WUSA (TV)
W*USA-TV is a television station affiliated with the CBS network, broadcasting on channel 9 in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. The station officially went on the air on 16 January, 1949, as WOIC-TV. Its original owner was Bamberger Broadcasting Service, which also owned WOR-TV (now WWOR). Four days later, it broadcast the first televised American presidential inaugural address, given by President Harry S. Truman.
In June 1950, the Washington Post purchased WOIC-TV and changed the call sign to WTOP-TV; the Post also owned a radio station using the same call sign. In both instances, WTOP stood for "Top of the Dial"; channel 9 is the highest channel broadcasting on Washington's VHF dial, while WTOP radio broadcasts at the tops of both the AM and FM dials, 107.7 and 1500 respectively.
The Post exchanged WTOP-TV with Detroit's WDIV-TV, then owned by the Detroit News, in July 1978. WTOP-TV then became WDVM-TV, and the new call letters represented the initials of the area it served: D for the District of Columbia, V for Virginia, and M for Maryland. Eight years later, Gannett, publisher of USA Today, acquired WDVM-TV and changed the call sign to W*USA-TV, which it remains today. While the station's current call sign is commonly printed as WUSA, the asterisk or star between the W and U is officially recognized as part of the call sign.
W*USA-TV was the launchpad for several well-known news anchors. Walter Cronkite, Sam Donaldson and Warner Wolf are among W*USA-TV's most successful alumni. Jim Henson also began his career at the station.
W*USA's transmitter is located in the Tenleytown area of Washington, DC, and its digital television broadcasts are assigned to channel 34.
Slogans
- 1974-present: "The one and only!"