WWAY
Encyclopedia
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 (Ex-Analog Channel 3) from a transmitter northwest of Bolivia
. Owned by Morris Multimedia
, the station has studios on North Front Street in Downtown Wilmington. Syndicated
programming on WWAY includes: The Insider
, Entertainment Tonight
, Judge Judy
and The Dr. Oz Show
.
digital channel 106, and Charter
digital channel 148 is the Retro Television Network
(RTV).
(channel 6) by ten years. It was originally owned by Cape Fear Telecasting, a firm controlled by local interests. It has been an ABC affiliate since its inception. This was somewhat unusual for a two-station market
, especially one of Wilmington's size. For most of its first 20 years in television, ABC was relegated to secondary status on existing stations in most two-station markets.
In 1968, Cape Fear sold WWAY to Clay Broadcasting (later to become Clay Communications). In 1987 Clay sold its broadcasting interests, including WWAY, to Price Communications, setting off a revolving door of owners over the course of the next two decades. In 1988, Price sold WWAY to Adams Television who flipped the station to Hillside Broadcasting a few years later. Hillside then sold WWAY to Cosmos Broadcasting, a subsidiary of the Liberty Corporation, in 1999. That company sold off its insurance interests two years later bringing WWAY directly under the Liberty banner.
In 2005, Liberty merged with Raycom Media
. That company already owned WECT and could not keep both stations due to Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) duopoly
rules that do not allow common ownership of two of the four largest stations in a single market. Raycom opted to keep the higher-rated WECT and spun-off WWAY to current owner Morris Multimedia in 2006. However, the station still retains its Liberty-era logo.
On May 8, 2008, the FCC announced that Wilmington had been selected as a test market for the 2009 national digital television transition
. Five stations in Wilmington, including WWAY, also agreed to voluntarily cease analog broadcasting on September 8. Channel 3 made its transition from analog to digital at Noon on that date. On June 15, WWAY started broadcasting the Retro Television Network on its second digital channel. This had previously served as a 24-hour local weather channel.
which is part of the Florence/Myrtle Beach/Lumberton market. Rowland and all of Robeson County
used to be part of the Wilmington market and even earlier the Raleigh
/Durham
/Fayetteville
DMA. Lumberton, the county seat of Robeson County, used to carry WWAY as well until around 1999. Jacksonville
still carries WWAY even though it is part of the Greenville
/Washington
/New Bern
market. In South Carolina
, WWAY used to be carried in Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach
up until the late-1990s. It was carried along the South Carolina borderbelt communities near the North Carolina state line but no longer is. WWAY is not carried on satellite outside of the market in the Carolinas. In Brunswick County
, the station is carried on ATMC
channel 5.
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.
From March 10, 2008 until February 27, 2009 through a news share agreement, WWAY produced a prime time newscast weeknights at 7 on WILM that offered local coverage. On August 1, 2009, this station discontinued its airing of weekend newscasts leaving WECT/WSFX-TV
as the only outlet. According to the Star-News
, WWAY said it would restart those broadcasts when the economy recovers.
As of October 10, 2010, the station has brought back weekend broadcasts with a Sunday night show at 11. WWAY currently airs its newscasts in 16x9 widescreen
enhanced definition. Although not truly high definition, the broadcasts match the ratio of HD television screens. Like all RTV affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone, WWAY-DT2 airs Daytime weekday mornings at 9 for an hour. That channel also repeats the weeknight 5 and 6 o'clock shows at 7 and 7:30 respectively.
StormTrack 3 Meteorologists
Sports
Reporters
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...
-affiliated television station 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...
area 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 46 (Ex-Analog Channel 3) from a transmitter northwest of Bolivia
Bolivia, North Carolina
Bolivia is a town in Brunswick County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 148 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Brunswick County, and is named after the South American nation of the same name....
. Owned by 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...
, the station has studios on North Front Street in Downtown 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 WWAY includes: The Insider
The Insider (TV series)
The Insider is an American tabloid television news program covering events and celebrities. It debuted on September 13, 2004 as a spinoff of Entertainment Tonight and started as a popular segment that took viewers "behind closed doors" and gave them "inside" information...
, Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
, Judge Judy
Judge Judy
Judge Judy is an American court show featuring former family court judge Judith Sheindlin arbitrating over small claims cases in small claims court...
and The Dr. Oz Show
The Dr. Oz Show
The Dr. Oz Show is an American syndicated television talk show, hosted by Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon and teaching professor at Columbia University who became famous for his appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show from 2004 until 2009....
.
Digital programming
On WWAY-DT2, Time WarnerTime Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
digital channel 106, 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...
digital channel 148 is the Retro Television Network
Retro Television Network
The Retro Television Network is a system of television stations that airs classic television shows as well as more recently produced programs...
(RTV).
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 3.1 | Main WWAY programming / ABC |
| 3.2 | "RTV Wilmington" |
History
WWAY signed-on October 30, 1964 as the second television station in Wilmington, preceded by WECTWECT
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 6) by ten years. It was originally owned by Cape Fear Telecasting, a firm controlled by local interests. It has been an ABC affiliate since its inception. This was somewhat unusual for a two-station 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...
, especially one of Wilmington's size. For most of its first 20 years in television, ABC was relegated to secondary status on existing stations in most two-station markets.
In 1968, Cape Fear sold WWAY to Clay Broadcasting (later to become Clay Communications). In 1987 Clay sold its broadcasting interests, including WWAY, to Price Communications, setting off a revolving door of owners over the course of the next two decades. In 1988, Price sold WWAY to Adams Television who flipped the station to Hillside Broadcasting a few years later. Hillside then sold WWAY to Cosmos Broadcasting, a subsidiary of the Liberty Corporation, in 1999. That company sold off its insurance interests two years later bringing WWAY directly under the Liberty banner.
In 2005, Liberty merged with 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....
. That company already owned WECT and could not keep both stations due to 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...
(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 that do not allow common ownership of two of the four largest stations in a single market. Raycom opted to keep the higher-rated WECT and spun-off WWAY to current owner Morris Multimedia in 2006. However, the station still retains its Liberty-era logo.
On May 8, 2008, the FCC announced that Wilmington had been selected as a test market for the 2009 national digital television 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...
. Five stations in Wilmington, including WWAY, also agreed to voluntarily cease analog broadcasting on September 8. Channel 3 made its transition from analog to digital at Noon on that date. On June 15, WWAY started broadcasting the Retro Television Network on its second digital channel. This had previously served as a 24-hour local weather channel.
Cable and satellite availability
In North Carolina, WWAY is still carried in RowlandRowland, 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/Lumberton market. Rowland and all of Robeson County
Robeson County, North Carolina
Robeson County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2010 it had a population of 134,168. Since then, it has been one of the 10% of United States counties that were majority-minority; its combined population of American Indian, African American and Latino residents comprise over...
used to be part of the Wilmington market and even earlier the 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....
DMA. Lumberton, the county seat of Robeson County, used to carry WWAY as well until around 1999. 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...
still carries WWAY even though it is part of the Greenville
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...
/Washington
Washington, North Carolina
Washington is a city in Beaufort County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 9,744 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Beaufort County. The closest major city is Greenville, approximately 20 miles to the west....
/New Bern
New Bern, North Carolina
New Bern is a city in Craven County, North Carolina with a population of 29,524 as of the 2010 census.. It is located at the confluence of the Trent and the Neuse rivers...
market. In South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, WWAY used to be carried in Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach
Surfside Beach, South Carolina
Surfside Beach is a small seaside town in Horry County, South Carolina, United States situated directly south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Its nickname is "The Family Beach". The population was 4,425 at the 2000 census...
up until the late-1990s. It was carried along the South Carolina borderbelt communities near the North Carolina state line but no longer is. WWAY is not carried on satellite outside of the market in the Carolinas. In Brunswick County
Brunswick County, North Carolina
-External links:*******....
, the station is carried 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 5.
News operation
For its entire history, WWAY has been ranked at a distant second place behind WECT. Besides being the first station in Wilmington, that channel offers the most newscasts including throughout the weekend. Low-powered CBSCBS
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.
From March 10, 2008 until February 27, 2009 through a news share agreement, WWAY produced a prime time newscast weeknights at 7 on WILM that offered local coverage. On August 1, 2009, this station discontinued its airing of weekend newscasts leaving WECT/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...
as the only outlet. According to the Star-News
Star-News
Star-News is the daily newspaper for Wilmington, North Carolina, and its surrounding area . It is owned by The New York Times Company....
, WWAY said it would restart those broadcasts when the economy recovers.
As of October 10, 2010, the station has brought back weekend broadcasts with a Sunday night show at 11. WWAY currently airs its newscasts in 16x9 widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
enhanced definition. Although not truly high definition, the broadcasts match the ratio of HD television screens. Like all RTV affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone, WWAY-DT2 airs Daytime weekday mornings at 9 for an hour. That channel also repeats the weeknight 5 and 6 o'clock shows at 7 and 7:30 respectively.
Newscast titles
- News Scope (1964–1971)
- TV-3 News (1971–1978)
- Eyewitness NewsEyewitness NewsEyewitness 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...
3 (1978–1991) - NewsChannel 3 (1991–2003)
- WWAY NewsChannel 3 (2003–present)
Station slogans
- "Your WWAY" (1980s)
- "Now Is The Time, TV-3 Is The Place" (1981-1982; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
- "Coverage You Can Count On" (1990s)
- "First, Live, and Local" (1990s-2000s)
- "Live. Local. Interactive." (2007–present)
News team
Anchors- Marcy Cuevas - Sundays and Reporter
- Tim Buckley- weekday mornings and weather
- Chris Phillips - weeknights
- Cacky Catlett - weeknights
- Ramon Herrera - Sundays and reporter
StormTrack 3 Meteorologists
- Jerry Jackson (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) - Chief seen weeknights - Tim Buckley - (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...
/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,...
) - weekday mornings - Asha Dave - Sundays and news reporter
- George Elliott (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...
and NWANational Weather AssociationThe National Weather Association is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities...
Seals of Approval) - severe weather and "Live with George" segment producer
Sports
- John Rendleman - weeknights at 6 and 11 (also sports and news reporter)
- Coach's Corner, Friday Night Fifth Quarter, and Full Court Press host
- Trot NixonTrot NixonChristopher Trotman Nixon is an American retired professional baseball right fielder. He played from 1996-2008 for three different teams, but is noted primarily for his time with the Boston Red Sox...
- Friday Night Fifth Quarter host - Brett BlizzardBrett BlizzardBrett Alan Blizzard is a basketball player formerly for Virtus Bologna of the Italian A League. Originally of American nationality, Blizzard opted to acquire dual citizenship in Italy while playing overseas. He became eligible to play on Italy's national team because of a distant Italian relative...
- Full Court Press host - Jesse Jones - reporter
Reporters
- Kevin Wuzzardo - News Content Manager and "The Rant" segment producer
- Marissa Jasek
- Katie Harden
- Cliff Pyron