WNCN

For the former New York City radio station called WNCN-FM, see WAXQ.

WNCN

Goldsboro/Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina
Branding	NBC 17 (general) NBC 17 News (newscasts)
Slogan	Accurate, Balanced, to the Point
Channels	Digital: 17 (UHF) Virtual: 17 (PSIP)
Subchannels	(see article)
Affiliations	NBC on 17.1 Antenna TV on 17.2 Universal Sports on 17.3
Owner	Media General, Inc. (Media General Communications Holdings, LLC)
First air date	April 11, 1988
Call letters' meaning	North Carolina's NBC (or North Carolina's News, from before NBC acquisition)
Former callsigns	WYED (1988-1994)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 17 (UHF, 1988-2009) Digital: 55 (UHF)
Former affiliations	independent (1988-1995) The WB (January-September 1995)
Transmitter power	291 kW
Height	611 m
Facility ID	50782
Transmitter coordinates	35°40′29″N 78°31′40″W / 35.67472°N 78.52778°W / 35.67472; -78.52778
Website	www.nbc17.com

WNCN is the NBC affiliate television station in the Triangle region of North Carolina (the Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville DMA), broadcasting on digital channel 17. It is licensed to Goldsboro, but its studios are just outside of downtown Raleigh. The station is carried on cable channel 6 in Raleigh, cable channel 2 in Durham and Chapel Hill, channel 10 in Wilson, Fayetteville and Southern Pines, channel 13 in Goldsboro, channel 9 in Carrboro, and cable channel 7 in most other places, including Cary. WNCN's transmitter is located in Auburn, North Carolina.

History

WNCN began life on April 11, 1988 as WYED-TV, a small station airing some children's programming during the morning such as Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and the Home Shopping Network the rest of the day. WYED was the first (and only) television station of Beasley Broadcasting Group, which was owned by George Beasley who got his start in 1961 by signing on radio station WPYB radio in nearby Benson, North Carolina. Studios were located in Clayton, along with a 1,550-foot (470 m) tower nearby broadcast 2.6 million watts of power. In 1992, WYED added cartoons and syndicated talk and game shows. While the station could be seen clearly in Raleigh and Durham, it couldn't be seen as clearly in the far western and northern reaches of the Triangle.

In 1994 the Outlet Company of Providence, Rhode Island bought the station, and on January 1, 1995, changed its call letters to the current WNCN (North Carolina's News). The new WNCN increased its signal to 5 million watts, boosting its coverage area to the entire Triangle. The station also added more sitcoms and first-run syndicated shows. It began to carry programming from the WB Television Network, which launched in January 1995.

A month later, NBC signed a long-term affiliation deal with Outlet. Outlet had very good relations with NBC; it owned two of NBC's strongest affiliates, WJAR-TV in its home city and WCMH-TV in Columbus, Ohio. Channel 17 immediately began to run NBC programming pre-empted by the network's existing affiliate, WRDC-TV (channel 28), which had been one of NBC's lowest-rated affiliates for several years. NBC had been looking for a way to get on another station for some time, especially since WRDC frequently preempted its programming. WNCN completely replaced WRDC as the Triangle's NBC station in September after WRDC's affiliation contract ran out, sending the WB affiliation to WRAZ (channel 50). It also moved into the former studios of WLFL-TV (channel 22) in North Raleigh.

Outlet sold its broadcasting holdings to NBC in 1996. Of note, this resulted in WNCN becoming NBC's first UHF owned-and-operated station since the 1950s. During that decade the network briefly owned WBUF-TV (later to become PBS station WNED-TV) in Buffalo, New York and the then-WNBC-TV in New Britain, Connecticut, the latter of which reacquired as WVIT in 1997.

WNCN is the fourth station in the Triangle to have a primary affiliation with NBC. NBC had first aired on WTVD (channel 11) from 1954 to 1956, then WRAL-TV (channel 5) from 1956 to 1962. After WRAL became a full-time ABC affiliate in 1962, WTVD shoehorned CBS and NBC onto its schedule until 1968, when WRDC-TV signed on that year as WRDU-TV. (Channel 28 was also known as WPTF-TV, from 1978 until 1991.) When WNCN became a full NBC affiliate, it marked the first time that network's full schedule had aired in the Triangle since WRAL added ABC part-time in 1959.

In 2000, WNCN abandoned its 1,550-foot (470 m) tower in Clayton for a 2,000-foot (610 m) perch on an arm of Capitol Broadcasting Company's new digital candelabra tower eight miles (13 km) closer to Raleigh. WNCN-DT signed on at UHF channel 55 at the same time. The station had to get a waiver from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to do this, as FCC rules require a station's transmitter to be no further than 15 miles (24 km) from its city of license.

After becoming an NBC station, WNCN began identifying itself as "NBC 17". Even now, the station almost never uses its call letters on-air, except during legal IDs. When WNCN was owned by NBC Universal, it was one of three network-owned stations on the UHF dial (alongside KNSD in San Diego and WVIT in Hartford) and was also one of two network-owned and operated stations in the Raleigh-Durham market (alongside ABC-owned WTVD, which continues to be owned by The Walt Disney Company).

On January 9, 2006, NBC Universal announced it was putting WNCN up for sale^[1] along with WVTM-TV in Birmingham, Alabama and the other two former Outlet stations, WJAR and WCMH. On April 6, 2006, it was announced that Media General would acquire these stations.^[2] This made WNCN a sister station to WNCT-TV in Greenville. The sale was finalized on June 26, 2006. [1]

In early December 2006, WNCN's website, was redesigned; they credited Media General in their copyright notices, and were no longer operated by Internet Broadcasting. WVTM's website followed suit on December 11, 2006, with WCMH's redesigned website launching on December 14.

WNCN alterate on-air logo and on microphone flags.

A redesigned website debuted in October 2010.

Digital programming

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel	Video	Aspect	Programming
17.1	1080i	16:9	Main WNCN programming / NBC
17.2	480i	4:3	Antenna TV
17.3			Universal Sports

As part of the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, WNCN shut down its analog transmitter, on June 12, 2009 at 12:30 p.m., and moved its digital broadcast from channel 55 to channel 17.

News operation

Historically, WNCN's newscasts have rated third in the market behind WRAL and WTVD. However, they have been much more competitive than WPTF's various attempts at news programming ever were. WNCN has been on a path of growth in recent years. It was the first in the market to air a morning newscast at 4:30am--earlier than any other station in the Triangle. The station airs other newscasts at 6, 7 and 11pm.

WNCN launched a brand-new graphics package at the beginning of 2008, along with an expansive new high-tech set, including a state-of-the-art weather center. The remodel also included the debut of a new modern custom made newsroom.

The station began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition on August 14, 2010.

News/station presentation

Newscast titles

• NCN News (1995-1996)
• NBC 17 News (1996-present)

Station slogans

• A New Generation of News (1995)
• The One to Watch (late 1990s)
• Accurate, Balanced, to the Point (2007-present)

This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.

News team

Current on-air staff^[3]

Current anchors

• Melanie Sanders - weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m.
• Penn Holderness - weeknights at 7 and 11 p.m.
• Sharon Tazwell - weekday mornings "NBC17 Today"
• Phil Sanchez - weekday mornings "NBC17 Today"
• Page Crawford - "Precision Traffic" Anchor "NBC17 Today"
• Kim Genardo - weekends at 6, 7, and 11 p.m.; also political reporter

NBC 17 Precision Weather Team

• Wes Hohenstein (AMS Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 6, 7, and 11 p.m.
• Jeremy Baker (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - meteorologist; weekends at 6, 7, and 11 p.m.
• Bill Reh (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings "NBC17 Today"

Reporters

• Jonathan Carlson - general assignment and investigative reporter
• Annette Newell - general assignment reporter
• Maggie Alexander - morning live reporter
• Jackie Faye - general assignment reporter
• Charlotte Huffman - general assignment reporter
• Justin Quesinberry - general assignment reporter
• Steve Sbraccia - general assignment reporter
• Todd Gibson - sports anchor/reporter

Notable former on-air staff

• Donna Gregory - anchor (now at NBC News/MSNBC)
• Brooke Hart - anchor

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External links

• WNCN official website - NBC17.com
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WNCN
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WNCN-TV

References

1. ^ Cox, Jonathan B. (January 10, 2006). "NBC to sell station: Network puts 3 others on the block". Raleigh News & Observer. http://www.newsobserver.com/104/story/386846.html. 
2. ^ "Triangle's NBC affiliate station to be sold". Raleigh News & Observer. April 6, 2006. http://www.newsobserver.com/104/story/425868.html. 
3. ^ News Team, NBC17.com. Retrieved May 11, 2011.