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| City | New Bern, North Carolina |
| Channels | |
| Branding | NewsChannel 12 |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WYDO | |
| History | |
First air date | September 7, 1963 (61 years ago) (1963-09-07) |
Former call signs |
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Former channel number(s) |
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Call sign meaning | former owner Continental Television, Inc. |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 18334 |
| ERP | 34.2 kW |
| HAAT | 599.1 m (1,966 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 35°6′16″N77°20′11″W / 35.10444°N 77.33639°W /35.10444; -77.33639 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | wcti12 |
WCTI-TV (channel 12) is atelevision station licensed toNew Bern, North Carolina, United States, serving as theABC affiliate forEastern North Carolina. It is owned bySinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services toGreenville-licensedFox affiliateWYDO (channel 14) under ashared services agreement (SSA) withCunningham Broadcasting. However, Sinclair effectively owns WYDO as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. The two stations share studios on Glenburnie Drive in New Bern; WCTI-TV's transmitter is located north ofTrenton alongNC 41.
Nathan Frank, a businessman fromHenderson, had filed an application for channel 13 in New Bern in 1954. However, final approval was delayed for almost seven years due to numerous challenges. TheArmy,Navy andAir Force were concerned that the proposed 771-foot (235 m) tower on Glenburnie Drive would interfere with the operations of the numerous military installations located in Eastern North Carolina. Several commercial airlines and pilot associations also expressed concerns about the tower.
A new problem arose in 1958, when theFederal Communications Commission (FCC) dropped in a channel 13 allocation inHampton, Virginia, to give theHampton Roads area a third VHF station;WVEC-TV moved there from channel 15 shortly afterward. To alleviate concerns about short-spacing, the channel 13 allocation for New Bern was moved to channel 12. Almost immediately, WRVA-TV inRichmond, Virginia (nowWWBT), raised concerns of its own about short-spacing. All objections were eventually overcome by 1961, and the station went on the air on September 7, 1963, as WNBE-TV (for "New Bern").[2] The call letters were changed to the current WCTI-TV in 1970, and the station would activate a 1,000-foot (305 m) tower at full VHF high-band power, offNC 58 south of Trenton. The station has been an ABC affiliate since its inception. When it signed on, Greenville–Washington–New Bern became one of the smallest markets in the country with three commercial network affiliates. Continental Television sold the station toMalrite Communications in 1976.
In 1980, WCTI erected a 2,000-foot (610 m) tower north of Trenton. The new tower expanded the station's secondary coverage as far east as theOuter Banks, as far south asWilmington and as far west as the Triangle (includingRocky Mount and much of easternRaleigh). The station's original tower at its New Bern studios is still used as a backup. Malrite sold the station to Heritage Broadcasting in 1983. The 1,000-foot tower south of Trenton that the station had used prior to their move to the new site onNC 41 now holds the antenna forWSFL-FM (106.5). Heritage Broadcasting sold WCTI toDiversified Communications in 1986. In 1993, Lamco Communications bought the station. It was sold toBluestone Television in 2001. In 2007, Bluestone merged with Bonten Media Group.
On November 6 of that year, it was announced that the FCC approved the sale of certain WFXI/WYDO assets byPiedmont Television to theBonten Media Group. As part of the deal, WFXI moved from its longtime home on Arendell Street (US 70) inMorehead City to WCTI's facilities in New Bern. In 2000, WCTI launched the first over-the-air digital station in the market onUHF channel 48. A high-definition feed was launched onDirecTV on January 30, 2009. It is also available on satellite throughDish Network. WCTI's broadcasts became digital-only, effective June 12, 2009.
On April 21, 2017, Sinclair announced its intent to purchase the Bonten stations for $240 million.[3][4] The sale was completed on September 1.[5]
On September 13, 2018,Hurricane Florence forced WCTI to evacuate its building asflood waters continued to rise. For the duration of the storm, WCTIsimulcast coverage from Sinclair sister station and fellow ABC affiliateWPDE-TV inMyrtle Beach, South Carolina.[6][7][8] By September 16, floodwaters had receded to the point that initial cleanup efforts began.[9]
In terms ofNielsen ratings, EasternNorth Carolina is usually not very competitive duringsweeps periods. Historically,WITN-TV has generally traded the highest viewership crown with WCTI and WNCT. In July 2008, WNCT became the most watched television station in the market after taking first place weeknights at 6 and 11. However, since then, that station has fallen to third place weeknights at 6. As of May 2010, WITN has won the sign-on-to-sign-off honors for two consecutive ratings periods. More specifically, it won all time periods except for the weekday noon news.[10]
In January 2008, after becoming a sister station to WFXI/WYDO, WCTI began repeating its nightly 6 o'clock show later in the evening at 10 on the Fox stations. It would not be until the month's end when a new live, nightly prime time newscast (produced by WCTI) debuted on WFXI/WYDO. Known asFox Eastern Carolina News at 10, the show can be seen for an hour on weeknights and a half-hour on weekends. WNCT offers another newscast at 10 on itsCW-affiliated subchannel. Unlike the WFXI/WYDO weeknight program, WNCT's prime time broadcast only airs for thirty minutes each night. As part of debuting the WCTI-produced newscast, WFXI/WYDO introduced an updated graphics package and news music theme licensed for use fromNews Corporation Digital Media and modified from Foxowned-and-operated stations.
On June 27, 2010, WCTI became the area's first television outlet to upgrade its local news production to high definition (the nightly news on WFXI/WYDO was included in the change at that point). On August 15, 2011, WCTI launched a new 5:30 p.m. newscast. With this newest addition, WCTI and sister stations WFXI/WYDO now offer over thirty hours of local news per week.[11] The station does not currently operate a sports department. In addition to its main studios, WCTI operates bureaus in Jacksonville (on South Marine Boulevard/US 17 BUS) andWinterville (on Old Tar Road covering Greenville).[citation needed]
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.1 | 720p | 16:9 | WCTI-HD | ABC |
| 12.2 | 480i | COMET | Comet | |
| 12.3 | ENC-TV | Dabl | ||
| 12.4 | TBD |
Until September 18, 2006, WCTI-DT3 was aUPN affiliate with the branding "UPN 48" (taken from WCTI's physical digital channel number). When UPN andThe WB merged intoThe CW on that date,CBS affiliateWNCT-TV chose to carry the network on a new seconddigital subchannel, replacing WB outlet "WGWB". After losing the UPN affiliation, WCTI-DT3 became anindependent station known as "ENC-TV". This initially aired syndicated programming such asTrivial Pursuit: America Plays,Family Feud,Entertainment Studios, andExtra. Weeknights at 8 p.m., there was a prime time movie. ENC-TV was on DT2 from its launch until WCTI's switch to digital in June 2009 when it moved to DT3. At one point, ENC-TV even maintained a website at enc.tv but this was eventually abandoned.
In late summer 2009, WCTI-DT3 began to add programming fromThis TV, eventually becoming a full-time affiliate. On November 1, 2013, the This TV affiliation was dropped in favor of theMovies! network. On August 23, 2011,Disney-ABC Television Group announced WCTI would carry Live Well Network[13] as part of an affiliation agreement with Bonten Media Group; the network was seen on subchannel 12.2. In February 2015, LWN was replaced withDecades.
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