What WACH FOX does

WACH FOX is a local Fox-affiliated television station headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, serving the Midlands region of South Carolina including Columbia, Lexington, Richland County, and surrounding counties. The station delivers local news, weather forecasting (via its branded skyWACH Weather platform), sports coverage (Clemson Tigers, USC Gamecocks, Carolina Panthers, high school athletics), and community-oriented specialty programming including investigative journalism (WACHFOX Investigates), political coverage (Connect to Congress), and personal finance content (MoneyWACH). Distribution is multi-platform: free over-the-air broadcast on the digital channel, a content-rich website at wach.com, iOS and Android mobile applications, Watch Live streaming, and active social media profiles on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and X/Twitter.

WACH is owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group (Sinclair, Inc.), one of the largest television broadcasting companies in the United States. The Fox network affiliation provides national programming including NFL sports and primetime entertainment, while Sinclair's national infrastructure — including TNND (The National News Desk) and Connect to Congress — supplies Washington bureau and national/international news content. This corporate and network ecosystem provides scale, content depth, and back-office efficiency that an independent local operator could not match.

The station's business model is advertising-funded: content is distributed free over-the-air and via digital channels, and revenue is generated from local spot advertising, national advertising purchased through agency buys, sponsored segments, and branded content partnerships. Headcount is in the 101–250 range, consistent with a mid-market local broadcaster relying on shared corporate functions and syndicated national content from Sinclair and Fox to support its operations.

Name

WACH FOX

Legal name

Sinclair, Inc.

Website

https://wach.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

WACH FOX is a Sinclair-owned, Fox-affiliated local TV station in Columbia, SC, serving the Midlands region with news, weather, sports, and specialty programming distributed over-the-air and via digital/mobile platforms, funded by local and national advertising.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Broadcast Television

NAICS

Television Broadcasting Stations (516120)

SIC

Television Broadcasting Stations (4833)

akta.pro primary industry

Local News & Weather Stations (MPABACAJ)

Keywords

• Local television broadcasting
• News broadcasting
• Weather forecasting
• Sports coverage
• Broadcast advertising

Headquarters

HQ city

Columbia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Advertising Revenue: Primary revenue stream from television advertising including local spot ads, sponsored segments, and branded content. Local businesses and national advertisers purchase airtime across news, weather, sports, and entertainment programming.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

WACH FOX is a local Fox-affiliated television broadcast station serving Columbia, South Carolina and the surrounding Midlands region. Its core offering is free over-the-air broadcast television programming that includes local and national news, weather forecasting via the skyWACH Weather brand, sports coverage (high-school, college, and professional), and entertainment content. Programming is also distributed through website live-streaming and iOS/Android mobile applications, with revenue generated primarily from local and national advertising sold against this content.

Product overview

WACH FOX is a local television news station operating as a Fox affiliate in Columbia, South Carolina. The station operates as a single-product local broadcaster offering traditional over-the-air television news content supplemented by digital platforms. The core offering is broadcast television news covering local, national, and world news, weather (skyWACH Weather), and sports. Digital add-ons include a mobile application, live streaming (Watch Live), specialty programming sections, and financial content (MoneyWACH). The station is part of the Sinclair Broadcast Group network.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• WACH FOX News Broadcasting Local television news broadcasting covering Columbia, SC and the Midlands region, including breaking news, local stories, nation and world news, politics, and entertainment coverage delivered via over-the-air broadcast and digital platforms.
• skyWACH Weather Weather forecasting and reporting service providing current conditions, radar maps, hurricane tracking, and educational weather content for the Columbia, SC viewing area.
• Sports Coverage Local and national sports content including high school sports, Clemson Tigers, USC Gamecocks, Carolina Panthers, and soccer coverage delivered on-air and via digital platforms.
• MoneyWACH Branded financial and consumer news content covering mortgages, investing, loans, credit cards, and personal finance topics for Midlands viewers.
• Specialty Programming Branded specialty content segments such as WACHFOX Investigates (investigative journalism), Crisis in the Classroom (education coverage), Connect to Congress (political coverage), and Criminally Obsessed (true crime) produced for the Midlands audience.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Fox Television StationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork affiliation agreement with Fox Broadcasting Company for broadcast programming, sports content including NFL games, and national entertainment programming.
• Sinclair TNND (The National News Desk)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAccess to national news content and Washington bureau coverage through Sinclair's national news desk for Connect to Congress and national/international news coverage.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• WJZY (Fox 46 Charlotte): Sinclair-owned Fox affiliate in Charlotte, NC — the closest peer because it shares the same parent (Sinclair), the same network (Fox), and operates as a local TV station in a nearby Southeast US market with a similar content mix (local news, weather, sports, and multi-platform distribution).
• WIS (NBC Columbia): Direct local-market competitor — an NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television serving the same Columbia, SC DMA. Competes head-to-head with WACH for the same local advertisers, viewers, and newsroom talent in the Midlands.
• WLTX (CBS Columbia): Another direct local competitor — a CBS affiliate owned by Gray Television in the same Columbia, SC DMA, competing for the Midlands audience across news, weather, and sports with similar operating structure.
• WOLO (ABC Columbia): ABC affiliate owned by Bahakel Communications operating in the same Columbia, SC market — providing the fourth major-network competitor to WACH for local ad dollars and viewer attention in the Midlands.
• WFXR (Fox 21/27 Roanoke): Sinclair-owned Fox affiliate serving the Roanoke/Lynchburg DMA — another small/mid-market Fox station within Sinclair's portfolio with comparable content (local news, weather, network programming) and multi-platform distribution.

Broad incumbents

• WAGA (Fox 5 Atlanta): Fox-owned station serving the much larger Atlanta DMA — offers a regional model for how a Fox-affiliated station scales news and digital operations, providing strategic benchmarks for content and monetization, though in a far larger market.
• Nexstar Media Group: Largest US television station operator — a key industry consolidator and competitor for advertisers and content syndication. Any network-affiliate strategy benchmark for WACH should compare to Nexstar's portfolio economics and operational model.
• Gray Television: Major US local TV broadcaster (owns WIS and WLTX in Columbia directly competing with WACH). Comparable in operating philosophy and mid-market station management approach — a critical local competitor and benchmark.
• Tegna: Large US local TV station group with a strong focus on local news and digital operations. Useful strategic peer given Tegna's emphasis on multi-platform content monetization that mirrors WACH's website/app strategy.
• Hearst Television: Established broadcast group operating network-affiliated stations across multiple US markets. Comparable in business model (network-affiliated, advertising-supported, multi-platform distribution) and useful for valuation and operational benchmarking.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/wachfox
• YouTubeyoutube.com/wachfox
• Facebookfacebook.com/wachfox
• TikToktiktok.com/@wachfox
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wach-fox-57

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 WACH FOX