WCTI-TV: Difference between revisions

| callsign = WCTI-TV

| logo = Wcti.png

| logo_size = 300px

| city = New Bern, North Carolina

| branding = ''NewsChannel12''

| digital = 10 ([[very high frequency|VHF]])

| virtual = 12

| translators =

| subchannels =

| affiliations = '''12.1:''' [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]<br>'''12.2:''' [[Comet (TV network)|Comet]]<br>'''12.3:''' [[Dabl]]<br>'''12.4:''' [[TBD (TV network)|TBD]]

| airdate = {{Start date and age|1963|09|07|p=y}}

| location = [[New Bern, North Carolina|New Bern]]/[[Greenville, North Carolina|Greenville]]/[[Washington, North Carolina|Washington]]/<br>[[Jacksonville, North Carolina]]

| country = United States

| callsign_meaning = Continental Television, Inc.<br>''(former owner)''

| former_callsigns = WNBE-TV (1963–1970)<br>WCTI-TV (1970–1982)<br>WCTI (1982–1983)

| former_channel_numbers = '''Analog:'''<br>12 (VHF, 1963–2009)<br>'''Digital:'''<br>48 ([[Ultra high frequency|UHF]], 2000–2009)<br>12 (VHF, 2009–2020)

| owner = [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]]

| licensee = WCTI Licensee, [[Limited liability company|LLC]]

| sister_stations = '''broadcast:''' [[WYDO]]<br>'''cable:''' [[Bally Sports South]]<ref name="SinclairRSNs">{{cite web|url=https://tvnewscheck.com/article/top-news/238222/sinclair-completes-10-6b-rsn-purchase/|title=Sinclair Closes $10.6B Disney RSN Purchase|last=Miller|first=Mark K.|work=TVNewsCheck|publisher=NewsCheckMedia|date=August 23, 2019|access-date=August 23, 2019}}</ref>

| former_affiliations = '''DT2:'''<br>[[UPN]] (1995–2006)<br>[[Independent station (North America)|Independent]] (2006–June 2009)<br>[[Localish|Live Well Network]] (2011–2015)<br>[[Decades (TV network)|Decades]] (2015–?)<br>'''DT3:'''<br>Independent (June−September 2009)<br>[[This TV]] (September 2009–2013)<br>[[Movies!]] (2013–2020)

| erp = 34.2 kW

| haat = {{convert|599.1|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}

| class = [[digital terrestrial television|DT]]

| facility_id = 18334

| coordinates = {{coord|35|6|16|N|77|20|11|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}

| licensing_authority = [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]]

| website = {{URL|https://wcti12.com/}}

'''WCTI-TV''' (channel 12) is a [[television station]] licensed to [[New Bern, North Carolina]], United States, serving as the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate for [[Eastern North Carolina]]. It is owned by [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]], which provides certain services to [[Greenville, North Carolina|Greenville]]-licensed [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] affiliate [[WYDO]] (channel 14) under a [[shared services]] agreement (SSA) with [[Cunningham Broadcasting]]. However, Sinclair effectively owns WYDO as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. Both stations share studios on Glenburnie Drive in New Bern, while WCTI-TV's transmitter is located north of [[Trenton, North Carolina|Trenton]] along [[North Carolina Highway 41|NC 41]].

A new problem arose in 1958, when the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) dropped in a channel 13 allocation in [[Hampton, Virginia]], to give the [[Hampton Roads]] area a third VHF station; [[WVEC-TV]] moved there from channel 15 shortly afterward. To alleviate concerns about short-spacing, the channel 13 allocation for New Bern was moved to channel 12. Almost immediately, WRVA-TV in [[Richmond, Virginia]] (now [[WWBT]]), raised concerns of its own about short-spacing. All objections were eventually overcome by 1961, and the station went on the air on September 7, 1963, as '''WNBE-TV''' (for "New Bern"). The call letters were changed to the current '''WCTI-TV''' in 1970, and the station would activate a 1,000-foot tower at full VHF high-band power, off NC Highway 58 south of Trenton. The station has been an ABC affiliate since its inception. When it signed on, the Greenville/[[Washington, North Carolina|Washington]]/New Bern [[media market|market]] became one of the smallest DMAs in the country with three commercial network affiliates. Continental Television sold the station to Malrite Communications in 1976.

In 1980, WCTI erected a {{convert|2000|ft|m|0|adj=on}} tower north of Trenton. The new tower expanded the station's secondary coverage as far east as the [[Outer Banks]], as far south as [[Wilmington, North Carolina|Wilmington]] and as far west as the Triangle (including [[Rocky Mount, North Carolina|Rocky Mount]] and much of eastern [[Raleigh, North Carolina|Raleigh]]). The station's original tower at its New Bern studios is still used as a backup. Malrite sold the station to Heritage Broadcasting in 1983. The 1,000-foot tower south of Trenton that the station had used prior to their move to the new site on [[North Carolina Highway 41|NC 41]] now holds the antenna for [[WSFL-FM]] 106.5. Heritage Broadcasting sold WCTI to [[Diversified Communications]] in 1986. In 1993, Lamco Communications bought the station. It was sold to [[Bluestone Television]] in 2001. In 2007, Bluestone merged with Bonten Media Group.

On November 6 of that year, it was announced that the FCC approved the sale of certain WFXI/WYDO assets by [[Piedmont Television]] to the [[Bonten Media Group]]. As part of the deal, WFXI moved from its longtime home on Arendell Street ([[U.S. Route 70 in North Carolina|US 70]]) in [[Morehead City, North Carolina|Morehead City]] to WCTI's facilities in New Bern. In 2000, WCTI launched the first over-the-air digital station in the market on [[UHF]] channel 48. A high-definition feed was launched on [[DirecTV]] on January 30, 2009. It is also available on satellite through [[Dish Network]]. WCTI's broadcasts became digital-only, effective June 12, 2009.

On April 21, 2017, Sinclair announced its intent to purchase the Bonten stations for $240 million.<ref name="tvnc-sinclairbonten">{{cite web|url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/103465/sinclair-buying-bonten-stations-for-240m|title=Sinclair Buying Bonten Stations For $240M|last=Jessell|first=Harry A.|date=April 21, 2017|website=TVNewsCheck|access-date=21April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sbgi.net/pr-news/sinclair-announces-agreement-to-purchase-bonten-media-group-tv-stations/|title=Sinclair Announces Agreement To Purchase Bonten Media Group TV Stations|date=April 21, 2017|website=Sinclair Broadcast Group|type=Press release|access-date=September 14, 2018}}</ref> The sale was completed on September 1.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101765840&formid=905&fac_num=18334|title=Consummation Notice|date=September 5, 2017|website=licensing.fcc.gov|access-date=September 14, 2018}}</ref>

On September 13, 2018, [[Hurricane Florence]] forced WCTI to evacuate its building as [[flood]] waters continued to rise. For the duration of the storm, WCTI [[simulcast]] coverage from Sinclair sister station and fellow ABC affiliate [[WPDE-TV]] in [[Myrtle Beach, South Carolina]].<ref>{{cite news|title=North Carolina Meteorologists Forced Off-Air During Broadcast By Florence Flooding|url=https://weather.com/news/news/2018-09-13-wcti-new-bern-off-air-hurricane-florence|first=Drew|last=MacFarlane|website=[[The Weather Channel]]|publisher=[[Entertainment Studios]]/[[The Weather Company]]|date=September 13, 2018|access-date=September 14, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Statement from WCTI General Manager Matt Bowman|url=https://wcti12.com/weather/hurricane-stories/statement-from-wcti-general-manager-matt-bowman|first=Jason O.|last=Boyd|website=WCTI-TV|publisher=[[Sinclair Broadcast Group]]|date=September 14, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Hurricane Florence Forces WCTI Meteorologists to Evacuate During Broadcast|url=https://www.adweek.com/tvspy/wcti-meteorologists-forced-to-evacuate-during-broadcast/207954|first=Stephanie|last=Tsoflias Siegel|website=[[Adweek|TVSpy]]|publisher=Beringer Capital|date=September 14, 2018}}</ref> By September 16, floodwaters had receded to the point that initial cleanup efforts began.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://wcti12.com/weather/hurricane-stories/wcti-newschannel-12-station-after-hurricane-florence|title=WCTI NewsChannel 12 station after Hurricane Florence|last=Boyd|first=Jason O.|work=WCTI12.com|publisher=[[Sinclair Broadcast Group]]|access-date=2018-09-16|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Programming==

===Syndicated programming===

[[broadcast syndication|Syndicated]] programming on WCTI includes ''[[Judge Judy]]'', ''[[Inside Edition]]'', and ''[[Live with Kelly and Ryan]]'', among others.

===News operation===

In terms of [[Nielsen ratings]], Eastern [[North Carolina]] is usually not very competitive during [[Nielsen ratings#Sweeps|sweeps]] periods. Historically, [[WITN-TV]] has generally traded the highest viewership crown with WCTI and WNCT. In July 2008, WNCT became the most watched television station in the market after taking first place weeknights at 6 and 11. However, since then, that station has fallen to 3rd place weeknights at 6. As of May 2010, WITN has won the sign-on-to-sign-off honors for two consecutive ratings periods. More specifically, it won all time periods except for the weekday noon news.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6579887.html|title=New players heat up Greenville race|last=Malone|first=Michael|date=July 21, 2008|website=Broadcasting & Cable|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201132654/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6579887.html|archive-date=December 1, 2008|access-date=September 14, 2018}}</ref>

The station's digital signal is [[multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:

! Channel

! [[Video resolution|Video]]

! [[Aspect ratio|Aspect]]

! Short name

! Programming<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WCTI#station|title=Digital TV Market Listing for WCTI|website=rabbitears.info|access-date=September 14, 2018}}</ref>

| 12.1 || [[720p]] || rowspan="4" |[[16:9]] || WCTI-HD || Main WCTI-TV programming / [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]

| 12.2 || rowspan="3"| [[480i]] || COMET || [[Comet (TV network)|Comet]]

| 12.3 || ENC-TV || [[Dabl]]

|-

| 12.4 || || [[TBD (TV network)|TBD]]

Until September 18, 2006, WCTI-DT3 was a [[UPN]] affiliate with the branding "UPN 48" (taken from WCTI's physical digital channel number). When UPN and [[The WB]] merged into [[The CW]] on that date, [[CBS]] affiliate [[WNCT-TV]] chose to carry the network on a new second [[digital subchannel]], replacing WB outlet "WGWB". After losing the UPN affiliation, WCTI-DT3 became an [[Independent station (North America)|Independent station]] known as "ENC-TV". This initially aired syndicated programming such as ''[[Trivial Pursuit: America Plays]]'', ''[[Family Feud]]'', ''[[Entertainment Studios]]'', and ''[[Extra (American TV program)|Extra]]''. Weeknights at 8 p.m., there was a prime time movie. ENC-TV was on DT2 from its launch until WCTI's switch to digital in June 2009 when it moved to DT3. At one point, ENC-TV even maintained a website at enc.tv but this was eventually abandoned.

In late summer 2009, WCTI-DT3 began to add programming from [[This TV]], eventually becoming a full-time affiliate. On November 1, 2013, the This TV affiliation was dropped in favor of the [[Movies!]] network. On August 23, 2011, [[Disney-ABC Television Group]] announced WCTI would carry Live Well Network<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://tvnewscheck.com/article/53444/live-well-adds-7-affils-tops-40-clearance/|title=Live Well Adds 7 Affils, Tops 40% Clearance|date=August 23, 2011|work=TVNewsCheck|access-date=September 14, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref> as part of an affiliation agreement with Bonten Media Group; the network is seen on subchannel 12.2. In February 2015, LWN was replaced with [[Decades (TV network)|Decades]].

[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1963]]

[[Category:Television stations in Greenville, North Carolina|CTI-TV]]

[[Category:ABC network affiliates]]

[[Category:TBD (TV network) affiliates]]

[[Category:1963 establishments in North Carolina]]