WXII-TV
kW | |
HAAT | 571.9 m (1,876 ft) |
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Transmitter coordinates | 36°22′31″N 80°22′25″W / 36.37528°N 80.37361°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | www |
WXII-TV (channel 12) is a
History
The station first signed on the air on September 30, 1953, as WSJS-TV. It is the third-oldest surviving television station in North Carolina, behind
Johnny Beckman, an early employee, recalled working at WSJS-TV in those early years:
There were three of us, and we all did multiple jobs—the weather, commercials, a teenage dance party. We were all scrambling around trying to make a living. Broadcasting was not high-paying then. The pay has certainly improved, but it was a more enjoyable career than it has become now.[3]
The station has always been affiliated with NBC.
In 1968, Glenn Scott joined the station at a time when weather reporters "climbed" the
Piedmont Publishing was sold to Media General in 1968. By this time, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was giving serious thought to barring common ownership of newspapers and broadcast outlets. Gordon Gray, the longtime publisher of both papers, thus formed Triangle Broadcasting to hold onto WSJS-AM-FM-TV. Gray also received the franchise for the city's cable system, Summit Cable. However, soon afterward, the FCC ruled that media companies could not own both a television station and a cable system in the same market. Gray was thus forced to sell WSJS-TV in 1972 to Multimedia, Inc., earning a handsome return on his purchase of the Journal and Sentinel in 1937. The new owners changed the station's call letters to WXII-TV on October 2[5] (the letters "XII" from "WXII" are the
Multimedia swapped WXII and WFBC-TV (now WYFF) in Greenville, South Carolina, to Pulitzer in 1983 in exchange for KSDK in St. Louis. Pulitzer sold its entire broadcasting division, including WXII, to Hearst-Argyle Television, now Hearst Television, in 1998.
That same year, Hearst bought
On July 9, 2012, Hearst Television became involved in a
News operation
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2010) |
WXII presently broadcasts 38+1⁄2 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 6+1⁄2 hours each weekday and three hours each on Saturdays and Sundays).
Long a distant runner-up to WFMY-TV, channel 12's newscast ratings began to increase following a series of severe weather events in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Since then, WXII has regularly traded the number one spot in the ratings with WFMY.
On February 12, 2010, after the
On August 13, 2012, WXII debuted a half-hour 10 p.m. newscast on its MeTV-affiliated subchannel on digital channel 12.2, to compete with the longer-established hour-long 10 p.m. newscast on Fox affiliate WGHP.[10] On March 4, 2013, WXII started simulcasting its weeknight 6 p.m. newscast on its former sister radio station, WSJS. The two properties also entered into a news sharing agreement in which members of WSJS's reporting staff provide stories on WXII's newscasts while members of channel 12's news staff would also report for WSJS.[11][12]
On July 26, 2017, WXII announced that it would move its 10 p.m. newscast to its new sister station WCWG beginning July 31 and expanded it to a full hour on weeknights while remain as a half-hour on weekends.[13][14]
On September 5, 2017, WXII added an hour-long 4 p.m. newscast, expanding its early-evening news block to two-and-a-half hours from 4 to 6:30 p.m.[15]
Notable former on-air staff
- John Beard – anchor/reporter (1976–1977); later worked in Los Angeles (KNBC/KTTV) and at WGRZ in Buffalo
- Tampa
- Monica Malpass – anchor/reporter (joined WPVI-TV in Philadelphia in 1988)
- Bonnie Schneider – meteorologist (joined CNN in 2005); now with The Weather Channel
- Jennie Stencel – traffic reporter (resigned on May 14, 2010)
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
12.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
WXII-TV | NBC |
12.2 | 480i | MeTV | MeTV | |
12.3 | STORYTV | Story Television[17] | ||
12.4 | QVC | QVC |
WXII added This TV on digital subchannel 12.2 on June 1, 2009.[18] On July 24, 2012, Hearst Television renewed its affiliation agreement with MeTV to maintain existing affiliations with eight Hearst-owned stations already carrying the digital multicast network through 2015. As part of the renewal, Hearst also signed agreements to add the network as digital subchannels of WXII-TV and four other stations in Sacramento, Baltimore, Boston, and Oklahoma City.[19] Digital subchannel 12.2 replaced This TV with MeTV on August 6, 2012.[20]
Analog-to-digital conversion
WXII-TV shut down its analog signal on June 12, 2009, as part of the FCC-mandated
As part of the
Out-of-market cable and satellite carriage
In recent years, WXII has been carried on cable in areas outside of the Greensboro television market including cable systems within the Charlotte market in North Carolina and the Roanoke market in Virginia. On DirecTV, WXII has been carried in multiple areas within the Roanoke market in Virginia.[23]
CATV
In the 1970s and 1980s, WXII was once carried in Moore and Richmond counties.[24]
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WXII-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ The Winston-Salem Journal, Magnolia Trees and Pulitzer Prizes, by Frank V. Tursi, page 182.
- ^ Bill Montgomery, "What Ever Happened to ... Johnny Beckman", Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 11, 2006.
- ^ Hall, Melissa (September 21, 2021). "Ask SAM". Winston-Salem Journal.
- ^ "Statesville Record and Landmark from Statesville, North Carolina on September 30, 1972 · Page 21". September 30, 1972.
- ^ Jeri Rowe, "A Powerful AM Radio Station Gives NBC Affiliate WXII a Bigger Punch Regionwide", Greensboro News & Record, November 6, 1998.
- ^ "Winston-Salem Journal: "WXII off Time Warner Cable, due to contract dispute", July 10, 2012".
- ^ "WESH off Bright House; Pennsylvania station is substitute". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012.
- ^ "Nexttv | Programming| Business | Multichannel Broadcasting + Cable | www.nexttv.com". NextTV. August 18, 2023.
- ^ "WXII adds 10 p.m. newscast".
- ^ WXII 12 announces partnership with WSJS - 600 AM will air WXII 12 News at 6:00 p.m., WXII12.com, February 28, 2013.
- ^ Clodfelter, Tim (February 28, 2013). "WXII's 6 p.m. newscast will be broadcast on WSJS radio". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
- ^ Clodfelter, Tim (July 26, 2017). "Ask SAM: Why is WXII carrying news on CW channel?". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
- ^ Staff, WXII.com Web (July 27, 2017). "WXII 12 expands 10 p.m. news on The Triad CW". WXII. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
- ^ WXII 12 expands morning news coverage beginning Monday WXII.com, August 25, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
- ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for WXII". rabbitears.info.
- ^ "WYFF GREENVILLE, SC". www.rabbitears.info.
- ^ "WXII Launching New 24-Hour Movie, Classic TV Network", wxii12.com, March 23, 2009.
- ^ Me-TV Adds Five More Hearst Stations, TVNewsCheck, July 24, 2012.
- Reidsville, NCChamber of Commerce. July 25, 2012.
- ^ List of Digital Full-Power Stations
- ^ "WXII Analog Switch June 12th 2009". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 5, 2021.
- ^ "SVTV Stations - the things you care that others won't". Archived from the original on May 2, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ TV Query fcc.gov [permanent dead link]