You and Me and COM-TV...

Today i want to give a brief mention to a "Lost Station"..WCOM-TV Channel 68 in Mansfield, Ohio..First on the air as WCEO-TV in January 1986, The call letters were changed to WCOM-TV in July 1987..My brother had a Tall TV antenna tower at his home outside East Sparta, Ohio where I saw a snowy, but watchable picture on Channel 68..The channel 68 Owners were shooting for must carry in the Columbus Cable TV Market by putting a high antenna south of Mansfield..But the Columbus Cable Systems refused to carry WCEO/WCOM..So the station went dark in 1989..as WCOM-TV it carried shows like American Bandstand, Battlestar Galactica and Hardcastle and McCormick, as well as movies..Here are a few YouTube snippets from WCOM-68, courtesy colimbusmediatalk..

Some station ID's.



Promotions for various shows on TV 68


Promotional Theme..I know the video isnt real good but I like the theme..


TV 68 Sign-off..with various images from around the Mansfield area..



As we see from these clips, The station made a good effort in programming and imaging, etc..Apparently, without the Columbus Market, they were'nt going to make it or so they felt..hence the station went under..

Channel 68 returned in June, 1992 as WMFD-TV..Concentrating entirely on the Mansfield/Richland County Market with News, local live sports and some syndicated programming..Owned by Mid-State Television, they also operate WOHZ-LP-50 in Mansfield, Ohio..WMFD-TV's Digital tranmitter is on channel 12.

From news89 at YouTube, here is a current WMFD station ID..(February 2008)



WMFD-TV website:

http://wmfd.com/

Some information courtesy Wikipedia..The WCOM Clips were probably recorded aways from Mansield, which is why the picture quality is as it is..Still a neat historical curiosity.