WLFL
Encyclopedia
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 (virtual channel
22.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter
located in Auburn, North Carolina
. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable
channel 2 and in high definition on digital channel 1122. Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group
, WLFL is sister to MyNetworkTV
affiliate WRDC and the two share studios on Highwoods Boulevard in Raleigh. Syndicated
programming on this station includes How I Met Your Mother
, The Simpsons
, Family Guy
, and Maury
among others. It is one of three Sinclair duopolies
in the state of North Carolina.
Cable digital channel 123 is The Country Network.
The analog UHF channel 22 allotment was in planning stages as early as 1976 as a Christian
-themed station with mostly Christian programs and some secular family shows. It would be operated by L.L. "Buddy" Leathers and his Carolina Christian Communications, a broadcasting company whose flagship was WGGS in Greenville, South Carolina
. Carolina Christian had several construction permit
s in the Carolinas. This station's permit was bought out by Family Television in 1980 with the intention to sign-on in late-September 1981. However, those plans were scuttled due to technical problems and bad weather.
It finally went on-the-air as WLFL-TV (Light For Living) at 2 in the afternoon on December 18, 1981
with the movie Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
as its inaugural program following a day of test patterns. It was the Triangle's first full-market
Independent outlet. Another earlier station with the same format (WKFT-TV now WUVC) had signed-on a few months before but did not have an adequate signal to most of the market at the time. WLFL was a typical UHF Independent running cartoons, dramas, westerns, old sitcoms, and old movies in addition to religious programming
. While licensed to Raleigh, its studios were initially on Broad Street in Downtown Durham
(the same building where WTVD
set up shop in 1954) with its master control
facility located with the transmission and tower facility near Apex.
In 1985, WLFL was purchased by the Norfolk, Virginia
-based TVX Broadcast Group
. The company upgraded the station's programming until it was actually the third-highest rated station in the Triangle area. A year later, TVX moved WLFL into new studios on Front Street in Raleigh
just inside the Beltline
/I-440. On October 6, 1986, it became a charter affiliate of Fox
along with all other TVX stations. The station also replaced its original 1000 feet (304.8 m) tower and one megawatt ERP
transmission facility with a new 1550 feet (472.4 m) tower and five megawatt visual, 500 kW aural ERP transmission antenna. TVX sold-off most of its medium market stations in 1988 following its purchase of Taft Broadcasting
's Independent stations and Fox affiliates. It held onto WLFL until its merger with Paramount Pictures
in 1991 after which the group was renamed Paramount Stations Group
. By this time, it was one of the strongest Fox affiliates in the country. In 1993, the station dropped the -TV suffix from its call sign.
Paramount sold WLFL to the Sinclair Broadcast Group in 1994 and entered into a local marketing agreement
(LMA) with WRDC the following year. That station was owned by Glencairn Broadcasting a separate entity the Smith family (who owned Sinclair) had a majority stake in thus creating a duopoly in the market even before Sinclair purchased WRDC outright in 2001. While WLFL was the senior partner in the deal, it vacated its Front Street studios that year and moved to WRDC's new facility in the nearby Highwoods office complex. WNCN-TV, which acquired the market's NBC
affiliation from WRDC in 1995, moved into WLFL's old studios at the same time. In 1996, Fox announced it would not renew its contract with this station when it got involved in a dispute with Sinclair over programming issues during the 10 p.m. slot. Even though Fox later relented, it still managed to seek a new affiliation with WRAZ in 1998 leaving WLFL to pick up programming from The WB
.
On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN
announced the two networks would end broadcasting and merge. The new combined service would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of corporate parents "C"BS
(the parent company of UPN) and the "W"arner Bros.
unit of Time Warner
. On February 22, News Corporation
announced it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. This service, which would be a sister network to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming Independent. It was also created to compete against The CW. It was initially seen as a foregone conclusion WLFL would be The CW's Triangle affiliate. It was by far the stronger of the two stations in Sinclair's Triangle duopoly and network officials were on record as favoring the "strongest" WB and UPN stations.
However, when the new network announced its first group of stations outside the core group of Tribune Company
and CBS Corporation
-owned stations, WLFL was not on the list. In February, WRDC was announced as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It was not until May 2 when Sinclair agreed to affiliate all of its former WB affiliates, not joining MyNetworkTV
(including WLFL), with The CW. On February 17, 2009, the station completed its analog to digital conversion. It is one of three stations in the Triangle area, along with WRDC and Independent outlet WRAY-TV
, that agreed to make the switch on the date even though the revised transition deadline had been changed to June 12. On the new date at noon, WLFL changed digital channels from 57 to 27. However, through the use of PSIP
, digital television
receivers display its virtual channel
as 22.1.
Sinclair was involved in a retransmission
dispute with Time Warner Cable whose original carriage agreement ended on December 31, 2010. The issue involved fees the cable
provider was willing to pay for programming on WLFL and WRDC. Negotiations between the two parties were extended for another two weeks and were set to expire on January 15, 2011 if an agreement could not reached. Any blackout would, in effect, limit access for both WLFL and WRDC to a number of cable households within the market. However, both stations are also available through satellite providers DirecTV
and Dish Network
along with AT&T
's U-Verse
service.
, WKFT
, cancelled the area's first broadcast at 10 back in 1989. Unlike WLFL's operation, that station focused more on the southern parts of the Triangle market and sold advertising seen during the production specifically to those areas.
It began having newscast competition in September 1995 shortly after the sign-on of WRAZ. From the start, this effort was produced by WRAL and was also seen every night. However, since WLFL's hour-long news was firmly established in the market by that time, it remained a strong operation with a popular on-air team. After the station's switch to The WB in 1998, its nightly show became known as WB 22 News at 10. On August 16, 2004, WLFL's news department was downsized and converted into Sinclair's controversial News Central
operation.
While local news and some sports remained based in Raleigh, the station shut down its weather department and began featuring national headlines, forecast segments, and other sports coverage based out of company headquarters on Beaver Dam Road in Hunt Valley, Maryland
. In addition, it featured a one-minute conservative political commentary segment called "The Point". Hosted by Sinclair's Vice President
for Corporate Relations, Mark E. Hyman
, this feature was controversial as well and a requirement of all company-owned stations with newscasts until its discontinuation in December 2006. In September 2005, WLFL's nightly broadcast was cut down to thirty minutes in an attempt to boost its anemic ratings against WRAZ.
After a fourteen-year run, the station's remaining in-house news department was closed as a result of a cost-cutting move implemented by Sinclair as well as the systematic shut down of News Central. The last official airing of WB 22 News at 10 was on March 30, 2006 after which there was no local news for a short period. News Central sports anchor Mark Armstrong
as well as WLFL news anchor and reporter Tamara Gibbs eventually joined WTVD. On June 26, 2006, WLFL entered into a news share agreement with ABC's owned-and-operated station
WTVD. This resulted in a new nightly prime time newscast to debut known as ABC 11 Eyewitness News
at 10 on WB 22.
Like the previous effort, the broadcast runs directly against the WRAL-produced newscast on WRAZ. Since establishing the arrangement, there have never been any plans announced for a weekday morning show on WLFL that would also be produced by WTVD. This is unlike WRAZ which offers a two-hour extension of WRAL's weekday morning broadcast at 7. Concurrent with its official affiliation switch to The CW on September 18, WLFL's newscast became known as ABC 11 Eyewitness News at 10 on CW 22. On April 21, 2008, WTVD became the second station in the Triangle behind WRAL and the eighth ABC-owned station in the United States
to upgrade newscasts to high definition. However, the broadcasts on WLFL were not included due to the station's lack of an HD master control
facility. As a result, it is still seen in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition.
Eyewitness News at 10 can currently be seen every night for 35 minutes from WTVD's studios on Liberty Street/US 70 Bus/NC 98
in Downtown Durham. In addition to those main facilities, that station also operates bureaus in Fayetteville (on Green Street) and Downtown Raleigh (on Fayetteville Street
). During weather forecast segments, WLFL features WTVD's Doppler
weather radar
known as "First Alert Doppler XP". This is based at the latter's transmitter site southeast of Garner
along the Wake County
border with Johnston County
.
Reporters
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
-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 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...
's 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...
licensed to 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...
. 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 27 (virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
22.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter
Transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications a transmitter or radio transmitter is an electronic device which, with the aid of an antenna, produces radio waves. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the antenna. When excited by this alternating...
located in Auburn, North Carolina
Auburn, North Carolina
Auburn is an unincorporated community in Wake County, North Carolina, USA, just southeast of Raleigh. It lies about halfway between Garner and Clayton along Old Garner Road, a former alignment of US 70.-Landmarks:...
. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
channel 2 and in high definition on digital channel 1122. Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group
The Sinclair Broadcast Group is an American telecommunications company that operates the largest number of local television stations in the United States. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, it owns a total of 57 stations across the country in 35 primarily small and medium markets, many of...
, WLFL is sister to MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
affiliate WRDC and the two share studios on Highwoods Boulevard in Raleigh. 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 this station includes How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
, The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
, and Maury
Maury (TV series)
Maury is a syndicated American tabloid talk show hosted by Maury Povich.When the series first aired in 1991, the show was called The Maury Povich Show and was produced by MoPo Productions in association with Paramount Domestic Television...
among others. It is one of three Sinclair duopolies
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....
in the state of North Carolina.
Digital programming
On WLFL-DT2 and Time WarnerTime Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
Cable digital channel 123 is The Country Network.
| Channels | Name | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22.1 | WLFL-HD | 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 WLFL programming / The CW |
| 22.2 | Country | 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 | The Country Network |
History
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
-themed station with mostly Christian programs and some secular family shows. It would be operated by L.L. "Buddy" Leathers and his Carolina Christian Communications, a broadcasting company whose flagship was WGGS in Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville, South Carolina
-Law and government:The city of Greenville adopted the Council-Manager form of municipal government in 1976.-History:The area was part of the Cherokee Nation's protected grounds after the Treaty of 1763, which ended the French and Indian War. No White man was allowed to enter, though some families...
. Carolina Christian had several construction permit
Construction permit
A construction permit or building permit is a permit required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and in some cases for major renovations. Generally, the new construction must be inspected during construction and after completion to ensure compliance...
s in the Carolinas. This station's permit was bought out by Family Television in 1980 with the intention to sign-on in late-September 1981. However, those plans were scuttled due to technical problems and bad weather.
It finally went on-the-air as WLFL-TV (Light For Living) at 2 in the afternoon on December 18, 1981
1981 in television
The year 1981 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1981.For the American TV schedule, see: 1981-82 American network television schedule.- Events :...
with the movie Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (film)
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing is a 1955 American drama-romance film. Set in 1949-50 Hong Kong, it tells the story of a married, but separated, American reporter , who falls in love with a Eurasian doctor originally from China , only to encounter prejudice from her family and from Hong Kong...
as its inaugural program following a day of test patterns. It was the Triangle's first full-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...
Independent outlet. Another earlier station with the same format (WKFT-TV now WUVC) had signed-on a few months before but did not have an adequate signal to most of the market at the time. WLFL was a typical UHF Independent running cartoons, dramas, westerns, old sitcoms, and old movies in addition to religious programming
Religious broadcasting
Religious broadcasting refers to broadcasting by religious organizations, usually with a religious message. Many religious organizations have long recorded content such as sermons and lectures, and have moved into distributing content on their Internet websites.While this article emphasises...
. While licensed to Raleigh, its studios were initially on Broad Street in Downtown 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...
(the same building where WTVD
WTVD
WTVD, channel 11, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, licensed to Durham, North Carolina. The station serves the areas of Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and Fayetteville, known as the Triangle...
set up shop in 1954) with its master control
Master control
Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and television networks. It is distinct from a production control room in television studios where the activities such as switching from camera to camera are coordinated...
facility located with the transmission and tower facility near Apex.
In 1985, WLFL was purchased by the Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
-based TVX Broadcast Group
TVX Broadcast Group
The TVX Broadcast Group was an American media company that owned a group of UHF television stations during the 1980s. Originally known as the Television Corporation, the company was headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, and was founded by a group of Norfolk-area businessmen led by Timothy McDonald...
. The company upgraded the station's programming until it was actually the third-highest rated station in the Triangle area. A year later, TVX moved WLFL into new studios on Front Street in Raleigh
Raleigh Township, Wake County, North Carolina
Raleigh Township is one of twenty townships within Wake County, North Carolina. As of the 2000 census, Raleigh Township had a population of 110,664, a 6.5% increase over 1990, and a population density of 6.94 people per acre .Raleigh Township, occupying 1115 acres in central Wake County, is...
just inside the Beltline
Interstate 440 (North Carolina)
Interstate 440 in North Carolina, also known as the Raleigh Beltline and the Cliff Benson Beltline, is a 16.4-mile partial beltway that nearly encircles central Raleigh. Prior to August 2002, it was a complete loop and shared a concurrency with its parent, Interstate 40 along the loop's southern...
/I-440. On October 6, 1986, it became a charter affiliate of Fox
Fox 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...
along with all other TVX stations. The station also replaced its original 1000 feet (304.8 m) tower and one megawatt ERP
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
transmission facility with a new 1550 feet (472.4 m) tower and five megawatt visual, 500 kW aural ERP transmission antenna. TVX sold-off most of its medium market stations in 1988 following its purchase of Taft Broadcasting
Taft Broadcasting
The Taft Broadcasting Company, also known as Taft Television and Radio Company, Incorporated, was an American media conglomerate based in Cincinnati, Ohio....
's Independent stations and Fox affiliates. It held onto WLFL until its merger with Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
in 1991 after which the group was renamed Paramount Stations Group
Paramount Stations Group
Paramount Stations Group was a television broadcasting company that was renamed from the TVX Broadcast Group in 1991 after Paramount Pictures gained full ownership of the group. At the time, it owned several Fox affiliates and independent stations...
. By this time, it was one of the strongest Fox affiliates in the country. In 1993, the station dropped the -TV suffix from its call sign.
Paramount sold WLFL to the Sinclair Broadcast Group in 1994 and entered into a local marketing agreement
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
(LMA) with WRDC the following year. That station was owned by Glencairn Broadcasting a separate entity the Smith family (who owned Sinclair) had a majority stake in thus creating a duopoly in the market even before Sinclair purchased WRDC outright in 2001. While WLFL was the senior partner in the deal, it vacated its Front Street studios that year and moved to WRDC's new facility in the nearby Highwoods office complex. WNCN-TV, which acquired the market's NBC
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...
affiliation from WRDC in 1995, moved into WLFL's old studios at the same time. In 1996, Fox announced it would not renew its contract with this station when it got involved in a dispute with Sinclair over programming issues during the 10 p.m. slot. Even though Fox later relented, it still managed to seek a new affiliation with WRAZ in 1998 leaving WLFL to pick up programming from The WB
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
.
On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
announced the two networks would end broadcasting and merge. The new combined service would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of corporate parents "C"BS
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...
(the parent company of UPN) and the "W"arner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
unit of Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
. On February 22, News Corporation
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
announced it would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. This service, which would be a sister network to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming Independent. It was also created to compete against The CW. It was initially seen as a foregone conclusion WLFL would be The CW's Triangle affiliate. It was by far the stronger of the two stations in Sinclair's Triangle duopoly and network officials were on record as favoring the "strongest" WB and UPN stations.
However, when the new network announced its first group of stations outside the core group of Tribune Company
Tribune Company
The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida...
and CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation
CBS Corporation is an American media conglomerate focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, owner of National Amusements, is CBS's...
-owned stations, WLFL was not on the list. In February, WRDC was announced as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It was not until May 2 when Sinclair agreed to affiliate all of its former WB affiliates, not joining MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
(including WLFL), with The CW. On February 17, 2009, the station completed its analog to digital conversion. It is one of three stations in the Triangle area, along with WRDC and Independent outlet WRAY-TV
WRAY-TV
WRAY-TV is a full-power television station licensed to Wilson, North Carolina and serves the entire Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville, North Carolina metropolitan area...
, that agreed to make the switch on the date even though the revised transition deadline had been changed to June 12. On the new date at noon, WLFL changed digital channels from 57 to 27. However, through the use of PSIP
Program and System Information Protocol
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
, digital television
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
receivers display its virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
as 22.1.
Sinclair was involved in a retransmission
Retransmission
Retransmission might refer to:* Retransmission , the resending of packets which have been damaged or lost* Replication of a signal at a repeater**re-broadcast through a rebroadcaster or broadcast translator or booster, or relay station...
dispute with Time Warner Cable whose original carriage agreement ended on December 31, 2010. The issue involved fees the cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
provider was willing to pay for programming on WLFL and WRDC. Negotiations between the two parties were extended for another two weeks and were set to expire on January 15, 2011 if an agreement could not reached. Any blackout would, in effect, limit access for both WLFL and WRDC to a number of cable households within the market. However, both stations are also available through satellite providers DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
and Dish Network
Dish Network
Dish Network Corporation is the second largest pay TV provider in the United States, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to 14.337 million commercial and residential customers in the United States. Dish...
along with AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
's U-Verse
U-Verse
AT&T U-verse is a registered service mark under which AT&T offers Internet access, television, and telephone services in various parts of the United States. It began in 2008 to serve mostly residences and small businesses in urban and suburban areas.-Services:...
service.
News operation
After Fox required most of its affiliates to air local newscasts in the early-1990s or face disaffiliation, WLFL established a news department and launched a nightly prime time show known as Fox 22 Ten O'Clock News in 1992. It was the second attempt in the time slot since an Independent outlet in FayettevilleFayetteville, 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....
, WKFT
WUVC-TV
WUVC-DT is the Univision owned and operated station based and licensed in Fayetteville, North Carolina and serving the Triangle television market. It broadcasts in digital on UHF channel 38...
, cancelled the area's first broadcast at 10 back in 1989. Unlike WLFL's operation, that station focused more on the southern parts of the Triangle market and sold advertising seen during the production specifically to those areas.
It began having newscast competition in September 1995 shortly after the sign-on of WRAZ. From the start, this effort was produced by WRAL and was also seen every night. However, since WLFL's hour-long news was firmly established in the market by that time, it remained a strong operation with a popular on-air team. After the station's switch to The WB in 1998, its nightly show became known as WB 22 News at 10. On August 16, 2004, WLFL's news department was downsized and converted into Sinclair's controversial News Central
News Central
News Central was a primetime newscast on Sinclair television stations in the United States, mixing locally produced news with nationally produced news and an opinion segment from Sinclair's Hunt Valley, Maryland studios...
operation.
While local news and some sports remained based in Raleigh, the station shut down its weather department and began featuring national headlines, forecast segments, and other sports coverage based out of company headquarters on Beaver Dam Road in Hunt Valley, Maryland
Hunt Valley, Maryland
Hunt Valley is an affluent unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It lies just north of the city of Baltimore, along Highway 145 off Interstate 83. Loch Raven Reservoir...
. In addition, it featured a one-minute conservative political commentary segment called "The Point". Hosted by Sinclair's Vice President
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
for Corporate Relations, Mark E. Hyman
Mark E. Hyman
Mark E. Hyman is the Vice President for Corporate Relations for Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest chain of local television stations in the United States. Hyman became a visible presence during local news broadcasts over Sinclair's stations, many of which aired The Point from late 2001...
, this feature was controversial as well and a requirement of all company-owned stations with newscasts until its discontinuation in December 2006. In September 2005, WLFL's nightly broadcast was cut down to thirty minutes in an attempt to boost its anemic ratings against WRAZ.
After a fourteen-year run, the station's remaining in-house news department was closed as a result of a cost-cutting move implemented by Sinclair as well as the systematic shut down of News Central. The last official airing of WB 22 News at 10 was on March 30, 2006 after which there was no local news for a short period. News Central sports anchor Mark Armstrong
Mark Armstrong
Mark Armstrong is a British amateur astronomer, a member of the British Astronomical Association. With his wife Claire Armstrong, he works from Rolvenden , Kent, England, and, as of 2006, has 58 supernova discoveries to his credit in addition to two asteroids.-External links: Very short biography...
as well as WLFL news anchor and reporter Tamara Gibbs eventually joined WTVD. On June 26, 2006, WLFL entered into a news share agreement with ABC's owned-and-operated station
Owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry , an owned-and-operated station usually refers to a television station or radio station that is owned by the network with which it is associated...
WTVD. This resulted in a new nightly prime time newscast to debut known as ABC 11 Eyewitness News
Eyewitness News
Eyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
at 10 on WB 22.
Like the previous effort, the broadcast runs directly against the WRAL-produced newscast on WRAZ. Since establishing the arrangement, there have never been any plans announced for a weekday morning show on WLFL that would also be produced by WTVD. This is unlike WRAZ which offers a two-hour extension of WRAL's weekday morning broadcast at 7. Concurrent with its official affiliation switch to The CW on September 18, WLFL's newscast became known as ABC 11 Eyewitness News at 10 on CW 22. On April 21, 2008, WTVD became the second station in the Triangle behind WRAL and the eighth ABC-owned station in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to upgrade newscasts to high definition. However, the broadcasts on WLFL were not included due to the station's lack of an HD master control
Master control
Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and television networks. It is distinct from a production control room in television studios where the activities such as switching from camera to camera are coordinated...
facility. As a result, it is still seen in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition.
Eyewitness News at 10 can currently be seen every night for 35 minutes from WTVD's studios on Liberty Street/US 70 Bus/NC 98
North Carolina Highway 98
NC 98 is a 45-mile North Carolina state highway and a semi-urban traffic artery connecting Durham to Wake Forest as well as many small-to-medium sized towns in the north portion of The Triangle region...
in Downtown Durham. In addition to those main facilities, that station also operates bureaus in Fayetteville (on Green Street) and Downtown Raleigh (on Fayetteville Street
Fayetteville Street (Raleigh)
Fayetteville Street is a major street in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. It is a north-south thoroughfare that connects the State Capitol to the Raleigh Convention Center and the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts...
). During weather forecast segments, WLFL features WTVD's Doppler
Pulse-doppler radar
Pulse-Doppler is a 4D radar system capable of detecting both target 3D location as well as measuring radial velocity . It uses the Doppler effect to avoid overloading computers and operators as well as to reduce power consumption...
weather radar
Weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type . Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the...
known as "First Alert Doppler XP". This is based at the latter's transmitter site southeast of Garner
Garner, North Carolina
Garner is a town in Wake County, North Carolina, United States and a suburb of Raleigh. The population was 17,757 at the 2000 census and was 27,533 in 2009.-Geography:Garner is located at ....
along the Wake County
Wake County, North Carolina
Wake County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the population was 900,993 making it North Carolina's second most populated county...
border with Johnston County
Johnston County, North Carolina
-Major highways:* Interstate 40* Interstate 95* U.S. Highway 70* U.S. Highway 301* U.S. Highway 701-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 121,965 people, 46,595 households, and 33,688 families residing in the county. The population density was 154 people per square mile . There were...
.
News team
Anchors- Steve Daniels - weeknight news
- Tisha Powell - weeknight news and medical reporter
- Shae Crisson - weekend news and investigative reporter
- Chris Hohmann (CBMCertified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...
Seal of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist seen weeknights - Scott Dean (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) - weekend meteorologist - Mark Armstrong - weeknight sports
- Joe Mazur - weekend sports and sports reporter
Reporters
- Angela Hampton - Community Affairs Specialist and special events
- Kerith Burke - sports and fill-in sports anchor
- Greg Barnes - Fayetteville Bureau Chief
- Jennifer Kovaleski - digital journalist
- Ed Crump - Raleigh Bureau Senior
- Gilbert Baez - Fayetteville Bureau
- Mat Mendez - digital journalist
- Diane Wilson - troubleshooter
- John Clark - periodically
- Jon Camp - investigative
- Sheyenne Rodriguez
- Amber Rupinta
- Alina Machado
- Tamara Gibbs
- Steve Dorsey