WECT
Encyclopedia
WECT is the NBC
-affiliated television station
for the Cape Fear
and Sandhills
areas of North Carolina
that is licensed to Wilmington
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 44 from a transmitter southwest of Winnabow
. The station can also be seen on Time Warner
and Charter
channel 7 as well as on ATMC
channel 6. There is a high definition feed offered on Time Warner and Charter digital channel 706. Owned by Raycom Media
, the station operates Fox affiliate WSFX-TV
(owned by Southeastern Media Holdings
) through a shared services
agreement (SSA). The two share studios on Shipyard Boulevard (US 117
) in Wilmington. Syndicated
programming on WECT includes: Wheel of Fortune
, Jeopardy!
, The Doctors, America Now, Ellen, and LIVE with Regis and Kelly.
(FCC) children programming requirement, the station aired shows targeted toward that age group on Sunday mornings. Occasionally, other special programming aired on WECT-DT2. From April 15, 2005 until the end of December 2008, this station offered the now-defunct NBC Weather Plus
. It is now the African-American based, Bounce TV.
in White Lake
. The television station was co-owned with WMFD-AM
630. In 1958, the station's calls changed to the current WECT. At its launch, analog VHF channel 6 carried secondary affiliations with DuMont
(which went silent in 1956) and ABC
(until 1964 when WWAY
signed-on). WECT was also a secondary CBS
station until the 1970s primarily carrying that network's Sunday afternoon NFL
coverage. At one point, this station 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, it is still carried on cable systems in Dunn
, Southern Pines
, Fayetteville, Jacksonville
, Lumberton
, and Raeford
even though their respective markets have their own NBC affiliates. The station's analog signal once served as the default NBC station for the northern and eastern portions of the nearby Florence
/Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
market since that area was one of the few on the East Coast
without its own NBC affiliate. For many years, the channel even identified as "Wilmington/Myrtle Beach" to acknowledge its viewership in the Grand Strand
. However, WECT's reception in the northern parts of that area (such as Laurinburg
) was not as good as other stations and coverage has been reduced further as a result of the digital transition
which left WECT as a UHF
station. While Myrtle Beach itself is just outside the fringe area for its new digital signal, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
is just inside it. The southern and western portions of the Florence/Myrtle Beach area were served by another Raycom station, WIS-TV in Columbia, South Carolina
.
During the 1970s and 1980s through CATV, WECT was carried as far south as Georgetown, South Carolina
, as far west as Wadesboro, Anson County
and as far north as Greenville, Pitt County
.
For many years, WECT was locally owned. The News-Press & Gazette Company
acquired the station in 1986. That company then sold its entire stations group of the time to the first incarnation of New Vision Television
in 1993. New Vision turned around and sold its entire group at the time to Ellis Communications in 1995. Ellis was folded into current owner Raycom in 1997. In 2006, Raycom bought out The Liberty Corporation, owner of WWAY. However, FCC duopoly
rules forced Raycom to spin off WWAY to Morris Multimedia
as a condition of the Raycom–Liberty merger. On May 8, 2008, the FCC announced that five stations in Wilmington (including WECT) had agreed to voluntarily cease analog broadcasting on September 8 five months ahead of the February 17, 2009 tentative date for television stations to complete the analog-to-digital transition. The market was used by the FCC as a post-transition test market.
On August 7, 2009, a new digital-only station WMBF-TV
(that is also owned by Raycom Media) began broadcasting in Myrtle Beach covering the 2008 Olympic Games as part of its first network programming. On August 8, WECT disappeared from most cable systems in the Florence/Myrtle Beach market when WMBF signed-on due to FCC regulations. For long time viewers, this was controversial as this station had been on cable systems in Laurinburg and Lumberton for decades. On December 1, WECT returned to the Lumberton Time Warner Cable lineup on digital Channel 220. This is next to WMBF's high definition channel. As of March 17, 2009, WECT and WWAY are still carried by Time Warner in Rowland
which is part of the Florence/Myrtle Beach market. This station is one of the few NBC affiliates that refused to air Poker After Dark
.
For its entire existence, WECT has held the number one spot in the Neilson ratings by a wide margin. WWAY has long been in a distant second place behind this station. Besides being the first station in Wilmington, this channel offers the most newscasts including throughout the weekend. Low-powered CBS
affiliate WILM-LD does not operate a news department of its own unlike most big three
stations. It simulcasts some shows from WRAL-TV
in Raleigh with local weather inserts targeted toward Wilmington.
Since September 22, 2003, WECT has been producing a nightly prime time newscast for WSFX called Fox 26 News at 10. On September 13, 2006, the station began to produce an hour-long extension of Carolina in the Morning on WSFX at 7. The prime time news on that station airs from a the same set at WECT's studios and Flat Tv Screens saying WSFX FOX 26 NEWS. On August 31, 2008, it became the first station in Wilmington to air news in high definition. The upgrade came with a new graphics package and the WSFX shows were included in the change. After WWAY stopped carrying local weekend news on August 1, 2009, WECT and WSFX became the only outlet in Wilmington. Although a WWAY Sunday night broadcast at 11 was restored on October 3, 2010, the two remain the only channels in the market to air newscast throughout the weekend. As a result of those changes, WECT retains its dominance.
WECT News First Alert Meteorologists
Sports (both seen on Friday Night Football)
Reporters
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for the Cape Fear
Cape Fear (region)
Cape Fear is a coastal plain and tidewater region of North Carolina centered about the city of Wilmington. The region takes its name from the adjacent Cape Fear headland, as does the Cape Fear River which flows through the region and empties into the Atlantic Ocean near the cape...
and Sandhills
Sandhills (Carolina)
The Sandhills is a region in the interior of the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina. It is a strip of ancient beach dunes which generally divides the Piedmont from the coastal plain, and is the evidence of a former coastline when the ocean level was higher, or the land lower. The...
areas of North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
that is licensed to Wilmington
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
. It broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on UHF channel 44 from a transmitter southwest of Winnabow
Winnabow, North Carolina
Winnabow, North Carolina, is a place in Brunswick County in the U.S. states of North Carolina. It is located at It is mainly a farming community with ample farm land in the surrounding area. There are no big stores in the area except for a Hand Dee Hugo's at the intersection of NC 87 and US...
. The station can also be seen on Time Warner
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
and Charter
Charter Communications
Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...
channel 7 as well as on ATMC
ATMC - Atlantic Telephone Membership Cooperative
Atlantic Telephone Membership Cooperative . is a member-owned nonprofit cooperative organized in 1955 by the citizens of Brunswick County, North Carolina who did not have telephone service and had not been able to secure this service from existing telephone companies...
channel 6. There is a high definition feed offered on Time Warner and Charter digital channel 706. Owned by Raycom Media
Raycom Media
- History :Although Raycom Media dates its birth to 1996, the core of the company was formed in 1992 when Atlanta native Bert Ellis formed Ellis Communications. He eventually controlled 13 television stations and two radio stations....
, the station operates Fox affiliate WSFX-TV
WSFX-TV
WSFX-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for North Carolina's Cape Fear region licensed to Wilmington. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 30 from a transmitter in Town Creek Township. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable, Charter, and ATMC channel 9...
(owned by Southeastern Media Holdings
Southeastern Media Holdings
Southeastern Media Holdings is a broadcasting company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. It owns television stations in several cities in the Southeastern United States.-Fox Affiliates:* WXTX-TV, Columbus, Georgia* WSFX-TV, Wilmington, North Carolina...
) through a shared services
Shared services
Shared services refers to the provision of a service by one part of an organization or group where that service had previously been found in more than one part of the organization or group. Thus the funding and resourcing of the service is shared and the providing department effectively becomes an...
agreement (SSA). The two share studios on Shipyard Boulevard (US 117
U.S. Route 117
U.S. Route 117 was a north–south US Highway that ran for from Norlina, North Carolina to Virginia. Established in 1927, US 117 traveled from Norlina, through the towns of Warrenton, Roanoke Rapids, and Murfreesboro; from there it went north into Virginia. In 1932, US 117 was removed from this...
) in Wilmington. Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on WECT includes: Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
, Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
, The Doctors, America Now, Ellen, and LIVE with Regis and Kelly.
Digital programming
Previous to the launch on the new Bounce TV, WECT-DT2, Charter digital channel 137 as well as Time Warner and ATMC digital channel 939 was a 24-hour local weather channel known as "WECT Plus". This also aired repeats of the main channel's weeknight 6 and 11 o'clock newscasts as well as local traffic and travel information. To comply with Federal Communications CommissionFederal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) children programming requirement, the station aired shows targeted toward that age group on Sunday mornings. Occasionally, other special programming aired on WECT-DT2. From April 15, 2005 until the end of December 2008, this station offered the now-defunct NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus was a 24-hour, commercially sponsored, weather-oriented broadcast/cable television network jointly owned by NBC Universal and the local affiliates of the NBC network. It debuted on November 15, 2004 and shut down on December 31, 2008...
. It is now the African-American based, Bounce TV.
| Channel | Video | Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1 | 1080i 1080i 1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
Main WECT programming / NBC |
| 6.2 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | Bounce TV |
History
As the first television station in Wilmington, it began broadcasting on April 9, 1954 with the call sign WMFD-TV. It aired an analog signal on VHF channel 6 from a transmitterWECT TV6 Tower
The WECT tower is a 2000 ft tall mast used as antenna for FM- and TV-broadcasting. It was built in 1969 and is situated at Colly Township, North Carolina, USA at 34°34'44.0" N and 78°26'12.0" W...
in White Lake
White Lake, North Carolina
White Lake is a town in Bladen County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 529 at the 2000 census.-Geography:White Lake is located at ....
. The television station was co-owned with WMFD-AM
WMFD (AM)
WMFD is a sports radio station broadcasting in Wilmington, North Carolina. It is currently branded under the ESPN Radio.The radio station carries the games of the Cape Fear Rugby Football Club.-History:WMFD was Wilmington's first radio station...
630. In 1958, the station's calls changed to the current WECT. At its launch, analog VHF channel 6 carried secondary affiliations with DuMont
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
(which went silent in 1956) and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
(until 1964 when WWAY
WWAY
WWAY is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Cape Fear area of North Carolina that is licensed to Wilmington. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 46 from a transmitter northwest of Bolivia. Owned by Morris Multimedia, the station has studios on North Front Street...
signed-on). WECT was also a secondary CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
station until the 1970s primarily carrying that network's Sunday afternoon NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
coverage. At one point, this station was carried on cable systems in the Triangle
The Triangle (North Carolina)
The Research Triangle, also known as Raleigh-Durham and commonly referred to as simply "The Triangle", is a region in the Piedmont of North Carolina in the United States, anchored by North Carolina State University, Duke University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and cities of...
region of North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
(Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
, Durham
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
, Fayetteville
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville is a city located in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army post located northwest of the city....
, and Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...
) for a time when NBC did not have a full-time affiliate in that market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
.
As a result of the station's long-held popularity, it is still carried on cable systems in Dunn
Dunn, North Carolina
Dunn is a city in Harnett County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 9,196 at the 2000 census.It is the birthplace of early an rock and roll guitar player, Link Wray, and General William C. Lee, father of the American Army Airborne. The city's slogan is "It's all right here." The...
, Southern Pines
Southern Pines, North Carolina
Southern Pines is a town in Moore County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 10,918 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Southern Pines is located at ....
, Fayetteville, Jacksonville
Jacksonville, North Carolina
Jacksonville, North Carolina, is a city in Onslow County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the population stood at 70,145, which makes Jacksonville the 14th largest city in North Carolina...
, Lumberton
Lumberton, North Carolina
Lumberton is a city in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 20,795 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Robeson County. Lumberton, located in southern North Carolina's Inner Banks region, is located on the Lumber River...
, and Raeford
Raeford, North Carolina
Raeford is a city in Hoke County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,386 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Hoke County. The county was named after Confederate General Robert F. Hoke, as Tar Heel native....
even though their respective markets have their own NBC affiliates. The station's analog signal once served as the default NBC station for the northern and eastern portions of the nearby Florence
Florence, South Carolina
-Municipal government and politics:The City of Florence has a council-manager form of government. The mayor and city council are elected every four years, with no term limits...
/Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach is a coastal city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is situated on the center of a large and continuous stretch of beach known as the Grand Strand in northeastern South Carolina. It is considered to be a major tourist destination in the...
market since that area was one of the few on the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
without its own NBC affiliate. For many years, the channel even identified as "Wilmington/Myrtle Beach" to acknowledge its viewership in the Grand Strand
Grand Strand
The Grand Strand refers to a large stretch of beaches on the East Coast of the United States extending from Little River to Georgetown in the U.S. State of South Carolina. It consists of 60+ miles along an essentially uninterrupted arc of beach land, beginning around the Little River and...
. However, WECT's reception in the northern parts of that area (such as Laurinburg
Laurinburg, North Carolina
Laurinburg is a mid-sized city in Scotland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Scotland County. Located in southern North Carolina near the South Carolina state border, Laurinburg is southwest of Fayetteville and is home to St. Andrews Presbyterian College...
) was not as good as other stations and coverage has been reduced further as a result of the digital transition
DTV transition in the United States
The DTV transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of free over-the-air television programming...
which left WECT as a UHF
Ultra high frequency
Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
station. While Myrtle Beach itself is just outside the fringe area for its new digital signal, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
North Myrtle Beach is a coastal resort city in Horry County, South Carolina, United States. It was created in 1968 from four existing municipalities north of Myrtle Beach, and serves as one of the primary tourist towns along the Grand Strand...
is just inside it. The southern and western portions of the Florence/Myrtle Beach area were served by another Raycom station, WIS-TV in Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
.
During the 1970s and 1980s through CATV, WECT was carried as far south as Georgetown, South Carolina
Georgetown, South Carolina
Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County, in the Low Country. Located on Winyah Bay at the confluence of the Great Pee Dee River, Waccamaw River, and Sampit River, Georgetown is the second largest seaport in South Carolina,...
, as far west as Wadesboro, Anson County
Wadesboro, North Carolina
Wadesboro is a town in Anson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 5,780 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Anson County.-Geography:Wadesboro is located at ....
and as far north as Greenville, Pitt County
Greenville, North Carolina
Greenville is the county seat of Pitt County and principal city of the Greenville, North Carolina metropolitan area. Greenville is the health, entertainment, and educational hub of North Carolina's Tidewater and Coastal Plain and in 2008 was listed as the Tenth Largest City in North Carolina...
.
For many years, WECT was locally owned. The News-Press & Gazette Company
News-Press & Gazette Company
The News Press & Gazette Company is a media company based in St. Joseph, Missouri, wholly owned and operated by the Bradley family. It is presided by Brian Bradley and David R. Bradley, with Hank Bradley , Eric Bradley and Kit Bradley serving on its Board of Directors. All are descendants of...
acquired the station in 1986. That company then sold its entire stations group of the time to the first incarnation of New Vision Television
New Vision Television
New Vision Television is a broadcast company based in Los Angeles, California. The company owns or manages 18 television stations in medium sized markets.-New Vision I:...
in 1993. New Vision turned around and sold its entire group at the time to Ellis Communications in 1995. Ellis was folded into current owner Raycom in 1997. In 2006, Raycom bought out The Liberty Corporation, owner of WWAY. However, FCC duopoly
Duopoly (broadcasting)
In United States broadcast television and radio, duopoly is a term used to describe a single company which owns two or more stations in the same city or community....
rules forced Raycom to spin off WWAY to Morris Multimedia
Morris Multimedia
Morris Multimedia, Inc. is a media company based in Savannah, Georgia, founded in 1970 by Charles H. Morris. Morris Multimedia, among the largest privately held media companies in the United States, is the parent company of Morris Newspaper Corporation and Morris Network.- Newspapers :The Morris...
as a condition of the Raycom–Liberty merger. On May 8, 2008, the FCC announced that five stations in Wilmington (including WECT) had agreed to voluntarily cease analog broadcasting on September 8 five months ahead of the February 17, 2009 tentative date for television stations to complete the analog-to-digital transition. The market was used by the FCC as a post-transition test market.
On August 7, 2009, a new digital-only station WMBF-TV
WMBF-TV
WMBF-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Grand Strand and Pee Dee areas of South Carolina that is licensed to Myrtle Beach. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 32 from a transmitter in Bucksville. It can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 10 , 120 ,...
(that is also owned by Raycom Media) began broadcasting in Myrtle Beach covering the 2008 Olympic Games as part of its first network programming. On August 8, WECT disappeared from most cable systems in the Florence/Myrtle Beach market when WMBF signed-on due to FCC regulations. For long time viewers, this was controversial as this station had been on cable systems in Laurinburg and Lumberton for decades. On December 1, WECT returned to the Lumberton Time Warner Cable lineup on digital Channel 220. This is next to WMBF's high definition channel. As of March 17, 2009, WECT and WWAY are still carried by Time Warner in Rowland
Rowland, North Carolina
Rowland is a town in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,146 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Rowland is located at ....
which is part of the Florence/Myrtle Beach market. This station is one of the few NBC affiliates that refused to air Poker After Dark
Poker After Dark
Poker After Dark was an hour-long poker television program on NBC. The show made its debut on January 1, 2007, and was cancelled as another victim of the "Black Friday" criminal case due to the show's sponsorship by Full Tilt Poker, one of that case's defendants. on September 23, 2011 For its first...
.
News operation
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate WILM-LD does not operate a news department of its own unlike most big three
Big Three Television Networks
The Big Three Television Networks are the three traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: ABC, CBS and NBC...
stations. It simulcasts some shows from WRAL-TV
WRAL-TV
WRAL-TV, virtual channel 5 , is a television station in Raleigh, North Carolina. WRAL-TV has been the flagship station of Capitol Broadcasting Company since its inception, and is currently the CBS affiliate for the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill/Fayetteville area, known collectively as the Triangle...
in Raleigh with local weather inserts targeted toward Wilmington.
Since September 22, 2003, WECT has been producing a nightly prime time newscast for WSFX called Fox 26 News at 10. On September 13, 2006, the station began to produce an hour-long extension of Carolina in the Morning on WSFX at 7. The prime time news on that station airs from a the same set at WECT's studios and Flat Tv Screens saying WSFX FOX 26 NEWS. On August 31, 2008, it became the first station in Wilmington to air news in high definition. The upgrade came with a new graphics package and the WSFX shows were included in the change. After WWAY stopped carrying local weekend news on August 1, 2009, WECT and WSFX became the only outlet in Wilmington. Although a WWAY Sunday night broadcast at 11 was restored on October 3, 2010, the two remain the only channels in the market to air newscast throughout the weekend. As a result of those changes, WECT retains its dominance.
Newscast titles
- Your Esso Reporter (1954-1962)
- The World Today/The World Tonight (1962-1966)
- Channel 6 News (1966-1974)
- NewsCenter 6 (1974-1984)
- WECT NewsCenter (1984-1995)
- News 6 (1995-2005)
- WECT News (2005-present)
News music
- NBC TV-Radio Newspulse by Fred Weinberg Productions, Inc. (1974-1979)
- WECT 1980 News Theme by unknown composer (1980-1982)
- NewsCenter Theme by Michael Randall Music (1982-1984)
- Tuesday1 by Tuesday Productions (1984-19??)
- NBC: The Place to Be by unknown composer (19??-1991)
- NBC Affiliate Package by unknown composer (1991-1994)
- Stimulus by Gari Communications, Inc. (1994-19??)
- The One and Only by Gari Communications, Inc. (1995-19??)
- First News by Gari Communications, Inc. (2001-2005)
- The NBC Collection by Gari Communications, Inc. (2005-present)
News team
Anchors- Kim Ratcliff - weekday mornings and noon (also "Carolina Kids" segment producer)
- Bob Townsend - weekday mornings also "Cape Fear Hero" and "Your Family Matters" segments producer
- Frances Weller - weeknights at 5, 6, and 11
- Jon Evans - weeknights at 5:30, 6, 6:30 on FOX, 10 on Fox, and 11 (also "Ask WECT" segment producer)
- Michelle Li - weeknights at 6:30 and 10 on Fox (also Sundays and reporter)
- Ashlea Kosikowski - Saturdays and reporter
- Craig Reck- Sundays and reporter
- Bill Rancic - America Now host
WECT News First Alert Meteorologists
- Robb Ellis - weeknights
- Colin Hackman - weekday mornings and noon (also news reporter)
- Eric Davis (AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
Seal of Approval) - weekends
Sports (both seen on Friday Night Football)
- Bob Bonner - DirectorSports DirectorA sports director is an individual at a television or radio station who is in charge of the sports department. In local news, the sports director is typically the station's primary sportscaster, and often anchors the primetime newscasts on weekdays. They are in charge of sports programming and...
seen weeknights at 6, 6;30, 10, and 11 - John Smist - weekends and sports reporter
Reporters
- Heather Setzler - Executive Producer and "First Act" segment producer
- Veronica Macias - Saturday multimedia journalist and producer
- Al Hight - "Coastal Gardner" segment producer
- Casey Roman - investigative and features
- Lindsay Curtin - multimedia journalist
- Amy Taylor - weekday morning traffic
- Ryan Koresko - Chief Photographer
- Mike Pelzer - photojournalist
- Claire Hosmann - producer/reporter CIM
- Gavin Johnson
- Will Tapper