WESH
WESH (channel 2) is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, serving the Orlando area.[1] It broadcasts a digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter located near Christmas, Florida.[1] Owned by Hearst Television, a subsidiary of Hearst Corporation, WESH operates alongside sister station and CW affiliate WKCF (channel 18), with the duopoly sharing studios on North Wymore Road in Eatonville, Florida.[2] The station provides local news, weather, and sports coverage for Central Florida, emphasizing breaking stories, community events, and severe weather alerts through its WESH 2 News programming.[3] WESH was founded in 1956 by local businessman W. Wright Esch, from whose initials the call letters are derived, though he sold the license to John H. Perry Jr. of Perry Publications before it signed on the air.[4] It first broadcast on June 11, 1956, as an independent station from studios in Holly Hill, Florida, and affiliated with NBC starting October 27, 1957.[5][6] Hearst Television acquired WESH in 1999 as part of its purchase of Pulitzer Broadcasting, expanding its presence in the Orlando market.[7] Over nearly seven decades, the station has pioneered local news innovations, including early adoption of technologies for weather radar and mobile reporting, while maintaining a commitment to community service through initiatives like annual food drives.[5]Station Overview
Licensing and Ownership
WESH is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to Daytona Beach, Florida, as a full-service commercial television station with the call sign established in 1956.[8] The station operates under Facility ID 25738 and is currently licensed to Hearst Television, Inc., a subsidiary of Hearst Corporation.[9] Hearst Television has owned WESH since 1999, following the completion of Hearst-Argyle Television's acquisition of Pulitzer Publishing Company's broadcasting division in a transaction valued at approximately $1.15 billion in stock plus the assumption of $700 million in debt.[10] Hearst Television also co-owns CW affiliate WKCF (channel 18, licensed to Clermont, Florida) as a duopoly with WESH in the Orlando–Daytona Beach–Melbourne market, acquired from Emmis Communications in 2006 for $217.5 million.[11] This co-ownership complies with FCC local television ownership rules, which permit an entity to own up to two stations in the same designated market area (DMA) provided the stations' signal contours do not overlap significantly and other criteria, such as audience reach limits, are met; in ranked markets like Orlando (the 15th-largest DMA as of the 2025-2026 television season), such duopolies are common among non-top-four-rated stations.[12][13] Prior to Hearst's ownership, WESH changed hands several times:- 1956–1965: Owned by Perry Publications (via subsidiary Tel-Rad Inc.), which acquired the construction permit from original applicant W. Wright Esch shortly before the station's launch; sold to Cowles Communications in 1965 for an undisclosed amount of cash and stock.[14]
- 1965–1984: Owned by Cowles Communications of Des Moines, Iowa; sold to H&C Communications in 1984 as part of a $182 million deal for WESH and sister station KCCI-TV in Des Moines.[15]
- 1984–1993: Owned by H&C Communications of Houston, Texas; sold to Pulitzer Publishing Company in 1993 for $165 million as part of a package including KCCI-TV.[16]
- 1993–1999: Owned by Pulitzer Publishing Company of St. Louis, Missouri, until the 1998 agreement leading to the 1999 merger with Hearst-Argyle.[17]