WECT

infobox broadcast
call_letters = WECT
station_
station_slogan = Where News Comes First
station_branding = WECT (general)
WECT News (newscasts)
analog =
Time Warner & Charter cable 7
digital = 44 (UHF) &
Time Warner and
Charter 706
subchannels = 6.1 NBC
6.2 NBC WX+
founded = April 9, 1954
location = Wilmington, North Carolina
callsign_meaning = Eastern Carolina Television
former_callsigns = WMFD-TV (1954-1958)
owner = Raycom Media
licensee = WECT License Subsidiary, LLC
sister_stations = WSFX-TV
former_affiliations = DuMont (1954-1956)
ABC (1954-1964)
CBS (1954-1980s)
all secondary
former_channel_numbers = 6 (analog, 1954-2008)
effective_radiated_power = 575 kW
HAAT = 280 m
facility_id = 48666
coordinates = coord|34|19|16.7|N|78|13|41.7|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.wect.com/ www.wect.com]

WECT is the NBC-affiliated television station in Wilmington, North Carolina. The station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 44. While there is no over-the-air analog signal of the station, it can be seen on Time Warner and Charter cable channel 7. For high definition digital cable, the station is on Charter and Time Warner channel 706. Its transmitter is located in Delco. Owned by Raycom Media, the station is sister to Fox affiliate WSFX-TV. The two stations share studios on Shipyard Boulevard in downtown Wilmington. Syndicated programming on WECT includes: "Wheel of Fortune", "Jeopardy!", "Oprah", "Dr. Phil", and "The Doctors".

Digital television

The station's digital channel is multiplexed.

History

As the first television station in Wilmington, channel 6 began broadcasting on April 9, 1954. it had the callsign WMFD-TV and was co-owned with WMFD-AM 630. In 1958, the station's calls changed to the current WECT. At its launch, channel 6 carried secondary affiliations with the DuMont Television Network (which went silent in 1956) and ABC (until 1964 at which point ABC moved to its own Wilmington affiliate, WWAY). WECT was also a secondary CBS station until the 1970s primarily carrying that network's Sunday afternoon National Football League coverage. At one point, WECT was carried on cable systems in the Triangle region of North Carolina (Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville, and Chapel Hill) for a time when NBC did not have a full-time affiliate in that market.

As a result of the station's long-held popularity, WECT is still carried on cable systems in Fayetteville and Jacksonville even though their respective markets have their own NBC affiliates. The station once served as the default NBC affiliate for the northern and eastern portions of the nearby Florence / Myrtle Beach, South Carolina television market since that area did not have an affiliate of its own. However, WECT's reception in the northern parts of that area (such as Laurinburg) is not as good as other stations. On August 7, 2008, a new digital-only station WMBF-TV (also owned by Raycom Media) began broadcasting. The southern and western portions of the Florence / Myrtle Beach market were served by another Raycom station, WIS-TV in Columbia.

On May 8, 2008, the Federal Communications Commission announced that five stations in Wilmington (including WECT) had agreed to voluntarily cease analog broadcasting on September 8, 2008 http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-282032A1.pdf] five months ahead of the February 17, 2009 tentative date for television stations to complete the analog-to-digital transition. http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf] [http://www.wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=8292071&nav=menu157_2 WECT TV6 - WECT.com - Wilmington, NC news and weather - Wilmington Goes Digital First ] ] The market was used by the FCC as a post-transition test market. The station usually airs the entire NBC schedule except for the network's late night repeats of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien". Instead, it airs paid programming during those hours. WECT also produces an outdoor-type program called "Downeast Gardener" that airs in segments during the morning newscast on Wednesdays and as a full program on Saturday mornings at 7:30.

News team

Since September 22, 2003, WECT has been producing a nightly 10 o'clock newscast for sister station WSFX. It is currently the only primetime newscast in the market. On September 13, 2006, WECT began to produce an hour-long extension of its weekday morning news at 7 exclusively for WSFX. All news programs on that station broadcast from a secondary news set at WECT's studios. On August 31, 2008, WECT became the first station in Wilmington to launch news in high definition. The launch came with a new graphics package and the WSFX broadcast were included in the upgrade. WECT operates its own weather radar that is known on-air as "First Alert Digital Doppler". It is located north of Russtown. The station offers NBC Weather Plus on its second digital subchannel. Via digital cable, it can be seen on Charter channel 136 and Time Warner channel 939.

;Anchors
*Bob Townsend - weekday mornings
**host of "Downeast Gardener"
*Kim Ratcliff - weekday mornings and Noon
*Frances Weller - weeknights at 5 (5 to 5:20), 6, and 11
**"Buddy Check 6" segment producer
*Jim Hanchett - Managing Editor seen on weeknights at 5 (5:20 to 5:40) and 6
*Genevieve Barker - weeknights at 5 (5:40 to 6) and 10
*Jon Evans - weeknights at 10 and 11
*Joe Keiley - weekends and reporter

"First Alert Weather Team"
*George Elliott (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and NWA Seal of Approval) - Chief seen on weekends
*Craig Carnesi - weeknights
*Eric Davis (AMS Seal of Approval) - weekday mornings and Noon

Sports
*Bob Bonner - Director seen on weeknights at 6, 10, and 11
*Kevin Hull - weekends and sports reporter

Reporters
*Heather Setzler - arts and entertainment
**Executive News Producer
*Laura Sinacori - news producer
*Lynda Figueredo
*Kristy Ondo
*Claire Simms
*Gavin Johnson
*Max Winitz

tation alumni

*Shirley Gilbert-anchored Carolina in the Morning. Weathercaster. Deceased.
*Ken Murphy - Anchor (retired on December 31, 2004 after 40 years at the station, died in January 2007 at the age of 67)
*Colin Hackman, reporter, photog, P.A., went to anchor weather at KRNV, Reno NV's NBC.
*Maureen O’Boyle, reporter - had a nationally syndicated talk show for a time. Now main co-anchor at WBTV in Charlotte.
*Jeff Goldblatt, anchored Carolina in the Morning – Moved on to a number of positions from Richmond, Virginia to Washington, DC. Correspondent for the nationally syndicated show, American Journal. Currently with FOX News.
*Ken Lemon - One time Myrtle Beach Bureau Chief, then general assignment reporter. Moved to WSOC-TV in Charlotte.
*Beth Parker, weekend anchor – Reporter for WTTG in Washington, DC.
*Ned Bauer, reporter – Has worked at numerous stations and produced special programming for C-SPAN and CNN.
*Bryan Moore, anchored Carolina in the Morning – Moved onto WLFL Fox 22, and News 14 Carolina in Raleigh, NC. Now Manager of Marketing Communications and Special Events with Northrop Grumman in Newport News, Virginia.
*Elizabeth Gardner, weather, currently a morning meteorologist with WRAL-TV in Raleigh.
*Mitch Davis, Bureau Chief/reporter 1991-1997. Went on to anchor weekends and later serve as Executive Producer at WBTW in Myrtle Beach 1999-2006. Now Daybreak Executive Producer with [WSOC-TV] [1] in Charlotte.
*Chad Headley, Photojournalist/Truck Op -- Now Aerial Photojournalist for WGN in Chicago, IL
*John Field - Photographer/Editor/Tape Roller from 1993-1998 for WECT News at 5, 6, and 11 p.m. Moved out of the television industry and into research.
*Nicole Ferguson, reporter -- Now a reporter for WGHP in Greensboro, NC
*Kim Fields, Anchor -- Now anchors at WTVC-TV in Chattanooga, TN
*Maggie Alexander, Reporter -- Now is a reporter with WIS-TV in Columbia, SC
*Ashley Hayes, Reporter -- Now is a reporter for WSB-TV Atlanta, GA

Logos

References

External links

* [http://www.wect.com/ WECT channel 6]
* [http://www.wecttogo.com/ WECT wireless]
* [http://www.wsfx.com/ WSFX-TV/DT "Fox 26"]
*TVQ|WECT