the title was introduced on february 27, 1974 in mid-atlantic championship wrestling (macw), a territory of the national wrestling alliance (nwa). macw, also known as jim crockett promotions (jcp), was purchased by turner broadcasting system in 1988, and subsequently renamed wcw. in march 2001, certain assets of wcw were sold by aol time warner to the world wrestling federation (wwf, now wwe). as such these assets, including the rights to the wcw world television championship, inactive since april 10, 2000, were now wwf property. before it was known as the wcw world television championship (starting in 1991 and continuing until the title's deactivation), it was known as the nwa mid-atlantic television championship (1974 to 1977), the nwa television championship (1977 to 1985), and the nwa world television championship (1985 to 1991).