WEWS (Channel 5), the first television station in Ohio and only the 16th in the nation, went on the air officially on 17 Dec. 1947. Owned by the E.W. Scripps Co., publishers of the CLEVELAND PRESS, its call letters were chosen to represent the initials of the company's founder, EDWARD WYLLIS SCRIPPS. WEWS has been the flagship station of the Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Co., which had its headquarters in the station's facilities on Euclid Ave at E. 30th from 1975-87. Originally located behind the Sterling-Linder-Davis department store on E. 13th St., WEWS signed on with a variety show hosted by actor Jas. Stewart. Jas. C. Hanrahan was its first general manager, aided by chief engineer Joseph B. Epperson. Although first affiliated with CBS, WEWS became an ABC outlet in the 1950s, when CBS in Cleveland jumped to WJW. Locally, WEWS was responsible for one of the nation's longest-running variety shows in the "Giant Tiger Amateur Hour," later known as the "Gene Carroll Show" after its master of ceremonies, GENE CARROLL. DOROTHY FULDHEIM appeared on the station for 37 years as news commentator and host of the "One O'Clock Club." WEWS was the first local station to win the Geo. Foster Peabody Award for public-service programming. Another WEWS show, "Morning Exchange," is acknowledged in the industry as the model for the national "Good Morning America" program. In the local news field, Channel 5's "Eyewitness News" pioneered in the use of mini-portable cameras and helicopters in the 1970s. Its uplink satellite was the first of its kind in Cleveland, and in 1991 WEWS introduced the 24-hour newsroom concept with live, hourly updates.
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