WCNC-TV
Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Good article Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox television station WCNC-TV (channel 36) is a television station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, affiliated with NBC. The station is owned by Tegna Inc. WCNC-TV's studios are located in the Wood Ridge Center office complex off Billy Graham Parkway (Route 4), just east of the Billy Graham Library in south Charlotte, and its transmitter is located in north-central Gaston County.
Channel 36 was established as WCTU-TV, an independent television station, in 1967. After falling into receivership brought on by severe economic hardship, WCTU was purchased by Atlanta broadcast pioneer Ted Turner. Renamed WRET-TV, the station's fortunes turned around and thrived throughout the 1970s. WRET became Charlotte's NBC affiliate in 1978 following WSOC-TV's switch from NBC to ABC, launching local newscasts. Turner sold WRET to Westinghouse Broadcasting in 1979 to raise capital for his new venture CNN; as WPCQ-TV, the station struggled with limited resources, frequently preempting NBC fare—including the NBC Nightly News—and was used to develop talent for other stations in the Group W chain. Spun off to local ownership in 1984, WPCQ's status with NBC remained uncertain despite substantial technical upgrades and a reinvestment in local news. Purchased by The Providence Journal Company in 1988, the Belo Corporation in 1996, and Tegna Inc. predecessor Gannett in 2013, the station was renamed WCNC-TV in 1989 and has generally been Charlotte's third-rated television station since.
HistoryEdit
Prior use of channel 36 in CharlotteEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The first station to operate on UHF channel 36 in Charlotte signed on the air January 5, 1954, as WAYS-TV;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> that station was sold and changed its call letters to WQMC-TV on January 24, 1955.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Charlotte's second television station, WAYS-TV/WQMC-TV did not make any headway against WBTV (channel 3) because television set manufacturers were not required to include UHF tuning capability at the time; this would not change until Congress passed the All-Channel Receiver Act in 1961. It ceased operations in March 1955.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A plan to return it to the air as WUTV under reconstituted ownership in 1957 was unsuccessful, but it aired educational programming from 1961<ref name="six">Template:Cite news</ref> to 1963.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Cy Bahakel bought the station in 1964 and returned it to the air as WCCB, which broadcast on channel 36 before moving to UHF channel 18 in November 1966.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Charlotte Telecasters eraEdit
The current incarnation of channel 36 signed on the air on July 9, 1967, as WCTU-TV.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Dr. Harold W. Twisdale, a dentist from Charlotte, and Washington, D.C.–based engineer David L. Steel were the leaders of the original ownership group, operating as Charlotte Telecasters Inc. (The station had intended to take the call letters WCTI, but citing potential confusion, local educational station WTVI successfully objected;Template:R the U stood for UHF.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>) WCTU was North Carolina's first independent station, beating Hickory-based WHKY-TV (channel 14) to the air by eight months.
Twisdale and Steel were the lead investors in other planned UHF stations; though construction permits were never built for stations in Memphis and Richmond and the group lost out on channel 28 in Durham, WCTU-TV and WATU-TV (later WAGT) in Augusta, Georgia, made it to air. WATU-TV was a profitable operation; in comparison, debts incurred in starting WCTU-TV would prompt Twisdale to shelve his Memphis and Richmond plans.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
WCTU was initially a low-budget independent station operating about eight hours a day from 3 to 11 p.m. It ran a lineup of some very old movies, westerns, some comedy shows from the early 1950s, and public affairs shows.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The station, which operated from studios on Hood Road in the Hickory Grove neighborhood of Charlotte, had very modern equipment for the time and broadcast some shows and movies in color, as well as all of its local programming in color.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The station hit hard times financially in 1969. In July, equipment supplier Ampex filed two lawsuits seeking $1.3 million from WCTU-TV for failing to pay for products it had purchased from them.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Film distributor National Telefilm Associates had also sued channel 36 for $80,000 for breaching a film rental contract.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> That September, a court placed WCTU into receivership,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> though it continued to broadcast.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Stating that "we feel there have been combined forces which hinder our operation", Twisdale foreshadowed a years-long antitrust case against the Jefferson-Pilot Corporation, owner of WBTV, which was not fully dismissed until 1977.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The Turner turnaroundEdit
Channel 36 found a buyer in February 1970: Atlanta broadcasting mogul Ted Turner, who purchased WCTU through Turner Broadcasting of North Carolina for $1.25 million. Turner had scouted out buying equipment from the bankrupt station but decided instead to buy the whole operation.Template:R At the time, he owned just one other television property, WJRJ-TV in his hometown Atlanta, as well as three radio stations in other southeastern cities.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Turner renamed the station WRET-TV—using the initials of his full name, Robert Edward Turner III—in July<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and instituted a new and expanded program lineup in August.<ref name="slate">Template:Cite news</ref> Just two programs, wrestling and the music video program The Now Explosion, were retained.Template:R
Turner's new Charlotte station was not an immediate success. Programming costs were high relative to ratings. The station had just one on-air personality: announcer Bob Chesson, who as "Dead Ernest" hosted the station's block of horror films.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> One Saturday morning in February 1972, Turner appeared on the station to appeal for contributions from viewers, saying that channel 36 had not broken even since he had purchased it.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The station drew $53,000 in donations, enough to help pay its bills, and also received interest from several new advertisers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> WRET-TV became a typical UHF independent, airing a lineup of cartoons, sitcoms, older movies, and a heavy slate of sporting events.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It was among the early carriers of The 700 Club, produced by the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN);<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> CBN founder Pat Robertson, who like Turner had gone to Brown University, read about the appeal for donations in The Wall Street Journal and placed his programs on the station.Template:R At one point, the Charlotte area accounted for 15 percent of CBN's pledge contributions.Template:R CBN programming was dropped by WRET in 1973 and replaced with programs of the Trinity Broadcasting Network,<ref name="Char730516">Template:Cite news</ref> headed locally by Jim Bakker; the shows included The PTL Club.<ref name="Char750323">Template:Cite news</ref> Bakker split from TBN in 1974 and moved his staff to Charlotte.<ref name="Char750513">Template:Cite news</ref>
By 1975, buoyed by a stronger film library, WRET-TV had emerged as the country's fifth-best independent station of 65 nationwide in audience share, per an analysis by Television/Radio Age, and was making a profit.<ref name="cinderella">Template:Cite news</ref> After five years of being independently operated from the rest of his Turner Communications Group, that company absorbed WRET-TV and its parent company later that year.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Late that year, Turner was making plans to uplink one of its two stations nationwide for distribution to cable providers. While Turner preferred to uplink his Atlanta flagship, by then renamed, WRET-TV was a backup in the event that the Federal Communications Commission did not relax rules that prevented the existence of superstations in top-25 television markets.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Channel 36 ended the year by announcing plans to repay the viewers whose contributions had saved it four years prior,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> doing so in February 1976.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Each of the 3,600 contributors, who had sent in from 25 cents to $200, received checks returning their money—with interest—from Turner.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1976 and 1977, channel 36 became an even more aggressive buyer of programming, grabbing local rights to Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman from WSOC-TV and stepping in to run CBS coverage of NBA basketball when WBTV passed on the package; it also aired other network shows that Charlotte's affiliates preempted. It was airing on 148 cable systems in the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Virginia.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, WRET-TV remained a laggard in news and public affairs programming. Its 15-minute sign-off newscast—the only such program on the station as an independent—was read by Bill Tush from Turner's headquarters in Atlanta and fed to Charlotte by telephone.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
From independent to NBC affiliateEdit
In 1977, ABC announced that it had lured longtime NBC affiliate WSOC-TV to be its new outlet in the Charlotte market beginning July 1, 1978, replacing WCCB-TV. That decision set off a two-station showdown between WCCB and WRET for the NBC affiliation in Charlotte.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> WCCB was seen as the favorite; unlike WRET, it had a functioning news department.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Sources at NBC were said to see channel 36 as their last option behind WCCB, with its stronger signal, and long-dominant WBTV, which the network was trying to woo from CBS to no avail.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Turner, however, promised NBC that he would spend $2.5 million on station improvements if the network moved its programming to WRET. Of that total, $1 million would go towards starting a full scale news department within one year; the proposed expansion would employ 22 people, compared to 26 at WSOC and 12 at WCCB.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On April 29, news broke that channel 36 had been selected for the NBC affiliation, with the network preferring it over WCCB based on Turner's turnaround record with the station and his ownership of the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="life">Template:Cite news</ref> With the decision, WCCB became an independent station.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Two months after assuming the NBC affiliation, WRET launched its first newscasts in September, under the banner of "Action News"; Robert D. Raiford was the station's first news anchor.<ref name="action">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="goodbut">Template:Cite news</ref> The main news was presented at 7 p.m., but the different time slot failed to attract viewers. Where WBTV had a 52 share and WSOC a 23 for their 6 p.m. newscasts, WRET could only pull a 5.<ref name="biggest">Template:Cite news</ref> Bob Wisehart of the Charlotte News described WRET's news operation as "spend[ing] a great deal of effort going no place at all".Template:R The same could have been said of the station, which was said to be barely breaking even after the switch.Template:R
Group W eraEdit
Turner's ambitious and mostly successful ownership of the station would not last much longer after obtaining the NBC affiliation. By 1979, Turner was in the process of starting CNN, and he announced he would sell channel 36 to help raise the capital needed for the new venture.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On May 16, 1979, the sale of WRET-TV to Westinghouse Broadcasting (also known as Group W) was announced for $20 million, setting a then-record for a single UHF television station.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The news of a purchase by Group W, owner of regarded television and radio stations in other cities, was initially met with glee by the WRET-TV staff. Two station employees who had been looking for new jobs elsewhere decided to stay when the sale was announced.<ref name="sells">Template:Cite news</ref> In 1984, Reese Schonfeld, who co-founded CNN with Turner, would note that by providing the collateral against which Turner obtained money for CNN in the WRET-TV purchase, Westinghouse financed the start of CNN and then of its own short-lived Satellite News Channel two years later.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Final approval of the sale was secured at the end of April 1980, when Westinghouse agreed to furnish $400,000 in grants and affirmative action programs in exchange for the withdrawal of a license renewal challenge by local civil rights groups; the Federal Communications Commission did find in their favor when it said the station did not employ enough minorities, renewing WRET-TV's license for a half-term of 18 months.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Some of the funds went to improve the journalism school at the historically Black Johnson C. Smith University.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Westinghouse changed the station's call letters to WPCQ-TV, representing "People of the Carolinas and Queen City", on September 29; the station rebranded as "Q36" to go with the callsign change. The move came alongside a major programming reshuffle and an increase in effective radiated power from 1.3 to 2.5 million watts.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The newscasts were moved from 6 and 11 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m., and several new magazine shows were added,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> as was a Friday night public service-concept game show called Quibble, which was soon demoted to Saturdays.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The early newscast was then moved back to 6 p.m., but WCCB, airing reruns of Good Times, drew 13 percent of the audience in May 1982 compared to the 2 percent that watched the WPCQ-TV newscast; the station was, again, losing money.<ref name="foothold">Template:Cite news</ref> Westinghouse's inability to make channel 36 more competitive surprised even local rivals, who had expected the company to do more with the station.Template:R
In August 1982, the station made another programming change, this time attracting considerable national attention: it dropped its low-rated early evening newscast.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> When it axed that program, it also decided to cease carrying the NBC Nightly News. This prompted NBC officials to shop the Nightly News to Charlotte's other stations, including WBTV.<ref name="drops">Template:Cite news</ref> The station continued with its noon newscast, as well as short news capsules throughout the day and occasional news specials.<ref name="udrop">Template:Cite news</ref> Station officials blamed WPCQ-TV's signal, which—despite the power increase—was not strong enough to reach outer areas of the market that got better signals from WXII-TV in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and WIS-TV in Columbia, South Carolina.Template:R John J. Spinola, the general manager of the station, admitted that he was "pretty well encircled by NBC affiliates".<ref name="gamblehanna">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Quote box "Q36" became known for frequent preemptions of NBC network fare, including the soap opera Texas,<ref name="texas">Template:Cite news</ref> coverage of the 1984 Democratic National Convention,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and network sporting events.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It also delayed the David Brinkley-hosted NBC Magazine to midnight to air its own Action News Magazine.Template:R Even Westinghouse's own productions were not guaranteed an audience on the station; after two years of WPCQ-TV airing Hour Magazine, it moved to WBTV in 1982.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Seeing little positive progress with WPCQ-TV, Westinghouse soon chose to use the station's low expectations to their advantage elsewhere in the company. Westinghouse had long extensively promoted from within and thus used WPCQ as the equivalent of a "farm team" for its larger stations. Its more promising on-air personalities merely treated WPCQ as a stepping stone towards promotion to Group W's well-regarded heritage radio and television stations outside Charlotte,Template:R such as when sports director Lou Tilley moved to Boston to become the weekend sports anchor at WBZ-TV.<ref name="tilley">Template:Cite news</ref> Amanda Davis, who had anchored the news three years for WPCQ-TV, became a correspondent for Group W's Satellite News Channel after turning down an offer to report for its Baltimore station, WJZ-TV.<ref name="davis">Template:Cite news</ref> When a union strike at the company's New York City all-news station, WINS, left it without announcers, Westinghouse sent WPCQ anchor Raiford there as part of a team of 20 employees from other Group W stations to keep it running.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
A new OdysseyEdit
Odyssey Partners, a New York investment partnership headed by Michael Finkelstein, acquired WPCQ-TV in 1984 after four years of Westinghouse ownership.<ref name="investment">Template:Cite news</ref> For Westinghouse, the move was about focusing on major markets and shedding a station that was estimated to have lost $5 million in four years;Template:R Charlie Hanna, writing in Variety the year before, noted that Westinghouse had seemed to lose its "gung-hoism" for the station.Template:R Mark Wolf, television and radio columnist for The Charlotte Observer, would note that elements that Group W had used successfully elsewhere had failed to make a dent against two formidable and entrenched competitors in Charlotte, and that the company seemed to lack other ideas when its typical plans did not work.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
When the sale closed in February 1985, Odyssey immediately announced the restoration of the NBC Nightly News to the station's schedule.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Later that year, talk began of the potential return of local newscasts when station general manager Stan Rudick said that channel 36 was conducting market research on the idea.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The station had reason to get back in the news game, as Charlotte was being cited as a potential market for NBC to move its affiliation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In February 1986, the station announced it would return to producing evening newscasts.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Following a $2 million investment, 5:30 and 11 p.m. news programs began airing September 8, 1986, anchored by former Atlanta newsman John McKnight and Karen Adams.<ref name="gamble">Template:Cite news</ref> Ratings were low but exceeded the levels of Action News in the Group W era.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The original "36 News" early evening newscast expanded to an hour and became "News 36" in May 1988 in what amounted to a soft reboot of the operation.<ref name="changes">Template:Cite news</ref> The revamp brought a string of new faces, notably including weekend sports anchor Hannah Storm.Template:R
Odyssey also implemented a technical overhaul for WPCQ-TV. In 1987, the station bought land north of Dallas to build a new tower near those owned by WBTV and newly built WJZY<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and filed to increase power to the maximum 5 million watts.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After surviving an attempt by NBC to move its affiliation from channel 36,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> in which NBC attempted to court both Charlotte VHF stations<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the new WJZY,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the new tower and stronger signal were activated in September 1988, giving WPCQ-TV signal parity with other Charlotte stations.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Providence JournalEdit
The Providence Journal Company (ProJo) purchased WPCQ-TV in 1988 for $30 million, marking its fourth television station purchase.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> ProJo immediately set out to build a new identity for the station. After initially pursuing the call letters WPJB-TV, formerly used by the JournalTemplate:'s Providence radio stations,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the station instead became WCNC-TV (for "Charlotte, North Carolina"<ref name="jazz">Template:Cite news</ref>) on September 3, 1989. That same day, the station split its 5:30 p.m. news hour into two half-hour newscasts, and it also moved to cable channel 6 on most area systems.<ref name="split">Template:Cite news</ref> The station also built new studios, costing $6.5 million,<ref name="volume">Template:Cite news</ref> on Billy Graham Parkway in the Wood Ridge office complex, where it would be joined by the new headquarters of the NBC News Channel affiliate service,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which general manager John Hayes had successfully lured to Charlotte.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> ProJo also sprung for a new satellite truck, the only one in the market, and overnight ratings for the Charlotte market.Template:R The early months of NBC Nightside, an NBC News Channel production, came from the new WCNC set.Template:R Despite all the improvements, WCNC's news remained firmly in third.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Beginning in 1996, the station was branded on-air as "NBC 6", in reference to its cable channel location; it quietly shed that moniker to go by its call letters in 2004, seeking to avoid potential confusion in ratings diaries.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Belo ownershipEdit
Template:Quote box In 1996, the Belo Corporation bought the Providence Journal Company.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The station suffered from two anchor departures in just over a week in early 1997 as Belo completed the purchase; meanwhile, its newscasts were still in third place.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Under new general manager Richard Keilty, WCNC lured Sonja Gantt, formerly of WBTV, back to the market from a stint in Chicago.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The station also got a new $200,000 news set as Belo sought to raise the station from its perennial cellar.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
The next year, Ray Boylan, a longtime meteorologist at WSOC-TV, unretired and did on-air reports on WCNC, while the station also hired Terri Bennett, who had been in the running to replace him on channel 9 but was passed over.<ref name="beat">Template:Cite news</ref> Boylan and Bennett were backed up by the station's purchase of a new Doppler radar and other weather equipment.Template:R However, not all of the talent changes made were positively received; the ouster of Beatrice Thompson, who had been Charlotte's first full-time Black anchor at WBTV in the 1980s, led to protests by some viewers who felt she had been forced out because of her race.Template:R
Boylan retired in December 2000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The station showed momentum in local news ratings in the early 2000s, particularly in mornings and at 11,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and between 2000 and 2002, it produced a 10 p.m. newscast for WB affiliate WFVT-TV.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On October 30, 2009, WCNC broke the record for most Halloween costume changes during a local news program, with 11 costumes worn by the station's anchor team (Jeff Campbell, Colleen Odegaard, and Larry Sprinkle, as well as producer Natalie Ridley) were involved in setting the record during its weekday morning newscast that day.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2008, after referring to itself simply with its call letters and using the slogan "Carolinas' News Connection", WCNC changed its branding to "NewsChannel 36", citing its over-the-air channel number and the coming arrival of digital television.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2012, the station's branding was changed once again to "NBC Charlotte"; this time, the reasoning for the change was that few people actually watched the station over-the-air or on satellite on virtual channel 36.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Gannett/Tegna ownershipEdit
On June 13, 2013, the Gannett Company announced that it would acquire Belo for $1.5 billion.<ref name="tp-saletogannett">Template:Cite news</ref> The sale was finalized on December 23.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Investments made by Gannett in WCNC after the Belo purchase included the conversion of newscasts to high definition and a new computer system for the newsroom.<ref name="share">Template:Cite news</ref>
On June 29, 2015, Gannett split in two, with one side specializing in print media and the other side specializing in broadcast and digital media. WCNC, by that time rebranded back to its call letters, was retained by the latter company, named Tegna.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
NewscastsEdit
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WCNC-TV presently broadcasts Template:Frac hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with Template:Frac hours each weekday, and four hours each on Saturdays and Sundays); in addition, the station produces the hour-long entertainment and lifestyle program Charlotte Today, which airs weekdays at 11 a.m. and was started in 2010.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
After a solid, if low-rated, start under Turner's watch,Template:R the news department was severely hamstrung by Group W's bargain-basement approach to running the station. Group W immediately dropped the station's weekend evening newscasts and moved the 11 p.m. newscast to 12:30 a.m. before canceling it altogether in 1981. The early evening newscast was shifted between the 5:30 and 6 p.m. timeslots until the fall of 1982, when it was canceled as well. For the remainder of Group W's ownership, the station's only remaining local news programming consisted of a half-hour newscast at noon, hourly cut-ins, five-minute local inserts during Today, a weekly magazine program, and occasional specials.Template:R
After Odyssey Partners bought the station, the noon newscast was discontinued in the spring of 1985. In September 1986, WPCQ relaunched a full-fledged news department.Template:R At first, the station scheduled its early-evening newscast for 5:30 p.m., knowing at the time that it could not hope to compete with WBTV and WSOC-TV at 6 p.m. In 1988, WPCQ expanded the 5:30 newscast to one hour and added a 6 p.m. newscast on weekends.Template:R After becoming WCNC, the station added a distinct 6 p.m. newscast to the weeknight schedule.Template:R Under Belo, the station expanded further into new timeslots in the late 1990s, including a 5 a.m. morning show, unusual at the time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 1999, the station's news department was chronicled in the five-part PBS documentary series Local News.<ref name="doc">Template:Cite news</ref> That same year, WCNC entered into a news share agreement with then-Fox affiliate WCCB to take over production of that station's 10 p.m. newscast, shortly after WSOC-TV ended its agreement to produce the program after WCCB announced it would launch its own news department. After WCCB's in-house news operation launched in 2000, WCNC began airing a 10 p.m. newscast on WB affiliate WWWB (channel 55, now WMYT-TV), which ran until the program was canceled due to low ratings in 2002.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The station won a Peabody Award in 2003, the first for a Charlotte television station in 27 years, for an investigation into dental care through Medicaid<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and attracted notice in the market for its award-winning ways.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
For much of the 2000s, WCNC had waged a spirited battle with WBTV for second place behind WSOC-TV, though it would later return to a distant third place in most timeslots as the performance of the NBC network in the late 2000s and poor daytime syndicated offerings dragged it down.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This continued in the February 2016 sweeps, when its evening newscasts drew barely half the viewership of WBTV.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In late 2005, WCNC debuted the Charlotte market's first 4:30 p.m. newscast, creating a two-hour local news block from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2007, the station phased out its longtime 6News brand and rebranded itself as "WCNC, Carolinas' News Connection". In August 2008, it rebranded once again to NewsChannel 36, marking the first time in 12 years that WCNC had used its over-the-air channel number in its branding. Beginning in September 2008, WCNC aired news at 4 p.m., with Judge Judy at 4:30; in January 2012, the 4 p.m. news expanded to an hour and the noon news shrank from an hour to 30 minutes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On May 18, 2009, WCNC began broadcasting its local newscasts in 16:9 widescreen standard definition; this change came alongside the revamping of the station's on-air news graphics. A conversion to full high definition followed on June 28, 2014.Template:R
Notable current on-air staffEdit
- Sarah French – anchor<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Notable former on-air staffEdit
- Heather Childers – weekend anchor, 1992–1995<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Amanda Davis – reporter, 1979–1982Template:R
- Allen Denton – anchor, 1996–2000<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Doug McKelway – reporter, 1980–1982<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
- Bob Raiford – anchor and talk show host, 1978–1986Template:R
- Hannah Storm – sports anchor, 1988–1989)Template:R
- Beatrice Thompson – general assignment reporter, 1988–1989Template:R
- Beth Troutman – news anchor, 2015–2017<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Technical informationEdit
SubchannelsEdit
The station's signal is multiplexed:
| CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | ||||
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WCNC-HD | NBC |
| 36.2 | 480i | Crime | True Crime Network | |
| 36.3 | CourtTV | Court TV | ||
| 36.4 | Quest | Quest | ||
| 36.5 | NEST | The Nest | ||
| 64.2 | 480i | 16:9 | Laff | Laff (WAXN-DT2) |
Prior subchannel offerings from WCNC have included NBC Weather Plus<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the Live Well Network.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
WCNC-TV was added to Charlotte's ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) deployment on WAXN-TV on July 7, 2021.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As part of the change, WAXN's 64.4 subchannel of Laff was placed on WCNC-TV's multiplex, keeping it available in ATSC 1.0 format.
Analog-to-digital conversionEdit
WCNC-TV began digital transmission on November 1, 1999,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 36, on the official digital transition date of June 12, 2009.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 22, continuing to use virtual channel 36.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
WCNC-TV moved its digital signal from channel 22 to channel 24 on September 6, 2019, as part of the FCC's spectrum reallocation process.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
TranslatorsEdit
WCNC-TV's signal is additionally rebroadcast over the following translators:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- Biscoe: W36FB-D
- Lilesville–Wadesboro: W17EE-D
See alsoEdit
- Channel 6 branded TV stations in the United States
- Channel 24 digital TV stations in the United States
- Channel 36 virtual TV stations in the United States
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
Template:Charlotte TV Template:North Carolina TV Template:South Carolina TV Template:Tegna