WCSC Inc

What WCSC Inc does

WCSC Inc, operating as Live 5 News (WCSC-TV), is a CBS-affiliated local television broadcast station serving the Charleston/Lowcountry South Carolina market. Founded in 1953 and the oldest continuously-operating station in South Carolina, the company produces and distributes local news, weather, sports, investigative journalism, and lifestyle programming to viewers in Charleston, Berkeley, Dorchester, and Beaufort counties. The station is a wholly-owned subsidiary of publicly traded Gray Television Inc (NYSE: GTN) and operates as part of Gray Local Media, Inc.

The product portfolio centers on the over-the-air Channel 5 broadcast, supplemented by a multi-platform digital footprint: the Live 5 News mobile app (iOS/Android) with multiple livestream channels, the Live 5 First Alert Weather app, the Live 5+ streaming app on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV, the Live 5 Deep Dive podcast, the Palmetto Life Weekend statewide lifestyle show, Sky 5 aerial drone footage, the First Alert Hurricane Center weather resource, and SkyCam tower camera network. Technical infrastructure includes NEXTGEN TV (ATSC 3.0) broadcast capabilities and the shared technology, advertising, and content systems of the Gray Television network.

Revenue is generated primarily through local and national television advertising (spot commercials, sponsored content, digital advertising on Live5News.com and mobile platforms) and secondarily through carriage fees paid by cable, satellite (DISH, DIRECTV), and streaming (YouTube TV, Hulu Live, Fubo) providers for distribution of the station's signal. The primary customers are Lowcountry consumers (free over-the-air consumption of news, weather, sports, and emergency information) and local/regional advertisers seeking access to that audience via broadcast and digital inventory.

Name

WCSC Inc

Legal name

Gray Local Media, Inc.

Website

https://live5news.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1953

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

WCSC Inc operates Live 5 News (WCSC-TV), a CBS-affiliated local television station founded in 1953 serving the Charleston/Lowcountry South Carolina market. Owned by Gray Television, it delivers news, weather, sports, and investigative content across broadcast, mobile, and streaming platforms.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Broadcast Television

NAICS

Television Broadcasting Stations (516120), Radio and Television Broadcasting Stations (5161), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (51621)

SIC

Television Broadcasting Stations (4833)

akta.pro primary industry

Local News & Weather Stations (MPABACAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

News OTT & Live News Streaming Channels (MPABAHAK), Public Service News Channels (MPABAIAE)

Keywords

• Local broadcast television
• News and weather coverage
• Television advertising sales
• Streaming news apps
• Hurricane tracking services

Headquarters

HQ city

Charleston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Advertising Sales: Television advertising time sold to local and national advertisers, including spot commercials, sponsored content, and digital advertising on Live5News.com and mobile platforms
2. Subscription carriage fees: Fees received from cable, satellite, and streaming providers for distribution of the station's signal (referenced in DISH Network carriage dispute)

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

WCSC Inc operates Live 5 News (WCSC-TV), a CBS-affiliated local television broadcast station serving the Charleston/Lowcountry South Carolina market with daily newscasts, breaking news, weather coverage, sports, and investigative journalism. Content is distributed free over-the-air on Channel 5, via cable/satellite/streaming providers, mobile apps (Live 5 News App, Live 5 First Alert Weather App), and the Live 5+ streaming application across Roku, Amazon Fire, and Apple TV.

Product overview

WCSC Inc operates Live 5 News (WCSC-TV), a local television broadcast station serving the Charleston/Lowcountry South Carolina area as a Gray Television owned-and-operated station since 1953. The company's product portfolio centers on the core broadcast station supplemented by multiple digital platforms: the Live 5 News App (mobile) and Live 5 First Alert Weather App provide smartphone/tablet access with livestreaming and weather features; Live 5+ is a streaming application for Roku, Amazon Fire, and Apple TV offering multi-channel live content and on-demand access. Supporting content products include Sky 5 (aerial drone footage), the Live 5 Deep Dive podcast, Palmetto Life Weekend lifestyle show, InvestigateTV investigative journalism, and the First Alert Hurricane Center weather resource. The ecosystem is unified under the 'Live 5' brand with the stated mission of keeping Lowcountry residents informed through breaking news, weather alerts, and local coverage.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Live 5+ App: Free streaming app for Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and Android TV offering live news streams, on-demand content, and weather updates.
• Live 5 Deep Dive
• Palmetto Life
• First Alert Weather

Products and services

• Live 5 News (WCSC-TV) Broadcast Core CBS-affiliated local television broadcast station serving the Charleston/Lowcountry South Carolina area with daily newscasts, breaking news coverage, weather, sports, and local programming on Channel 5.
• Live 5 News App Mobile application for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices offering live streaming of multiple WCSC channels, breaking news alerts, customizable notifications, and on-demand access to news content.
• Live 5 First Alert Weather App Weather application powered by the Live 5 First Alert Weather team providing live radar, hour-by-hour and 10-day forecasts, forecast videos, traffic updates, and live traffic maps for severe weather and hurricane season preparedness.
• Live 5+ Streaming App Free streaming application available on Roku, Amazon Fire, and Apple TV providing live channels (WCSC Live 5 News, Live 5 24/7 weather, Live 5 Breaking News+, Local News Live, InvestigateTV), on-demand previous newscasts, sports clips, and access to The Vault archive content.
• Sky 5 Drone Footage Aerial drone footage service providing bird's-eye views of the Lowcountry region, including coverage of beaches, landmarks, neighborhoods, and weather events such as flooding from tropical storms.
• Live 5 Deep Dive Podcast

Quantifiable outcome

• 16 RTDNAC awards received in 2025 from Radio, Television, and Digital News Association of the Carolinas

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Gray TelevisioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWCSC-TV is a Gray Television station, operating as part of Gray Local Media. The parent company provides technology infrastructure, advertising systems, content resources, and operational support across its portfolio of local television stations.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Tegna: Major U.S. local TV station group with comparable network-affiliate operating model, digital expansion strategy, and revenue mix. Useful comparable for the broadcast-plus-digital thesis underpinning WCSC's product launches.
• Sinclair Broadcast Group: Large publicly-traded broadcaster that owns/operates many local TV stations including regional peers to WCSC. Relevant as a portfolio-level competitor to Gray for advertisers, content syndication, and station M&A.
• Nexstar Media Group: Largest U.S. owner of local TV stations, with similar business model of acquiring and operating network affiliates at scale. Comparable to Gray Television and relevant as a top-of-market strategic comparable for WCSC's parent.

Direct peers

• WBTW (Gray Television, CBS Myrtle Beach): Another Gray Television-owned CBS affiliate in South Carolina, structurally identical to WCSC in network affiliation, technology stack, and content syndication. Closest like-for-like operational peer.
• WTAT-TV (Fox 24 Charleston): Fox-affiliated local TV station serving the Charleston market with comparable news, weather, and streaming offerings. Direct competitor for household reach and local ad dollars.
• WIS (Gray Television, NBC Columbia SC): Sister station under Gray Television, also operating as a network-affiliate local TV station in South Carolina. Highly comparable in business model, product suite (news/weather/streaming apps), and parent-level support, making it the closest operational analogue to WCSC within Gray's portfolio.
• WCBD-TV (Counton2, NBC Charleston): Direct local competitor in the Charleston/Lowcountry DMA. Operates as a network-affiliate TV station (NBC) producing local news, weather, and sports, with its own mobile apps and streaming distribution — overlapping directly with WCSC's audience and advertising base.
• WJBF (Gray Television, ABC Augusta GA): Additional Gray Television sister station providing a third like-for-like operational comparable. Same parent technology, ad systems, and product playbook as WCSC, useful for benchmarking cost structure and digital product adoption.
• WCIV (ABC News 4 Charleston): ABC-affiliated local TV station in the same Charleston DMA, producing competing newscasts, weather, and digital content. Direct head-to-head rival for the same viewer and advertiser pool that WCSC targets.

Regional players

• WPDE (Sinclair, ABC Myrtle Beach/Florence): Sinclair-owned ABC affiliate covering an adjacent South Carolina market. Comparable in size and product mix to WCSC, with partial audience overlap in the coastal Carolinas, but operates in a different DMA and does not directly compete for the Charleston household.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Live5News
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@Live5News
• Facebookfacebook.com/Live5News
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/libertad-s-a-

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about WCSC Inc