WDEM-CD (channel 17) is a low-power, Class A television station in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, United States. The station is owned by Innovate Corp. and mostly broadcasts subchannels featuring

infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of di ...

s and diginets. Since December 2024, its primary channel has served as the Columbus affiliate for the Rock Entertainment Sports Network.

History

W17AI began broadcasting in 1987. It was owned by Regional Broadcasting Corporation, owned by Gary and Susan Clarke; beginning in 1988, it primarily served to rebroadcast WWAT-TV in Chillicothe. At the time, WWAT-TV had been removed from all three of the cable systems in the Columbus area. This was a change from Clarke's original plan for programming W17AI after he purchased the permit from the LaMarca Group of New York City the year before; he had originally intended on programming oriented to the large campus audience at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

. The Clarkes sold the station in August 1989 to WWAT-TV owner Wendell A. Triplett. In 1991, W17AI split from WWAT-TV to broadcast the

Home Shopping Network HSN, Inc. an initialism of its former name Home Shopping Network, is an American free-to-air television network owned by the QVC Group (formerly Qurate Retail Group), which also owns Catalog merchant, catalog company Cornerstone Brands. It is ...

. The call sign was changed to WDEM-LP in 1998. In early 2009, the station—still owned by Triplett—changed its programming from home shopping to an arts and culture format known as "Lifeline Columbus" under the leadership of David Chesnet. The station had previously become a Class A station in December 2008, changing call signs from WDEM-CA to WDEM-CD. The station also converted to digital in 2009 and added a subchannel airing Telemundo in 2010. Subchannels aired in the 2010s included Universal Sports and Justice Network (now True Crime Network). Minority Brands, owned by Richard Schilg, acquired WDEM-CD from Triplett for $75,000 in 2014. On April 3, 2019, HC2 Holdings closed on its acquisition of WDEM from Minority Brands, Inc., for $866,000. The station then moved from channel 17 to channel 24 as part of the repack, with Telemundo replaced by HC2-owned Azteca América. Since December 4, 2024, WDEM's primary channel has carried programming from Gray Media's Rock Entertainment Sports Network.

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

References

{{Other Ohio Stations Innovate Corp. DEM-CD Television channels and stations established in 1986 DEM-CD