COLUMBIA, S.C. - The local ABC affiliate here, WOLO-TV, has decided to move its newscast back to the state capitol after broadcasting for three years in Charlotte, N.C.

General manager Chris Bailey said the station's ratings were better this past season, allowing the station to move back. The ratings gap between WOLO and front-runners WIS and WLTX had widened when the station moved north.

WOLO's news gathering operation never left Columbia, but the anchors were in Charlotte, broadcasting from sister station WCCB, a Fox affiliate.

WOLO has leased space in downtown Columbia near the Statehouse, and anchors Shania Harris and Dave Stanley and meteorologist Reg Taylor plan to broadcast here Oct. 1.

"We need to be in the middle of the community," Bailey said. The move to Charlotte in 2002 was done primarily to save money, he said.

WOLO is owned by Bahakel Communications, a family-owned company based in Charlotte.