the first TV station "programmed exclusively for the Lowcountry". The station signed on September 1, 1985, as the market's first general entertainment independent outlet. On July 19, 1985 (a few months before WTGS officially signed on), a federal judge struck down the "must-carry" rule imposed by the FCC, which required cable television operators to carry all commercial over-the-air stations within 35 miles of its community of service. This decision was challenging for WTGS, as Bailie felt that it would cause the new station to become "squeezed out of the market". By August 30, Savannah Cablevision, along with seven other local cable operators, had agreed to carry WTGS. However, Plantation Cablevision and Hargray Cablevision, along with "dozens" of other local cable operators, had refused to carry WTGS. WTGS was one of the first stations to pay for carriage on a cable system, leasing a channel from Savannah Cablevision for $2,000 a month (). In particular, WTGS stated that Plantation Cablevision refused to carry the station, as they considered it to be competition; however, Plantation Cablevision stated that they did not carry WTGS due to the removal of the must-carry rule. Plantation Cablevision also denied having wanted WTGS to pay for access to its cable system. The controversy continued that September, when Plantation Cablevision announced a new emergency warning system for Hilton Head Island. This angered Bailie, as he was concerned that those who did not subscribe to Plantation Cablevision's service would not be able to receive emergency information; WTGS decided to create its own emergency warning system instead. That September, Bailie went to Congress at the invitation of broadcasting groups, in order to speak to congressional leaders who were concerned that the repeal of the must-carry rule would hurt independent stations such as WTGS. The next month, Bailie revisited Congress in order to comment to the House Copyright Committee about bills in consideration at the time which would reform "compulsory license" rules. That same month, Plantation Cablevision was "carefully documenting requests" for WTGS to be added to its cable lineup, and had sent out a questionnaire to subscribers in order to measure what viewers liked and disliked about the cable system. On December 27, 1985, Plantation Cablevision started to carry WTGS; the addition of WTGS removed Charleston stations WCBD and WCIV from the lineup. WTGS was a charter affiliate of Fox at its October 1986 launch. In May 1987, the station