WRAY-TV
Encyclopedia
WRAY-TV is a full-power television station licensed to Wilson, North Carolina
and serves the entire Raleigh
-Durham
-Fayetteville, North Carolina
metropolitan area. The station is owned and operated by Tri-State Christian Television
, and runs religious programming 24 hours a day, except for children's programming to fulfill FCC
E/I
requirements, as well as a few local public affairs programs.
This station operates on UHF
channel 42, also on the UHF dial at 873 kilowatts as authorized by the Federal Communications Commission
.
affiliate; however, the station operated as an independent station, as its signal overlapped with WLFL
, at that time Raleigh's Fox affiliate. WRAY's programming changed more towards home shopping upon its sale to Ramcast Corporation in 1997; Ramcast quickly merged with the Global Shopping Network to become Global Broadcasting Systems, Inc. However, Global Broadcasting Systems soon ran into financial trouble, and filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy
on June 26, 1997. Its assets, including WRAY, were sold to the rival Shop at Home Network
in 1998.
On May 16, 2006, parent company The E.W. Scripps Company announced that Shop at Home would be suspending operations, effective June 22, 2006. However, the network temporarily ceased operations on June 21, and WRAY switched to Jewelry Television
(and, on June 23, a mixture of both networks), which remained until Scripps found a buyer for its stations.
On September 26, 2006, Scripps announced that it was selling its Shop at Home stations, including WRAY, to Multicultural Television of New York City for $170 million. The sale of WRAY and the San Francisco and Cleveland stations was finalized on December 20, 2006. Soon after the sale, all Shop at Home programming ceased in favor of a schedule consisting primarily of infomercials.
After Multicultural ran into financial problems and defaulted on its loans, the station was placed into a trust; in October 2009, a sale of WRAY to Tri-State Christian Television
(via subsidiary Radiant Light Ministries, which had earlier acquired WOAC (now WRLM) from the trust), a chain of Christian television stations, was announced.
Digital channels >
Virtual
Channel
Video
Aspect
Programming
30.1
480i
4:3
TCT programming in SD
30.2
1080i
16:9
TCT programming in HD, featuring an all-HD programming schedule different from TCT's main grid
30.3
480i
4:3
TCT programming in SD
Family Channel, consisting of mostly children's programming during the day and classic television at night.
30.4
480i
4:3
TCT programming in SD La Fuente Christian Spanish Channel.
WRAY-TV ceased analog broadcasts on February 17, 2009.
Wilson, North Carolina
Wilson is a city and the county seat of Wilson County in the Coastal Plain region of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The 18th largest city in the state, Wilson had a population of 49,167 according to the 2010 census.- Geography :...
and serves the entire 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, North Carolina
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....
metropolitan area. The station is owned and operated by Tri-State Christian Television
Tri-State Christian Television
Tri-State Christian Television is a network of eight religious television stations and their repeaters, mainly in the Midwest. TCT Network provides Christian programming such as teaching, preaching, family-based movies, music, documentaries, youth and children, live broadcasts and original content...
, and runs religious programming 24 hours a day, except for children's programming to fulfill FCC
Federal 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...
E/I
E/I
E/I, which stands for "educational and informative," refers to a type of children's television programming shown in the United States. The Federal Communications Commission requires that every full-service Terrestrial television station in the U.S. show at least three hours of these television...
requirements, as well as a few local public affairs programs.
This station operates on 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...
channel 42, also on the UHF dial at 873 kilowatts as authorized by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal 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...
.
History
The station was given the call letters WEOU on February 18, 1992. However, the station was granted a license on April 14, 1995. It signed on August 7 as WRAY-TV, and was initially a semi-satellite of WFAY (channel 62; now WFPX-TV), at that time Fayetteville's FoxFox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
affiliate; however, the station operated as an independent station, as its signal overlapped with WLFL
WLFL
WLFL is the CW-affiliated television station for North Carolina's Triangle licensed to Raleigh. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter located in Auburn, North Carolina. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 2 and in high definition...
, at that time Raleigh's Fox affiliate. WRAY's programming changed more towards home shopping upon its sale to Ramcast Corporation in 1997; Ramcast quickly merged with the Global Shopping Network to become Global Broadcasting Systems, Inc. However, Global Broadcasting Systems soon ran into financial trouble, and filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy
Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 11 is a chapter of the United States Bankruptcy Code, which permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available to every business, whether organized as a corporation or sole proprietorship, and to individuals, although it is most...
on June 26, 1997. Its assets, including WRAY, were sold to the rival Shop at Home Network
Shop at Home Network
The Shop at Home Network was a television network in the United States Before its acquisition by Jewelry Television in 2006, The E. W. Scripps Company owned and operated the network from 2002 until 2006, when the network temporarily ceased operations on June 21...
in 1998.
On May 16, 2006, parent company The E.W. Scripps Company announced that Shop at Home would be suspending operations, effective June 22, 2006. However, the network temporarily ceased operations on June 21, and WRAY switched to Jewelry Television
Jewelry Television
Jewelry Television is an American television network, similar to the Home Shopping Network. It was formerly called "America's Collectibles Network" . The privately-held company was founded in 1993 and broadcasts high definition programming 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to over 80 million unique...
(and, on June 23, a mixture of both networks), which remained until Scripps found a buyer for its stations.
On September 26, 2006, Scripps announced that it was selling its Shop at Home stations, including WRAY, to Multicultural Television of New York City for $170 million. The sale of WRAY and the San Francisco and Cleveland stations was finalized on December 20, 2006. Soon after the sale, all Shop at Home programming ceased in favor of a schedule consisting primarily of infomercials.
After Multicultural ran into financial problems and defaulted on its loans, the station was placed into a trust; in October 2009, a sale of WRAY to Tri-State Christian Television
Tri-State Christian Television
Tri-State Christian Television is a network of eight religious television stations and their repeaters, mainly in the Midwest. TCT Network provides Christian programming such as teaching, preaching, family-based movies, music, documentaries, youth and children, live broadcasts and original content...
(via subsidiary Radiant Light Ministries, which had earlier acquired WOAC (now WRLM) from the trust), a chain of Christian television stations, was announced.
Digital television
Channel
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,...
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...
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 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 ...
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...
Family Channel, consisting of mostly children's programming during the day and classic television at night.
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...
WRAY-TV ceased analog broadcasts on February 17, 2009.