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88-852: WRAL-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Raleigh, North Carolina , United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Research Triangle area. It is the flagship station of the locally based Capitol Broadcasting Company , which has owned the station since its inception. WRAL-TV is a sister station to Fox affiliate WRAZ (channel 50, also licensed to Raleigh), Class A news-formatted independent station WNGT-CD (channel 34, licensed to both Smithfield and Selma ), and radio stations WRAL (101.5 FM), WCMC-FM (99.9), WDNC (620 AM), and WCLY (1550 AM). The television stations share studios at Capitol Broadcasting Company headquarters on Western Boulevard in west Raleigh; WRAL-TV's transmitter

176-572: A TV network and an individual station within the network is referred to as O&O or affiliate , respectively. Because television station signals use the electromagnetic spectrum, which in the past has been a common, scarce resource, governments often claim authority to regulate them. Broadcast television systems standards vary around the world. Television stations broadcasting over an analog system were typically limited to one television channel , but digital television enables broadcasting via subchannels as well. Television stations usually require

264-583: A barter in some cases. WUVC-DT WUVC-DT (channel 40) is a television station licensed to Fayetteville, North Carolina , United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language Univision network to the Research Triangle region. It is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Raleigh -licensed low-power UniMás station WTNC-LD (channel 26). The two stations share studios on Falls of Neuse Road in Raleigh; WUVC-DT's transmitter

352-497: A broadcast license from a government agency which sets the requirements and limitations on the station. In the United States, for example, a television license defines the broadcast range , or geographic area, that the station is limited to, allocates the broadcast frequency of the radio spectrum for that station's transmissions, sets limits on what types of television programs can be programmed for broadcast and requires

440-407: A CBS affiliate, it cleared the network's entire schedule from the late 1990s until it rejoined NBC). The only exceptions involved ACC football and basketball from Raycom Sports , both of which aired on the station from 1977, when they moved from WTVD, until the end of the syndication package in 2019. ACC-preempted NBC programming aired either as originally scheduled on digital subchannel 5.2 (which

528-501: A Univision-owned station, on April 19, 2004, WUVC launched the first Spanish-language news operation in North Carolina, with prime time news briefs branded as Notibreves . The station then expanded its programming to include a 6 p.m. newscast three nights a week. As part of an expansion of Univision's local news operations, the station added a weeknight 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscast, titled Noticias 40 , on August 29, 2011; it

616-648: A change to an educational format. Soon after, WRAL continued to produce acclaimed educational children's shows such as Frog Hollow , Sparks , and The Androgena Show . Today, WRAL continues to produce educational programs with such shows as Smart Start Kids and Brain Game . In recent years, WRAL and UNC-TV have co-produced programming, such as the 2009 Gubernatorial Inauguration and the 2006 Parade of Sail Tall Ship Show in Beaufort . UNC-TV has, also, begun carrying WRAL's award-winning Focal Point documentaries. WRAL has long been

704-502: A corporate supporter of UNC-TV, often assisting them financially and occasionally with on-air talent during UNC-TV's pledge drives. WRAL announced on February 1, 2006, that it would begin to stream all of its programming live on the internet. This signified the latest advances in technology-driven delivery of product by a local television station. A few months later, WRAL was selected to be the flagship station for North Carolina Education Lottery drawings (twice daily for certain games, with

792-405: A dozen or more counties. WRAL crews spread out across the area providing not just scores but video coverage of each of 25 to as many as 35 games in the area. The show is an extension of the expansion throughout the 1980s of high school football coverage on the 11 p.m. newscast. Each Friday, video crews are sent to cover two games each. WRAL videographers and sports reporters capture highlights of

880-512: A farm segment featuring each day's farm commodity prices, followed by a feature agricultural story from somewhere in the viewing area or around North Carolina. This grew WRAL's popularity in rural areas and with farmers, especially in Eastern North Carolina. The segments were anchored by veteran farm reporter Ray Wilkinson and were dropped in the late 1990s, but were continued on the evening news broadcasts by Ray's son Dan Wilkinson. After

968-520: A general entertainment format consisting of cartoons , westerns , religious shows , dramas and classic sitcoms . The station put a fairly decent signal into the southern portion of the Triangle, but was harder to receive in the more densely populated areas of the market. In 1985, the original owners sold WKFT to SJL Broadcasting , which formed Central Carolina Television to manage the station. The new owners subsequently invested about $ 5 million to build

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1056-482: A live noon newscast, with national segments provided by Conus Communications' All News Channel . The operation, mostly staffed by recent college graduates, also started the career of Dallas Woodhouse , who would later work at WNCN and serve as executive director of the North Carolina Republican Party . Under Bahakel, the station featured nightly news briefs between 1997 and 2001. After becoming

1144-415: A much shorter wavelength, and thus requires a shorter antenna, but also higher power. North American stations can go up to 5000 kW ERP for video and 500 kW audio, or 1000 kW digital. Low channels travel further than high ones at the same power, but UHF does not suffer from as much electromagnetic interference and background "noise" as VHF, making it much more desirable for TV. Despite this, in

1232-715: A new 1,800-foot (549 m) tower in Broadway, near the Harnett – Lee county line. The new transmitter, activated in June 1986, operated with a full five million watts of power. It gave channel 40 a coverage area comparable to the established Triangle stations, got the station on cable systems in the Raleigh– Durham area, and provided grade B coverage as far west as Greensboro . The station also rebranded itself as "Counterforce 40" and significantly upgraded its programming, competing with WLFL ,

1320-644: A respite for WKFT, whose future was in limbo. SJL's deal to sell the station to Zenox collapsed in early March. WKFT didn't resume its own schedule until WRAL-TV returned to full power and the November sweeps book was over. WRAL, which had purchased WKFT's tower and installed microwave equipment to add a roundup of Fayetteville news stories to its newscasts, continued a partnership with channel 40, which agreed to air any CBS programs channel 5 preempted. While WKFT initially prepared programs for its return, SJL announced in early November that it would take channel 40 silent at

1408-637: A single-engine airplane struck the tower, causing it to collapse and leading to a fatal crash; a temporary transmitter was mounted on WRAL-TV's tower while the Broadway site was rebuilt. Bahakel announced in December 2002 that it was selling WKFT to Univision Communications. The sale was completed in April 2003; the station changed its call sign to WUVC and network affiliation to Univision on June 1 of that year, becoming North Carolina's first Spanish-language television station. Its English-language programming inventory

1496-635: A station to broadcast a minimum amount of certain programs types, such as public affairs messages . Another form of television station is non-commercial educational (NCE) and considered public broadcasting . To avoid concentration of media ownership of television stations, government regulations in most countries generally limit the ownership of television stations by television networks or other media operators, but these regulations vary considerably. Some countries have set up nationwide television networks, in which individual television stations act as mere repeaters of nationwide programs . In those countries,

1584-483: A station which broadcasts structured content to an audience or it refers to the organization that operates the station. A terrestrial television transmission can occur via analog television signals or, more recently, via digital television signals. Television stations are differentiated from cable television or other video providers as their content is broadcast via terrestrial radio waves. A group of television stations with common ownership or affiliation are known as

1672-478: A three-hour newscast at 7 a.m. weekday mornings and a weeknight hour-long, weekend half-hour newscast at 10 p.m., seven nights a week. WRAZ previously aired a 4 p.m. newscast on weekdays; however that newscast moved to WRAL on February 29, 2016, replacing The Young and the Restless . WRAL was the first commercial station to provide high definition programming when it obtained an experimental HD transmission license from

1760-425: A variety of ways to generate revenue from television commercials . They may be an independent station or part of a broadcasting network , or some other structure. They can produce some or all of their programs or buy some broadcast syndication programming for or all of it from other stations or independent production companies. Many stations have some sort of television studio , which on major-network stations

1848-529: Is multiplexed : On June 19, 1996, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) awarded WRAL-TV the first experimental high-definition television license in the United States. The station, identified as "WRAL-HD", began digital television operations on UHF channel 32 over a month later, on July 23, 1996. The station's digital signal moved to channel 53 in March 2000. WRAL-TV was the first in

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1936-421: Is a modern and open-designed structure and grounds. The property features a fountain visible from the roadway near the building entrance, a helipad on top of the building for the landing of Sky 5, and a large garden in the back of the property, including many varieties of azaleas and other flowering plants including several types of dogwoods . The garden is a popular public attraction, especially during April when

2024-843: Is also known for its award-winning documentaries, children's shows and news staff, which has attracted viewers from outside of the Raleigh market. Halifax County in Southside Virginia is frequently mentioned by WRAL, although it is located in the Roanoke–Lynchburg market. In addition to the 23 counties in the Raleigh–Durham–Fayetteville market, the FCC lists WRAL as significantly viewed in Alamance , Caswell , Duplin , Greene , Robeson , and Scotland counties in North Carolina. For decades, WRAL has been available on cable in much of

2112-514: Is equipped with $ 600,000 worth of video equipment including cameras installed on the tail, two in the cabin and a gyroscope controlled high definition camera under the nose, all of which can be controlled from the rear of the aircraft by a videographer. WRAL modified the helicopter to reach speeds of 130 miles per hour providing access to anywhere in the Triangle within seven minutes. In over 30 years of electronic news gathering using helicopters, WRAL has had no significant incidents and remains one of

2200-462: Is located in Auburn, North Carolina . WRAL-TV has been affiliated with NBC since February 29, 2016, when it ended a 30-year affiliation with CBS , with CBS going to Goldsboro -licensed WNCN (channel 17) on that date. This is channel 5's second stint with NBC; it was a primary affiliate with that network for six years at the station's inception, after which it took on a secondary affiliation with NBC for

2288-603: Is located northeast of Broadway, North Carolina . WUVC-TV is also carried on Charter Spectrum 's cable systems in the Charlotte and Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point markets . On February 26, 1980, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted a construction permit to Fayetteville Television, Inc., for a new commercial television station on channel 40 in Fayetteville. The station began broadcasting as independent station WKFT on June 1, 1981; studios were located in

2376-792: Is often used for newscasts or other local programming . There is usually a news department , where journalists gather information. There is also a section where electronic news-gathering (ENG) operations are based, receiving remote broadcasts via remote pickup unit or satellite TV . Outside broadcasting vans, production trucks , or SUVs with electronic field production (EFP) equipment are sent out with reporters , who may also bring back news stories on video tape rather than sending them back live . To keep pace with technology United States television stations have been replacing operators with broadcast automation systems to increase profits in recent years. Some stations (known as repeaters or translators ) only simulcast another, usually

2464-408: Is otherwise an affiliate of Cozi TV ) or overnights on the main signal. The More You Know is split over two days; the first hour airs on Saturdays from 10 to 11 a.m., with Brain Game and Smart Start Kids (both of which count toward WRAL's E/I commitments) airing from 11 a.m. to noon, and the second hour airs on Sundays from 11 a.m. to noon. However, the 2003 reality show Cupid did not air on

2552-642: Is the first Spanish-language newscast in North Carolina. In recent years, WUVC has been carried on cable in multiple areas outside of the Triangle media market. That includes cable systems within the Greensboro, Greenville and Myrtle Beach, SC markets in North Carolina. On October 16, 2013, WUVC replaced the national Univision feed on Time Warner Cable (now Spectrum)'s Charlotte-area systems. The station changed its branding from simply "Univision 40" to "Univision 40 North Carolina" (rather than "Univision 40 Carolina del Norte"), reflecting that it now reaches half

2640-517: The 2016 Stanley Cup Finals and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , making it the only television station in the United States to air all three events from different networks in the same year. WRAL clears most of the NBC schedule in pattern, except for one hour of The More You Know (NBC's E/I -compliant block), which it preempts in favor of paid programming in the noon hour on Saturdays (as

2728-939: The Eastern Time Zone air Y&R at 12:30 p.m. (CBS' recommended time for the show), but in the case of WRAL, the timeslot switch occurred in January 1993. This happened because the station's sitcom reruns (the show being run at the time was an hour-long block of The Golden Girls , making it ironic that during their ABC affiliation they were one of 13 affiliates not to carry the original network run of Soap , another Witt/Thomas/Harris Production ) were having no luck against The Oprah Winfrey Show on WTVD. (The second half of their noon newscast and Right This Minute aired in Y&;R ' s recommended time slot.) Following WRAL-TV rejoining NBC on February 29, 2016, Y&R continued to air at 4 p.m. on WNCN while WRAL-TV carried local news at

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2816-537: The SAFER Act , WRAL-TV kept its analog signal on the air until July 6 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters . On June 29, 2016, WRAL became the first U.S. television station to begin broadcasting a full-time service using ATSC 3.0 digital television standards, operating under an experimental license from

2904-534: The electricity bill and emergency backup generators . In North America , full-power stations on band I (channels 2 to 6) are generally limited to 100 kW analog video ( VSB ) and 10 kW analog audio ( FM ), or 45 kW digital ( 8VSB ) ERP. Stations on band III (channels 7 to 13) can go up by 5 dB to 316 kW video, 31.6 kW audio, or 160 kW digital. Low-VHF stations are often subject to long-distance reception just as with FM. There are no stations on Channel 1 . UHF , by comparison, has

2992-852: The 2012 Emmys came from coverage of the April 2011 tornadoes that ripped through the area. Parent company Capitol Broadcasting along with the A.J. Fletcher Foundation were awarded the Governor's Award, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' highest honor in 2012 as well. In 1997, WRAL received eight Mid-South Regional Emmy Awards including those for news excellence, best newscast, best hard news series and investigative reporting. In 1998, WRAL received seven Mid-South Regional Emmy Awards including those for best daytime newscast, special event coverage, news magazine, news promotion, public service announcement, and best children's entertainment program. WRAL

3080-479: The FCC in 1996. On October 13, 2000, WRAL aired the world's first all-HD newscast. On January 28, 2001, WRAL converted all of its newsgathering and broadcasts to all digital high definition (the WRAZ newscasts are broadcast in high definition as well). On November 17, 2006, WRAL had a special "reunion" newscast during the 6 p.m. broadcast with Gaddy, Battista and DeBardelaben reprising their roles once again in commemoration of

3168-407: The FCC on UHF channel 39 as WRAL-EX . The service broadcast two subchannels, including a simulcast of WRAL's main programming in 1080p high definition, and a demo loop of content in 4K ultra high-definition television , along with testing for NBC involving the 2016 Summer Olympics and 2018 Winter Olympics . The station produced episodes of its series Out & About in 4K. However, WRAL-EX left

3256-613: The NCAA Tournament moving with the rest of the CBS schedule to WNCN, WRAL-TV continued to air ACC football and/or basketball. WRAL has broadcast memorable locally produced children's programming throughout its storied history. Its most famous and longest-running is Time for Uncle Paul , which ran from 1961 to 1981, and starred Paul Montgomery. He had played various other characters on other local shows before getting his own program. He voluntarily ended his program after station management suggested

3344-598: The Triangle WB and UPN affiliations, which went to WRAZ and WRDC respectively. The station was forced to move toward more paid programming , though it briefly served as the over-the-air home of the Carolina Hurricanes . In December 2001, Bahakel put WKFT up for sale, alongside WBAK-TV in Terre Haute, Indiana . While it was on the block, tragedy struck again, this time affecting WKFT's own tower. On March 14, 2002,

3432-494: The Triangle on the day channel 5 officially returned to NBC, showing gains of well over 200 percent compared to their previous showings on WNCN. By contrast, CBS' competing programs lost more than half their audience share, falling from first to third in one stroke. NBC had struggled in the Triangle ratings for more than 40 years, dating to when it was all but forced to move its programming full-time to WRDU-TV (channel 28, later WPTF-TV and now WRDC ) in 1971. While NBC's performance in

3520-504: The Triangle's CBS affiliate, went dark at the end of 1957 and the affiliation moved to WTVD (which was an ABC affiliate at that point) in the process, WRAL shared ABC with WTVD until August 1, 1962, when channel 5 took the ABC affiliation full-time. This was unusual for a two-station market. ABC was at the time the smallest and weakest of the three major networks; it would not be on par with NBC and CBS in terms of ratings or affiliated stations until

3608-419: The Triangle's largest independent, which joined the upstart Fox network. However, it operated on a low budget, selling advertising mainly in the southern part of the market. By 1989, WKFT was in dire financial straits, reportedly from debts owed to film studios for movies shown on the station. It had also failed in a bid to take the NBC affiliation from WPTF-TV (now WRDC ). In November, the sale of channel 40

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3696-525: The U.S. to broadcast a live sports program in high definition (on September 6, 1997), as well as the first HD newscast (on October 13, 2000). CBS utilized WRAL-HD in testing its own high-definition programming, and in 1999, began providing the station with a regular schedule of prime time programs in HD. HD sports programming recorded by WRAL was provided to other model stations as well. WRAL-TV's pioneering efforts in digital television have won wide recognition from within

3784-552: The U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is taking another large portion of this band (channels 52 to 69) away, in contrast to the rest of the world, which has been taking VHF instead. This means that some stations left on VHF are harder to receive after the analog shutdown . Since at least 1974, there are no stations on channel 37 in North America for radio astronomy purposes. Most television stations are commercial broadcasting enterprises which are structured in

3872-485: The United States and Canada where local over-the-air broadcast signals were not available. It was replaced in the late 1990s with fellow CBS affiliate WSEE-TV from Erie, Pennsylvania , primarily because of WRAL's preemptions of network programming due to ACC basketball games, which were (and still are) a highly-popular audience draw in North Carolina. On January 15, 2016, WRAL-TV announced that it would switch to NBC on February 29, 2016. Concurrently, CBS announced that

3960-451: The United States on September 13, 2012. The system allows emergency information including text, web pages and video to be distributed to compatible receivers using existing digital television signals. WRAL's signal can be viewed across much of Central and Eastern North Carolina. The official eastern fringe of the Raleigh market is Halifax County and the western fringe is Orange County . The Virginia and South Carolina state lines make up

4048-428: The air in 2018 as a consequence of the FCC's repacking process as a result of a spectrum auction and has not returned. On September 11, 2020, Capitol Broadcasting bought then-WARZ-CD for $ 725,000, and since then has used the station, now WNGT-CD , as an ATSC 3.0 multiplex for the region. Like WRAL-EX, WNGT-CD has since simulcast WRAL in 1080p as well. WRAL-TV debuted the first Mobile Emergency Alert System (M-EAS) in

4136-573: The air in only three hours. WKFT ran the entire WRAL schedule during this time. The station's new, stronger tower was activated on October 25, 1990, at which point WKFT reverted to broadcasting its own programming. In the early 1990s, WRAL distributed its programming via C-Band satellite as part of the Primetime 24 package, reaching viewers in the Caribbean and Latin America , as well as the few rural areas of

4224-535: The area improved somewhat after it moved to WNCN in 1995, that station had remained stubbornly in third place for most of its 20-year run with the network. The delay in the affiliation switch kept CBS's coverage of Super Bowl 50 , which featured the Carolina Panthers (based in nearby Charlotte ) as champions of the National Football Conference , on WRAL-TV. As an NBC station, channel 5 carried

4312-539: The city of Greenville. The fringe area of WRAL's digital signal runs as far east as the western side of Beaufort County. WRAL-TV is still viewed and is quite popular with many outside of the Triangle, mainly in portions of the Piedmont Triad , Eastern North Carolina, and even into parts of Southside Virginia and the Pee Dee region of South Carolina. It has long been available on cable as far east as Wilmington. The station

4400-404: The complete opposite of traditional commercial television practices. NBC, on the other hand, took the line that an affiliation deal was a partnership. Goodmon saw the switch to NBC as "a business decision for the future." The last CBS program to air on WRAL was a showing of the movie Last Vegas at 9 p.m. Eastern Time. WRAL officially rejoined NBC at 7 a.m. on February 29. In a ceremony at

4488-483: The early 1970s, the editorials were running for 10 minutes every weeknight. Helms' conservative commentaries were both controversial and popular with many viewers. In March 1985, WTVD's owner, Capital Cities Communications , purchased ABC, resulting in WTVD becoming an owned-and-operated station of that network. The CBS affiliation moved to WRAL-TV on August 4, 1985. Within six months of the switch, WRAL-TV had become one of

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4576-481: The early 1970s. WRAL did, however, continue to carry The Huntley-Brinkley Report until January 3, 1967, when ABC's own evening newscasts expanded to 30 minutes. WRAL also continued to carry My Three Sons for several years after that show switched networks, from ABC to CBS. From 1960 until his election to the United States Senate in 1972, Jesse Helms was an editorialist on WRAL-TV's news broadcasts; by

4664-575: The eastern portion of North Carolina, as far east as Wilmington. It is also available on cable systems in portions of the Charlotte and Triad media markets , as well as the North Carolina portions of the Hampton Roads and Florence–Myrtle Beach markets. In recent years, it has also been picked up by cable systems on the fringes of the Richmond and Roanoke markets. During the 1970s and 1980s through CATV, WRAL

4752-499: The end of the month if no buyer could be found for the station, citing the striking down of must-carry regulations in 1985 and regional economic upheaval from the deployment of Fort Bragg troops ahead of the Gulf War ; SJL chairman George Lilly said that the station might already have left the air if not for the unexpected revenues from the WRAL agreement. With days to go before the deadline,

4840-468: The end of the morning newscast, Goodmon pressed a button decorated with the NBC peacock to switch to Today . Meredith College professor Doug Spero suggested that WRAL's overall dominance in the Triangle was so absolute that it was in a position to become one of NBC's strongest affiliates, much as it was one of CBS' strongest affiliates. The feeling was mutual; according to NBC News correspondent Harry Smith , NBC officials felt like they had "just won

4928-427: The existing NBC station, Media General -owned and Goldsboro -licensed WNCN (channel 17), would replace WRAL-TV as the Triangle's CBS affiliate the same day. Capitol Broadcasting president and CEO Jim Goodmon stated that CBS would only renew its affiliation with WRAL if it entered into a reverse compensation agreement—under which Capitol would be required to pay the network for the local rights to air its programming,

5016-696: The few stations to own rather than lease their helicopter. "Sky 5" has also participated in numerous search and rescue operations over the years at the request of local emergency officials before returning to newsgathering duties. WRAL has received award nominations for news 32 times, tying Nashville station WTVF in the 2012 Mid-South Regional Emmy Awards and won 11. WRAL took home the Emmy for News Excellence , Evening Newscast, Breaking News, Serious Feature News Report, Light Feature News Report, Light Feature News Series, Interactivity, Promo Spot News Same Day, Promo Spot News Image, Graphics Arts, and News Writing. Several of

5104-601: The first quarter of one game and second quarter of the other game. Editors have little more than an hour to prepare highlights. From 1995 through 2002, Football Friday was broadcast from WRAL's Studio A with an audience of cheerleaders , bands , players and fans. The arrival of the North Carolina Education Lottery moved the show to the newsroom. WRAL-TV presently broadcasts 42 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with seven hours each weekday, three hours on Saturdays and four hours on Sundays). WRAL has

5192-518: The flowers are at the peak of blooming. Television station The Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow ( TV Station Paul Nipkow ) in Berlin , Germany , was the first regular television service in the world. It was on the air from 22 March 1935, until it was shut down in 1944. The station was named after Paul Gottlieb Nipkow , the inventor of the Nipkow disk . Most often the term "television station" refers to

5280-420: The highest point available in the transmission area, such as on a summit , the top of a high skyscraper , or on a tall radio tower . To get a signal from the master control room to the transmitter, a studio/transmitter link (STL) is used. The link can be either by radio or T1 / E1 . A transmitter/studio link (TSL) may also send telemetry back to the station, but this may be embedded in subcarriers of

5368-922: The highest rated television news organization in the Triangle winning numerous regional Emmys. Most recently, WRAL and wral.com were nominated 29 times for Mid-South Regional Emmys. Until his retirement on July 1, 1994, Charlie Gaddy co-anchored newscasts alongside Bobbie Battista , Adele Arakawa (now with KUSA-TV in Denver ), Donna Gregory (who now works for WWAY in Wilmington ), and Pam Saulsby (formerly of WTVJ in Miami). From 1994 to 2022, David Crabtree (formerly of KCNC-TV and KMGH-TV in Denver, WITN-TV in Washington, North Carolina , and WKRN-TV in Nashville) and Debra Morgan were part of

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5456-400: The local television station has no station identification and, from a consumer's point of view, there is no practical distinction between a network and a station, with only small regional changes in programming, such as local television news . To broadcast its programs, a television station requires operators to operate equipment, a transmitter or radio antenna , which is often located at

5544-850: The longest-running on-air news team (news, weather, and sports) in the Triangle and one of the longest-running news teams in the state. Long time sports anchor Tom Suiter retired on December 18, 2008, and was replaced by Jeff Gravely, also a sports reporter and anchor for the 10 p.m. news on WRAZ. Jeff Gravely retired from WRAL, and Chris Lea (formerly of WXII in Winston-Salem) became the sports anchor in 2020. In September 1995, WRAL began to produce newscasts for WRAZ. That station usually simulcasts local breaking news coverage from WRAL. For national breaking news events, WRAZ carries Fox News coverage, while WRAL carries coverage from NBC News. Otherwise, WRAZ may broadcast NBC programming in case WRAL cannot do so as in news-related emergencies. The WRAZ broadcasts include

5632-483: The lottery" when they learned WRAL was rejoining NBC. Indeed, on the first day of WRAL's return to NBC, several dayparts saw NBC jump from third to first in the Triangle ratings at one stroke. Notably, Today , the NBC Nightly News , and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon immediately saw major ratings gains in the market after their move to WRAL. The former two shows tallied their highest ratings on record in

5720-419: The main broadcast. Stations which retransmit or simulcast another may simply pick-up that station over-the-air , or via STL or satellite. The license usually specifies which other station it is allowed to carry. VHF stations often have very tall antennas due to their long wavelength , but require much less effective radiated power (ERP), and therefore use much less transmitter power output , also saving on

5808-420: The multi-jurisdictional Mega Millions Tuesday and Friday nights, and Powerball Wednesdays and Saturdays). On December 3, 2007, WRAL became the first local television station to stream live video to mobile phones. Debuting in 1981, each Friday evening following the 11 p.m. news, Tom Suiter hosts Football Friday covering all high school football games throughout Wake and Durham counties along with

5896-657: The newsroom into Studio A in 2019 and upgraded to 4K cameras. A new set debuted with the noon newscast on October 31, 2019. The set, designed by Florida based FX Design Group, features a 20-by-11-foot (6.1 m × 3.4 m) LED video wall, the largest installation in a local news operation, and a smaller curved LED wall near the anchor desk. WRAL was one of the first stations in North Carolina to cover agricultural markets and farm news in its regular newscasts. During 1953, Farm Program aired from 6 to 6:15 a.m. and Regional and Farm News aired between 12:45 and 12:55 p.m. from Fayetteville. WRAL's noon newscasts included

5984-607: The next nine years. WRAL-TV began broadcasting on December 15, 1956. Among the first programs aired was the movie Miracle on 34th Street . A. J. Fletcher's Capitol Broadcasting Company, which first licensed WRAL Radio (AM 1240, now WPJL ) in 1938, won the TV license in an upset over the much larger Durham Life Insurance Company, then-owners of radio station WPTF . WRAL was originally an NBC affiliate, taking that network from Durham -based WTVD (channel 11, which included Fletcher's son, Floyd, among its founders). When WNAO-TV (channel 28),

6072-562: The northern and southern fringe respectively, with the exception of Mecklenburg County, Virginia . WRAL can be seen well outside of the Raleigh market, with the signal penetrating parts of the Greenville, Greensboro, Wilmington, Charlotte, Roanoke – Lynchburg , Richmond , Norfolk and Florence – Myrtle Beach markets. WRAL's signal reaches as far east as U.S. Highway 17 in the Greenville-Washington-New Bern market, including

6160-459: The old First Union Bank on Donaldson Street in downtown Fayetteville and transmitted its signal from a 750-foot (229 m) tower in unincorporated Cumberland County on Cliffdale Road, with 1.54 million watts of power (the tower site has since been annexed into Fayetteville). Fayetteville Television was organized by Robert Warren, a former Fayetteville reporter for WRAL-TV in Raleigh, who served as WKFT's first general manager. WKFT offered

6248-406: The original customer before the sale fell through and WRAL purchased it for newsgathering. The current Bell 407 helicopter was purchased for $ 2 million in 2000. The N553HD tail number represents the station's channel, that this is the third news gathering helicopter for the station and WRAL's role in pioneering high definition broadcasting. The aircraft was piloted by Steve Wiley, who had flown for

6336-441: The preempted WRAL programming, citing continued confusion over the station's identity from the yearlong simulcast. Bahakel Communications bought the station in 1997 for $ 19.5 million. As the 1990s went on, WKFT found it increasingly difficult to find stronger programming, in part because its main competitors—WLFL, WRDC, and WRAZ—had far wealthier owners and aired advertising that targeted the entire market. It lost out on bids for

6424-476: The programmes seen on its owner's flagship station, and have no television studio or production facilities of their own. This is common in developing countries . Low-power stations typically also fall into this category worldwide. Most stations which are not simulcast produce their own station identifications . TV stations may also advertise on or provide weather (or news) services to local radio stations , particularly co-owned sister stations . This may be

6512-488: The station announced it would indeed remain on the air because it was nearing a deal to be sold. In the end, WKFT never went dark, but it was forced to declare bankruptcy on January 15, 1991, as program syndicators continued to ask for nearly $ 3 million in payments for future programming commitments. Exporter Elbert M. Boyd bought the station out of bankruptcy for $ 1.4 million. It was the first broadcasting property for Boyd and his new company, Delta Broadcasting. Under Boyd,

6600-561: The station from 1987 until his death on February 3, 2021. As of 2022 the helicopter is flown by two pilots that Wiley himself hired and trained to take over Sky 5 operations. Today, the aircraft is normally stored at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport , but a helipad is available on the roof above the Capitol Broadcasting President's office in the WRAL buildings near downtown Raleigh. The helicopter

6688-403: The station turned around its finances, improved its coverage and tripled its ad rates. After two and a half years, Boyd sold the station to Allied Communications, an investor group including several conservative-aligned figures headed by Thomas F. Ellis ; the $ 4.4 million deal saw Boyd retain a minority stake. Allied carried out further improvements in programming and equipment; it also dropped

6776-526: The station's 50th anniversary alongside Suiter. On October 10, 2007, the WRAL sports department launched a sports talk radio station, WCMC-FM (which switched from a country music format); it is now the only FM sports talk station in the area and broadcasts in HD Radio . WRAL's newscasts are simulcast with local weather inserts on another sister station, WILM-LD in Wilmington. The station moved newscasts out of

6864-411: The station, as have some controversial shows on sister station WRAZ , and WRAL was one of a few CBS affiliates in the nation that did not carry an hour of CBS' weekend morning children's programming block (in favor of Brain Game and Smart Start Kids ). WRAL was also one of the few CBS affiliates that aired The Young and the Restless at 4 p.m. as a lead-in to its 5 p.m. newscast. Most CBS stations in

6952-494: The strongest CBS affiliates in the country. It is one of the few stations in the country to have been a primary affiliate of all of the "Big Three" networks. In December 1989, WRAL was knocked off the air when a severe ice storm caused the collapse of the station's 2,000-foot (610 m) transmitter tower. Within hours, channel 5 cut a deal with the then-struggling Fayetteville independent station WKFT-TV (channel 40, now Univision O&O WUVC-DT ), allowing WRAL to return to

7040-548: The sudden unexpected death of Dan Wilkinson in October 2003, it was decided that the station would no longer have a full-time farm reporter and frequent agricultural coverage came to an end. In 1979, WRAL became the state's first television station to begin using a news helicopter, known as "Sky 5". The Hughes 500 helicopter N8624F was painted in the livery of the Royal Saudi Air Force with "Sky 5" graphics added, reflecting

7128-408: The television industry. WRAL-TV ended regular programming on its analog signal, over VHF channel 5, at 12:55 p.m. on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 48, using virtual channel 5. As part of

7216-505: The time slot until January 17, 2022, when WNCN moved it to its traditional 12:30 p.m. timeslot and introduced its own 4 p.m. newscast. When WRAL joined CBS in 1985, it became the Triangle's home for the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament , which has aired on CBS since 1981. Due to the Triangle's (and North Carolina's) longstanding status as a college basketball hotbed and local teams North Carolina and Duke being fixtures in

7304-534: The tournament, NCAA Tournament games on WRAL were consistently among the highest-rated programs in the Triangle during tournament season. WRAL aired the Tar Heels' national championship wins in 1993 , 2005 , and 2009 ; all five of the Blue Devils' national championship victories in 1991 , 1992 , 2001 , 2010 , and 2015 ; and two of the Blue Devils' other national championship appearances in 1994 and 1999 . Despite

7392-736: The video player used throughout the website. The station also won a bronze Horizon Interactive Award for their online hurricane tracker. Geoff Levine won the National Press Photographer of the Year award and the station received 6 awards from the North Carolina Associated Press Broadcasters. WRAL has consistently swept television media categories in the Independent Weekly and Cary News annual "Best Of" awards voted by readers. The station's digital signal

7480-828: Was announced to the Zenox Corporation for $ 5 million. On December 10, 1989, an ice storm collapsed the towers of WRAL-TV and WPTF-TV near Auburn . Within hours, WKFT had reached a deal to simulcast WRAL-TV's programming for almost all of its broadcast day as a public service. While WRAL was able to bring channel 5 back on the air before the end of the year at low power, it opted to remain on channel 40 even then in order to avoid any loss of viewership. This arrangement displaced nearly all of channel 40's own programming. Overnight movies were added to WRAL-WKFT's schedule in order to provide make-goods for national commercials in WKFT's shows. However, WRAL's extended stay on channel 40 also provided

7568-686: Was awarded nine Mid-South Regional Emmy Awards in 2000 including for documentaries on the Cape Light and coverage of the Special Olympics World Games . Jim Goodmon, president and CEO of WRAL parent company Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc., was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award as well. In 2008, among the nine Emmy awards received by WRAL and WRAL.com received the inaugural award in Advanced Media for Interactivity for

7656-584: Was once carried in even more places. In North Carolina, it was once carried in Burlington , Greenville , Wadesboro , Wilmington , Williamston , and Yanceyville . In Virginia, it was once carried in Buena Vista , Danville , and Emporia . The station building, shared by WRAL-TV and WRAZ, and located at 2619 Western Boulevard in Raleigh, adjacent to the North Carolina State University campus,

7744-508: Was picked up by WLFL and WRDC. The station later moved from its longtime studios in downtown Fayetteville to a new facility in Raleigh. In 1986, WKFT debuted a locally produced prime-time newscast at 10 p.m., which focused more on Fayetteville and the southern part of the Triangle market. The newscast was later cancelled in 1989. After Delta Broadcasting bought WKFT in 1991, news programming was reinstated, although relegated to hourly news updates. Between January 3 and April 18, 1995, WKFT produced

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