WMAR-TV history

On March 29, 1948, WMAR-TV was announced as CBS' third full-time television affiliate, after WCBS-TV in New York City and WCAU-TV in Philadelphia.

In 1959, WMAR-TV teamed up with WBAL-TV (channel 11) and WJZ-TV to build the world's first three-antenna candelabra tower.

WMAR-TV moved into its present facility, known originally as "Television Park" on York Road, in May 1963.

On March 3, 1981, CBS announced that it would be moving its affiliation to WBAL-TV, Baltimore's NBC station.

On March 1, 1982, after negotiations between WMAR-TV management and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) failed, all of the station's on-air talent, except one, went on strike.

On May 28, 1986, the A. S. Abell Company was purchased by the Los Angeles-based Times Mirror Company, the then-publisher of the Los Angeles Times.

Scripps took control of the station in the spring of 1991.

All ABC programs turned down by WJZ-TV would air on WMAR-TV instead, forcing all preempted NBC programs to air on WBAL-TV, and preempted CBS shows would air on WJZ-TV instead, as the contracts did not expire until January 1995.

In 1996, a year after the affiliation change, station management opted not to renew channel 2's carriage of The Oprah Winfrey Show, deciding instead to take a chance on the new Rosie O'Donnell Show.