA-TV''' (channel 7) is a [[television station]] licensed to [[Spartanburg, South Carolina]], United States, serving [[Upstate South Carolina]] and [[Western North Carolina]] as an affiliate of [[CBS]]. It is owned by [[Nexstar Media Group]] alongside [[Asheville, North Carolina]]–licensed [[The CW|CW]] station [[WYCW]] (channel 62). WSPA-TV and WYCW share studios on International Drive (next to the [[Interstate 26 in South Carolina|I-26]] and [[Interstate 85 Business (Spartanburg, South Carolina)|I-85 Business]]/Veterans Parkway interchange) in Spartanburg; both stations broadcast from an antenna on Hogback Mountain in northeastern [[Greenville County]] (southwest of [[Tryon, North Carolina]]).

WSPA-TV began broadcasting in April 1956 amid a controversy that spanned a decade over the station's proposed transmitter site. Owned by the locally based Spartan Radiocasting Company (renamed [[Spartan Communications]] in 1995) for more than four decades, it was a CBS affiliate from its inception and the second [[VHF]] television station in Upstate South Carolina. Its original studios in downtown Spartanburg were destroyed by fire in 1960; the station rebuilt at another site downtown but constructed its present facilities in 1979. Spartan Communications was acquired by [[Media General]] in 2000; under Media General, the station enjoyed strong local news ratings performances, moving from its traditional second-place to first against traditional news ratings leader [[WYFF]]. Nexstar acquired Media General in 2017; the station has since slipped back to second place in news ratings.

==Early years==
===Permitting===
When the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) ended its multi-year freeze on television stations in April 1952, it allotted [[very high frequency]] (VHF) channel 7 to [[Spartanburg, South Carolina|Spartanburg]] instead of the state capital of [[Columbia, South Carolina|Columbia]].<ref name="Gree520414">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-grenville-will-get-1/142337114/|date=April 14, 1952|page=1|title=Greenville Will Get 1 Of 5 S. C. VHF's; WFBC 1st Applying|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221814/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-grenville-will-get-1/142337114/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Mon --> Two radio station owners in Spartanburg made plans to apply for the channel: the Broadcasting Company of the South, owner of [[WORD (AM)|WSPA (950 AM)]], and the Spartan Radiocasting Company, owner of [[WOLI (AM)|WORD (910 AM)]].<ref name="Colu520509">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-columbia-record-spartan-stations-see/158662801/|date=May 9, 1952|page=8-A|agency=Associated Press|title=Spartan Stations Seek Television|newspaper=The Columbia Record|location=Columbia, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221956/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-columbia-record-spartan-stations-see/158662801/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri --> Spartan's owner, Walter J. Brown, had been instrumental in getting channel 7 assigned to Spartanburg and not Columbia; when a proposed table of allotments threatened to leave Spartanburg without any VHF channels, he pressed South Carolina's governor, fellow Spartanburg resident [[James F. Byrnes]], to use his influence with the FCC to move channel 7 from Columbia to Spartanburg.<ref name="Stat970413">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112405354/thanks-to-fcc-wis-tv-dominated-the-area/|date=April 13, 1997|page=TV Weekly 35|first=Doug|last=Nye|title=Thanks to FCC, WIS-TV dominated the area from the beginning|newspaper=The State|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=April 25, 2023|archive-date=April 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425073623/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112405354/thanks-to-fcc-wis-tv-dominated-the/|url-status=live}}</ref> Spartan Radiocasting attempted to have Broadcasting Company of the South disqualified once it received the construction permit for [[WIS-TV]] on channel 10 at Columbia due to alleged overlap, which the FCC dismissed.<ref name="Gree530520">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-spartanburg-tv-reque/125004462/|date=May 20, 1953|page=5|title=Spartanburg TV Request Denied|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221535/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-spartanburg-tv-reque/125004462/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Wed -->

The dispute between the two station owners ended in an unusual settlement. On November 26, 1953, Broadcasting Company of the South announced an agreement with Spartan Radiocasting under which, if Spartan were granted channel 7, it would acquire WSPA and its FM sister station from Broadcasting Company of the South and sell off the stations it already owned.<ref name="Colu531126">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-columbia-record-spartanburg-tv-contr/158663079/|date=November 26, 1953|page=6-A|agency=Associated Press|title=Spartanburg TV Controversy Nears Decision|newspaper=The Columbia Record|location=Columbia, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221733/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-columbia-record-spartanburg-tv-contr/158663079/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu --> The commission agreed to the transaction, which saw Spartan owner Walter J. Brown sell off one station he founded (WORD) to acquire another (WSPA).<ref>{{Cite news|title=FCC Grants Three VHFs for Week|work=Broadcasting|page=56|id={{ProQuest|1401210941}}|date=November 30, 1953}}</ref> A deal to sell off WORD was agreed in January 1954.<ref name="Stat540113">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-state-spartan-station-purchased-by-c/158663181/|date=January 13, 1954|page=7-B|agency=Associated Press|title=Spartan Station Purchased by Columbia Firm|newspaper=The State|location=Columbia, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221632/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-state-spartan-station-purchased-by-c/158663181/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Wed --> Originally designated WORD-TV, the call sign on the channel 7 construction permit was changed to WSPA-TV in March 1954.<ref name="hc">{{Cite web|url=https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=86832|title=History Cards for WSPA-TV|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}}</ref>

===The Paris Mountain dispute===
{{Maplink|frame=yes|frame-width=350|frame-align=right|frame-height=300|text=Hogback Mountain (red) and Paris Mountain (blue)|type=point|coord={{coord|35|10|12.7|N|82|17|25.8|W}}|title=Hogback Mountain|description=South Carolina|marker=communications-tower|marker-color=#ff0000|marker-size=large|type2=point|coord2={{coord|34|56|29.00|N|82|24|38.00|W}}|title2=Paris Mountain|description2=South Carolina|marker2=communications-tower|marker-color2=#000080|marker-size2=large|zoom=9}}
Channel 7 was originally designated to operate from a site on Hogback Mountain, {{convert|25|mi|km}} northwest of Spartanburg and {{convert|24|mi|km}} northeast of Greenville. But in January 1954, the FCC permitted a temporary operation from the former [[WFBC-FM]] transmitter site on [[Paris Mountain State Park|Paris Mountain]], {{convert|6|mi|km}} from Greenville,{{r|BC540329}} until Hogback was ready, so that Spartan could bring television to Spartanburg sooner. This application was vociferously opposed by two operating television stations and a third permittee, all in the [[ultra high frequency]] (UHF) band: [[WGVL (TV)|WGVL]] (channel 23) of Greenville, [[WAIM-TV]] (channel 40) of [[Anderson, South Carolina|Anderson]], and the unbuilt WSCV (channel 17) of Spartanburg. They feared that, were the station to go on the air, it would be in effect a Greenville station, and they claimed that the Paris Mountain move would be permanent and would cause them economic injury by encouraging [[CBS]] to affiliate with the new VHF station.<ref name="Gree540129">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-spartanburg-tv-to-us/158663513/|date=January 29, 1954|page=1|title=Spartanburg TV To Use Paris Mt. Site|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221532/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-spartanburg-tv-to-us/158663513/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri --> The WSCV permittee had noted that CBS was unwilling to grant WSPA-TV an affiliation if it broadcast from Hogback to protect the service area of [[WBTV]] in [[Charlotte, North Carolina]].<ref name="Gree540219">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-sterling-tv-protest/55270366/|date=February 19, 1954|page=1|last=van der Linden|first=Frank|title=Sterling TV Protest Dismissed By FCC|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221927/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-sterling-tv-protest/55270366/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri --> Days later, CBS signed an affiliation agreement with WSPA-TV.<ref name="Gree540203">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-spartan-tv-station-a/158664063/|date=February 3, 1954|page=1|title=Spartan TV Station Affiliated With CBS|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024}}</ref><!-- Wed --> The UHF stations continued to fight against the channel 7 permit. [[Wilton E. Hall]], the owner of WAIM-TV, alleged that in the short time between the granting of the Paris Mountain permit and February 8, his station had lost nearly $60,000 in network revenue and advertising contracts.<ref name="Gree540209">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-waim-protests-permit/158664166/|date=February 9, 1954|page=16|agency=Associated Press|title=WAIM Protests Permit to WORD: Hall Says Loss of Network Revenue $59,661 Since Announcement Made|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221924/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-waim-protests-permit/158664166/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Tue --> A senator joined the UHF stations in their plea: [[Edwin C. Johnson]] of Colorado, who decried the damage done to not only the operating WAIM-TV and WGVL but the unbuilt WSCV.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Sen. Johnson Hits Spartanburg Grant|page=40|work=Broadcasting|date=February 8, 1954|id={{ProQuest|1285698754}} }}</ref>

After the FCC denied their pleas, the UHF stations took their fight to the [[United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit]].<ref name="BC540329">{{Cite news|date=March 29, 1954|work=Broadcasting|title=Appeals Court Asked To Stay WSPA-TV STA|id={{ProQuest|1285707222}}|page=50}}</ref> While WSPA-TV, in response to the court ruling against it,<ref name="Gree540408">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-paris-mountain-trans/158664996/|date=April 8, 1954|page=1|first=Frank|last=van der Linden|title=Paris Mountain Transmitter: Permanent Use To Be Sought|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221932/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-paris-mountain-trans/158664996/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu --> initially gave up the temporary authority to build on Paris Mountain with the stated aim of instituting a regular and not an interim service,<ref>{{cite news|title=WSPA-TV Gives Up STA for Paris Mt.|date=April 5, 1954|page=56|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1285708579}}}}</ref> it then asked to modify its primary construction permit for the same site.<ref>{{cite news|page=36|title=WSPA-TV Applies to Modify CP to Get Back on Paris Mt.|work=Broadcasting|date=April 12, 1954|id={{ProQuest|1285717203}} }}</ref> The FCC by majority vote approved this modification on April 30, 1954, finding that it met the technical standards for separation and signal strength in Spartanburg.<ref>{{cite news|title=WSPA-TV Given Authority To Move Transmitter Site|page=9|date=May 3, 1954|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1285720410}} }}</ref> The two operating UHF stations, WGVL and WAIM-TV, each protested the grant.<ref>{{Cite news|title=WAIM-TV Asks Court Stay Of WSPA-TV Site Change|date=May 31, 1954|page=84|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1285706556}} }}</ref> The FCC initially rebuffed their requests for a review, but the appeals court in March 1955 ordered the commission to hold a hearing, noting that both stations were CBS affiliates in danger of losing their network affiliation.<ref>{{cite news|pages=78–79|title=FCC Ordered to Hear WSPA-TV Move Protests|work=Broadcasting|date=March 28, 1955|id={{ProQuest|1285733980}} }}</ref> The stations made their economic injury claims in three days of hearings in April, with WGVL and WAIM-TV each opening their books to describe their mounting losses and near-zero network revenues.<ref>{{cite news|page=81|date=May 2, 1955|title=WAIM-TV, WGVL (TV) Protest WSPA-TV Move|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1401210838}} }}</ref> Hall also made an unsuccessful plea that channel 7 be moved out of Spartanburg entirely to [[Knoxville, Tennessee]], or another city, forcing WSPA-TV to a UHF channel.<ref name="Knox550414">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-knoxville-journal-fcc-asked-to-switc/89241086/|date=April 14, 1955|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-knoxville-journal-fcc-asked-to-switc/89241114/ 2]|title=FCC Asked To Switch Channel 7 To Knoxville|newspaper=The Knoxville Journal|location=Knoxville, Tennessee|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024}}</ref><!-- Thu --><ref name="Gree560306">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-wants-channel-9-sic/118984872/|date=March 6, 1956|page=2|first=Essell|last=Thomas|title=Wants Channel 9 [sic] Moved: WAIM-TV Will Make Appeal On FCC Ruling|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221538/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-wants-channel-9-sic/118984872/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Tue -->

In an initial decision released in September 1955, FCC chief hearing examiner James D. Cunningham proposed to affirm the Paris Mountain grant.<ref>{{Cite news|date=September 26, 1955|title=Examiner's Decision Would Favor WSPA-TV|pages=99–100|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1014918459}} }}</ref> Cunningham found that it mattered little from where the station broadcast because the effect of its transmissions would be the same from either site in Greenville and Anderson.<ref name="Inde550921">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-index-journal-paris-mountain-site-fo/36662977/|date=September 21, 1955|page= 1|agency=Associated Press|title=Paris Mountain Site For Spartan TV Transmitter Is Recommended|newspaper=The Index-Journal|location=Greenwood, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024}}</ref><!-- Wed --> WGVL and WAIM-TV appealed this ruling to the full FCC,<ref>{{cite news|title=WSPA-TV Transmitter Site Argued Before Commission|date=November 21, 1955|page=84|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1014926555}} }}</ref> but the FCC issued a final decision favoring WSPA-TV on March 9, 1956, and Brown announced that the station—its studios complete with closed-circuit telecasting underway since late 1955—would go on the air the next month.<ref>{{cite news|page=9|date=March 12, 1956|title=WSPA-TV Gets Paris Mt. Site After Two-Year Controversy|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1285720702}}}}</ref> In its ruling, the FCC found that even after getting authority for Paris Mountain, Brown tried to "sell" CBS on the Hogback site like a "vacuum sweeper salesman" and rejected the claims of economic injury.<ref name="Gree560310">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-final-fcc-approval-g/36662752/|date=March 10, 1956|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-final-fcc-approval-g/36662731/ 7]|first=Frank|last=van der Linden|title=Final FCC Approval Given Spartan TV Paris Mount Site|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221853/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-final-fcc-approval-g/36662752/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sat -->

When the Court of Appeals gave final approval for WSPA-TV to begin from Paris Mountain on April 29, 1956, WGVL and WAIM-TV announced that they would leave the air.<ref name="Gree560425">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-wspa-tv-given-go-ahe/36662689/|date=April 25, 1956|pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-spartan-tv/36662699/ 10]|first=Frank|last=van der Linden|title=WSPA-TV Given Go Ahead; Two Stations To Leave Air|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221746/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-wspa-tv-given-go-ahe/36662689/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Wed --> WSPA-TV was the sixth VHF television station in South Carolina with coverage of parts of three states.<ref name="Gree560429-On">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-wspa-tv-will-go-on-a/36693491/|date=April 29, 1956|pages= 1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-s-cs-6th-vhf-stat/36693517/ 8]|title=WSPA-TV will Go On Air At 2 P. M.|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024}}</ref><!-- Sun --> WGVL left the air that day,<ref name="Gree560429-Off">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-reynolds-says-wgvl/36662665/|date=April 29, 1956|page=1|title=Reynolds Says: WGVL-TV Will Go Off Air 60 Days|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108222012/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-reynolds-says-wgvl/36662665/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sun --> while WAIM-TV only briefly left the air before returning.<ref name="Gree560529">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-waim-tv-is-off-air-n/36662655/|date=May 29, 1956|page=2|title=WAIM-TV Is Off Air Now|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221713/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-waim-tv-is-off-air-n/36662655/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Tue --><ref>{{Cite news|title=Uhf WAIM-TV Back on Air|page=9|date=June 4, 1956|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1401216658}}}}</ref>

Even though WSPA-TV was on the air, the Paris Mountain case was not over, as the appeals court had yet to consider the merits of the UHF stations' protest.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Commercial Operation Started by WSPA-TV|page=89|work=Broadcasting|date=April 30, 1956|id={{ProQuest|1285737234}} }}</ref> In a unanimous ruling from judge [[David L. Bazelon]], on September 6, 1956, the court found that the FCC had erred in letting the station make the move. It cited engineering data that showed the Paris Mountain site served hundreds of thousands fewer people and called Spartan's "misrepresentation" as to whether it would permanently operate from there "calculated". It also agreed with a previously rejected claim that the stronger signal in Greenville made WSPA-TV, in effect, a Greenville station.<ref>{{Cite news|title=WSPA-TV Loses Round In Battle Over Television: Strongly Worded Order Handed Down by Court|work=The Spartanburg Herald|page=1|date=September 7, 1956|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/wspa-tv-loses-round-battle-over-television-strongly-worded-order-handed-down-court/jqsbyjfmlnuntrmstjumoumjybkbbiam_ip-10-166-46-71_1731093570880}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Court Returns WSPA-TV Case to FCC|date=September 10, 1956|work=Broadcasting|page=80|id={{ProQuest|1285741340}} }}</ref> The order was revised to allow WSPA-TV to remain on the air while the case was adjudicated,<ref>{{Cite news|page=82|title=Court of Appeals Language Revised in Spartanburg Case|work=Broadcasting|date=October 29, 1956|id={{ProQuest|1285726160}} }}</ref> which the UHF stations further fought.<ref>{{Cite news|page=60|title=WSPA-TV Transmitter Move Protested in Court of Appeals|work=Broadcasting|date=April 15, 1957|id={{ProQuest|1401220009}} }}</ref> Though the FCC upheld the stay and called the misrepresentation not willful in a July 1957 decision, the appeals court ordered another hearing of the Paris Mountain matter in May 1958 because it felt the commission had failed to justify the reduction of service.<ref>{{cite news|title=Court Orders New FCC Hearing On WSPA-TV Transmitter Move|page=82|date=May 26, 1958|id={{ProQuest|1401226400}}|work=Broadcasting }}</ref> In written testimony, Walter Brown revealed that CBS would not pull its affiliation from channel 7 if it had to move to Hogback Mountain, a reversal of what had appeared to be the situation in the past.<ref>{{cite news|work=Broadcasting|title=Hogback acceptable to CBS—WSPA-TV|date=February 16, 1959|page=71|id={{ProQuest|1285760619}} }}</ref>

In January 1961, the FCC found Spartan Radiocasting qualified to be a broadcast licensee but ordered the Paris Mountain grant to be set aside.<ref>{{cite news|title=WSPA-TV is subject of dual decision|date=January 9, 1961|page=44|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1014445813}} }}</ref> The transmitter site matter then became entangled with a separate issue against Spartan Radiocasting. That July, the FCC ordered the record reopened to consider a 1956 ''[[ex parte]]'' off-the-record contact made by Brown to FCC commissioner [[Rosel Hyde]] and any influence Brown might have had on a letter written by South Carolina senator [[Strom Thurmond]] to former FCC chairman [[George McConnaughey]].<ref>{{cite news|title=New issue added to WSPA-TV case|page=62|date=July 31, 1961|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|962769385}} }}</ref> The cases were finally decided by the FCC in November 1962; Brown was cleared of the ''ex parte'' charges, but WSPA-TV had to move off Paris Mountain.<ref>{{cite news|title=FCC Exonerates Brown, WSPA-TV: Station's record praised, but it must leave Paris Mountain|pages=66–67|date=December 3, 1962|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|962776507}} }}</ref> As a result, construction began in earnest on Hogback Mountain. On October 14, 1963, the video transmitter was moved to Hogback; for a week, the video and audio on WSPA-TV were broadcast from separate sites until the audio transmitter was moved.<ref>{{Cite news|page=58|title=It took a decade, but Hogback was won|date=October 28, 1963|work=Broadcasting|id={{ProQuest|1014477154}} }}</ref>

With the move to Hogback, WSPA-TV began planning the installation of translators to serve areas screened from the mountaintop site by terrain.<ref name="Gree630628">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-fcc-okay-on-hogback/158672020/|date=June 28, 1963|page=14|title=FCC Okay On Hogback Pleases Brown|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221635/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-fcc-okay-on-hogback/158672020/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri --> By October 1964, six such translators were in service in Georgia and North Carolina.<ref name="Ashe640929">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/asheville-citizen-times-cbs-translator-o/158672134/|date=September 29, 1964|page=13|title=CBS Translator Operates For Black Mountain|newspaper=The Asheville Citizen|location=Asheville, North Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221544/https://www.newspapers.com/article/asheville-citizen-times-cbs-translator-o/158672134/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Tue -->

==Spartan ownership (1956–2000)==
After beginning operations, WSPA-TV initially operated for seven hours a day, later 12, from its studios on Main Street. In addition to CBS programs, it presented local shows including ''The Jane Dalton Show'', ''Carolina Showtime'', ''Cousin Bud's Settin' Room'', ''Dancetown'', and ''Tim the Squirrel''.<ref name="Gree810426">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-wspa-tv-celebrates-i/158668988/|date=April 26, 1981|page=TV Spotlight 4|title=WSPA-TV celebrates its 25th anniversary|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024}}</ref><!-- Sun --><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/television-turns-50-local-stations-wlos-wyff-went-air-1954/nrmivxwudkfphlykmfbxbomoavgirabc_ip-10-166-46-187_1731101481444|page=B1|title=Television turns 50! Local stations WLOS, WYFF went on air in 1954|date=April 28, 1989|first=Ginger|last=Lundy|work=Spartanburg Herald-Journal}}</ref> On the morning of May 16, 1960, a fire started in the air conditioning system and swept through the building shared by the WSPA radio and television stations, gutting it in what was deemed one of the worst fires in Spartanburg history to date. Operations continued unimpeded; Charlotte's WBTV and Greenville's WFBC-TV (now [[WYFF-TV]]) loaned equipment, and all television broadcasting shifted to Paris Mountain.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Fire Guts WSPA TV-Radio Center: $250,000 Loss Estimated|first=Glen W.|last=Naves|work=The Spartanburg Journal and The Carolina Spartan|date=May 16, 1960|pages=1, [https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/fire-guts-wspa-tv-radio/jlojorafvznwylkfaxzzyapgswlviwvq_ip-10-166-46-187_1731095747221 3]|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/fire-guts-wspa-tv-radio-center-250000-loss-estimated/nekbnwhzilsujvbhkfrnoibsjzwfurtv_ip-10-166-46-71_1731095590544}}</ref> In order to replace the lost studios, Spartan Radiocasting leased a former [[Colonial Stores]] grocery store on Converse Street and refitted it as a television studio within less than two months.<ref name="Gree600522">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-wspa-to-have-tempora/158669792/|date=May 22, 1960|page=14A|title=WSPA To Have Temporary Studios|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221541/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-wspa-to-have-tempora/158669792/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sun -->{{r|Gree810426}} This facility was expanded and remodeled in 1966,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/channel-7-plans-new-facilities/elqjnogxcworgflmpyvqcikdscifpbws_ip-10-166-46-81_1731097062990|title=Channel 7 Plans New Facilities|work=Spartanburg Herald-Journal|date=March 20, 1966|page=A-9}}</ref> enabling WSPA-TV to be the first in the market to begin live local color broadcasting that September.<ref name="Gree660911">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-wspa-scores-another/158670941/|date=September 11, 1966|page=4:3|type=Advertisement|title=WSPA Scores Another First With Local, Live Color TV Programs|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221529/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-wspa-scores-another/158670941/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sun -->

WSPA-TV left downtown Spartanburg in April 1979, when it relocated to a new, {{convert|43000|ft2|m2|adj=on}} building near the interchange of [[Interstate 85 in South Carolina|Interstate 85]] and [[Interstate 26 in South Carolina|Interstate 26]] that had been under construction since 1977.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/wspa-tv-has-new-home-communications-parks/iwbmfbwbdcpadwrqbbjbbyqdrgscmsra_ip-10-166-46-139_1731099691766|title=New Facilities For WSPA Announced|work=The Spartanburg Herald|date=October 20, 1977|page=B1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/wspa-tv-has-new-home-communications-parks/iwbmfbwbdcpadwrqbbjbbyqdrgscmsra_ip-10-166-46-139_1731099691766|title=WSPA-TV Has New Home At Communications Parks [sic]|page=B1|date=April 5, 1979|work=Spartanburg Journal}}</ref>

Walter J. Brown, who had been the president of Spartan Radiocasting since 1947, became its chairman in 1988. The company was renamed [[Spartan Communications]] in September 1995,<ref name="Gree950928">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-spartan-radiocasting/158672607/|date=September 28, 1995|page=6D|title=Spartan Radiocasting changes its name|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024}}</ref><!-- Thu --> shortly before Brown's death that November.<ref name="Gree951118">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-founder-of-wspa-tv-d/158672473/|date=November 18, 1995|pages=1A, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-brown/158672500/ 5A]|first=Anne|last=Perry|title=Founder of WSPA-TV dies|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221638/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-founder-of-wspa-tv-d/158672473/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sat -->

During the late 1990s, Spartan Communications and WSPA-TV embarked on a series of relevant regional expansions. The first was a 1995 [[local marketing agreement]] with [[WGTA (TV)|WNEG-TV]] (channel 32) in [[Toccoa, Georgia]], which returned over-the-air CBS access to northeast Georgia after an affiliation switch in Atlanta the year prior.<ref name="Gree950916">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-wspa-parent-to-run-g/60713679/|date=September 16, 1995|page=8B|first=Paul|last=Davidson|title=WSPA parent to run Georgia TV stations|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024}}</ref><!-- Sat --> In 1997, Spartan Communications teamed with [[Pappas Telecasting]] to relaunch [[WYCW|WASV-TV]] (channel 62) as a dual affiliate of [[The WB]] and [[UPN]], operating the new station under a local marketing agreement.<ref name="Gree970829">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-upstate-gets-its-six/158672982/|date=August 29, 1997|page=6D|first=Ed|last=O'Donoghue|title=Upstate gets its sixth TV station|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024}}</ref><!-- Fri -->

==Media General and Nexstar ownership==
On December 8, 1999, Spartan Communications agreed to be purchased by [[Media General]] for $605 million. The transaction bolstered Media General's portfolio of Southeastern TV stations while marking the end of a local, family-owned broadcaster.<ref name="Gree991209">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-deal-ends-family-own/158672376/|date=December 9, 1999|page=39|title=Deal ends family-owned Upstate TV era: Media General buys Spartan Communications|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024}}</ref><!-- Thu -->

On March 1, 2009, WSPA's digital tower on Hogback Mountain—built in 2000{{r|BE090305}} for the launch of digital service that June<ref>{{cite book|title=Television & Cable Factbook|chapter=WSPA-DT|publisher=Warren Communications News|date=2006|page=A-1996}}</ref>—collapsed in a wind storm, taking down the tower used for analog broadcasting—dating to the 1970s—as it fell. WSPA's digital signal was restored as a [[digital subchannel|subchannel]] of WYCW, and a replacement antenna was mounted on the remnant lower portion of the digital tower to broadcast a temporary analog and digital service until a replacement tower was constructed.<ref name="BE090305">{{cite news|id={{ProQuest|204175518}}|title=Work to restore on-air signal begins after WSPA-TV tower collapse|date=March 5, 2009|work=Broadcast Engineering}}</ref>

On September 8, 2015, Media General announced that it would acquire the [[Meredith Corporation]], then-owner of regional Fox affiliate [[WHNS]] (channel 21), for $2.4 billion to form Meredith Media General. With WSPA and WHNS among the four highest-rated stations in the market, one of WSPA or WHNS would have had to be divested had the deal gone through.<ref>{{cite web|title=Media General Acquiring Meredith For 2.4 Billion|url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/88230/media-general-acquiring-meredith-for-24b|website=TVNewsCheck|publisher=NewsCheck Media|date=September 8, 2015|access-date=September 9, 2015|archive-date=January 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160110155037/http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/88230/media-general-acquiring-meredith-for-24b|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=TV Station Mega Merger: Media General Sets $2.4 Billion Acquisition of Meredith Corp.|url=https://variety.com/2015/tv/news/tv-station-meredith-media-general-merger-1201587744/|author=Cynthia Littleton|periodical=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|publisher=[[Penske Media Corporation]]|date=September 8, 2015|access-date=September 9, 2015|archive-date=September 9, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909115306/http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/tv-station-meredith-media-general-merger-1201587744/|url-status=live}}</ref> That sale was canceled on January 27, 2016, in favor of a sale of Media General to the [[Nexstar Broadcasting Group]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/currency/nexstar-agrees-buy-media-general-46b/147293 | title=Nexstar Agrees to Buy Media General for $4.6B | date=January 27, 2016 | access-date=February 17, 2016 | archive-date=March 1, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160301004505/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/currency/nexstar-agrees-buy-media-general-46b/147293 | url-status=live }}</ref> that was completed in January 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nexstar.tv/nexstar-broadcasting-group-completes-acquisition-of-media-general-creating-nexstar-media-group-the-nations-second-largest-television-broadcaster/|title=Nexstar Broadcasting Group Completes Acquisition of Media General Creating Nexstar Media Group, The Nation's Second Largest Television Broadcaster|publisher=[[Nexstar Media Group]]|date=January 17, 2017|access-date=January 17, 2017|archive-date=April 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180425161607/https://www.nexstar.tv/nexstar-broadcasting-group-completes-acquisition-of-media-general-creating-nexstar-media-group-the-nations-second-largest-television-broadcaster/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==News operation==
As in other multi-city markets, news viewership in the Greenville–Spartanburg–Asheville market has tended to be fragmented by city. Consequently, WSPA-TV's news viewership has traditionally been strongest in and around Spartanburg, and its newscasts emphasize coverage of Upstate South Carolina.<ref name="MW990823">{{Cite news|first=Mira|last=Schwirtz|title=Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, S.C./Asheville, N.C.|work=Mediaweek|date=August 23, 1999|pages=18–25|id={{ProQuest|213631409}} }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|id={{ProQuest|213628141}}|first=Eileen|last=Davis Hudson|pages=12–18|title=Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.|work=Mediaweek|date=March 19, 2001}}</ref> Though WYFF has traditionally been the leader in total news viewership in the market,<ref>{{cite news|pages=16–22|title=Greenville--Spartanburg, S.C.|work=Mediaweek|first=Eileen|last=Davis Hudson|date=March 17, 2003}}</ref> WSPA has been its most common competitor, particularly for Upstate viewership, sometimes outpacing channel 4. In 2007, WSPA for the first time swept WYFF in evening news,<ref>{{Cite news|page=15|first=Michael|last=Malone|work=Broadcasting & Cable|title=Mountain Climbing|id={{ProQuest|225321101}}|date=April 2, 2007}}</ref> and it had the most revenue of any local station in 2011 and 2014.<ref name="BC130317">{{cite news|title=Carolinas on Their Minds|work=Broadcasting & Cable|first=Michael|last=Malone|date=March 17, 2013|url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/market-eye-carolinas-their-minds-43952|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=July 5, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705221407/https://www.nexttv.com/news/market-eye-carolinas-their-minds-43952|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=September 7, 2015|first=Michael|last=Malone|work=Broadcasting & Cable|title=Carolinas Turf Tussle|url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/market-eye-carolinas-turf-tussle-143935|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=May 29, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220529120537/https://www.nexttv.com/news/market-eye-carolinas-turf-tussle-143935|url-status=live}}</ref> By 2022, WYFF led the market again in all news ratings time slots, with WLOS and WSPA nearly tied in late news viewership.<ref name="BC221012">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/local-news-close-up-lots-of-upside-in-upstate-south-carolina|work=Broadcasting & Cable|first=Michael|last=Malone|title=Local News Close-Up: Lots of Upside in Upstate South Carolina|date=October 12, 2022|access-date=March 4, 2024|archive-date=February 2, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230202205826/https://www.nexttv.com/news/local-news-close-up-lots-of-upside-in-upstate-south-carolina|url-status=live}}</ref>

WSPA-TV has operated several facilities in Greenville, the most recent a bureau and studio on Main Street that opened in 2017.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.adweek.com/tvspy/new-bureau-confuses-wspa-viewers-makes-them-mad/|work=TVSpy|first=Kevin|last=Eck|date=January 13, 2017|title=New Bureau Confuses WSPA Viewers, Makes Them Mad|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108222942/https://www.adweek.com/tvspy/new-bureau-confuses-wspa-viewers-makes-them-mad/|url-status=live}}</ref> The lifestyle show ''Your Carolina'' is presented from the Greenville studio.{{r|BC130317}}

From 1996 to 1999, WSPA-TV produced a 10 p.m. newscast for WHNS,<ref name="Gree960507">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-wspa-to-produce-news/33253692/|date=May 7, 1996|page=2D|first=Paul|last=Davidson|title=WSPA to produce news for Fox 21|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024}}</ref><!-- Tue --> which utilized WSPA's local reporting resources with a separate anchor lineup<ref name="Ashe960809">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/asheville-citizen-times-whns-to-add-late/158678394/|date=August 9, 1996|page=C1|first=Tony|last=Kiss|title=WHNS to add late newscast, Fox morning show|newspaper=Asheville Citizen-Times|location=Asheville, North Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024}}</ref><!-- Fri --> and was dropped when WHNS started an in-house news department.{{r|MW990823}} Since 2002, when a 10 p.m. newscast launched under the title ''The News on 62'',<ref name="Ashe020302">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/asheville-citizen-times-channel-62-to-la/158678483/|date=March 2, 2002|page=B5|first=Tony|last=Kiss|title=Channel 62 to launch local newscast Monday|newspaper=Asheville Citizen-Times|location=Asheville, North Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108223028/https://www.newspapers.com/article/asheville-citizen-times-channel-62-to-la/158678483/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sat --> WASV-TV/WYCW has aired newscasts from WSPA-TV. In 2022, the 10 p.m. newscast was extended to a full hour, joining the station's two-hour morning news extension from 7 to 9 a.m.{{r|BC221012}}

=== Notable former on-air staff ===
* [[Mike Gallagher (political commentator)|Mike Gallagher]] — editorial commentator, 1992–1994<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/format-change-gallagher-keep-comments-himself/pjzwvbelzidqzlxxbioytofhngkneacf_ip-10-166-46-171_1731099542071|date=July 22, 1994|work=Spartanburg Herald-Journal|title='Format change': Gallagher to keep comments to himself|pages=C1, [https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/gallagher/kwnsvftzodbvotkyxlbfniinxjqqjghn_ip-10-166-46-154_1731099572830 C2]|first=Ginger|last=Lundy McCarver}}</ref>
* [[Leeza Gibbons]] – anchor and reporter, 1978–1979<ref name="Albu921018">{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/albuquerque-journal-in-step-with-leeza/158673957/|date=October 18, 1992|page=20|title=In Step With: Leeza Gibbons|magazine=Parade|first=James|last=Brady|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221148/https://www.newspapers.com/article/albuquerque-journal-in-step-with-leeza/158673957/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sun -->
* [[Jane Robelot]] – anchor and reporter, 1983–1990<ref name="Gree870108">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-robelot-takes-spotli/158674108/|date=January 8, 1987|page=3C|title=Robelot takes spotlight at TV-7|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108221155/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-robelot-takes-spotli/158674108/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu --><ref name="Gree900821">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-local-news-anchor-ge/158674184/|date=August 21, 1990|pages=1C, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-robelot/158674246/ 5C]|first=David|last=Eskola|title=Local news anchor gets post in Philadelphia|newspaper=The Greenville News|location=Greenville, South Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=November 8, 2024|archive-date=November 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108215948/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-local-news-anchor-ge/158674184/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Tue -->
* [[Sibila Vargas]] – anchor, since 2016<ref>{{Cite news |last=Perera |first=John-Henry |date=2017-11-16 |title=Former Houston TV anchor Sibila Vargas reemerges in small town |url=https://www.chron.com/culture/celebrities/article/Former-Houston-TV-anchor-Sibila-Vargas-reemerges-12363637.php |access-date=2024-11-08 |work=Houston Chronicle |language=en |archive-date=November 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241108215850/https://www.chron.com/culture/celebrities/article/Former-Houston-TV-anchor-Sibila-Vargas-reemerges-12363637.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Technical information==
===Subchannels===
<section begin=subs />The WSPA-TV/WYCW transmitter is on Hogback Mountain in northeastern [[Greenville County]], South Carolina.{{r|FCC-LMS-{{#ifeq:{{PAGENAME}}|WYCW|70149|66391}}}}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Subchannels of WSPA-TV and WYCW<ref name="wsparei">{{Cite web|url=https://rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WSPA|title=RabbitEars TV Query for WSPA|website=[[RabbitEars]]|access-date=April 24, 2023|archive-date=April 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424231604/https://rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WSPA|url-status=live}}</ref>
! scope = "col" | License
! scope = "col" | [[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! scope = "col" | [[Display resolution|Res.]]
! scope = "col" | [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! scope = "col" | Short name
! scope = "col" | Programming
|-
! rowspan = "3" scope = "row" style="border-right: 4px solid #60B0FF;" | WSPA-TV
! scope = "row" | 7.1 
| [[1080i]] || rowspan=2| [[16:9]] || WSPA-HD || [[CBS]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 7.3 
| [[480i]] || ION || [[Ion Television]]
|- style="background-color:#DFEBF6; border-top: 2px solid #003399; border-bottom: 2px solid #003399;"
! scope="row" | [[WMYA-TV|40.2]]
| 480i || 16:9 || TBD || [[Roar (TV network)|Roar]] ([[WMYA-TV]])
|-
! rowspan = "2" scope = "row" style="border-right: 4px solid #0057AF;" | WYCW
! scope = "row" | 62.1 
| 1080i || rowspan=2| 16:9 || WYCW-HD || [[The CW]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 62.3 
| 480i || REWIND || [[Rewind TV]]
|}
{{legend|#DFEBF6|Broadcast on behalf of another station}}<section end=subs />

===Translators===
WSPA-TV's signal is additionally rebroadcast over the following translators, mostly in North Carolina:<ref>{{Cite web|date=July 23, 2021|title=List of TV Translator Input Channels|url=https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/tv-translator-input-channels-07232021.xlsx|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209195336/https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/tv-translator-input-channels-07232021.xlsx|archive-date=December 9, 2021|access-date=December 17, 2021|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}}</ref>

* [[Cherokee, North Carolina]]: W08AT-D
* [[Spruce Pine, North Carolina]]: W08BF-D
* [[Sylva, North Carolina]]: W09AF-D
* [[Franklin, North Carolina]]: W09AG-D
* [[Montreat, North Carolina]]: W10AD-D
* [[Greenville, South Carolina]]: W10AJ-D
* [[Bryson City, North Carolina]]: W11AN-D
* [[Mars Hill, North Carolina]]: W15EL-D
* [[Weaverville, North Carolina]]: W18EP-D
* [[Marshall, North Carolina]]: W23ES-D
* [[Canton, North Carolina]]: W23EY-D
* [[Brevard, North Carolina]]: W32FI-D
* Beaver Dam, North Carolina: W35DT-D

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Official website|https://www.wspa.com/}}
*[https://www.wspa.com/carolinascw WYCW website]

{{GSA TV}}
{{South Carolina TV}}
{{North Carolina TV}}
{{Georgia (U.S. state) TV}}
{{NXST TV}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wspa-Tv}}
[[Category:1956 establishments in South Carolina]]
[[Category:CBS affiliates]]
[[Category:Ion Television affiliates]]
[[Category:Nexstar Media Group]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1956]]
[[Category:Television stations in the Greenville–Spartanburg–Asheville market|SPA-TV]]