WCSC-TV began broadcasting on June 19, 1953. Originally operating from studios located on East Bay Street in downtown Charleston, it was the second television station in South Carolina and the oldest continuously broadcasting channel in the state (the first was WCOS-TV in Columbia, now WOLO-TV). It is the only station in Charleston to keep its original network affiliation since sign-on. The channel aired an analog signal on VHF channel 5 and was originally owned by WCSC, Inc., which was headed by the Rivers family, along with WCSC radio (AM 1390 now WSPO, and 96.9 FM now WIWF).