WJZY (channel 46) is a
television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
licensed to
Belmont, North Carolina
Belmont is a small suburban city in Gaston County, North Carolina, United States, located about west of uptown Charlotte and east of Gastonia. The population was 10,076 at the 2010 census. Once known as Garibaldi Station, it was named for th ...
, United States, serving as the
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
affiliate for the
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...
area. It is owned by
Nexstar Media Group
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarter offices in Irving, Texas; Midtown Manhattan; and Chicago, Illinois. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 te ...
alongside
Rock Hill, South Carolina
Rock Hill is the largest city in York County, South Carolina and the fifth-largest city in the state. It is also the fourth-largest city of the Charlotte metropolitan area, behind Charlotte, Concord, and Gastonia (all located in North Carolina, ...
–licensed
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
affiliate
WMYT-TV
WMYT-TV (channel 55) is a television station licensed to Rock Hill, South Carolina, United States, serving the Charlotte, North Carolina area as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is the only major commercial television station in the Charlotte mar ...
(channel 55). WJZY and WMYT-TV share studios on Performance Road (along
I-85
Interstate 85 (I-85) is a major Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 65, I-65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus is an interchange with Interstate 95, I ...
) in
unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to:
* Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality
* Unincorporated entity, a type of organization
* Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...
western
Mecklenburg County (with a Charlotte
mailing address); through a
channel sharing
In telecommunication, frequency sharing or channel sharing is the assignment to or use of the same radio frequency by two or more stations that are separated geographically or that use the frequency at different times. It reduces the potential for ...
agreement, the two stations transmit using WJZY's spectrum from an antenna in
Dallas, North Carolina
Dallas is a town in Gaston County, North Carolina, United States, and a suburb of Charlotte, located north of Gastonia. The population was 4,488 at the 2010 census. It was named for George M. Dallas, Vice President of the United States under Jame ...
, along the
Catawba River
The Catawba River originates in Western North Carolina and flows into South Carolina, where it later becomes known as the Wateree River. The river is approximately 220 miles (350 km) long. It rises in the Appalachian Mountains and drains into ...
.
WJZY was originally established in 1987 by a Charlotte group that included
Harvey Gantt
Harvey Bernard Gantt (born January 14, 1943) is an American architect and Democratic politician active in North Carolina. The first African-American student admitted to Clemson University after attending Iowa State University, Gantt graduated wi ...
, the city's mayor. Soon after, that group sold the station, and channel 46 operated for the next 25 years as an independent, then a
UPN
The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which prod ...
and
CW affiliate, until it was purchased by
Fox Television Stations
Fox Television Stations, LLC (FTS; alternately Fox Television Stations Group, LLC), is a group of television stations located within the United States, which are owned-and-operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of the Fox Corp ...
in 2013, resulting in the station switching affiliations to Fox and the establishment of a new news service.
History
Early history
Two of the nine competing applicants for the channel 46 frequency in Belmont merged as Metro–Crescent Communications in 1985 and won the construction permit by settling with the other contenders. Metro–Crescent's shareholders included two executives of Suburban Radio Group (then-owner of
WPEG
WPEG (97.9 FM, ''"Power 98"'') is a mainstream urban radio station serving the Charlotte, North Carolina market. It is owned by Beasley Broadcast Group. The station's studios are located on South Boulevard in the city's South End, and a transmitt ...
), Bob Hilker and Bill Rollins;
Charlotte mayor Harvey Gantt
Harvey Bernard Gantt (born January 14, 1943) is an American architect and Democratic politician active in North Carolina. The first African-American student admitted to Clemson University after attending Iowa State University, Gantt graduated wi ...
; dentist Spurgeon Webber; and
Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...
attorney David Wagner.
Originally, the station received the call letters WHMU, but changes came even before it went on the air.
Capitol Broadcasting Company
The Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc. (CBC) is an American media company based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Capitol owns three television stations and nine radio stations in the Raleigh–Durham and Wilmington areas of North Carolina and the Du ...
of
Raleigh
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...
reached a deal to buy a 49 percent stake in Metro-Crescent with an option to purchase the remainder later in February 1986; to do so, it had to divest itself of two Charlotte-market radio stations.
The sale stood to make the partners, including Gantt, about $3 million;
Gantt later admitted to the Charlotte city council that he had violated city ethics policy in failing to disclose his stake in the firm.
Before the station even went on the air, the call letters were changed to WJZY in November 1986 in order to differentiate from other Charlotte television stations, none of which had a "J" or "Z" in their call signs.
WJZY, originally an
independent station
An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...
, made its first broadcast on March 9, 1987.
Channel 46 pushed up its launch to aid cable companies who dropped out-of-town stations to carry it. In Charlotte itself, for example, it replaced
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
's
WDCA
WDCA (channel 20), branded on-air as Fox 5 Plus, is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from MyNetworkTV. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox Broadcasting Company ...
on Cablevision (later
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, operat ...
, now
Charter Spectrum
Spectrum is a trade name of Charter Communications, used to market consumer and commercial cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the company.
The brand was first introduced in 2014; prior to that, these serv ...
) on cable channel 8. It initially only aired a schedule of older movies in evening hours only. It began full commercial operations in July, airing a general entertainment format of off-network and first-run syndicated shows, movies, and cartoons.
It was the first full-market Charlotte station since WCTU-TV (channel 36, now
WCNC-TV
WCNC-TV (channel 36) is a television station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, affiliated with NBC. The station is owned by Tegna Inc. WCNC-TV's studios are located in the Wood Ridge Center office complex off Billy Graham Parkway ( ...
) launched in July 1967 (
WHKY-TV
WHKY-TV (channel 14) is an independent television station licensed to Hickory, North Carolina, United States. It serves the northwestern corner of the Charlotte media market, a region locally referred to as " The Unifour". WHKY-TV is owned by Lo ...
hannel 14in
Hickory
Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mexi ...
had signed on in 1968, but mostly targeted the northwestern portion of the market).
Capitol exercised its option to buy the remainder of WJZY later that summer; a group petitioned against the sale, claiming Metro–Crescent had reneged on its promises for local programming,
but the challenges were dropped, and the sale was approved by the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
(FCC) in November.
By that time, however, Gantt's stake had been an issue in his run for re-election; he lost in a close race to
Sue Myrick
Sue Myrick (née Wilkins; born August 1, 1941) is an American businesswoman and the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1995 to 2013. She is a member of the Republican Party. She was the first Republican woman to represent North Caroli ...
and admitted that her statements on Metro–Crescent may have swung the race for her.
Under Capitol, the station grew. In 1988, it was speculated that
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
might move to WJZY from channel 36 at a time when the network was actively courting other stations to upgrade in the market and the incumbent station had a weaker signal; NBC was reported to also covet Capitol's other broadcast property,
WRAL-TV
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 h ...
, then the CBS affiliate in Raleigh. Though this change did not occur, by 1990, channel 46 was even with
WCCB
WCCB (channel 18) is a television station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, affiliated with The CW. It serves as the flagship station of locally based Bahakel Communications. WCCB's studios are located just outside Uptown Charlotte ...
(channel 18), the Fox affiliate, in key dayparts. The station's rapid growth came at a time when the Charlotte market had become large enough to support what were essentially two full-market independent stations (WCCB, like most early Fox affiliates, was programmed largely as an independent until 1995).
WJZY owned a large amount of syndicated programming, but did not have nearly enough time in its broadcast day to air all of it. A solution came with the sign-on of WFVT (channel 55, later WWWB and now WMYT-TV) in September 1994. Capitol Broadcasting entered into a
local marketing agreement
In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...
(LMA) with WFVT's
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
-based owner, Family 55. Under this LMA, WJZY bought WFVT's entire broadcast day and placed much of this extra programming on WFVT.
UPN and CW affiliation
The station became a charter affiliate of the United Paramount Network (
UPN
The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which prod ...
) when the network launched on January 16, 1995.
WFVT joined
The WB
The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...
at the same time, creating one of the first UPN/WB partnerships in the country. For most of UPN's run, WJZY was one of the network's strongest affiliates, and by 2006, it was tied with UPN's
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
WUPA
WUPA (channel 69) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with The CW. The station is owned by the CBS News and Stations group and maintains studios on Northeast Expressway (I-85) in unincorporated DeKalb County ( ...
as the network's fifth highest-rated station.
WJZY served as the over-the-air home of
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
's
Charlotte Hornets
The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...
from
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
to
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...
, during the height of the team's popularity; the last two seasons were shared with WFVT.
When the Hornets returned as the
Charlotte Bobcats
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populous ...
in 2004, WJZY served as the team's over-the-air flagship until the telecasts moved to WMYT in
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
.
![The CW46 logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/The_CW46_logo.png)
On January 24, 2006,
Time Warner
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
and
CBS Corporation
The second incarnation of CBS Corporation (the first being a short-lived rename of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation) was an American multinational media conglomerate with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing, and t ...
announced that they would shut down The WB and UPN that fall. In place of these networks, the two companies would form
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
, a new network combining the most popular programs from both UPN and The WB with new series produced specifically for the network. On March 1, the Capitol Broadcasting Company announced that WJZY would become the Charlotte area affiliate of The CW, making it one of the first five stations outside of the core
Tribune Company
Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...
and
CBS Television Stations
CBS News and Stations (formerly CBS Television Stations) is a division of the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global that owns and operates a group of American television stations. , Paramount owns 28 stations, broken down as follows: ...
groups to agree to carry the new network. WJZY affiliated with The CW upon the network's debut on September 18, 2006. Later that week, channel 55 signed with
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
.
Sale to Fox Television Stations and switch to Fox
On January 14, 2013,
Fox Television Stations
Fox Television Stations, LLC (FTS; alternately Fox Television Stations Group, LLC), is a group of television stations located within the United States, which are owned-and-operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of the Fox Corp ...
entered into an agreement to acquire WJZY and WMYT from Capitol Broadcasting for $18 million (the sale was formally announced on January 28).
Although Charlotte's longtime Fox affiliate, WCCB, had been one of the network's strongest performers, Fox had been interested in buying a station in a steadily growing market. According to Fox Television Stations president Jack Abernethy, another factor was that Charlotte was home to the
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...
, a
National Football Conference
The National Football Conference (NFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the United States. The NFC and its counterpart, the American Football Conference ...
team whose games air primarily on Fox; Abernethy said that Fox had set its sights on getting an
owned and operated station
In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
in Charlotte specifically because it was an NFC market.
Another likely factor in the purchase was an option that Fox held to purchase
WLFL
WLFL (channel 22) is a television station licensed to Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, serving the Research Triangle area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Durham-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate ...
and
WRDC
WRDC (channel 28) is a television station licensed to Durham, North Carolina, United States, serving the Research Triangle area as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Raleigh-licensed CW affiliate WLFL ...
in the Raleigh–Durham market from
Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, t ...
; had Fox exercised the option, it would have jeopardized the affiliation of another Capitol station,
WRAZ in that market.
The deal included a time brokerage agreement clause that would have had Fox take over the operations of WJZY and WMYT and acquire the duopoly's non-license assets for $8.24 million if the deal was not closed by June 1. The FCC granted its approval of the sale on March 11, and the deal was consummated on April 17. By June, WJZY had dropped all references to The CW from its branding, adopting the interim brand of "WJZY 46."
On April 18, WCCB announced that it would become the new CW affiliate for the Charlotte market on July 1, the date its Fox affiliation contract ended.
On that date, WJZY would become the new Fox outlet for the Charlotte market, adopting the on-air brand "Fox 46 Carolinas" at that time.
Sale to Nexstar Media Group
On November 5, 2019, Fox Corporation announced that WJZY and WMYT-TV would be acquired by
Nexstar Media Group
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarter offices in Irving, Texas; Midtown Manhattan; and Chicago, Illinois. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 te ...
for $45 million in a deal concurrent with Fox's purchase of
KCPQ
KCPQ (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, United States, broadcasting the Fox network to the Seattle area. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV outlet K ...
and
KZJO
KZJO (channel 22) is a television station in Seattle, Seattle, Washington, United States, broadcasting the MyNetworkTV programming service. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Tacoma, Washin ...
in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
and repurchase of
WITI
Witiness Chimoio João Quembo (born 26 August 1996), known as Witi, is a Mozambican professional footballer who plays for Portuguese club C.D. Nacional as a winger.
Club career
Born in Beira, Witi began his career with Sporting Club da Be ...
in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...
, from Nexstar. Nexstar stated that WJZY and WMYT were "geographically complementary" to its existing properties in the
Southeastern United States
The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...
. The sale was completed on March 2, 2020.
In late 2021, the station began slowly rebranding itself as "Fox Charlotte"–a moniker used by WCCB in its latter years as a Fox affiliate. It fully rebranded as "Fox Charlotte" in January 2022.
News operation
News share agreements
From May 1994 to June 1995 and again from September 2003
to April 8, 2012,
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
affiliate WBTV produced a nightly 10:00 p.m. newscast for WJZY through separate news share agreements. The 1990s attempt was replaced by a five-year deal between WBTV and PBS member station
WTVI
WTVI (channel 42) is a PBS member television station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, owned by Central Piedmont Community College. The station's studios are located in the Chantilly-Commonwealth section of east Charlotte, and its tran ...
(channel 42). The second iteration was placing third behind 10 p.m. newscasts aired by WCCB and
WAXN-TV
WAXN-TV (channel 64) is an independent television station licensed to Kannapolis, North Carolina, United States, serving the Charlotte area. It is owned by Cox Media Group alongside dual ABC/Telemundo affiliate WSOC-TV (channel 9). Both stations ...
(from WSOC-TV); the low ratings for the program on WJZY and a more "news-friendly audience" on its sister station were cited as the reason for its move to WJZY's duopoly partner WMYT on April 9, 2012. It was simulcast by both stations for one week, before syndicated reruns of ''
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' is an American police procedural Drama (film and television), drama television series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and Executive producer#Motion pictures and television, p ...
'' replaced the simulcast on WJZY on April 16, 2012.
WJZY also aired the statewide weekly
public affairs program ''NC Spin'' and produced a local public affairs show called ''Charlotte Now with Mike Collins'', which was discontinued following its June 30, 2013, edition, one day before the official switch to Fox.
Building a newsroom
With Fox's purchase of the WJZY/WMYT duopoly, Fox built a standalone news department for WJZY. In the meantime, WBTV's 10:00 p.m. production returned to WJZY from WMYT when channel 46 officially joined Fox on July 1, 2013. While initial reports suggested that Fox would move WJZY/WMYT to a facility in Charlotte's
University City section used by
Fox Sports 1
Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports 2 ...
and previously by
Speed
In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quanti ...
,
[ it was instead decided to heavily renovate and expand the Performance Road studio to accommodate the news department.][ WJZY soft-launched its news operation on December 18, 2013, in the form of live webcasts nightly through year's end airing concurrently with the WBTV-produced 10:00 p.m. news on channel 46.
WJZY's local news service on January 1, 2014, with the debut of a nightly hour-long 10:00 p.m. newscast titled ''MyFox Carolinas Primetime''.] The newscast adopted an alternative format designed to target younger viewers, carrying characteristics of but being more traditional than the similarly unconventional public affairs program ''Chasing News
''Chasing News with Bill Spadea'' (formerly ''Chasing New Jersey'' and ''Chasing News'') was a news and talk show program broadcast by WWOR-TV, a MyNetworkTV O&O based in Secaucus, New Jersey and serving New York City, and sister to Fox flagship s ...
'' from MyNetworkTV flagship WWOR-TV
WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area as the Flagship (broadcasting), flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by Fox Te ...
in Secaucus, New Jersey
Secaucus ( ) is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 16,264,[TMZ
TMZ is a tabloid news website owned by Fox Corporation. It made its debut on November 8, 2005, originally as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. On September 13, 202 ...]
'', WJZY's newscast still contained some conventional traits. Jack Abernethy, the head of Fox Television Stations felt that "when you're not being held by an existing show, it's much easier to do things differently". The program roamed the newsroom throughout the hour in a more "casual" style but traditional reporting; stories were introduced by anchor Cheryl Brayboy from reporters' desks or elsewhere in the newsroom, and weather reports were done from a large display near the center of the room. The differences in the operation were also reflected in differing job titles: former news director Roth's formal title was "vice president of local content" and the reporters were called "digital journalists", with lead anchor Brayboy (and later Barbara Lash) referred to as a "senior digital journalist".[ WJZY also operated five bureaus in Charlotte's outer suburbs staffed by reporters living in those communities to bolster its regional emphasis.]
WJZY expanded its news operation on June 30, 2014, with the introduction of the hour-long evening newscast ''MyFox Carolinas Live'', followed by the August 25, 2014, introduction of the station's morning show, ''Good Day Carolinas'', described as having "more of a sofa-and-coffee-table production" than its competitors. Despite having the highly-viewed Fox primetime lineup as its lead-in, the station continued to lose viewers at 10:00 p.m. to WAXN and WCCB, while the station's morning news was in fifth place among Charlotte stations and airings of ''The People's Court
''The People's Court'' is an American arbitration-based reality court show, featuring an arbitrator handling small claims disputes in a simulated courtroom set. Within the court show genre, it is the first of all arbitration-based reality styl ...
'' on sister station WMYT had slightly better ratings than WJZY's evening news. Additionally, the newscast was viewed as being somewhat amateurish due to inexperienced reporters and technical problems and the length of the hour-long format. By June 2015, WJZY had begun shifting back towards a traditional format; Mark Washburn of ''The Charlotte Observer
''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American English-language newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. As of 2020, it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. I ...
'' explained that "after aiming to re-engineer local news, Fox 46 has retreated to the formula it once mocked: chasing fire trucks and standard urban crime". On December 21, 2021, the station announced it would change its news brand to ''Queen City News'' (with the slogan "Carolinas' Own"), which took effect on January 10, 2022. The move came after Nexstar concluded that WJZY had no real brand, with viewers often confusing it with Fox News Channel
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
.
Nick Kosir
Nick Kosir (born October 7, 1983) is an American television meteorologist. He worked for WJZY Fox 46 in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is known for his dancing videos online, hitting 5 million followers on TikTok as of September 2022. Kosir signed ...
worked for WJZY for seven years and was the WJZY morning meteorologist. He was best known for humorous Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
photos and later for dance videos. He had over 2 million followers on social media when he announced in April 2021 that he was leaving WJZY and moving to Fox Weather
Fox Weather is a digital broadcast television network and streaming channel operated by Fox Corporation which launched on October 25, 2021 to provide weather forecasts and information for the United States. The service is available through select ...
.
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed
In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...
:
Also on the WJZY multiplex is WMYT-TV's lone subchannel (55.1); Fox Television Stations sold off WMYT's spectrum in the 2016 FCC spectrum auction
A spectrum auction is a process whereby a government uses an auction system to sell the rights to transmit signals over specific bands of the electromagnetic spectrum and to assign scarce spectrum resources. Depending on the specific auction form ...
.
Analog-to-digital conversion
WJZY shut down its analog signal, over UHF
Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...
channel 46, on June 12, 2009, the official date in 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 47.
As part of the SAFER Act
In cryptography, SAFER (Secure And Fast Encryption Routine) is the name of a family of block ciphers designed primarily by James Massey (one of the designers of IDEA) on behalf of Cylink Corporation. The early SAFER K and SAFER SK designs share ...
, WJZY kept its analog signal on the air until July 6 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcement
A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...
s from the National Association of Broadcasters
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is a trade association and lobby group representing the interests of commercial and non-commercial over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the United States. The NAB represents more than ...
.
ATSC 3.0
WJZY debuted on Charlotte's new ATSC 3.0
ATSC 3.0 is a major version of the ATSC standards for television broadcasting created by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC).
The standards are designed to offer support for newer technologies, including HEVC for video channels of u ...
(NextGen TV) service, hosted by WAXN-TV, on July 7, 2021.
References
External links
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Fox network affiliates
Movies! affiliates
Heroes & Icons affiliates
Nexstar Media Group
Television channels and stations established in 1987
1987 establishments in North Carolina
JZY
Ion Television affiliates
TheGrio affiliates
Rewind TV affiliates