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59-765: WLFL (channel 22) is a television station licensed to Raleigh, North Carolina , United States, serving the Research Triangle area as an affiliate of The CW . It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Durham -licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WRDC (channel 28). The two stations share studios in the Highwoods Office Park, just outside downtown Raleigh; WLFL's transmitter is located in Auburn, North Carolina . WLFL began broadcasting in December 1981 after years of work by Christian groups. It

118-509: A barter in some cases. Apex, North Carolina Apex ( / ˈ eɪ . p ɛ k s / ) is a town in Wake County, North Carolina , United States. At its southern border, Apex encompasses the community of Friendship . In 1994, the downtown area was designated a historic district, and the Apex train depot, built in 1867, is designated a Wake County landmark. The depot location marks

177-639: A combination of six Sinclair-owned stations (two CW/MyNetworkTV duopolies and two standalone MyNetworkTV affiliates) in three out of four markets; WLFL and WRDC were included in the Fox purchase option, along with Sinclair stations in Cincinnati ( WSTR-TV ), Norfolk (WTVZ), and Las Vegas ( KVCW and KVMY ). Fox announced in January 2013 that it would not exercise its option to buy any of the Sinclair stations in

236-605: A full-service station on channel 22 began in 1976 when Carolina Christian Communications, a group formed by Durham TV service shop owner L. L. "Buddy" Leathers, began raising funds with the goal of building a station with family-oriented and religious programs. Shortly before Christmas 1976, the group filed for a construction permit to build channel 22; a possible contender, Durham Life Broadcasting, had instead opted against filing for channel 22 and bought channel 28. Leathers expressed hope that any facilities vacated by an expanding WRDU could be reused by his station. A construction permit

295-530: A mayor and five council members (one of whom serves as mayor pro tem), who are each elected at-large in staggered four-year terms. The town's attorney and manager serve at the pleasure of the council. All the other staff report to the town manager and manage the town's day-to-day business. The town is led by Mayor Jacques K. Gilbert, elected in 2019. The council members, in order of tenure, are: Brett D. Gantt (2017), Audra M. Killingsworth (2017), Terry J. Mahaffey (2019), Ed Gray (2021), and Arno Zegerman (2023). In

354-415: 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

413-628: A passenger station for the Seaboard Air Line Railroad and later home to the locally supported Apex Community Library. The depot now houses the Apex Chamber of Commerce. Apex suffered mild setbacks during the Great Depression era, but growth began again in earnest in the 1950s. The town's proximity to RTP spurred additional residential development, yet the town managed to preserve its small-town character. During

472-521: A stake. Despite the change to a more commercial operation, the gift of WTVD's studio carried no restrictions forbidding its use by a for-profit company. In August 1981, a start date of the following month was announced; however, delays in constructing the station's tower at Apex held up completion. WLFL began broadcasting on the afternoon of December 18, 1981, with the film Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing as its inaugural program. The station's Durham quarters would prove to be temporary; because channel 22

531-489: A terse announcement, citing nothing more than "different philosophical views about the future", that Fox had decided to replace WLFL with WRAZ in the network beginning in 1998; Sinclair apparently had little confidence in Fox plans to expand to late night and early morning slots as well as in the area of news. The additional network shows threatened to encroach on lucrative fringe periods where the Sinclair stations made money. Even though relations improved between Sinclair and Fox,

590-425: 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

649-496: 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,

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708-592: Is broadcast by the WLFL multiplex as part of WRDC's carriage of ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) in the Raleigh–Durham market, which began in 2020. WLFL discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 22, on February 17, 2009, four months ahead of the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. It

767-470: 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

826-792: 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

885-642: Is provided by PSNC . Emergency, primary, and specialist care is provided at the WakeMed Apex Healthplex. Fire protection is provided by the Apex Fire Department operating from five stations with a sixth under construction. Police service is provided by the Apex Police Department. The Apex Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources department manages many parks, greenways, and sport programs, including

944-656: The North Carolina House of Representatives , Apex is represented by Julie von Haefen ( district 36 ), Erin Paré ( district 37 ), and Gale Adcock ( district 41 ). In the North Carolina Senate , Apex is represented by Sydney Batch ( district 17 ). In the U.S. House of Representatives Apex is represented by Deborah Ross ( NC-02 ) and Wiley Nickel ( NC-13 ). As of the 2020 census , 58,780 people, 18,197 households, and 14,027 families reside in

1003-405: 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

1062-665: The construction permit was granted. That June, the FCC let them move back to channel 22. Springfield became the full owner of the construction permit at year's end, and the station even began purchasing movie packages, but ownership soon reverted to the Sanford group, which discontinued its plans for WJHF. Channel 22 was then used by WRDU (channel 28), a new UHF station in Durham, for its Raleigh translator; established on channel 70 in 1969, it moved to channel 22 in 1972. Interest in building

1121-534: 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

1180-409: The 1990s, the town's population quadrupled to over 20,000, placing new demands upon Apex's infrastructure. Apex has continued to grow in recent years. A sizable shopping center was built at the intersection of Highway 55 and US 64 , and several new neighborhoods have been built as the town grows toward the west. In October 2006, a chemical explosion and fire in a waste-processing facility prompted

1239-601: The 2020 Comprehensive Financial Report for Apex, these were the town's top employers: Apex's public schools are operated by the Wake County Public School System . Over 4,000 students are enrolled in two public high schools in Apex, Apex Friendship High School and Apex High School . Public middle schools include: Public elementary schools include: Private schools: Charter schools: Apex Utilities provides water/sewer, electricity, garbage, recycling, and yard waste pickup. Natural Gas

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1298-683: The Apex Union Depot, the Apex City Hall , Apex Historic District , Calvin Wray Lawrence House , and Utley-Council House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The town is a suburb of both Raleigh and Research Triangle Park (RTP). It is situated to the southwest of Raleigh with direct highway access via US 1 . Apex is south of RTP with direct highway access via NC 540 . Apex crests

1357-466: The Chatham Railroad, connecting Chatham County with Raleigh , was completed. At the highest point of the line, which railroad workers dubbed the "apex of the grade", existed a pond. Trains leaving out of Chatham would stop at the pond to replenish their water. A community began to grow around the stop, which the railroad workers called Apex. The town of Apex was incorporated in 1873. The pond

1416-519: The FCC for approval of its application. The main issue was that the FCC was busy revamping the table of UHF television allocations nationally. The merged Springfield-Crescent group had hoped for channel 22 because Springfield Television already owned two channel 22 stations ( WWLP-TV in Springfield and WKEF in Dayton, Ohio ), but they instead received channel 28 along with the call letters WJHF when

1475-459: The Raleigh–Durham area, and the group sought to raise $ 1 million in temporary financing to get the station going. It was still waiting for FCC approval to move its transmitter in May 1979. Because lenders were reluctant to loan money to a non-profit, Leathers had the construction permit transferred for $ 633,000 from Carolina Christian Communications to Family Television Inc., in which Leathers also owned

1534-499: The Raleigh–Durham market back to three television newsrooms, as WPTF-TV had discontinued newscasts the year before shortly before changing its call letters to WRDC. Paramount sold WLFL to Sinclair Broadcast Group in 1994. Nearly simultaneously, Sinclair provided capital for Communications Corporation of America to buy WRDC, then the NBC affiliate (but about to lose its NBC affiliation and switch to UPN ). Sinclair provided CCA 98 percent of

1593-647: 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

1652-476: The aforementioned four markets; it chose instead to purchase WJZY and WMYT-TV in Charlotte from Capitol Broadcasting. On June 27, 2022—16 years after the first newscast from WTVD—the station announced that the program would be replaced effective immediately with Sinclair's The National Desk , airing from 10 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. The station's signal is multiplexed : The main subchannel of WRDC

1711-420: The end of the decade, the station's programming was attracting five percent of the market, though it was well ahead of WPTF-TV, an anemic NBC affiliate, in that station's news time slots. By November 1990, it had passed WPTF in total-day ratings. Later in 1986, TVX acquired five major-market independent stations from Taft Broadcasting in a highly leveraged transaction. TVX's bankers, Salomon Brothers , provided

1770-460: The evacuation of over 16,000 residents. There were few serious injuries, and residents were soon able to return home. In 2009, a federal court approved a $ 7.85M settlement to compensate Apex residents affected by the disaster. Each household received $ 750. Businesses received $ 2,200. In 2015, Apex was named the number-one place to live in America, according to Money magazine. In addition to

1829-453: The financing for the acquisition and in return held more than 60 percent of the company. The company was to pay Salomon Brothers $ 200 million on January 1, 1988, and missed the first payment deadline, having been unable to lure investors to its junk bonds even before Black Monday . While TVX recapitalized by the end of 1988, Salomon Brothers reached an agreement in principle in January 1989 for Paramount Pictures to acquire options to purchase

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1888-420: 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

1947-428: The highest point on the old Chatham Railroad, hence the town's name. The town motto is "The Peak of Good Living". In the late 19th century, a small community developed around the railroad station. The forests were cleared for farmland, much of which was dedicated to tobacco farming . Since Apex was near the state capital, it became a trading center. The railroad shipped products such as lumber, tar, and tobacco. The town

2006-554: The investment firm's majority stake. This deal was replaced in September with an outright purchase of 79 percent of TVX for $ 110 million. In 1991, Paramount acquired the remainder of TVX, forming the Paramount Stations Group . Paramount made one major move in its three years of owning WLFL: it allotted $ 2.6 million to start a 10 p.m. local newscast on the station beginning September 21, 1992. This would bring

2065-400: 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

2124-419: 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

2183-587: The money to buy channel 28 and combined the two stations' operations under a local marketing agreement . The merged operation was housed at the former WRDC facility in the Highwoods area; the Front Street studio was then used by the incoming NBC affiliate, WNCN , to start its news department. WLFL gained additional competition, particularly in the area of news, when WRAZ (channel 50) began broadcasting as an affiliate of The WB in September 1995. The station

2242-517: The network had already signed affiliation agreements with its new Raleigh and Norfolk stations and carried out the switch in 1998, with WLFL switching from Fox to The WB. The newscast remained the same, changing from the Fox 22 News at 10 to the WB 22 News at 10 with the same talent. This continued until 2003, when the WLFL newscast was converted to Sinclair's new News Central hybrid newscast format. With half

2301-586: The news program—consisting of national and international news and weather—originating from Sinclair's corporate office in Hunt Valley, Maryland , eight of the 24 employees in the WLFL newsroom lost their jobs. Ratings, which had still been competitive with the WRAL-produced news on WRAZ, slipped behind channel 50. In 2006, The WB and UPN were shut down and replaced with The CW , which offered programming from both predecessor networks. However, Sinclair

2360-637: The next year, after a dispute with Sinclair and Fox over programming, Fox agreed to move its programming to WRAZ (channel 50) beginning in 1998. At that time, WLFL became an affiliate of The WB . The local newscast continued, but ratings fell behind WRAZ's competing effort; it was converted to the News Central hybrid format and discontinued in March 2006, replaced shortly thereafter with a program produced by ABC affiliate WTVD . That year, WLFL also joined The CW when The WB and UPN merged. The WTVD newscast

2419-420: The population. Of the 18,197 total households, 14,027 (77%) were family households, of which 46% had children under 18 living with them, 63% of the family households were married couples living together, and 11% had a female householder with no husband, 4,170 households were not families, comprising 23% of total households. The average household size was 3.12, and the average family size was 2.81. According to

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2478-476: 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

2537-637: The station for the A.S. Abell Company , publisher of The Baltimore Sun ; however, Abell opted not to make the transaction and offered its option to buy to Seymour. The Seymour deal fell apart, and in June 1985, the Norfolk, Virginia –based TVX Broadcast Group purchased WLFL for $ 14.5 million, after the deal with S&F fell through. TVX, in announcing the purchase, informed investors that it would likely have to sell WNRW in Winston-Salem to buy WLFL;

2596-471: The station's original digital channel allocation was among the high band UHF channels (52–69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition. WLFL relocated its signal from RF channel 27 to RF channel 18 in 2019, as a result of the 2016 United States wireless spectrum auction . Television station The Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow ( TV Station Paul Nipkow ) in Berlin , Germany ,

2655-429: The town. At the 2010 census , there were 37,476 people, 13,225 households, and 9,959 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,437.9 people per square mile. The 13,922 housing units had an average density of 905.8 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 69% White, 7% African American, 12% Asian, 3% from other races, and 9% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 8% of

2714-500: The transition from The WB to The CW, Sinclair wound down News Central and discontinued WLFL's WB 22 News on March 31, 2006, laying off 23 employees. It was replaced with a new 10 p.m. newscast produced by WTVD in Durham on June 26. On May 15, 2012, Sinclair and Fox agreed to a five-year affiliation agreement extension for the group's 19 Fox-affiliated stations until 2017. This included an option—exercisable between July 1, 2012, and March 31, 2013—for Fox parent News Corporation to buy

2773-521: The two stations' signals overlapped, a combination then generally not allowed by the FCC. The FCC approved the WLFL transaction in February 1986 and gave TVX 12 months to divest itself of WNRW. During 1986, WLFL also became the market's first Fox affiliate when the network launched on October 9, and it leased space in a distribution center on Front Street in Raleigh. TVX upgraded WLFL's programming. By

2832-592: The watersheds of both the Neuse and Cape Fear Rivers . According to the United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 25.15 square miles (65.1 km ), of which 25.06 square miles (64.9 km ) is land and 0.09 square miles (0.23 km ) (0.36%) is water. Neighboring towns include Cary to the north and northeast, Holly Springs to the south, and Raleigh to the east and northeast. Apex's council–manager form of government has

2891-399: 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

2950-413: Was awarded in 1977, and Leathers selected the call sign WLFL—"Light for Living". WTVD in Durham also gifted its Broad Street studio, which it had used since 1954 and was about to vacate, to Carolina Christian Communications; prior to being a television studio, it had served as a jail and a sanitorium . However, Carolina Christian soon found that the former WRDU transmission facility was inadequate to cover

3009-442: Was designated to Raleigh, it had to move its main studio there within 18 months of starting up. Even before launch, the possibility was floated of the station leaving Durham for Raleigh. On November 5, 1984, Family Television announced it would sell WLFL to S&F Communications Corp., a group led by Stephen D. Seymour and Stuart D. Frankel, with a call sign change to WMVZ planned for when the new owners took over. Seymour had scouted

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3068-590: Was discontinued in 2022. Channel 22 had been allocated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to Raleigh as an educational reserved channel in 1952. However, it was unreserved by the mid-1960s, and in 1965, two groups that had sought the channel alone merged. The groups were Crescent Broadcasting Company, led by former governor Terry Sanford , and the Springfield Television Broadcasting Company of Springfield, Massachusetts . The merged company found itself waiting on

3127-416: Was eventually drained by culverts and ceased to exist by 1900. Apex grew slowly through the succeeding decades, despite several devastating fires, including a June 12, 1911, conflagration that destroyed most of the downtown business district. The town center was rebuilt and stands to this day, now one of the most intact railroad towns in the state. At the heart of town stands the Apex Union Depot, originally

3186-594: Was late to sign an agreement with The CW. The news of the merger resulted in Sinclair announcing, two months later, that most of its UPN and WB affiliates, including WRDC, would join MyNetworkTV , a new service formed by the News Corporation , which was also owner of the Fox network. It was not until May 2 that an agreement was signed for WLFL and several other Sinclair-owned WB stations to join The CW. Amid

3245-472: Was officially incorporated in 1873. By 1900, the town had a population of 349. As of the 2020 census , its population was 58,780, making it the 17th-most populous municipality in North Carolina . The population boom occurred primarily in the late 1990s. The Research Triangle Park , established in the 1960s, created strong demand for technology workers. This also drove population growth. In 1869,

3304-726: Was one of three stations in the Triangle market, along with WRDC and independent station WRAY-TV , that decided to switch on that date, even though the official transition date had been changed to June 12, 2009. In June, the signal moved from channel 57, part of the high-band UHF channels being removed from broadcasting use, to its final channel 27. Although it had an assigned digital channel that it would move to post-transition that differed from its original digital channel, WLFL continued to broadcast its digital signal on its pre-transition allocation (UHF channel 57). The station's digital signal relocated to UHF channel 27 at noon on June 12, 2009, as

3363-544: Was programmed by WRAL-TV and featured a WRAL-produced 10 p.m. newscast. In late 1995, however, a rift emerged between Sinclair and Fox. In late November, Fox announced that it would move its network affiliation in Norfolk from Sinclair-owned WTVZ to WVBT , a station that—like WRAZ—was a WB affiliate programmed by one of the market's established stations, when its current affiliation agreement with Sinclair expired in September 1998. Three weeks later, Sinclair revealed in

3422-475: Was the Triangle's first full-market independent station , airing secular and some religious programs. It was purchased by TVX Broadcast Group in 1985; TVX made WLFL the area's first Fox affiliate when the network launched in 1986 and upgraded its programming. TVX was sold to Paramount Pictures between 1989 and 1991; Paramount invested in a 10 p.m. local newscast for channel 22, which debuted in September 1992. Sinclair acquired WLFL from Paramount in 1994;

3481-678: 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 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

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