View source for WCCB

{{Short description|Television station in Charlotte, North Carolina}}
{{For|the television in Buffalo, New York, that currently uses the callsign formerly used by WCCB|WUTV}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2025}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2013}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign = WCCB
| city = 
| logo = WCCB Charlotte logo 2025.webp
| logo_size = 200px
| image = 
| image_size = 
| branding = {{ubl|WCCB Charlotte; ''WCCB News''}}
| digital = 18 ([[UHF]])
| virtual = 18
| translators = W34FH-D [[Marion, North Carolina|Marion]]
| affiliations = {{ubl|'''18.1:''' [[Independent station|Independent]]|''for others, see {{section link||Technical information and subchannels}}''}}
| owner = [[Bahakel Communications]]
| licensee = North Carolina Broadcasting Partners
| location = [[Charlotte, North Carolina]]
| country = United States
| airdate = {{ubl|'''First incarnation:''' {{start date|1954|1|5}}|'''Second incarnation:''' {{start date|1961|9|5}}|'''Current incarnation:''' {{start date and age|1964|11|01}}}}
| last_airdate = {{ubl|'''First incarnation:''' {{end date|1955|3|15}} ({{age in years and days|1954|1|5|1955|3|15}})|'''Second incarnation:''' {{end date|1963|5|16}} ({{age in years and days|1961|9|5|1963|5|16}})}}
| callsign_meaning = Charlotte [[Cy Bahakel]] (station owner and founder)
| sister_stations = 
| former_callsigns = {{ubl|WAYS-TV (1954–1955)|WQMC (1955–1957)|WUTV (1957–1964)<ref name="hc">{{Cite web|url= https://cdbs.recnet.com/corres/?doc=86037 |title= History Cards for WCCB|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]}} ([[Wikipedia:WikiProject Radio Stations/History Cards|Guide to reading History Cards]])<!--Converted from {{FCC letter}}--></ref>}}
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 36 (UHF, 1954–1966), 18 (UHF, 1966–2009)|'''Digital:''' 27 (UHF, 1999–2019)}}
| former_affiliations = {{ubl|[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] (1954–1955, 1967–1978)|[[NBC]] (secondary, 1954–1955 and 1964–1967)|[[Dark (broadcasting)|Dark]] (1955–1961, 1963–1964)|Independent (1961–1963, 1964–1967, 1978–1986)|ABC (secondary, 1964–1967)|[[CBS]] (secondary, 1964–1967)|[[Overmyer Network|United]] (1967)<ref>{{cite news |title=The Charlotte Observer May 15, 1967 p.18A |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/68908989/the-charlotte-observer/ |newspaper=The Charlotte Observer|date=May 15, 1967 |page=18 }}</ref>|[[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] (1986–2013)|[[The CW]] (2013–2025)}}
| erp = 963 [[kW]]
| haat = {{convert|364|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| facility_id = 49157
| coordinates = {{coord|35|16|2|N|80|44|4|W|type:landmark_scale:2000|display=inline, title}}
| licensing_authority = [[FCC]]
| website = {{URL|https://www.wccbcharlotte.com/}}
}}

'''WCCB''' (channel 18) is an [[independent television station]] in [[Charlotte, North Carolina]], United States. It serves as the [[flagship station]] of locally based [[Bahakel Communications]]. WCCB's studios are located just outside [[Uptown Charlotte]], off [[Independence Boulevard]] (across from [[Bojangles Coliseum]]), and its transmitter is located in Newell, an unincorporated area of [[Mecklenburg County, North Carolina|Mecklenburg County]] just northeast of the Charlotte city limits. 

==History==

===Beginnings===
WCCB traces its roots to WAYS-TV, which signed on the air on January 5, 1954, as Charlotte's second television station. It was a primary [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate with a secondary [[NBC]] affiliation.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45233760/|date=January 6, 1954|work=The Charlotte Observer|page=13-A|title=New Charlotte TV Station Goes On Air|access-date=February 19, 2020}}</ref> Broadcasting on UHF channel 36, it was North Carolina's second UHF station (after [[WNAO-TV]] in [[Raleigh]]). It was owned by George Dowdy and his company, Inter-City Advertising, owners of WAYS radio (610 AM, now [[WFNZ (AM)|WFNZ]]); Inter-City had filed for channel 11 prior to [[Federal Communications Commission#Freeze of 1948|the 1948 TV freeze]], amended its application to specify channel 9 in 1952, then sought channel 36 instead to avoid a [[comparative hearing]].<ref name="hc"/> Hugh Deadwyler became co-owner of the station later that year and acquired the station outright after buying Inter-City's interest in 1955; it sold for $4 and the assumption of liabilities. With the sale, WAYS-TV became WQMC.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65832342/|work=The Charlotte Observer|page=1-B|title=WAYS-TV Changes Its Name To WQMC|date=January 25, 1955|access-date=December 22, 2020|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Channel 36 had a very weak 132,000-watt signal which was spotty further than {{convert|10|mi|km|0}} from the transmitter, making it virtually unviewable even in some parts of Mecklenburg County. Even then, like most UHF stations, it was only viewable on most sets with an expensive UHF converter, and picture quality was marginal at best. Television set manufacturers were not required to include UHF tuners at the time; this would not change until Congress passed the [[All-Channel Receiver Act]] in 1964. As a result, it made almost no headway against [[CBS]] affiliate [[WBTV]] (channel 3), which continued to cherry-pick certain NBC programs.

The station went [[Dark (broadcasting)|dark]] on March 15, 1955, in what was intended to be a temporary hiatus while it underwent technical improvements, including the construction of a more powerful transmitter at a new location.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65832796/|access-date=December 22, 2020|date=March 16, 1955|work=The Charlotte Observer|page=1-B|title=WQMC Goes Off Air Temporarily|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> However, Deadwyler was unable to get the station back on track. In March 1956, Inter-City Advertising sued to place channel 36 into receivership. Inter-City claimed that Deadwyler had not paid any of the $86,220 debt to [[RCA Corporation|Radio Corporation of America]] that was transferred to him and for which RCA was seeking payment from Inter-City.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65833243/|access-date=December 22, 2020|date=March 2, 1956|work=The Charlotte Observer|via=Newspapers.com|page=24-C|title=Suit Asks That WQMC Be Put In Receivership}}</ref>

===WUTV===
Deadwyler organized Century Advertising Co., Inc., which planned to relaunch channel 36 in 1957 as ABC affiliate WUTV, with a more powerful signal than its predecessor.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65834355/|access-date=December 22, 2020|title=City To Get New UHF TV Station|date=May 7, 1957|work=The Charlotte Observer|via=Newspapers.com|page=4-A}}</ref> However, these plans were derailed when Charlotte's second [[VHF]] station, [[WSOC-TV]] (channel 9), signed on the air that April as an NBC affiliate. Even with the stronger signal, WUTV would have still been all but unviewable in most of the market. In addition, most of the market (particularly the western portion) got a fairly decent signal from [[WLOS-TV]] out of [[Asheville]]; which was included in the Charlotte television listings for many years and even ran ads for its programs in Charlotte area newspapers.

After four years of delays, Century Advertising relaunched WUTV on September 5, 1961.{{r|six}} The station broadcast non-commercial educational programming from the [[University of North Carolina]] and [[Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools]], though it retained a commercial license.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65833680/|work=The Charlotte Observer|date=May 3, 1960|page=1-C|title=Educational TV Plan Disclosed By Local Men|first=Roy|last=Covington|access-date=December 22, 2020|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>''The Charlotte News'', July 3, 1962.</ref> A full new facility was constructed behind the [[Bojangles Coliseum|Charlotte Coliseum]] at 1 Television Place—still home to WCCB today—including a new transmitter site. WUTV's [[effective radiated power]] was 206{{nbsp}}[[kW]] visual. In the meantime, Century pursued the allocation of VHF channel 6 to Charlotte.<ref name="six">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65835109/|access-date=December 22, 2020|date=March 2, 1962|page=1-C|title=Local Firm To Seek 3rd TV Station Here|work=The Charlotte Observer|via=Newspapers.com|first=Douglas|last=Connah, Jr.}}</ref>

WUTV, however, was not capable of live programming. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board began to pursue the construction of a full educational TV station on reserved channel 42, buying the equipment of [[WTVI (Florida)|a failed station in Fort Pierce, Florida]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65836219/|access-date=December 22, 2020|work=The Charlotte Observer|page=10-A|date=November 14, 1962|title=Local ETV Station Is Nearer Reality|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> While channel 36 might have remained on air until the school board was ready to launch [[WTVI]], Century Advertising decided to ask the educational groups to pay rent in early 1963 after having initially verbally agreed to a three-year rent-free contract.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65836417/|access-date=December 22, 2020|date=March 29, 1963|pages=1-C, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65836551/ 4-C]|work=The Charlotte Observer|first=James K.|last=Batten|title=Rent Demands Threaten City's ETV Program: Firm Ends Free Use Of Station|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> They opted to pay to finish out the 1962–1963 school year but no further,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65836639/|access-date=December 22, 2020|date=May 9, 1963|work=The Charlotte Observer|via=Newspapers.com|page=1-B|first=James K.|last=Batten|title=Schools To Build TV Unit}}</ref> causing WUTV to go silent on May 16, 1963.

===Relaunch===
In June 1964, businessman [[Cy Bahakel]]—who moved from [[Roanoke, Virginia]], to Charlotte—bought the dormant channel 36 license and facilities from Century for $175,000.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65836801/|access-date=December 22, 2020|date=February 12, 1964|first=Emery|last=Wister|page=16-B|work=The Charlotte News|via=Newspapers.com|title=Virginian Agrees On TV Site Here}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1964/1964-08-24-BC.pdf|page=10|work=Broadcasting|date=August 24, 1964|title=KOBE sold for $215,000; WUTV sale approved|access-date=December 22, 2020}}</ref> An addition would be made to the studio building as part of Bahakel's efforts to return the station to the air.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65837262/|access-date=December 22, 2020|date=September 11, 1964|page=10-A|work=The Charlotte Observer|via=Newspapers.com|title=Channel 36 To Begin By Nov. 1}}</ref>

Bahakel returned the station to air on November 1 of that year as WCCB-TV (for "Charlotte Cy Bahakel"). The call letters had recently been used by what is now [[WNCF]] in [[Montgomery, Alabama]], which was acquired by Bahakel earlier that year. Logically, it should have returned as a full-time ABC affiliate. Charlotte had only two network-affiliated stations, CBS affiliate WBTV and NBC affiliate WSOC-TV. On paper, Charlotte had been large enough to support three full network affiliates since the 1950s. However, WCCB's signal, like its predecessor, was nowhere near adequate for a market that stretched from the [[Sandhills (Carolina)|Sandhills]] in the east to the [[Western North Carolina#High Country|High Country]] in the west. Its signal only operated at 200,000 watts, essentially limiting its coverage area to Charlotte proper and its inner suburbs. Additionally, the FCC had only begun requiring television sets to have all-channel tuning a few months before, and most Charlotte households did not yet have UHF-capable sets. Under the circumstances, ABC decided to retain its secondary affiliation agreements with WBTV and WSOC. WCCB was forced to settle for a secondary affiliation with all three networks, airing most of the network shows that WBTV and WSOC chose to turn down.<ref>{{cite news|first=Emery|last=Wister|title=It's That Silly Season Again|work=The Charlotte News|via=Newspapers.com|date=December 26, 1964|page=15-C|access-date=December 22, 2020|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65837450/}}</ref> As of March 1965, the nine-county area had 42,887 homes with UHF, with the number increasing by 3,000 per month. Bahakel said this "exceeds our expectation".<ref>{{cite news|title=UHF-TV Sets Said Increasing In Charlotte|work=The Charlotte Observer|date=March 4, 1965|page=14A}}</ref> For the next three years, WCCB split most of NBC and ABC's programming roughly equally with WSOC. It also picked up some CBS shows from WBTV, which still cleared a few ABC shows.

On November 1, 1966, WCCB moved from channel 36 to channel 18, broadcasting from a new tower located on Newell Hickory Grove Road in northeast Charlotte.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65837633/|date=November 1, 1966|title=WCCB Changes Channels Tonight|page=2A|work=The Charlotte News|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=December 22, 2020}}</ref> The new channel 18 facility was capable of 1.35&nbsp;million watts of power, giving WCCB a coverage area comparable to those of WBTV and WSOC-TV. In 1967, WSOC-TV dropped all ABC programming and became a full-time NBC affiliate, leaving WCCB-TV to be the exclusive ABC affiliate. It took Charlotte 18 years to finally gain full service from all three major networks of the time.  The state's largest market thus got a full-fledged ABC affiliate after the state's two smallest markets, [[Greenville, North Carolina|Greenville]]–[[New Bern]]–[[Washington, North Carolina|Washington]] and [[Wilmington, North Carolina|Wilmington]], received ABC affiliates of their own ([[WCTI-TV]] and [[WWAY]] respectively). However, despite the stronger signal and the first consistent airing of all network programs in Charlotte TV history, WCCB-TV remained a distant third in the ratings.<ref>{{cite news|title=WCCB-TV Jumps Into Area Viewing Spotlight|access-date=December 22, 2020|work=The Charlotte Observer|via=Newspapers.com|page=1C|date=August 29, 1967|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65838094/}}</ref>

In 1977, ABC announced that it had lured away WSOC-TV to be its new outlet in the Charlotte market beginning July 1, 1978, replacing WCCB. That decision set off a two-station showdown between WCCB and nine-year-old independent WRET-TV (channel 36, now [[WCNC-TV]]) for the NBC affiliation in Charlotte.<ref>{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521414/|access-date=December 17, 2020|date=September 29, 1977|work=The Charlotte Observer|first=Ron|last=Alridge|page=9B|title=WRET-TV Or WCCB-TV - Just Where Will NBC Go?}}</ref> WCCB was initially seen as the favorite. Unlike WRET, it had a news department.<ref>{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521574/soap-opera-star-and-pickles-pitch-in/|title=Soap Opera Star And Pickles Pitch in For Charity Drives|date=January 26, 1978|page=19A|work=The Charlotte Observer|first=Ron|last=Alridge|access-date=December 17, 2020}}</ref> Sources at NBC were said to see channel 36 as their last option, behind WCCB, with its stronger signal, and long-dominant WBTV, which the network was trying to woo from CBS to no avail.<ref>{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521626/|first=Bob|last=Wisehart|work=The Charlotte News|date=March 15, 1978|title=WTVI way short of goal|page=15A|access-date=December 17, 2020}}</ref>

However, WRET owner [[Ted Turner]] promised NBC officials that he would spend $2.5&nbsp;million on station improvements if the network affiliated with channel 36. Of that total, $1&nbsp;million would go toward starting a news department within one year. The proposed news department would employ 22 people, almost double the size of WCCB's 12-person news operation and almost as large as WSOC's 22-person department.<ref>{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521683/|access-date=December 17, 2020|date=April 25, 1978|page=15A|first=Ron|last=Alridge|work=The Charlotte Observer|title=WRET Goes All Out To Woo NBC}}</ref> On April 29, news broke that WRET-TV had been selected for the NBC affiliation, with the network preferring it to WCCB based on Turner's record of turning around the station and his ownership of the [[Atlanta Braves]] and [[Atlanta Hawks]].<ref>{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521774/|access-date=December 17, 2020|pages=1A, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521850/ 2A]|title=WRET-TV joining with NBC|first=Emery|last=Wister|work=The Charlotte News|date=April 29, 1978}}</ref><ref name="life">{{Cite news|pages=1A, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521883/ 2A]|work=The Charlotte News|date=April 29, 1978|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521917/|first=Emery|last=Wister|title=Station's lived Cinderella life|access-date=December 17, 2020}}</ref>

With the decision, WCCB became an [[independent station]].<ref>{{cite news|via=Newspapers.com|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65522016/|access-date=December 17, 2020|page=1A|work=The Charlotte Observer|title=WRET-TV Will Tune in to NBC Network|first=Ron|last=Alridge|date=April 29, 1978}}</ref> It bought a large chunk of syndicated programming from WRET, including [[animated cartoon|cartoons]] and older sitcoms. For a time in the late 1970s and early 1980s, after-school cartoons (''Afternoon Express'') were hosted by the costumed Sonic Man space alien character, played by Larry Sprinkle, who has been a staple in Charlotte radio and television, including serving as a weather anchor for channel 36 since the 1980s. WCCB carried on for almost a decade as a typical UHF general entertainment independent station.

=== Fox affiliation ===
[[Image:Wccb fox18 charlotte oldlogo.jpg|200px|left|thumb|Former logo as "Fox 18", used from 1996 to 2002.]]
In 1986, WCCB became the last station in a top-50 market to join Fox as one of the upstart network's charter affiliates, since it was doing so well in the ratings as an independent. WCCB affiliated with the network when it launched on October 6 of that year. For most of the next quarter-century, WCCB was one of the strongest Fox stations in the country – even claiming to be the highest-rated Fox affiliate in the nation during the 2008–09 television season. The station reaped a major windfall after the [[NFL]] moved its [[National Football Conference]] television package from [[NFL on CBS|CBS]] to [[Fox NFL|Fox]] in 1994.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121105135152/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4205316.html CBS, NBC Battle for AFC Rights // Fox Steals NFC Package], ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'', December 18, 1993.</ref> By coincidence, this made WCCB the unofficial "home" station of the [[Carolina Panthers]] upon the team's [[1995 Carolina Panthers season|1995 inception]]. WCCB carried most Panthers regular season games during the team's first 18 seasons, and later acquired the local rights to the team's preseason games from WBTV. Panthers games had generally been the most-watched programs in the market during the NFL football season. After having branded itself as "TV18" since sign-on, WCCB changed its branding to "Fox 18" in 1988 and then to "Fox Charlotte" in 2002.

[[File:Wccb 2010.png|150px|right|thumb|Former logo as "Fox Charlotte", 3D variant used from 2002 to 2013.]]
Cy Bahakel was an original partner in the [[NBA]]'s [[Charlotte Hornets]], and WCCB served as the team's [[flagship station]] for the Hornets' first four seasons in Charlotte from [[1988–89 Charlotte Hornets season|1988]] to [[1991–92 Charlotte Hornets season|1992]]. Bahakel owned WCCB until his death on April 20, 2006, with his family taking over the duties of running the station (and its parent company, [[Bahakel Communications]]) since that point. In 2007, WCCB's website switched to [[Fox Interactive Media]]'s "MyFox" platform (which was originally intended for Fox's [[owned-and-operated station]]s), with the domain transitioning from foxcharlotte.tv to myfoxcharlotte.com; however, the station de-emphasized the "MyFox" corporate reference within a year, with the URL becoming known simply as foxcharlotte.com. The revamped page continued to use the "MyFox" webpage template (sans the "MyFox" branding) until 2010, when Broadcast Interactive Media became WCCB's site host.

===CW affiliation===
On January 28, 2013, [[Fox Television Stations]] announced the purchase of [[The CW|CW]] affiliate [[WJZY]] (channel 46) and [[MyNetworkTV]] affiliate [[WMYT-TV]] (channel 55) from [[Capitol Broadcasting Company]] for $18&nbsp;million.<ref name="b&c-wccbnofox7-1"/><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/65069/wccb-charlotte-to-lose-fox-affiliation | title=WCCB Charlotte To Lose Fox Affiliation | publisher=TVNewsCheck.com | date=January 28, 2013 | access-date=January 28, 2013 | author=Halonen, Doug}}</ref> While WCCB had been one of the network's strongest affiliates, Fox had been looking to buy a station in what had become the 25th-largest market. It also wanted to own as many stations in NFC markets as possible; at the time Charlotte was the only NFC market in the Eastern Time Zone where the Fox station was only an affiliate. Another likely factor in the purchase was an option by Fox to purchase the Raleigh–[[Durham, North Carolina|Durham]] CW/MyNetworkTV duopoly of [[WLFL]] and [[WRDC]] from [[Sinclair Broadcast Group]], which would have resulted in [[WRAZ (TV)|WRAZ]] (a sister station to WJZY and WMYT at the time) losing its Fox affiliation.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/65130/charlotte-move-puts-fox-affiliates-on-edge | title=Charlotte Move Puts Fox Affiliates on Edge | date=January 29, 2013 | access-date=October 24, 2013}}</ref>

[[File:WCCB Charlotte 2013.png|250px|thumb|left|Former logo as "WCCB Charlotte", used as the primary logo from March to June 2013; still used during the station's newscasts.]]
On April 18, one day after Fox completed its purchase of WJZY and WMYT, WCCB announced that it would replace WJZY as Charlotte's CW affiliate on July 1.<ref name="b&c-wccbcw">{{cite news|last=Malone|first=Michael|title=Fox Affiliate WCCB Charlotte Shifts to CW|url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/492985-Fox_Affiliate_WCCB_Charlotte_Shifts_to_CW.php|access-date=April 18, 2013|newspaper=[[Broadcasting & Cable]]|date=April 18, 2013}}</ref> On May 9, it was reported that Bahakel  reserved the domain ''CharlottesCW.com'' for two years.<ref>Washburn, Mark. [https://web.archive.org/web/20131021023908/https://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/09/4033000/charlotte-stations-revealing-branding.html Charlotte stations revealing branding strategies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021023908/http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/09/4033000/charlotte-stations-revealing-branding.html|date=October 21, 2013}}. ''[[The Charlotte Observer]]'', May 11, 2013.</ref> Given the station's strong performance as a Fox affiliate and its half-century of service to the area (in its current incarnation), WCCB was expected to become one of the ten strongest CW affiliates in the nation when it formally joined that network.<ref name="WCCBNews" /> The old "Fox Charlotte" logo remained at the entrance to the station's studios until mid-May when it was replaced with signage bearing the "Charlotte CW" logo.
[[File:WCCB Charlotte CW 2024.svg|150px|thumb|left|Former logo as "WCCB Charlotte CW", used from 2024 to 2025]]
WCCB's relationship with Fox formally ended after 27 years on June 30,<ref name=b&c-wccbnofox7-1>{{cite news|last=Malone|first=Michael|title=Fox Affiliate Switch in Works for Charlotte|url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/491572-Fox_Affiliate_Switch_in_Works_for_Charlotte.php|access-date=January 30, 2013|newspaper=[[Broadcasting & Cable]]|date=January 29, 2013}}</ref> with ''[[American Dad!]]'' being the final Fox program to air on the station. With the loss of WCCB's Fox affiliation, WCCB formally rolled out its new on-air branding and logo the next afternoon, July 1, 2013, its first day as a CW affiliate. However, most verbal references to the station are to its call letters, with any CW references used obliquely (in the manner of "WCCB, Charlotte's CW"). It marked the first time in a quarter-century that the station has used its call letters on a permanent basis in its branding.

=== Return to independence ===
In 2025, Nexstar Media Group announced in an earnings release that WMYT would become an [[owned-and-operated station]] of The CW on September 1.<ref>{{cite web |date=August 7, 2025 |title=Nexstar Media Group Reports Second Quarter Net Revenue of $1.23 Billion |url=https://www.nexstar.tv/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/NXST2Q25EarningsRelease-5486njwc.pdf |work=Nexstar Media Group |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=CW Sports adds Super Bowl champion Will Blackmon, Charlotte radio host Wes Bryant to ACC football broadcasts |url=https://www.qcnews.com/sports/college-football/cw-sports-adds-super-bowl-champion-will-blackmon-charlotte-radio-host-wes-bryant-to-acc-football-broadcasts/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250814140146/https://www.qcnews.com/sports/college-football/cw-sports-adds-super-bowl-champion-will-blackmon-charlotte-radio-host-wes-bryant-to-acc-football-broadcasts/ |archive-date=August 14, 2025 |access-date=August 30, 2025 |work=Queen City News |language=en-US}}</ref> As a result, WCCB would lose its CW affiliation and become an independent station for the first time since 1986, when it affiliated with the Fox network.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Charlotte station teases its post-CW look |url=https://www.newscaststudio.com/2025/08/25/wccb-charlotte-rebranding/?og=1 |access-date=September 1, 2025 |website=NewscastStudio |language=en-US}}</ref> Ironically, the last CW program to air on the station was the 1996 movie ''[[Independence Day (1996 film)|Independence Day]]''.

==Programming==
WCCB was one of the few stations broadcasting ''[[At the Movies (1986 TV program)|Siskel & Ebert]]'' that was affiliated with Fox, with others including WLFL, Fox's Raleigh–Durham affiliate from 1986 to 1998 and Fox's New York City flagship station [[WNYW]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://tvplex.com/BuenaVista/SiskelAndEbert/Text/Stations.html |title=Top 150 Markets' first-run times for SISKEL & EBERT |quote=Fox stations are indicated by an "F" next to the call letters. |date=November 23, 1996 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961128233319/http://tvplex.com/BuenaVista/SiskelAndEbert/Text/Stations.html |archive-date=November 28, 1996 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

WCCB remained home to Panthers preseason football games until losing them to WSOC-TV for the 2019 season. It also began airing [[Charlotte 49ers football|Charlotte 49ers college football]] games in September 2013, with WCCB carrying any 49er home games not carried by [[Conference USA]]'s national and regional television partners.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://gmine.blogspot.com/2013/07/wccb-to-televise-charlotte-49ers-home.html|title=WCCB to televise Charlotte 49ers home football games|newspaper=Charlotte Observer|date=July 18, 2013}}</ref>

===News operation===
WCCB presently broadcasts 30 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with {{frac|5|1|2}} hours each weekday, {{frac|1|1|2}} hours on Saturdays and one hour on Sundays); in addition, the station produces ''WCCB News Got Game'', a half-hour sports highlight program that airs on Sunday evenings following the 10 p.m. newscast. WCCB's studio facilities served as a production facility for [[WOLO-TV]]'s newscasts from 2002 to 2005 in one of the first instances of [[centralcasting]]; studio segments for WOLO's newscasts returned to Columbia afterward.

WCCB aired newscasts at various times between 1964 until its ABC disaffiliation in 1978. It reduced its news department to a skeleton staff after becoming an independent station and did not carry a regularly scheduled newscast again until 1994, when it began airing a nightly 10&nbsp;p.m. news program produced by WSOC-TV. In 1999, WCCB announced plans to launch its own news department. That summer, WSOC-TV relocated its prime time newscast to its sister independent station [[WAXN-TV]] (channel 64). WCNC then temporarily took over production of the late-evening newscast on WCCB until the launch of the station's in-house news department on January 1, 2000, with the debut of a half-hour 10&nbsp;p.m. newscast. Ironically, the WCNC-produced newscast on WCCB drew a larger audience at the time than the newscasts that actually aired on WCNC.

On September 28, 2008, beginning with the 10 p.m. newscast, WCCB became the second television station in the Charlotte market to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition. The upgrade included the debut of a brand new HD-ready news set. On February 4, 2013, Ken White, who had served as WCCB's [[news director]] since the 2000 inception of its current news department, was reassigned to [[sister station]] [[WBBJ-TV]] in [[Jackson, Tennessee]], as its interim news director; assistant news director Angela Robbins was appointed as White's replacement at WCCB.<ref>[http://charlottemediascene.blogspot.com/2013/02/news-director-change-at-fox-charlotte.html News director change at Fox Charlotte], ''Charlotte Observer'', February 4, 2013.</ref>

After WCCB became a CW affiliate on July 1, 2013, it retained its weekday morning and nightly prime time newscasts.<ref name=WCCBNews>[http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/02/01/3825755/another-charlotte-tv-news-team.html#storylink=cpy Will Fox Charlotte drop its news shows? No.], ''Charlotte Observer'', February 1, 2013.</ref><ref>[http://www.wccbcharlotte.com/news/local/WCCB-Charlotte-Becomes-CW-on-July-1st-203637461.html WCCB Charlotte Becomes CW on July 1st]</ref> On November 9, 2013, WCCB debuted half-hour 6&nbsp;p.m. newscasts on Saturday and Sunday evenings,<ref>[http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/10/11/4378992/new-rising-host-started-in-tv.html#.UlhzN2TwLxY#storylink=cpy New ‘Rising’ host started in TV at age 14], ''Charlotte Observer'', October 11, 2013.</ref> making it one of the few television stations to have carried an early evening newscast on weekends without an existing newscast in that daypart on weekdays. (WCCB handles master control responsibilities for WOLO's weeknight 6 and 11&nbsp;p.m. newscasts.)

==Technical information and subchannels==
WCCB's transmitter is located in Newell, an unincorporated area of [[Mecklenburg County, North Carolina|Mecklenburg County]] just northeast of the Charlotte city limits.{{r|FCC-LMS-49157}} The station's signal is [[Multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Subchannels of WCCB<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WCCB#station|title=RabbitEars TV Query for WCCB|website=[[RabbitEars]]|accessdate=May 29, 2025}}</ref>
|-
! scope = "col" | [[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! scope = "col" | [[Display resolution|Res.]]
! scope = "col" | [[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! scope = "col" | Short name
! scope = "col" | Programming
|-
! scope = "row" | 18.1 
|[[720p]] || rowspan="9" |[[16:9]] || WCCB-DT || Main WCCB programming
|-
! scope = "row" | 18.2
| rowspan="8" |[[480i]] || WCCB-ST || [[Start TV]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 18.3
| WCCB-ME || [[MeTV]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 18.4
| QVC-TV || [[QVC]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 18.5
| WCCB-HI || [[Heroes & Icons]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 18.6
| WCCB-DB || [[Dabl]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 18.7
| HSN-TV || [[HSN]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 18.8
| WCCB-CZ || [[Cozi TV]]
|-
! scope = "row" | 18.9
| MeToons || [[MeTV Toons]]
|}

Previously, a [[standard-definition]] simulcast of the station's main channel was carried on its second [[digital subchannel]]; this simulcast feed was later upgraded to [[high-definition television|high-definition]] with the addition of [[Second Audio Program|SAP]] and [[Descriptive Video Service|DVS]] audio channels. In June 2012, the SAP/DVS feed was added to the main channel as well. The second subchannel was removed in December 2013, as well as the SAP/DVS feed from the main channel which was unused at that time by The CW (it has since returned due to FCC description and weather warning read-out requirements, along with it being utilized by The CW for ''[[One Magnificent Morning]]'' and a Spanish dub of ''[[Jane the Virgin]]''); digital subchannel 18.2 would return in April 2014 carrying [[QVC]]'s "Over the Air" simulcast service. On July 21, 2014, it was announced that Antenna TV would be added to the second subchannel on August 15, 2014, bringing it back to the Charlotte market after being dropped by its previous affiliate WJZY.<ref>[http://rbr.com/wccb-tv-to-launch-antenna-tv-in-charlotte/#cbSZYBDKFMzTMm1e.99 WCCB-TV to launch Antenna TV in Charlotte]</ref> Antenna TV began airing that day, replacing QVC Over the Air, which went to a new fourth digital subchannel. On August 29, 2019, the Home Shopping Network was added on 18.7; this was followed by Dabl, which premiered on September 9 on 18.6. On January 8, 2020, [[Cozi TV]] was added to 18.8. On October 27, 2020, Antenna TV (18.2) and Start TV (18.5) swapped subchannels.

Until March 1, 2011, WCCB carried a feed of its [[weather radar]] on its third subchannel, which provided [[NOAA Weather Radio]] feeds from [[Spencer Mountain, North Carolina]], and [[Columbia, South Carolina|Columbia]] and [[Rock Hill, South Carolina]], through SAP. On that date, MeTV replaced the weather radar feed after having the start date of its affiliation delayed for a month due to contractual issues.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=19898291|title = Charlotte, NC - OTA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=19930116|title = Charlotte, NC - OTA}}</ref> The weather radar feed remained available through WCCB's [[mobile DTV]] service, but this has since been discontinued. The Spencer Mountain and Rock Hill NOAA feeds were initially retained on MeTV through SAP. The Spencer Mountain feed was removed in mid-2012, and the Rock Hill feed was removed in December 2013.

===Translator===
* '''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|66386|3=W34FH-D}}''' [[Marion, North Carolina|Marion]]

===Analog-to-digital conversion===
WCCB shut down its analog signal, over [[UHF]] channel 18, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States [[Digital television transition 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 27, using [[virtual channel]] 18.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds |access-date=March 24, 2012}}</ref> On February 4, 2010, WCCB signed on a translator located near [[Connelly Springs]] on UHF channel 20, W20DD-D. The translator was licensed to [[Marion, North Carolina|Marion]] as W08BJ. It was purchased from [[WSPA-TV]] and moved to Smith Mountain.

==Out-of-market cable carriage==
In recent years, WCCB has been carried on [[Cable television|cable]] in several areas outside the Charlotte [[television market]], including on cable systems within the Asheville and [[Greensboro]]–[[Winston-Salem]]–High Point markets, the Columbia market in South Carolina, and the [[Tri-Cities, Tennessee|Tri-Cities]] market in [[Tennessee]] and [[Virginia]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://svtvstations.webs.com/svtvstations.htm |title=SVTV Stations - the things you care that others won't |access-date=July 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120502223103/http://svtvstations.webs.com/svtvstations.htm |archive-date=May 2, 2012 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.wccbcharlotte.com/ WCCBCharlotte.com] – WCCB-TV official website
* [http://www.metvcharlotte.com/ MeTVCharlotte.com] – MeTV Charlotte official website

{{Charlotte TV}}
{{North Carolina TV}}
{{South Carolina TV}}
{{Bahakel}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wccb}}
[[Category:1954 establishments in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Bahakel Communications]]
[[Category:Cozi TV affiliates]]
[[Category:Dabl affiliates]]
[[Category:Heroes & Icons affiliates]]
[[Category:Independent television stations in the United States]]
[[Category:MeTV affiliates]]
[[Category:MeTV Toons affiliates]]
[[Category:NFL primary television stations]]
[[Category:Start TV affiliates]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1954]]
[[Category:Television stations in Charlotte, North Carolina|CCB]]