WBOC-TV began operations on July 15, 1954, owned originally by Peninsula Broadcasting, which started WBOC radio (960 AM, now
WTGM; and 104.7 FM, now
WQHQ), the first successful radio station on the
Eastern Shore, in 1940. It is the fourth-oldest television station in Maryland, the first outside
Baltimore, and the oldest in Maryland on the UHF band. It was originally an affiliate of the
DuMont Television Network. However, around 1955, it picked up a primary affiliation with CBS, relegating DuMont to secondary status until that network shut down in 1956. It also picked up secondary affiliations with
NBC and
ABC. The station also featured local programming consisting of variety shows, talent contests, and
children's programs. In 1961, Peninsula Broadcasting was acquired by the A. S. Abell Company, which published the
Baltimore Sun and owned Baltimore's then-CBS affiliate,
WMAR-TV. WBOC-TV gradually increased the CBS programming on its schedule, though it continued to "cherry-pick" the highest-rated ABC and NBC shows either in pattern (on schedule with the rest of the network) or on a
tape-delayed basis. For example, channel 16 regularly carried the
Today Show and
The Tonight Show from NBC, and weekend sports coverage from
all three networks. Prime time programming consisted of at least one night of all CBS; other evenings with programs from both CBS and ABC; and others with shows from CBS and NBC. Select CBS programs displaced by the scheduling method would air in times outside of prime time. Despite carrying
Today (which preempted CBS's numerous attempts at morning news programming and
Captain Kangaroo), WBOC-TV aired all of CBS's other newscasts, as well as most of CBS's daytime programming and
Saturday morning cartoons. The cherry-picking arrangement also affected prime time network sports coverage. However, Delmarva viewers did not have to worry about missing their favorite shows once cable came to the area. Local cable systems on the Maryland side of the market supplemented the area with the Baltimore stations, while cable systems in
Sussex County, Delaware, supplemented it with the
Philadelphia stations. WBOC primarily serves the four southernmost counties of the Eastern Shore, as well as Sussex County. This relatively small market has roughly 209,000 people. However, channel 16's claimed primary coverage area includes portions of three neighboring markets.
Kent County, Delaware, home to the
capital city of Dover, is part of the Philadelphia market. However, WBOC-TV has been available for decades on cable in Dover, though presently only in digital. Not only does WBOC-TV operate a bureau there, but for many years it identified as "Salisbury–Dover".
Accomack County, Virginia, is part of the
Hampton Roads market, and is primarily served by county-owned translators of the Hampton Roads stations. WBOC-TV has long been available on cable in Accomack County, alongside the Hampton Roads stations. The station also covers the five Eastern Shore counties that are part of the Baltimore market. In April 1980, WBOC-TV received competition for the first time when
WMDT (channel 47) signed on as a dual ABC/NBC affiliate, allowing channel 16 to become a full-time CBS station. In November of that same year, local ownership of channel 16 returned when entrepreneur Thomas H. Draper purchased the station. Since Draper took over, local news coverage increased, as well as local advertising revenue which allowed for technical upgrades, such as a new four-million-watt tower located near Laurel. WBOC-TV regained a sister radio station in 2015, when Draper acquired WOLC (102.5 FM) in
Princess Anne and relaunched it as
WBOC-FM (the original WBOC radio stations had been sold to separate interests in 1980).
DT2 subchannel On March 3, 2003, WBOC launched a subchannel to be the area's
UPN affiliate, known on-air as "UPN21 Total TV". Before then, either the network's Baltimore affiliates (first
WNUV, and later
WUTB) or
WDCA in Washington, D.C., had been provided on cable systems on the Maryland side of the market, while
WPSG in Philadelphia had served the Delaware side, and
WGNT in
Portsmouth on the Virginia side. On May 9, 2006, WBOC announced that the subchannel would become a Fox affiliate beginning August 21; UPN was in the process of shutting down as part of a merger with
The WB to form
The CW, but the Delmarva rights to the new network went to a subchannel of WMDT. For Fox's first 20 years of existence, either
WBFF in Baltimore or network-owned
WTTG in Washington, D.C. had served as the network's default affiliates for the Maryland side of the market, while affiliate-turned-O&O
WTXF-TV in Philadelphia served the Delaware side, and the network's Hampton Roads affiliates were carried on the Virginia side (
WTVZ-TV until August 1998, then
WVBT). ==Newscasts==