A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's surface to any number of tuned receivers simultaneously.
116-535: WBTV (channel 3) is a television station in Charlotte, North Carolina , United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Gray Television . The station's studios are located off Morehead Street, just west of Uptown Charlotte , and its transmitter is located in north-central Gaston County . In addition, WBTV's studios continue to house the operations of its former sister radio stations currently owned by Urban One : WBT-AM / FM and WLNK , as well as WFNZ , which
232-587: A barter in some cases. Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling Jim Crockett Promotions is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina , United States. Founded in 1931, the promotion emerged as a cornerstone of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). By the 1980s, Jim Crockett Promotions was, along with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), one of
348-563: 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 did not 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
464-422: A 1999 Robinson R44 helicopter nicknamed "WBTV Sky3" crashed onto the grass verge of I-77 in south Charlotte during a training exercise. 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
580-424: 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
696-490: A deal that was too lucrative for him to resist, considering that he had kids in college. Jefferson-Pilot management, who only a few years earlier had touted Mayes as part of the station's campaign, "Turn to People You Know", wanted to make its newscasts appeal to a younger audience and made little effort to retain him. Within a few months, WBTV's late-evening newscast lost the lead at 11 p.m. to channel 9, and it would not regain first place in that timeslot until 2004. WSOC-TV gained
812-486: A large lead in ratings for most other news timeslots beginning in 1990. WBTV returned to a strong position in the late 1990s, culminating in wrestling the #1 spot at noon in 1998 from WSOC-TV. The two stations have gone back and forth at first place in most timeslots since then. During the July 2013 ratings period, WBTV took the lead at noon and 11 p.m., while WSOC led at all other news timeslots. Soon after Raycom took control of
928-627: A long-running program, Those Were the Years , hosted by Mike McKay and featuring episodes of classic television shows such as Dragnet , You Bet Your Life and Alfred Hitchcock Presents . It was seen for several years at 11:30 p.m. on Fridays, preempting the CBS late-night shows which competed poorly against The Tonight Show . Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, WBTV aired a Sunday morning program that featured singing cowboy Fred Kirby and his sidekick "Uncle Jim" (played by Jim Patterson). The show
1044-483: A moment of silence in honor of Tayag and Myers. 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 Thanksgiving week traffic at
1160-415: A much shorter wavelength, and thus requires a shorter antenna, but also higher power. North American stations can go up to 5000 kW ERP for video and 500 kW audio, or 1000 kW digital. Low channels travel further than high ones at the same power, but UHF does not suffer from as much electromagnetic interference and background "noise" as VHF, making it much more desirable for TV. Despite this, in
1276-580: 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
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#17327905499521392-528: A number of its co-owners (including Barnett and brothers Jack and Jerry Brisco ), thus gaining control of GCW's flagship Saturday night time slot on TBS. This tactic—co-opting the time slots of rival territories in their own "backyard"/local TV markets—was part of the WWF's national expansion strategy. To McMahon's surprise, however, the move backfired with TBS. When the WWF aired its first show on TBS on July 14, replacing World Championship Wrestling , viewer backlash
1508-448: A partnership, had also withdrawn from the NWA. JCP also began to run shows in new markets from coast-to-coast (often in less-than-sold-out arenas), greatly increasing travel costs and other overhead. JCP's first pay-per-view endeavor, 1987's Starrcade , was scheduled in its traditional Thanksgiving slot, but ran into unexpected competition from the WWF's inaugural Survivor Series PPV, which
1624-535: A secondary company out of Knoxville, Tennessee . The promotion featured such stars as Mulligan; his son Barry Windham (then billed as Blackjack Mulligan Jr.); Kevin Sullivan ; Wayne Ferris ; The Mongolian Stomper ; Terry Taylor ; Tim Horner , and others. The enterprise lasted less than one year, however. By the 1980s, American professional wrestling was undergoing seismic and rapid change. The old, NWA-sanctioned system of separate, regional "territory" promotions
1740-455: A single supercard in 1985 and expanding to the full tour in 1986. By 1987, Crockett was elected to a third term as NWA President, and gained control (either through purchase or working agreements) of the St. Louis Wrestling Club , Heart of America Sports Attractions ( Bob Geigel 's Central States brand), Championship Wrestling from Florida , and Bill Watts 's Mid-South Sports (which operated under
1856-758: 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. 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, WIS in Columbia and WMBF-TV in Myrtle Beach and WHNS in Greenville —to cover stories in South Carolina. Between them,
1972-425: A variety of ways to generate revenue from television commercials . They may be an independent station or part of a broadcasting network , or some other structure. They can produce some or all of their programs or buy some broadcast syndication programming for or all of it from other stations or independent production companies. Many stations have some sort of television studio , which on major-network stations
2088-496: Is non-commercial educational (NCE) and considered public broadcasting . To avoid concentration of media ownership of television stations, government regulations in most countries generally limit the ownership of television stations by television networks or other media operators, but these regulations vary considerably. Some countries have set up nationwide television networks, in which individual television stations act as mere repeaters of nationwide programs . In those countries,
2204-470: Is broadcast via terrestrial radio waves. A group of television stations with common ownership or affiliation are known as a TV network and an individual station within the network is referred to as O&O or affiliate , respectively. Because television station signals use the electromagnetic spectrum, which in the past has been a common, scarce resource, governments often claim authority to regulate them. Broadcast television systems standards vary around
2320-411: 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 UHF station on channel 36, known as WAYS-TV and then WQMC-TV, which broadcast briefly from 1953 to 1955. It was nominally an NBC affiliate, sharing a secondary ABC affiliation with channel 3. However, channel 36's signal
2436-792: Is often used for newscasts or other local programming . There is usually a news department , where journalists gather information. There is also a section where electronic news-gathering (ENG) operations are based, receiving remote broadcasts via remote pickup unit or satellite TV . Outside broadcasting vans, production trucks , or SUVs with electronic field production (EFP) equipment are sent out with reporters , who may also bring back news stories on video tape rather than sending them back live . To keep pace with technology United States television stations have been replacing operators with broadcast automation systems to increase profits in recent years. Some stations (known as repeaters or translators ) only simulcast another, usually
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#17327905499522552-424: 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
2668-574: The CBS Radio Network . It is the only commercial television station in the market that has never changed its primary affiliation. 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,
2784-589: 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 CBS won the television rights to the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Due to North Carolina's status as a college basketball hotbed and local teams North Carolina and Duke being mainstays in
2900-573: The Federal Communications Commission 's (FCC) "freeze" on new television licenses , which lasted until the Commission released its Sixth Report and Order in 1952. As such, it was Charlotte's only VHF station for eight years, carrying affiliations with all four major networks of the time— CBS , NBC , ABC and DuMont . However, WBTV has always been a primary CBS affiliate, owing to WBT radio's long affiliation with
3016-696: The Jim Barnett -controlled company would go national itself; GCW acquiesced to the World Championship Wrestling name change in 1982. Meanwhile, by 1983, JCP went from recording its weekly shows in a television studio to shooting on-location, in between matches at live arena events. After purchasing a mobile television production unit for $ 1 million, Crockett unveiled what became the NWA's dominant annual supercard, Starrcade . In 1984, McMahon's WWF purchased controlling interest in GCW from
3132-606: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship during his presidency; by this point, JCP's top contracted performer, Ric Flair , was locked-in as the champion. Moreover, even though Flair was obligated to perform title-defense matches in each territory against the territory's own chosen star/challenger, any title changes only occurred between other performers also contracted to Crockett, such as Dusty Rhodes and Ron Garvin . Crockett's rapid expansion had significant financial consequences for JCP. By December,
3248-549: The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Crockett joined the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in 1952, and his "territory" covered Virginia , North Carolina and South Carolina . The name "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" became JCP's primary brand name in print, radio, and other advertising (the name was also used for its main television programs). The business was incorporated in the 1950s. Jim Crockett died in 1973. He left JCP to his family, with his eldest son, Jim Crockett, Jr. , taking over as chief executive. Led by
3364-937: 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. On November 12, 2007, Lincoln Financial announced its intention to sell WBTV, sister stations WWBT in Richmond and WCSC-TV in Charleston, South Carolina , and Lincoln Financial Sports, to Raycom Media for $ 583 million. Lincoln Financial also sold its Charlotte radio stations to Braintree, Massachusetts –based Greater Media , effectively breaking up Charlotte's last co-owned radio/television station combination. According to Charlotte Observer TV critic Mark Washburn, Lincoln Financial decided soon after taking over
3480-626: The Southeast eventually suffered, as some local fans vindictively withheld their support. Booking decisions also factored into the promotion's downfall. JCP flushed away a potentially profitable angle following the acquisition of Bill Watts 's UWF by " burying " the UWF's talent. Instead of portraying them as competitive with JCP wrestlers, the UWF's wrestlers and championships were portrayed as second-rate compared to those of JCP. Meanwhile, mid-carder Ron Garvin beat perennial champion Ric Flair for
3596-524: The Washington – Greenville market, in addition to its current Raycom sister stations. The sale was approved on December 20, and was completed on January 2, 2019. 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. On November 22, 2022, at 11:57 a.m.,
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3712-405: The broadcast range , or geographic area, that the station is limited to, allocates the broadcast frequency of the radio spectrum for that station's transmissions, sets limits on what types of television programs can be programmed for broadcast and requires a station to broadcast a minimum amount of certain programs types, such as public affairs messages . Another form of television station
3828-534: The electricity bill and emergency backup generators . In North America , full-power stations on band I (channels 2 to 6) are generally limited to 100 kW analog video ( VSB ) and 10 kW analog audio ( FM ), or 45 kW digital ( 8VSB ) ERP. Stations on band III (channels 7 to 13) can go up by 5 dB to 316 kW video, 31.6 kW audio, or 160 kW digital. Low-VHF stations are often subject to long-distance reception just as with FM. There are no stations on Channel 1 . UHF , by comparison, has
3944-471: The "GrayONE" graphics package used by most Gray stations. On November 15, 2013, both WBTV and WBT were dedicated with a North Carolina historical marker at the corner of Tryon and Third Streets (reading "WBT/WBTV – Oldest broadcast stations in North Carolina established 1922. WBT radio long hosted live country music . WBTV sign-on, July 15, 1949. Studios here until 1955"). The Wilder Building, which
4060-486: 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. The show was the first to be videotaped in color starting September 5, 1958. Feezor's show
4176-980: The 1980s, Crockett, Jr. began consolidating the Southern member promotions of the National Wrestling Alliance. Discarding the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling brand, he began promoting his events simply as NWA shows, although his promotion remained distinct from the larger NWA entity. In August 1980, Crockett, Jr. was elected president of the NWA, and the next year (the same year Crockett moved his TV show tapings from Raleigh to Charlotte), former (and future) Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) booker Ole Anderson took over as Mid-Atlantic's booker. In 1981, Anderson booked both JCP and GCW simultaneously. In 1982, Crockett partnered with wrestlers Ric Flair and Blackjack Mulligan to start Southern Championship Wrestling,
4292-535: 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' Saturday morning cartoons as well. However, area viewers could watch those preempted shows on WSPA-TV in Spartanburg or WFMY through a strong antenna (WFMY and WSPA were and still are available on some cable systems in
4408-512: 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 ,
4524-602: The ACC until at least the 2026–27 season. 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
4640-533: 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
4756-556: The Charlotte market, although non-local programming is subject to blackout due to network non-duplication and syndication exclusivity rules). Before the arrival of the Carolina Panthers, WSPA was also known to air a different NFL game than what aired on WBTV, giving most Charlotte-area viewers a second option for NFL games. This was especially true if the Washington Redskins and Atlanta Falcons played at
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4872-549: The Mid-South Wrestling, and later, upon expansion, Universal Wrestling Federation brand names). Despite Crockett now having six consolidated territories under his banner and leading the NWA, JCP and the NWA were still two separate entities, and Crockett—like all NWA promoters before and since—was simply licensing the NWA brand name, whose true value was as a credibility-infusing, fan-trusted brand name for wrestling championships. Still, Crockett had an iron-clad grip on
4988-399: The NWA world title. Although Garvin was booked to be a babyface, many fans did not find him credible enough to be a serious threat to Flair. JCP apparently neglected to monitor its own lavish spending as well. Crockett flew himself and his top performers around in an expensive private jet. In addition to the expense of Crockett's personal jet, there were other extravagant purchases such as
5104-557: The Panthers' Super Bowl appearances locally, as CBS had the rights to Super Bowls XXXVIII and 50 . 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 Nielsen ratings in the Charlotte market. In addition to its legacy as
5220-590: 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
5336-616: The Saturday evening WWF show, and viewers clamoring for GCW's return, began to make the WWF's move a money-losing one. Eventually, McMahon cut his losses and sold the time slot to Crockett for $ 1 million. Although this gave Crockett vital national exposure, it also allowed McMahon to finance his own marquee wrestling event, WrestleMania . This chain of events was critical in Turner's eventual decision to purchase JCP and form World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1988. An extra sense of urgency
5452-559: The U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is taking another large portion of this band (channels 52 to 69) away, in contrast to the rest of the world, which has been taking VHF instead. This means that some stations left on VHF are harder to receive after the analog shutdown . Since at least 1974, there are no stations on channel 37 in North America for radio astronomy purposes. Most television stations are commercial broadcasting enterprises which are structured in
5568-763: The WWF buyout of the Toronto territory occurred, as well as after the airing of the WWF program The War to Settle the Score on MTV to high ratings. Together with the Minneapolis -based American Wrestling Association (AWA), Championship Wrestling from Georgia, and Memphis -based Jarrett Promotions, JCP created Pro Wrestling USA . However, the organization fell apart in January 1986. Crockett bought out Ole Anderson's Championship Wrestling from Georgia, on April 6, 1985, and
5684-454: The WWF was the uncontested #1 PPV content provider in America at the time, only a handful of companies committed to air Starrcade, devastating the event's profitability. After the cable industry warned McMahon to never again attempt such a move, Crockett felt it safe to restart his PPV attempts, and scheduled Bunkhouse Stampede in January 1988. However, the WWF again sabotaged JCP by airing
5800-505: The WWF's success, McMahon was financially able to lure the top talent away from rival companies. Because of this, JCP offered many of its stars lucrative contracts - paying them beyond their actual value - to prevent them from leaving the company. Another factor was the fans' exasperation with the " Dusty Finish " (a type of " screwjob " finish named after Rhodes, who did not actually invent the concept, but used it frequently for matches at regular house shows and PPV/major cards, alike). Due to
5916-572: The WWF, as WrestleMania IV's buy rate was much lower than that of the previous year's Survivor Series. However, Clash of the Champions was now the only thing Crockett could use to keep the NWA alive, though it was not even as highly watched as the WWF's Saturday Night's Main Event . On the verge of bankruptcy, Crockett sold Jim Crockett Promotions to Ted Turner in November 1988, and the promotion
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#17327905499526032-594: The adjacent Greensboro– Winston-Salem – High Point and Asheville markets in North Carolina and South Carolina, and the Tri-Cities market in Tennessee and Virginia . Television station The Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow ( TV Station Paul Nipkow ) in Berlin , Germany , was the first regular television service in the world. It was on the air from 22 March 1935, until it was shut down in 1944. The station
6148-737: 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
6264-617: The broadcast to several local TV stations throughout the Carolinas and Virginia. In 1981, JCP moved to the WPCQ-TV studios in Charlotte (a station once owned by Ted Turner ). The local shows hosted by announcers like Billy "Big Bill" Ward (from WBTV in Charlotte) and Charlie Harville (at WGHP in High Point) gave way to Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (known briefly in 1978 as Mid-Atlantic Championship Sports ). Mid-Atlantic
6380-528: The company had bought-out the rival UWF; Crockett even moved many of his administrative employees from his Charlotte base to the UWF's former offices in Dallas. Jim Crockett, Jr. and Dusty Rhodes personally manned the Dallas office, leaving Jim Jr.'s brother David Crockett in charge of the Charlotte operations. Bob Geigel, a former NWA President who bought his promotion back from Crockett in Febrtuary 1987 through
6496-477: The crash. A further NTSB report released May 2, 2024 stated "inadequate inspections" did not reveal loose parts; these likely caused a loss of control, leading to the crash. On March 6, 2023, the family of Jason Myers filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Wilson Air Center in North Carolina; this lawsuit was later expanded to include a claim of negligence against Total Traffic and Weather Network and iHeartMedia , who employed Chip Tayag and were responsible for
6612-609: 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
6728-477: 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 –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
6844-458: 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
6960-473: The first-ever Royal Rumble on the USA Network opposite Bunkhouse Stampede, cutting into its buy rate. Crockett then attempted to use McMahon's tactics against him, airing Clash of the Champions I —featuring a PPV-quality card—on TBS in an attempt to draw viewers away from WrestleMania IV on PPV, which took place that same night. This was one of the few tactics to actually work for JCP in its war with
7076-497: The five stations cover almost all of South Carolina. It is the second time that WBTV has had a sister station in the Florence/Myrtle Beach market; as mentioned above, Jefferson-Pilot was the founding owner of WBTW from 1954 to 1968. The station's signal is multiplexed : WBTV had previously carried a standard-definition simulcast of the station's main channel on its second digital subchannel . On July 12, 2010,
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#17327905499527192-534: The former Jefferson-Pilot properties that it would never really be able to integrate them with the rest of the company's assets, and had decided to sell them as soon as possible. The sale of the radio stations was finalized on January 31, 2008. However, WBTV still shares the Julian Price Place studio with its former radio sisters, and they also retain a news partnership. The FCC approved the sale of WBTV on March 25, 2008, and Raycom formally took control of
7308-461: The heavy overuse of this end-of-match sequence, many JCP fans started to expect the swerve at any moment, whenever a popular wrestler (usually a face ) appeared to win a title match and was about to be awarded the championship belt (or any similar situation), only to have the win overturned due to a technicality. As a result, attendance at live shows began to fall — even at venues where JCP had traditionally drawn well or extremely well. By 1988, JCP
7424-420: The highest point available in the transmission area, such as on a summit , the top of a high skyscraper , or on a tall radio tower . To get a signal from the master control room to the transmitter, a studio/transmitter link (STL) is used. The link can be either by radio or T1 / E1 . A transmitter/studio link (TSL) may also send telemetry back to the station, but this may be embedded in subcarriers of
7540-568: The issues that came with expansion was a lack of investing in the kind of marketing needed to make it successful. As mentioned, major cards such as Starrcade and the Bunkhouse Stampede did not draw as well when moved out of JCP's traditional territory. According to Rhodes, JCP failed to gain the national name recognition that McMahon achieved with the World Wrestling Federation. Rhodes also pointed out that with
7656-539: The late 1970s and early 1980s, it ran regular shows in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio . Crockett and Scott also bought minority shares of Frank Tunney 's Toronto -based promotion, Maple Leaf Wrestling . Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling also aired on a Buffalo, New York station, enabling the Tunney/Crockett/Scott enterprise to bring a full slate of shows to Ontario and upstate New York . In
7772-427: The limousines provided for various wrestlers and regular business parties held by officials throughout JCP's regional offices. In addition, the large amount of capital needed to take a wrestling company on a national tour and Crockett's aggressive territorial acquisitions had seriously drained JCP's coffers. In purchasing the UWF, JCP also took responsibility for the UWF's large debt from TV contracts, etc. Compounding
7888-416: The local bluegrass band The Br'arhoppers. Patterson was killed in a single-car accident in Charlotte in 1986; Kirby died in 1996 at age 85. 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
8004-408: The local stars could still be seen. Championship Wrestling from Georgia's television show (which had the same name as the promotion itself), along with that of Bill Watts 's Mid-South Wrestling (to whom Turner had also granted a time slot), easily surpassed the ratings for the WWF broadcast, which only featured clips and wrestler promos instead of original matches. The steep decline in ratings for
8120-400: The local television station has no station identification and, from a consumer's point of view, there is no practical distinction between a network and a station, with only small regional changes in programming, such as local television news . To broadcast its programs, a television station requires operators to operate equipment, a transmitter or radio antenna , which is often located at
8236-419: The main broadcast. Stations which retransmit or simulcast another may simply pick-up that station over-the-air , or via STL or satellite. The license usually specifies which other station it is allowed to carry. VHF stations often have very tall antennas due to their long wavelength , but require much less effective radiated power (ERP), and therefore use much less transmitter power output , also saving on
8352-411: The maintenance of the helicopter. The lawsuit, which is still ongoing, alleges that the helicopter was poorly maintained, leading to the crash. 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
8468-553: The market west of the Catawba River , a legacy from its nine-year head start. WBTV's lead would not last, as in 2023, the station came in second in several key timeslots, behind WSOC-TV. 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
8584-446: 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, using virtual channel 3. WBTV upgraded to ATSC 3.0 on July 7, 2021. In recent years, WBTV has been carried on cable in several areas outside of the Charlotte television market , including cable systems within
8700-476: The programmes seen on its owner's flagship station, and have no television studio or production facilities of their own. This is common in developing countries . Low-power stations typically also fall into this category worldwide. Most stations which are not simulcast produce their own station identifications . TV stations may also advertise on or provide weather (or news) services to local radio stations , particularly co-owned sister stations . This may be
8816-496: The ring for one last match under Jim Crockett Promotions, Ric Flair's Last Match on July 31, 2022. Shortly after Flair's announcement, David Crockett and Conrad Thompson of the Starrcast wrestling fan convention filed for U.S. trademarks on "Jim Crockett Promotions" and "JCP" with respect to wrestling events, news, and merchandise. During a media call promoting the pay-per-view, Thompson stated he will give his 50% percent of
8932-450: The sales profits just by providing the big viewing audience delivered by pro wrestling's loyal fanbase (wrestling generally did not attract large ad revenues at that time, due to negative industry perceptions of its lower-income target demographic). SuperStation TBS's parent company, Turner Broadcasting System , had asked Georgia Championship Wrestling to change its public brand name to World Championship Wrestling , helping fuel rumors that
9048-524: The same time. WBTV favored the Redskins while WSPA favored the Falcons, in tandem with most CBS affiliates in their respective states. 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
9164-475: 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"
9280-403: The simulcast was replaced with This TV . WBTV's weather radar was previously shown on its third subchannel, but the subchannel itself was removed prior to the digital transition. The third subchannel resumed operations upon the launch of Bounce TV on September 26, 2011. On January 1, 2012, WBTV switched the subchannels for This TV and Bounce TV, due to a contractual obligation to carry Bounce TV on
9396-401: 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
9512-517: The state's first television station, it also benefited from its ties to WBT, one of the most respected radio news operations in the Southeastern United States. Channel 3 did not face a serious challenge by any other news-producing station in the market until 1981. That year, Doug Mayes, the station's main anchorman since it began producing daily newscasts in 1952, jumped to WSOC-TV. Mayes said years later that channel 9 offered him
9628-532: The station launched its own news department (and hour-long 10 p.m. newscast) on January 1, 2014. 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. 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. On January 22, 2014, WBTV began producing
9744-595: The station on April 1. With the purchase, WBTV became Raycom's second-largest station by market size, behind the Cleveland, Ohio duopoly of WOIO and WUAB . Since Raycom Sports is headquartered in Charlotte, WBTV had a very important role in Raycom Media's operations, and it shared its flagship status with NBC affiliate WSFA, located in the company's homebase of Montgomery, Alabama . In early 2008, Raycom Sports and Lincoln Financial Sports officially merged under
9860-504: The station's second subchannel. On April 1, 2012, This TV was dropped and the third subchannel was once again removed to make room for WBTV's mobile DTV service, but was brought back on October 8, 2014, with the Grit network. On January 1, 2020, Circle, a country music and lifestyle channel was launched and added as a fourth subchannel at 3.3, moving Grit to subchannel 3.4. WBTV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 3, on June 12, 2009,
9976-423: The station, WBTV began airing local newscasts and CBS programs in high definition . During the 2016 February sweeps, WBTV surged to first place in all timeslots, including the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts, for the first time in 26 years. WBTV credited its strong social media presence and its talent continuity for the ratings win, while WSOC lost much of its main talent in the previous year. Historically, WBTV has dominated
10092-402: The television station went on the air, its call letters were modified from WBT-TV to WBTV. Jefferson Standard merged with Pilot Life in 1968 (although it had owned controlling interest since 1945) and became Jefferson-Pilot Corporation. In 1970, the media interests were folded into a new subsidiary, Jefferson-Pilot Communications. WBTV received one of the last construction permits issued before
10208-545: The three stations until 1967, when WCCB became a full-time ABC affiliate. From 1958 to 1974, WBTV's studio facilities served as the home for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling telecasts. Since its completion in 1984, WBTV's signal has been transmitted from a 2,000-foot (610 m)-high guy-wired aerial mast transmitter tower located in north-central Gaston County, North Carolina , which is also shared with former radio sister WLNK . When WAGA-TV in Atlanta, which signed on
10324-437: The time. The FAA and NTSB began an investigation into the incident; the preliminary findings of this investigation, coupled with the available RadarBox data, indicated that the helicopter was initially traveling at 80 miles per hour (129 km/h), and made three 360-degree turns just before it crashed. Tayag, the pilot, never issued any distress signal, though he was in contact with CLT air traffic control moments before
10440-519: The tournament, NCAA tournament games are consistently among the highest-rated programs in the market during playoff season. In 2008, for instance, NCAA games on WBTV attracted a 13.4 rating and a 24 share, the third-highest in the nation (behind only WLKY-TV in Louisville and WREG-TV in Memphis ). The popularity of a series of specials commemorating the station's 25th anniversary in 1974 led to
10556-499: The two largest promotions in the United States. The Crockett family sold a majority interest in the promotion to Turner Broadcasting System (which was acquired by Time Warner in 1996, later became WarnerMedia from 2018–2022, now known as Warner Bros. Discovery ), resulting in the creation of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1988. In 2022, Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. was restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett . Jim Crockett (1909–1973)
10672-463: The value of professional wrestling for cable television in the early 1970s. WTCG aired Georgia Championship Wrestling's programming on Saturday evenings, and wrestling provided his then-fledgling enterprise (the future SuperStation WTBS ) a source of cheap live entertainment which was well-suited to the station's target demographics. Turner could run per inquiry advertisements (for products like Slim Whitman albums and Ginsu knives) and take part of
10788-399: The world. Television stations broadcasting over an analog system were typically limited to one television channel , but digital television enables broadcasting via subchannels as well. Television stations usually require a broadcast license from a government agency which sets the requirements and limitations on the station. In the United States, for example, a television license defines
10904-697: The younger Crockett and under the guidance of a new creative force—former wrestler-turned-match- booker George Scott —the promotion moved away from generally featuring just tag teams , to primarily focusing on singles wrestling (although tag-team matches continued to play a big part in the company). By the early-1970s, JCP had gradually phased-out its multiple weekly television tapings in such cities as Charlotte, North Carolina , Greenville, South Carolina , and High Point, North Carolina , consolidating its production schedule into just one shoot (a Wednesday night videotaping at WRAL-TV in Raleigh ), and then syndicating
11020-890: Was a promoter of live events including professional wrestling , music concerts , plays , minor league baseball , and ice hockey . In 1931, he founded his own professional wrestling promotion , Jim Crockett Promotions. Crockett built JCP as a regional promotion centred on the Carolinas and Virginia . Although the business was always called Jim Crockett Promotions, it used a variety of pseudonyms as brand names for specific TV shows, newspaper and radio ads, and even on event tickets, themselves. Among those brand names that JCP created were "Championship Wrestling", "All Star Wrestling", "East Coast Wrestling", "Eastern States Championship Wrestling", "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling", "Mid-Atlantic Championship Sports", "Wide World Wrestling", and "NWA Pro Wrestling", NWA World Wide Wrestling", and "NWA World Championship Wrestling" following its membership in
11136-506: Was added to Crockett's national expansion ambitions when, after Frank Tunney's death, his nephew and successor Jack joined forces with the WWF. Crockett would now have to either find other willing partner-promoters or buy them out if he wanted to run shows outside the Mid-Atlantic territory. This period also marked Crockett's first attempt to create a national promotion; Crockett and other wrestling companies needed this opportunity after
11252-538: 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
11368-785: Was also hosted by the team of Rich Landrum and Johnny Weaver . In 1978, JCP later added a short-lived show, The Best of NWA Wrestling , which was taped at the WCCB studios in Charlotte (across the street from the now- Bojangles' Coliseum , a regular venue for Mid-Atlantic live events) and featured then-active wrestler Johnny Weaver sitting down with top stars in a "coach's show" format (in which host and guest did running commentary over 16 millimeter film footage of matches from local arenas). Rich Landrum and David Crockett appeared on "Best Of", doing promo interviews for local arena shows. JCP gradually began to expand, running shows in eastern Tennessee, parts of West Virginia , and even Savannah, Georgia . In
11484-440: Was basically a re-packaged version of Mid-Atlantic , and it was also announced by Billy "Big Bill" Ward. In 1975, JCP premiered a new, syndicated show, Wide World Wrestling (renamed World Wide Wrestling in 1978). The original host of this show was former Georgia Championship Wrestling announcer Ed Capral. Subsequent Wide World / World Wide announcers included Les Thatcher, George and Sandy Scott , and Dr. Tom Miller. It
11600-542: Was collapsing under increasing competitive pressure from Vincent K. McMahon 's World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE )—itself a family-owned territory promotion covering the northeastern U.S. — which was aggressively expanding into a nationwide promotion. Crockett had similar expansion goals, envisioning a united NWA through JCP's buyout of or merger with all of the NWA's regional promotions. Ted Turner , whose Atlanta television station WTCG would become distributed nationally via satellite starting in 1976, had realized
11716-710: Was demolished in 1983, served as WBTV's studio facilities from 1949 to 1955. 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
11832-894: 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). WBTV changed its logo, in use since 2001, on September 7, 2023. The new logo incorporates
11948-544: Was frequently referred to in the influential Pro Wrestling Illustrated and its sister publications by the WCW name or more commonly as "the World Championship area." As a result of the success World Championship Wrestling now had from acquiring the Saturday night time slots, Crockett (along with JCP booker Dusty Rhodes ) was able to establish an annual summer arena tour, " The Great American Bash " starting with
12064-420: Was hosted by Bob Caudle , (a longtime WRAL weatherman). Caudle was joined by a rotation of co-hosts (everyone from Les Thatcher all the way to Dr. Tom Miller ), before David Crockett (another son of Jim Crockett Sr.) became Bob's permanent co-host/ color commentary man (after ending a very brief career as a wrestler, himself). For a brief period, a secondary show, East Coast Wrestling , was taped at WRAL; it
12180-510: Was known at various times as Tiny Town , Whistle Stop , Fred Kirby's Little Rascals and Kirby's Corral . Giving the "hi-sign" to his young fans, Kirby was a fixture for many years at the western -themed park Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock (an hour northwest of Charlotte). In addition to Fred and Uncle Jim, viewers were treated to classic episodes of The Little Rascals ( Hal Roach 's Our Gang ) as well as frequent appearances by
12296-539: Was named after Paul Gottlieb Nipkow , the inventor of the Nipkow disk . Most often the term "television station" refers to a station which broadcasts structured content to an audience or it refers to the organization that operates the station. A terrestrial television transmission can occur via analog television signals or, more recently, via digital television signals. Television stations are differentiated from cable television or other video providers as their content
12412-457: Was on the verge of bankruptcy . In November 1988, Turner Broadcasting System purchased a majority interest in JCP for $ 9 million. The Crockett family retained a minority interest, with Crockett, Jr. becoming a consultant. Turner Broadcasting System ultimately rebranded the promotion World Championship Wrestling . In 1993, JCP ceased to exist. On May 16, 2022, Ric Flair announced he would return to
12528-503: Was previously owned by CBS Radio prior to its acquisition by Beasley Broadcast Group in 2014, followed by Entercom (now known as Audacy ) in late 2017 and then Urban One in 2020 under a local marketing agreement. The station first signed on the air on July 15, 1949. When it debuted, WBTV was the 13th television station in the United States and the first in the Carolinas; it is the oldest television station located between Richmond and Atlanta . Veteran Charlotte broadcaster Jim Patterson
12644-612: Was re-elected NWA President. This was to help counter the WWF, after it became America's dominant wrestling business in the wake of WrestleMania. Crockett then purchased both Saturday evening TBS time slots from Vince McMahon and filled the time slot with two hours of original programming filmed in Ted Turner's Atlanta studios . The programming aired under the World Championship Wrestling banner, which had been adopted by GCW before its demise. The entire company
12760-493: Was renamed the Universal Wrestling Corporation. Soon after, it was renamed again to World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The eventual downfall of JCP, leading to its eventual sale to Ted Turner (and thereby the birth of WCW) can be attributed to several key factors. Magnum T. A. — one of JCP's top babyfaces , and the performer scheduled to become NWA World Heavyweight Champion at Starrcade 1986 —
12876-418: Was scheduled to air the same night. Not wanting to possibly lose to the WWF in a direct PPV competition, Crockett decided to move Starrcade's starting time to Thanksgiving afternoon instead of the evening. However, the WWF then threatened cable companies that if they chose to air Starrcade, they would not be offered future WWF PPVs, including that year's Survivor Series and the forthcoming WrestleMania IV . Since
12992-530: Was severe, as the show's Southern fans were incensed to see their beloved stars suddenly replaced—without advance notice—by an "invading force" of wrestlers from "up North", an event that has since become known in pro wrestling lore as Black Saturday . In response to the ensuing deluge of complaints, TBS granted an upstart promotion called Championship Wrestling from Georgia (backed by holdout GCW shareholder and NWA member Fred Ward and former GCW wrestler/booker Ole Anderson) an early Saturday morning time slot so that
13108-721: Was severely injured in a car accident over two months before Starrcade (October 14), and could never wrestle again. So, JCP turned major "heel" Nikita Koloff , into a face on October 25, to take Magnum T. A.'s place while still being able to have a profitable build-up to Starrcade's main event. JCP alienated loyal fans in the Carolinas by moving Starrcade '87 and the Bunkhouse Stampede to arenas in Chicago and New York City, respectively. JCP had no real history and market presence in either of these non-southern metro areas, and its ability to drawing sellout crowds for arena shows in
13224-750: Was severely weak, and NBC continued to allow WBTV to cherry-pick its stronger programming. Channel 36 went dark in March 1955, and DuMont shut down roughly a year later in August 1956. Channel 3 took on secondary affiliations with NBC and ABC until Charlotte's second VHF station, WSOC-TV (channel 9), took the NBC affiliation when it signed on in April 1957. Channel 36 returned to the air in November 1964 as WCCB (later moving to channel 18 in November 1966), carrying whatever CBS programs that WBTV turned down in order to carry ABC programs. ABC programming continued to be split among
13340-402: Was so absolute that it was once said the dials of most Charlotteans' television sets were "rusted on channel 3". 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
13456-858: Was the first person seen on the station, and remained employed there until his death in 1986. WBTV was originally owned by the Greensboro -based Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company, then-owners of WBT (1110 AM), the city's oldest radio station and the first fully licensed station in the South. At the time, the Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company also had a 16.5% interest in the Greensboro News Company , licensee of WFMY-TV , which signed on from Greensboro two months after WBTV. Jefferson Standard had purchased WBT from CBS in 1947. Shortly before
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