WJW (channel 8) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside CW station WBNX-TV (channel 55); Nexstar's Tegna subsidiary owns NBC affiliate WKYC (channel 3). WJW and WBNX-TV share studios on Dick Goddard Way (previously South Marginal Road) northeast of downtown Cleveland; WJW's transmitter is located in suburban Parma, Ohio. WJW signed on as WXEL, Cleveland's third television station, and was the first station built by Herbert Mayer, founder of the Empire Coil Company. WXEL began broadcasting over channel 9 on December 17, 1949, two years to the day of WEWS-TV's sign-on. Initially a DuMont affiliate with select ABC and CBS programs, WXEL placed an emphasis on locally produced programming, originally from their studios and transmitter site in Parma and later from a renovated former movie theatre in Playhouse Square. Mayer's attempt to build UHF stations in Portland, Oregon, and Kansas City succeeded in the former and failed in the latter, prompting the sale of Empire Coil—including WXEL—to Storer Broadcasting in January 1954, weeks after WXEL moved to channel 8. Storer purchased WJW radio later in 1954, then secured the CBS affiliation for WXEL in March 1955. After WXEL's downtown studios were renovated into a colonial-style building for radio and television, WXEL was renamed WJW-TV. The station was an early career stepping stone for announcer Ernie Anderson and comedian Tim Conway, who co-hosted the late-morning movie in late 1961 until Conway was discovered by Rose Marie. From 1963 to 1966, Anderson portrayed horror host Ghoulardi, which had widespread popularity and has held a lasting cultural influence. After Anderson's departure, Bob "Hoolihan" Wells, "Big Chuck" Schodowski and "Lil' John" Rinaldi continued to host a weekly movie and comedy skit program on channel 8 for a combined 41 years. Doug Adair and Joel Daly co-anchored weeknight newscasts from 1963 to 1967, the first in the industry to market the newscasters, sportscaster and weather presenter as a cohesive on-air team. Dick Goddard became the station's chief meteorologist in 1965; he enjoyed an uninterrupted 51-year tenure recognized as a Guinness World Record upon his retirement. Goddard created the annual Woollybear Festival in Vermilion, Ohio, which the station continues to sponsor, and his on-air advocacy for animal welfare and pet adoption led to improved legislation against animal cruelty in Ohio. Under the direction of Virgil Dominic, channel 8's newscasts became the market leader throughout the 1980s, particularly with the lead anchor team of Tim Taylor, Robin Swoboda, Goddard, and sportscaster Casey Coleman. WJW-TV became WJKW in 1977 after WJW radio was sold but reclaimed the WJW call sign in 1985. Following Storer's privatization by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in 1985, WJW has had a succession of owners. After a failed sale to Lorimar-Telepictures, businessman George N. Gillett Jr. bought the Storer chain but lost the stations in a bankruptcy brought on by soured junk bond investments, with WJW mentioned specifically in sale rumors. New World Communications, headed by Ronald Perelman, acquired WJW and the Gillett group amidst a flurry of purchases across the country. New World then announced a group-wide affiliation pact with Fox on May 23, 1994, after the network invested $500 million into the company; WJW was the first of these stations to switch to Fox. While initially struggling to adjust to the new Fox affiliation, WJW's ratings recovered substantially, particularly after the network bought WJW and the other New World stations in late 1996. Since Fox sold the station in 2008, WJW has been owned by Local TV LLC, Tribune Broadcasting and Nexstar. Nexstar purchased WBNX in early 2025, then acquired WKYC parent Tegna the following year.
Signing on as WXEL channel 9 A practicing lawyer in New York City, Herbert Mayer became intrigued by manufacturing and left the profession in 1944 to establish the Empire Coil Company in New Rochelle, New York, making coils for the war effort. As World War II ended, the company's factory was converted to manufacture transformers and RF coils for radio sets. Inspired by a keynote address from RCA chairman David Sarnoff extolling the potential of television, Mayer sought to expand into broadcasting. Empire Coil applied with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a television station on channel 9 in Cleveland on September 27, 1947. Empire's channel 9 application was one of two additional channels proposed for Cleveland, joining Scripps-Howard's WEWS-TV (channel 5) and NBC-owned WNBK (channel 4); five applicants sought the other channel, including the DuMont Television Network and radio stations WHK, WJW and WGAR. The FCC granted the construction permit for Empire on October 30, 1947; land for the station's studios and transmitter site were secured on a knoll on Pleasant Valley Road in Parma, 617 feet (188 m) above sea level, thought to be among the highest elevations in Cuyahoga County.
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