Orangeburg, SC (October 8, 1995)

[Bluenoser]

from The Times & Democrat via Newspapers.com

2 Mind Extension University
3 WTBS Atlanta
4 WCIV 4-NBC Charleston
5 WCSC 5-CBS Charleston
6 WACH 57-Fox Columbia
7 WIS 10-NBC Columbia
8 HSC
9 WLTX 19-CBS Columbia
10 Prevue/Local Origination/PPV
11 WGN Chicago
12 WOLO 25-ABC Columbia
13 WRLK 35-PBS Columbia
14 HBO
15 The Movie Channel
16 Cinemax
17 Disney Channel
18 Showtime
19 Family Channel
20 A&E
21 Discovery Channel
22 USA Network
23 TNT
24 CNN
25 CNBC
26 C-SPAN
27 CNN Headline News
28 ESPN
29 SportSouth
30 Weather Channel
31 Nickelodeon
32 Lifetime
33 AMC
34 BET
35 TNN
36 VH1
37 MTV

 

[IM42A]

from The Times & Democrat via Newspapers.com

2 Mind Extension University
3 WTBS Atlanta
4 WCIV 4-NBC Charleston
5 WCSC 5-CBS Charleston
6 WACH 57-Fox Columbia
7 WIS 10-NBC Columbia
8 HSC
9 WLTX 19-CBS Columbia
10 Prevue/Local Origination/PPV
11 WGN Chicago
12 WOLO 25-ABC Columbia
13 WRLK 35-PBS Columbia
14 HBO
15 The Movie Channel
16 Cinemax
17 Disney Channel
18 Showtime
19 Family Channel
20 A&E
21 Discovery Channel
22 USA Network
23 TNT
24 CNN
25 CNBC
26 C-SPAN
27 CNN Headline News
28 ESPN
29 SportSouth
30 Weather Channel
31 Nickelodeon
32 Lifetime
33 AMC
34 BET
35 TNN
36 VH1
37 MTV

At one time, Charleston stations were comparatively easier to pick up than Columbia in the eastern half of South Carolina (an area described by a line roughly 100 miles inland from the coast and parallel to it), because except for WIS, they were UHF, the transmitting powers were lower, the towers were not as tall, and tuners were far inferior. It took well into the 1970s, and probably beyond, for Columbia stations other than WIS to build substantial viewership in counties such as Orangeburg and Sumter. To this day, WCSC is carried on Orangeburg cable, and to the east of Sumter (US 378), you will see some fairly impressive rooftop and even tower-mounted VHF/UHF TV antennas with rotors, presumably to snag signals from Columbia, Charleston, and Myrtle Beach/Florence.

The terrain out that way is as flat as a tabletop with lots of swampland. On US 521 from Sumter to Camden, though, you hit some rolling land pretty abruptly, north of Dalzell near Rembert, the terrain has a piedmont feel to it. Portions of US 21 between Winnsboro and Great Falls look and feel like West Virginia, and Muller Road and Cedar Creek Road in far northern Richland County, if you really use your imagination, could be in western North Carolina. Far more interesting topography, and variety in a fairly small area, than you would think from traveling on the interstates.