WBTV
kW | |
HAAT | 565 m (1,854 ft) |
---|---|
Transmitter coordinates | 35°21′51″N 81°11′12″W / 35.36417°N 81.18667°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
WBTV (channel 3) is a
History
The station first signed on the air on July 15, 1949. When it debuted, WBTV was the 13th television station in the United States
WBTV received one of the last
Channel 3 had originally operated from a converted radio studio in the Wilder Building, alongside its sister radio station. In 1955, WBT and WBTV moved to a then state-of-the-art facility on a hill atop Morehead Street, where both stations are still based today. The studio address, One Julian Price Place, is named in honor of the executive who effectively founded Jefferson Standard/Jefferson-Pilot through an early-20th century merger.
WBTV's only competition in its early years came from a
From 1958 to 1974, WBTV's studio facilities served as the home for
When WAGA-TV in Atlanta, which signed on the air four months before WBTV, switched to Fox in December 1994, WBTV became the longest-tenured CBS affiliate located south of Washington, D.C. WFMY-TV in Greensboro, the second-oldest station in the Carolinas, is the network's second-longest tenured affiliate south of the capital; it signed on three months after WBTV. Two years later, after KPIX-TV in San Francisco became a CBS owned-and-operated station (due to owner Westinghouse Electric Corporation's merger with CBS), WBTV became the second longest-tenured affiliate that was not owned by the network, behind only Washington's WUSA.
Jefferson Standard/Jefferson-Pilot acquired several other radio and television stations across the country, with WBTV serving as the company's flagship station. The first was WBTW in Florence, South Carolina, which was built and signed on in 1954; indeed, the call letters were chosen specifically because "W" is the next letter in the alphabet after "V". The two stations were separately programmed, but shared a microwave system from 1959 onward. Jefferson-Pilot sold WBTW in 1968 because WBTW provided a fairly strong grade B signal to the eastern portion of the Charlotte market, and neither station would have been able to expand their signals as long as Jefferson-Pilot owned both of them.
In 2006, Jefferson-Pilot merged with the Philadelphia-based Lincoln National Corporation. Lincoln Financial retained Jefferson-Pilot's broadcasting division, which was renamed Lincoln Financial Media, with WBTV retaining its status as the flagship station.[4]
Sale to Raycom Media
On November 12, 2007, Lincoln Financial announced its intention to sell WBTV,
The FCC approved the sale of WBTV on March 25, 2008, and Raycom formally took control of the station on April 1.
In early 2008, Raycom Sports and Lincoln Financial Sports officially merged under the Raycom Sports banner. The merger coincided with the start of the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference basketball season. WBTV had been Charlotte's home station for ACC sporting events since C. D. Chesley piped in North Carolina's historic win in the 1957 NCAA tournament to channel 3 and several other television stations in the state. Raycom had produced ACC basketball games in partnership with Jefferson-Pilot/Lincoln Financial since 1982. The partnership was extended to football in 2004; Jefferson-Pilot/Lincoln Financial had been the sole producer of ACC football telecasts since 1984. From 2010 onward, the package was branded as the ACC Network.
In mid-May 2008, the former Jefferson-Pilot/Lincoln Financial stations launched redesigned websites, powered by the Local Media network division of WorldNow (which operates nearly all of the websites of Raycom's stations), assuming web platform operations from Broadcast Interactive Media. However, WBTV and WWBT retained their Jefferson-Pilot/Lincoln Financial-era logos and branding (WCSC has since changed its logo and graphics, following its switch to high definition newscasts).[citation needed] WBTV changed its logo, in use since 2001, on September 7, 2023. The new logo incorporates the "GrayONE" graphics package used by most Gray stations.[8]
On November 15, 2013, both WBTV and WBT were dedicated with a North Carolina historical marker at the corner of
Sale to Gray Television
On June 25, 2018, Atlanta-based Gray Television announced it had reached an agreement with Raycom to merge their respective broadcasting assets (consisting of Raycom's 63 existing owned-and/or-operated television stations, including WBTV), and Gray's 93 television stations) under Gray's corporate umbrella. The cash-and-stock merger transaction valued at $3.6 billion—in which Gray shareholders would acquire preferred stock currently held by Raycom—resulted in WBTV gaining new in-state sister stations, including NBC affiliates WECT in Wilmington and WITN-TV in the Washington–Greenville market, in addition to its current Raycom sister stations.[11][12][13][14] The sale was approved on December 20,[15] and was completed on January 2, 2019.[16][17] As was the case with Raycom, WBTV became Gray's second-largest station by market size, after Cleveland's WOIO/WUAB. Since Gray acquired WAGA's successor as Atlanta's CBS affiliate, WGCL-TV (now WANF) as its flagship, WBTV has been Gray's third-largest station.
2022 helicopter crash
On November 22, 2022, at 11:57 a.m.,[18] a 1999 Robinson R44 helicopter nicknamed "WBTV Sky3" crashed onto the grass verge of I-77 in south Charlotte during a training exercise.[19] Both occupants, WBTV pilot Chip Tayag and WBTV meteorologist Jason Myers, were pronounced dead at the scene. WBTV anchors Molly Grantham and Jamie Boll covered the incident live on the air, before receiving confirmation it was their own station's helicopter and crewmen involved in the crash; the station released a statement citing the incident as a "terrible loss" to the WBTV family. WBTV received an immediate outpouring of support from the community, sister stations, and other media outlets; Governor Roy Cooper and Pastor Franklin Graham posted condolences on social media, and the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte FC delayed their 2022 Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Bank of America Stadium for a moment of silence in honor of Tayag and Myers.[20]
Witnesses to the crash claim the helicopter was visibly faltering, and in a steeply-banked spiral as it came down. Witnesses also claim that Tayag, a pilot with over 20 years of experience, deliberately steered the falling helicopter into the grass to avoid crashing into nearby buildings or onto the Interstate itself, which was crowded with
Though the full NTSB findings have not yet been released to the public, on March 6, 2023, the family of Jason Myers filed a
Programming
For many years, WBTV was one of the country's most dominant television stations. This was in part due to being the only reliably viewable station in town for nine years, as well as the station's long tradition of strong local news coverage. In fact, its dominance was so absolute that it was once said the dials of most Charlotteans' television sets were "rusted on channel 3".[23] To this day, WBTV has been one of CBS' strongest affiliates.
The station claims credit for a number of television "firsts", among them being the construction of the first building in the United States built specifically for color television broadcasting. WBTV also claims to have been the first station in the world to record and rebroadcast programs on color videotape; to use a live camera and microwave relay inside a race car; and to have a fully computerized news operation. It claims to have been the first station in the country to develop computerized election return projections, to broadcast CBS' ExtraVision teletext service, and to produce a local newscast for a PBS member station (WTVI, channel 42). It claims to be the first station in the Southern U.S. to air color test patterns and color ID slides. WBTV was granted the first full-power construction permit for a digital television signal in the United States in 1998, which went on the air that year operating at 1 million watts[24]–equivalent to 5 million watts for an analog transmitter.
A much-remembered women's/homemaker's show, The Betty Feezor Show, aired on channel 3 from the 1950s until 1977 (usually after the soap opera Search for Tomorrow, and in its 15-minute format, Guiding Light). Feezor gave viewers tips on cooking, sewing, floral arranging, and other topics of interest to housewives and mothers. In 1965, the show was the third most-watched women's program in the United States.[24] Feezor's show was also carried on Richmond sister station WWBT after Jefferson-Pilot bought the station in 1968. Feezor retired in 1977 due to a brain tumor, an illness from which she died in 1978.
The Betty Feezor Show was replaced by an hour-long midday news and variety show, Top O' the Day. Segments on the program included On the Square, in which Doug Mayes solicited opinions from various Charlotte-area residents about current news topics, as well as C. J. Underwood's Down Home with the Carolina Camera, where otherwise unknown or low-profile Carolinians were temporarily given celebrity status for their whimsical talents, novel collections, or for the way they impacted their communities. For its first five years, the show aired at noon, preempting The Young and the Restless. It shifted to 11:30 a.m. in 1982. To make room for Top O' the Day, WBTV aired The Price Is Right on a one-day delay at 10:30 a.m., preempting whatever game show CBS aired at that time. As a result, Child's Play, Press Your Luck, Card Sharks, and Now You See It never aired in Charlotte. The station didn't air the CBS version of Wheel of Fortune until late in that show's run. Top O' the Day ended in 1992, and was replaced by a conventional half-hour noon newscast. For most of the 1980s, WBTV aired the CBS Evening News on a half-hour delay at 7 p.m., due to its 6 p.m. newscast lasting an hour.
For many years, WBTV occasionally preempted some of CBS'
Since the early 1990s, WBTV has generally cleared most of the CBS programming schedule in pattern, with the exception of ACC football and basketball games from Raycom Sports. For many years, WBTV aired Face the Nation on Sundays at 11:30 a.m.; most CBS affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone air it at 10:30 a.m. However, when Face the Nation was permanently expanded to an hour in 2012, WBTV moved the show to 10:30 a.m.
WBTV gained a major ratings windfall in 1981–82, when
The popularity of a series of specials commemorating the station's 25th anniversary in 1974 led to a long-running program, Those Were the Years, hosted by Mike McKay and featuring episodes of classic television shows such as
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, WBTV aired a Sunday morning program that featured singing
band The Br'arhoppers. Patterson was killed in a single-car accident in Charlotte in 1986; Kirby died in 1996 at age 85.Sports programming
From 1982 to 2019, WBTV was the flagship station of syndicated over-the-air coverage of Atlantic Coast Conference sports. Then-owner Jefferson-Pilot took over coverage of men's basketball from longtime producer C. D. Chesley in 1982 in partnership with Raycom, and became the sole producer of ACC football in 1984. Those rights passed to Lincoln Financial after its merger with Jefferson-Pilot in 2006. Both have been produced by Raycom Sports after their acquisition of Lincoln Financial's sports division during the 2007–2008 season. Most ACC games that were not televised by WBTV aired on either WJZY (channel 46) or WMYT-TV (channel 55). Raycom Sports has rights to the ACC until at least the 2026–27 season.[26] The ACC syndication package moved to cable's ACC Network in 2019.
WBTV also airs any Panthers games carried on CBS' NFL package. The station airs at least two games a year, typically when the team plays host to an AFC opponent at Bank of America Stadium; starting in 2014, through the NFL's new "cross-flex" broadcast rules, games that would normally air on Fox (locally on WJZY) can be moved arbitrarily to CBS and vice versa. WBTV also aired both of the Panthers' Super Bowl appearances locally, as CBS had the rights to Super Bowls XXXVIII and 50.
News operation
WBTV presently broadcasts 38+1⁄2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 6+1⁄2 hours each weekday, four hours on Saturdays and two hours on Sundays).
For most of its first 30 years on the air, WBTV's newscasts dominated the
Diana Williams (later at WABC-TV in New York City; now retired) served as an anchor at WBTV during the early 1980s; she was succeeded as the station's main female anchor by Sara James (now a reporter for Dateline NBC). Following the 2005 retirement of longtime WSOC anchorman Bill Walker, WBTV began billing lead anchorman Paul Cameron as "The Voice of Experience". Cameron joined WBTV in 1981 as the station's sports director, and then succeeded longtime anchor Bob Inman upon his retirement in 1996. He was only the third main anchor in the station's history, following Mayes and Inman. Cameron served as the station's top male anchor until his retirement on December 31, 2018.
Prior to joining in 2004, evening anchor Maureen O'Boyle, a Charlotte native and graduate of West Charlotte High School, served as anchor of the syndicated newsmagazines A Current Affair and Extra. Morning and midday anchor John Carter formerly served as a North Carolina state senator prior to joining the station. Other notable on-air personalities include Western bureau chief Steve Ohnesorge, who started as a photographer at WBTV in 1975.
In 1994, WBTV entered into a news share agreement to produce a 10 p.m. newscast for then-independent station WJZY; the newscast later moved to PBS member station WTVI, before returning to WJZY in 2003 and then to that station's duopoly partner, MyNetworkTV affiliate WMYT-TV in April 2012. Following Fox's purchase of WJZY and WMYT, the WBTV-produced newscast returned to WJZY when it became the market's Fox owned-and-operated station on July 1, 2013, which continued to air until the station launched its own news department (and hour-long 10 p.m. newscast) on January 1, 2014.[31] It placed third among local newscasts during the July 2013 ratings period, behind the WSOC-produced newscast on WAXN, and WCCB's in-house newscast.[28]
In September 2010, WBTV debuted an hour-long 4 p.m. newscast, which competes with what at the time was a half-hour newscast (which has since expanded to one hour) on WCNC-TV.[32] On January 22, 2014, WBTV began producing a two-hour extension of its weekday morning newscast, airing from 7 to 9 a.m. as well as an hour-long prime time newscast at 8 p.m. for WBTV-DT2.[33] The morning newscast ended in spring 2018, and the 8 p.m. newscast ended on August 17, 2018.
Since 2008, WBTV has partnered with its sister stations in South Carolina—WCSC,
Notable former on-air staff
- Fox News Channel
- Rita Cosby – now correspondent for Inside Edition
- Steve Crump - reporter and documentary film producer; now deceased
- Jan Jeffcoat – anchor; now hosting The National Desk in Washington, D.C.
- Fred Kirby – performer and host of children's programming
- Michael Marsh – later anchor at WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- Maureen O'Boyle – anchor
- Lori Stokes – anchor (1988–1990); now at WNYW in New York City[34]
- Diana Williams – anchor (1983–1986); later at WABC-TV in New York City until 2019; now retired
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
3.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
WBTV-DT | CBS |
3.2 | 480i | Bounce | Bounce TV | |
3.3 | The365 | The365
| ||
3.4 | Defy | Defy TV | ||
3.5 | Oxygen | Oxygen | ||
64.1 | 720p | 16:9 | WAXN | Independent )
|
WBTV had previously carried a
Analog-to-digital conversion
WBTV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 3, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 23,[39] using virtual channel 3.
NextGen TV
WBTV upgraded to ATSC 3.0 on July 7, 2021.[40]
Out-of-market cable carriage
In recent years, WBTV has been carried on
See also
- Channel 23 digital TV stations in the United States
- Channel 3 virtual TV stations in the United States
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WBTV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "Entercom To Swap Charlotte Stations To Radio One For WPHI, WTEM and St. Louis Duo - RadioInsight". November 5, 2020.
- ^ "Celebrating WBTV's anniversary – WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC". Wbtv.com. July 17, 2012. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 3, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Lincoln Financial – Press Releases – LFG Announces Sale of Television, Sports, and Charlotte Radio Properties". Lfg.com. Archived from the original on December 15, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
- ^ Charlotte Observer | 17 November 2007 | Old TV-radio couple breaking up Archived November 19, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- Charlotte Observer, April 2, 2008.
- ^ Hill, Michael B. (September 7, 2023). "Charlotte station debuts new logo, switches to group graphics package". NewscastStudio. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
- ^ "State dedicates historic marker to memorialize NC's oldest broadcast station". Charlotte, NC: WBTV. November 15, 2013. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
- Charlotte Observer. Archived from the originalon April 13, 2014. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
- ^ "GRAY AND RAYCOM TO COMBINE IN A $3.6 BILLION TRANSACTION". Raycom Media (Press release). June 25, 2018.
- ^ Miller, Mark K. (June 25, 2018). "Gray To Buy Raycom For $3.6 Billion". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheckMedia. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
- ^ Eggerton, John (June 25, 2018). "Gray Buying Raycom for $3.6B". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media.
- ^ Hayes, Dade (June 25, 2018). "Gray Acquiring Raycom For $3.65B, Forming No. 3 Local TV Group". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation.
- ^ "FCC OK with Gray/Raycom Merger", Broadcasting & Cable, December 20, 2018, Retrieved December 20, 2018.
- ^ "Gray Closes On $3.6 Billion Raycom Merger". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheckMedia. January 2, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
- ^ "Gray Completes Acquisition of Raycom Media and Related Transactions", Gray Television, January 2, 2019, Retrieved January 2, 2019.
- ^ Cox, Kallie (December 6, 2022). "Initial investigative report released on WBTV helicopter crash that killed 2 people". The Charlotte Observer.
- ^ "CAROL Query:NTSB Investigations Custom Search". data.ntsb.gov. National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
- ^ Finley, Ben; Schoenbaum, Hannah (November 22, 2022). "TV meteorologist, pilot die in news helicopter crash". APnews.com. Associated Press. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
- "WBTV helicopter crashes on I-77 South, two killed". WBTV.com. Gray Television. November 22, 2022. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
- Vera, Amir; Paget, Sharif; Alonso, Melissa (November 22, 2022). "Helicopter crash leaves TV meteorologist and pilot dead in Charlotte, North Carolina". CNN.com. Warner Bros. Discovery. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
- "WBTV mourning the loss of meteorologist Jason Myers, pilot Chip Tayag". WBTV.com. Gray Television. November 22, 2022. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
- Lee, Hank; Brierton, James; Schiff, Blair (November 22, 2022). "Reaction to fatal WBTV helicopter crash - 2 dead in TV news helicopter crash". WCNC.com. Tegna Inc. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
- Cox, Kallie; Marusak, Joe (November 22, 2022). "Live Updates: Charlotte meteorologist and pilot from WBTV killed in helicopter crash off Interstate 77". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
- Oxenden, McKenna (November 22, 2022). "TV Meteorologist and Pilot Die in Helicopter Crash in North Carolina". The New York Times. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
- ^ Cox, Kallie (December 6, 2022). "Initial investigative report released on WBTV helicopter crash that killed 2 people". The Charlotte Observer.
- Off, Gavin (November 22, 2022). "A final day of flying: hovering over uptown, South End and a deadly path along I-77". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
- ^ Praats, Michael (March 10, 2023). "Family of WBTV meteorologist killed in helicopter crash files lawsuit". WBTV.com. Retrieved March 15, 2024.
- ^ "Channel 3 Launched TV Era in East Tennessee | Bob Cox's Yesteryear". Bcyesteryear.com. January 30, 2006. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
- ^ a b "Chronology of WBTV – WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC". Wbtv.com. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
- The Courier-Journal, April 6, 2008.
- ^ "A production, distribution, and event management company". Raycom Sports. July 21, 2015. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
- ^ "Broadcasting legend, Doug Mayes, returns to WBTV for final broad – WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC". Wbtv.com. September 27, 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
- ^ a b "About 140,000 lose WBTV in Dish dispute | CharlotteObserver.com". www.charlotteobserver.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2013.
- ^ Washburn, Mark (March 2, 2016). "Historic sweep: WBTV wrestles the news ratings lead from WSOC". The Charlotte Observer.
- ^ Malone, Michael (October 20, 2023). "Local News Close-Up: News Battle Royale in Queen City of Charlotte". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved October 20, 2023.
- ^ "A new radio generation at CBS | CharlotteObserver.com". www.charlotteobserver.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013.
- ^ "More News Shows Coming-in to beat WSOC's broadcast of GMA". Retrieved August 12, 2010. [dead link]
- ^ Channel 3 to add newscasts to Bounce channel Archived January 13, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Charlotte Observer, January 3, 2014.
- ^ "Lori Stokes bio". Archived from the original on December 22, 2012. Retrieved March 10, 2013.
- ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for WBTV". RabbitEars.info. Silica Broadband. November 22, 2022. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
- ^ "Charlotte, NC – OTA – Page 141 – AVS Forum | Home Theater Discussions And Reviews". AVS Forum. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
- ^ "Charlotte, NC – OTA – Page 156 – AVS Forum | Home Theater Discussions And Reviews". AVS Forum. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
- ^ "Country music network 'Circle' to launch with 16 shows". Charlotte, NC: WBTV. December 11, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
- ^ Egitto, Daniel (July 8, 2021). "These Charlotte TV stations upgraded broadcasts. Here's what that means for viewers". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
- ^ "SVTV Stations - the things you care that others won't". svtvstations.webs.com. Archived from the original on May 2, 2012.
External links
- Official website
- WBTV History
- "Listing 1005062". Antenna Structure Registration database. U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
- WBTV Television Tower at Structurae
- FCC WBTV-Tower's Antenna Structure Registration
- Drawings of Jefferson Pilot Comm. Tower – SkyscraperPage.com