In a development that has not been announced or reported it appears that the CW is moving their Charlotte affiliation to WMYT in September. Hulu has started sending out notices that they will drop WCCB September 1 and that subscribers will be able to find the CW on WMYT. This has got to be devastating to WCCB who had lost Fox a dozen years earlier. It makes sense for WMYT since they are owned by Nexstar who also owns the CW.
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WCCB Charlotte
- Thread starter Bgd1974
- Start date
This is not surprising, since Nexstar now owns the CW, and they would want their own network on one of their own local operated stations. Just waiting on the contract with WCCB to expire. And I would guess they will now simulcast Queen City News on both 46.1 and 55.1, at least at 10pm I would think. We shall see.
Both WJZY-FOX46 and WMYT-55, branded My12, share a strong over the air signal on RF25, providing a larger coverage area to the west of Charlotte as compared to WCCB. In Spartanburg, there is strong signal duplication with CBS on WBTV-3 and WSPA-7, FOX on WJZY-46 and WHNS-21, and NBC on WYFF-4 and WCNC-36. The CW-62 shares the same signal as WSPA, and soon WMYT-55 will be a new duplicated choice. As for WSOC, you can pull in their Crowder's Mountain booster signal on RF12, or do some strategic antenna work with an 8bay UHF antenna you can pull in main WSOC on RF19 and WCCB on RF18. But more on the fringe there.
Meanwhile WCCB has always remained successful over the years, despite losing ABC to WSOC, FOX to WJZY, and now the CW to WMYT. Will they become an independent superstation again? Pick up MyTV? Or move the MeTV retro channel to 18.1? Time will tell. But as a Bahakel flagship station, will they try to acquire new affiliate deals with CBS or NBC? WBTV is a long serving CBS affiliate, although current owner Gray Media has dropped their CBS affiliation in Atlanta.
Both WJZY-FOX46 and WMYT-55, branded My12, share a strong over the air signal on RF25, providing a larger coverage area to the west of Charlotte as compared to WCCB. In Spartanburg, there is strong signal duplication with CBS on WBTV-3 and WSPA-7, FOX on WJZY-46 and WHNS-21, and NBC on WYFF-4 and WCNC-36. The CW-62 shares the same signal as WSPA, and soon WMYT-55 will be a new duplicated choice. As for WSOC, you can pull in their Crowder's Mountain booster signal on RF12, or do some strategic antenna work with an 8bay UHF antenna you can pull in main WSOC on RF19 and WCCB on RF18. But more on the fringe there.
Meanwhile WCCB has always remained successful over the years, despite losing ABC to WSOC, FOX to WJZY, and now the CW to WMYT. Will they become an independent superstation again? Pick up MyTV? Or move the MeTV retro channel to 18.1? Time will tell. But as a Bahakel flagship station, will they try to acquire new affiliate deals with CBS or NBC? WBTV is a long serving CBS affiliate, although current owner Gray Media has dropped their CBS affiliation in Atlanta.
WCCB probably doesn't need the CW. And one rumor I read on another board said that Bahakel balked at the new comp rates the CW was asking for. It's not as if the CW is going make or break them. They survived losing ABC and FOX. They still have a news department. They'll be fine. Many viewers will hardly notice.
As for poaching another network from a rival, that would be highly doubtful. CBS isn't going to leave WBTV, regardless of what's going on in Atlanta, and WCNC (36) is owned by Tegna, which has very tight relations with NBC. WCCB has little to offer that would make either of them want to move. Besides, would they actually be willing to pay the comp fees?
WCCB could get the MY TV when CW move to 55.1 just like they did when the CW was on WJZY 46 and wccb 18 was fox and when FOX move to WJZY WCCB picked up the CW Network so they could picked up MY TV
It is possible WCCB could pick up MyTV although I don't know if they really offer strong programming. Perhaps add MyTV and supplement with strong independent programming, sitcoms, movies etc. And their local news, talk, and sports shows.
I wish WCCB would go back to adding Channel 18 in their branding. Their real RF channel is back to 18 since the repack, so no phony virtual branding channel here. 18 is the real channel. Perhaps not as strong as 3 or 9, but those of us still remember and identify with Channel 18. And channels 36 and 46 for that matter.
If WCCB went back to cartoons or children's programming some of the time, perhaps they could lure back Larry Sprinkle as Sonic Man. If WCNC would allow since he is now semiretired.
And does WCCB still own the local rights to The Andy Griffith Show and I Love Lucy? Bring back those classic programs among others. I think WCCB acquired Andy Griffith after years on WSOC. And I think they may have upgraded them to digital. In GSP Andy Griffith airs on WSPA and WYCW, and MeTV on WYFF 4.2.
And does WCCB still own the local rights to The Andy Griffith Show and I Love Lucy? Bring back those classic programs among others. I think WCCB acquired Andy Griffith after years on WSOC. And I think they may have upgraded them to digital. In GSP Andy Griffith airs on WSPA and WYCW, and MeTV on WYFF 4.2.
The situation in Atlanta is that CBS bought another station and moved their affiliate to it once their agreement with Gray was up. I’m sure that Gray’s experiment results with an all news independent station in Atlanta would dictate what they could do here.
Yes probably entirely different situation. And WBTV remains one of the longstanding CBS affiliates in the Southeast.
What's likely to happen is this:
1. WCCB tries to do news for a few more months, but folds the news department as they will be now totally unable to compete with WJZY–QCN. Losing Hulu and possibly YouTube TV is going to be a body blow they cannot recover from.
2. WCCB junks the remainder of their schedule and goes with MeTV (or some other Weigel diginet) full-time on the primary channel.
3. Bahakel liquidates their entire TV division, and it won't be surprising to see Nexstar getting it all, with WCCB going to Mission as a diginet coatrack. Nexstar would be well served getting Bahakel's Montgomery stations, where WAKA can be a semi-satellite of WIAT up north.
1. WCCB tries to do news for a few more months, but folds the news department as they will be now totally unable to compete with WJZY–QCN. Losing Hulu and possibly YouTube TV is going to be a body blow they cannot recover from.
2. WCCB junks the remainder of their schedule and goes with MeTV (or some other Weigel diginet) full-time on the primary channel.
3. Bahakel liquidates their entire TV division, and it won't be surprising to see Nexstar getting it all, with WCCB going to Mission as a diginet coatrack. Nexstar would be well served getting Bahakel's Montgomery stations, where WAKA can be a semi-satellite of WIAT up north.
It is an entirely different situation.
Since the move of CBS to 46 back in the 90s, the network has had poor ratings in Atlanta. You can’t compare what’s happening there with 3 - Gray’s not giving up that affiliation in the QC.
In Atlanta CBS bought their future owned and operated station 31 years ago but decided to allow the current station to pick up the affiliation.
Its almost August, why would Nexstar not make an announcement a month out?
They needed a station with a news department. WVEU would have been a massive expenditure on CBS's end and was effectively a backup plan if they couldn't sign 46. As soon as 46 was signed, CBS completed the transaction, then immediately resold WVEU to Paramount.
Maybe they are contractually prohibited from making an announcement until August 1 at the earliest?
Probably in the morning too. At least part of it.
Any chance of Fox going back to WCCB? The FOX ratings took a huge hit when they moved to WJZY, and never really recovered. Even today, WJZY is frequently in 3rd place behind WAXN and WCCB due to their joke of a news department. Whoever came up with the "Queen City News" brand needs a lifetime ban from the broadcasting industry.
Looks likes a similar scenario in Cleveland, OH - The current CW is losing its affiliation to Nexstar's WBNX - Nexstar already owns the Cleveland Fox affiliate. But Nexstar is announcing this on their website when I first saw this yesterday: WBNX | Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
WJZY's affiliation is bundled in with all other Nexstar-owned Fox affiliates. The chances Fox goes back to WCCB are imperceptible. The chances WCCB remains a free-standing operation are less than that.
How much benefit did CW really provide WCCB? I can’t name one CW show. I think they’ll be fine. They can put syndication or some off brand network on there and just run it cheap, which they’re already doing. Maybe Gray or Gannett will make an offer to buy it at some point and run as a duopoly?