The Tall Tower

ABC COLUMBIA is committed to bringing you improved television signal quality and more coverage area that you can count on. The Tower of Power shows that ABC COLUMBIA is striving to set our limits to the sky and beyond, with the height of Tall Tower and the improved level of quality service and viewing you now receive at home.

In 2001, ABC COLUMBIA completed construction along the I-20 towards Camden on what is now the tallest structure in the Midlands – A new broadcast tower. Including its antenna, the tower stands 1,765.7 feet high, about a third of a mile in the sky. To give you an idea of how tall this is, picture the 25-story Southtrust building in downtown Columbia : ABC COLUMBIA's Tower is five times taller! It is also the tallest broadcast tower of all four television stations in this market, meaning expanded coverage for you and increased signal quality.

In 2002 ABC COLUMBIA began broadcasting a digital signal across the Midlands .  Our signal is so powerful that we regularly receive reports from viewers in the fringes of the Greenville-Spartanburg area and the Charlotte area.  More and more ABC programming is now in high definition and ABC COLUMBIA passes along this exciting state of the art television to our viewers. 

ABC COLUMBIA hired Kline Iron & Steel Co. located at 1225 Huger Street in the Vista . Kline has more than 40 years experience building broadcast towers and is regarded as one of the best. The tower is designed to deflect a maximum straight-line wind of up to 75 mph.

Since February of 2001 ABC COLUMBIA has been broadcasting the market’s finest television signal from our new state of the art transmitter facility.  When you are heading east on I-20, look for the tallest broadcast tower in the Midlands emitting white strobes, sending this message, “ABC COLUMBIA knows that quality viewing and more coverage means the sky’s the limit!”

Some Interesting Facts About The Tower:

    * ABC COLUMBIA's new Tall Tower is the tallest structure in the Midlands , at a height of 2,049 feet above sea level.

    * At 590 tons, the tower weighs as much as 390 automobiles.

    * The tower is secured by 12 Guy wires, with the total length of wires reaching 5.2 miles and the largest strong enough to lift 300 automobiles.

    * The foundation consists of enough concrete (1,438 tons) to make up2-3/4 miles of sidewalk. 

    * The tower is accessed by a ladder or elevator using 7,700 feet of cable.

    * The tower uses approximately 7,500 pieces of steel and 20,000 fasteners. 

    * ABC COLUMBIA's coverage area from the new tower is now 8,667 square kilometers.

    * Digital transmission power is 43.7 on channel 8.