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{{Short description|Television station in Wilmington, North Carolina}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox television station
| callsign               = WILM-LD
| logo                   = WILM TV 10 logo.png
| image                  = Wilm ld2 2014.png
| image_size             = 150px
| branding               = {{ubl|WILM-TV 10 (general)|''[[WRAL-TV|WRAL News]]'' (newscasts)}}
| digital                = 15 ([[UHF]])
| virtual                = 10
| subchannels            = 
| translators            = {{ubl|WILT-LD 24 Wilmington|W30ER-D Wilmington}}
| affiliations           = {{ubl|'''10.1:''' [[Independent station|Independent]]/[[MeTV]] (secondary)|'''10.2:''' full [[MeTV]] schedule|'''10.3:''' [[Heroes & Icons]]}}
| founded                = 
| airdate                = {{Start date and age|1989|4|3|p=y}}
| location               = [[Wilmington, North Carolina]]
| country                = United States
| callsign_meaning       = Wilmington
| sister_stations        = WRAL-TV, [[WRAZ (TV)|WRAZ]]
| former_channel_numbers = {{ubl|'''Analog:''' 10 ([[VHF]], 1989–2008)|'''Digital:''' 40 (UHF, 2008–2018)}}
| owner                  = [[Capitol Broadcasting Company]]
| licensee               = WILM, Inc.
| former_callsigns       = {{ubl|W10BZ (1989–1995)|WSSN-LP (1995–2000)|WILM-LP (2000–2008)}}
| former_affiliations    = {{ubl|Independent (1989–1997)|[[UPN]] (primary 1997–2000, secondary 2000–2006)|[[CBS]] (2000–2016)}}
| erp                    = 15 [[kW]]
| haat                   = {{convert|250.3|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| class                  = [[Low-power broadcasting#Television|LD]]
| facility_id            = 167819
| coordinates            = {{coord|34|19|16.6|N|78|13|42|W|type:landmark_scale:2000}}
| licensing_authority    = [[FCC]]
| website                = {{url|http://www.wilm-tv.com/}} 
}}

'''WILM-LD''' (channel 10) is a [[low-power broadcasting#Television|low-power]] [[independent station|Independent]]/[[MeTV]] affiliate station in [[Wilmington, North Carolina]], United States, owned by the [[Capitol Broadcasting Company]]. The station's studios are located on Wrightsville Avenue ([[U.S. Route 76 in North Carolina|US 76]]) in Wilmington, and its transmitter is located in [[Delco, North Carolina]]. [[Master control]] and some internal operations are based at the facilities of [[sister station]], [[NBC]] affiliate and company [[flagship (broadcasting)|flagship]] [[WRAL-TV]] in [[Raleigh]].

On [[New Year's Eve|December 31]], 2016, WILM lost its [[CBS]] affiliation to a [[digital subchannel]] of [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate [[WWAY]] (channel 3) and became an independent station.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Holloway|first1=Daniel|title=CBS to Make North Carolina Affiliate Change|url=https://variety.com/2016/tv/news/cbs-to-make-north-carolina-change-1201742103/|work=Variety|language=en-US}}</ref>

==History==
The current station is actually the second TV outlet to have the WILM calls. WILM-TV (proposed for [[Wilmington, Delaware]]) was granted a construction permit in 1953, but never made it to the air, surrendering its license in 1955. WILM would have broadcast on channel 83, the only U.S. TV station in history to be allocated the very top of the UHF spectrum.<ref>{{cite web |title=Channels 45 to 83 |url=https://uhfhistory.com/45-83.html |website=History of UHF Television }}</ref>

The station began on April 3, 1989, as independent outlet W10BZ. It aired an [[analog television|analog]] signal on [[VHF]] channel 10 from a transmitter near the studios. W10BZ changed its call sign to WSSN-LP in 1995. It joined the United Paramount Network ([[UPN]]) in the fall of 1997. In 1999, Capitol Broadcasting acquired the station.
[[Image:WILM.jpg|thumb|left|WILM studios]]
On March 23, 2000, it became a CBS affiliate, filling a void created when previous CBS affiliate WJKA changed its calls to [[WSFX-TV]] and dropped the network to join [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]]. WSSN changed its call sign to WILM-LP on that date as well. Before WILM gained the CBS affiliation, programming from that network was seen in Wilmington on cable from [[WNCT-TV]] in [[Greenville, North Carolina|Greenville]], [[WBTW]] in [[Florence, South Carolina]], or WRAL.

WILM retained its UPN affiliation on a secondary basis until the network shut down and merged with [[The WB]]. After UPN and The WB merged to form [[The CW]] on September 18, 2006, cable-only [[WB 100+]] affiliate "WBW" joined the new network through the [[CW Plus]] cable group. Fox's sister programming service [[MyNetworkTV]] was formed around the same time and aligned with new sign-on [[W47CK]], leaving WILM as a full-time CBS station.

The station's low-power digital signal began broadcasting on UHF channel 40 in August 2008. This increased the station's [[effective radiated power]] from its former 75 [[watt]]s (analog VHF) to 15 [[kW]] (digital UHF) which is the highest power available for [[list of North American broadcast classes|U.S. low-power]] [[digital terrestrial television|digital television]]. WILM's new transmitter was no longer centrally located in Wilmington itself but located alongside other local broadcast sites in Delco.<ref>http://wilmingtondtvtest.wordpress.com/2008/09/09/a-big-step%E2%80%A6/ Wilmington DTV Test</ref>

WILM is one of five Wilmington commercial television stations that agreed to end analog transmissions early and became digital-only on September 8, 2008. This move was intended to make the area the first all-digital [[media market|market]] in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |title=DTV - WILM INFO — WILM-TV |url=http://www.wilm-tv.com/dtv_switch/page/2906848/ |website=WILM-TV |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202151907/http://www.wilm-tv.com/dtv_switch/page/2906848/ |archive-date=February 2, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On that date, WILM shut down its analog signal along with four other Wilmington television stations as part of the voluntary early digital transition. If this agreement had not happened, the decision to shut off analog transmission at any time would have been voluntary for WILM because [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) regulations exempted low-power television stations from the [[2009 analog shutdown]]. Its analog channel 10 identification is still used as its [[virtual channel]].

In 2015, WILM signed on a [[broadcast relay station|translator]] on channel 24, WILT-LD, to better serve areas such as [[Monkey Junction]], [[Carolina Beach]], and [[Wrightsville Beach]] south to [[Southport, North Carolina|Southport]] and [[Oak Island, North Carolina|Oak Island]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.myreporter.com/2015/06/where-is-wilms-new-tv-tower/|title=Where is WILM's new TV tower?|date=June 19, 2015}}</ref>

In January 2016, sister station and Capitol Broadcasting flagship WRAL announced it would drop its CBS affiliation due to a contract impasse, effective February 29, 2016. Immediately, WRAL struck a pending affiliation agreement to switch to NBC.<ref name="fayo-wilmcbs">{{cite web|title=WRAL to NBC, WNCN to CBS in network affiliation switches Feb. 29|url=http://www.fayobserver.com/news/business/wral-to-nbc-wncn-to-cbs-in-network-affiliation-switches/article_81835222-5d1f-57f8-9aa2-23b4c579cc4a.html|website=The Fayetteville Observer|access-date=January 31, 2016}}</ref> On March 30, 2016, CBS announced it would pull its affiliation from WILM and transfer it to the second subchannel of [[WWAY]] on January 1, 2017.<ref name="variety-wwaycbs">{{cite news|title=CBS to Make North Carolina Affiliate Change|url=https://variety.com/2016/tv/news/cbs-to-make-north-carolina-change-1201742103/|access-date=March 30, 2016|work=Variety}}</ref> WILM subsequently became an independent station, adding additional syndicated programming, and promising increased coverage of local college sports.<ref name="tvnc-wilmind">{{cite web|title=WILM Now An Independent Station|url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/100364/wilm-now-an-independent-station|website=TVNewsCheck|access-date=January 2, 2017}}</ref>

==Newscasts==
WILM-LD simulcasts WRAL's newscasts weekdays from 6 to 7&nbsp;a.m. and at 6&nbsp;p.m., with local weather inserts for the Wilmington area. This practice dates to its tenure with CBS; its studios were not large enough for a full-fledged news department.

From March 10, 2008, until February 27, 2009, through a news share agreement, WWAY produced a prime time newscast weeknights at 7 p.m.

==Technical information==
===Subchannels===
The stations' signals are [[multiplex (TV)|multiplexed]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Subchannels of WILM-LD<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WILM|title=RabbitEars TV Query for WILM|website=[[RabbitEars.info]]|accessdate=January 1, 2025}}</ref> and WILT-LD<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WILT|title=RabbitEars TV Query for WILT|website=[[RabbitEars.info]]|accessdate=January 1, 2025}}</ref>
! scope = "col" colspan="2"|[[Digital subchannel#United States|Channel]]
! scope = "col" rowspan="2"|[[Display resolution|Res.]]
! scope = "col" rowspan="2"|[[Aspect ratio (image)|Aspect]]
! scope = "col" rowspan="2"|Short name
! scope = "col" rowspan="2"|Programming
|-
! scope = "col" | {{small|WILM-LD}} || {{small|WILT-LD}}
|-
! scope = "row" | 10.1 || 24.1 
| [[720p]] || rowspan=3| [[16:9]] || WILM HD || {{ubl|[[Independent station|Independent]] (primary)|[[MeTV]] (secondary)}}
|-
! scope = "row" | 10.2 || 24.2 
| rowspan="2"|[[480i]] || WILM ME || [[MeTV]] (full-time)
|-
! scope = "row" | 10.3 || 24.3 
| WILM 3 || [[Heroes & Icons]]
|}

===Translators===
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|182320|3=WILT-LD}}''' 33 Wilmington
*'''{{FCC-LMS-Facility|182341|3=W30ER-D}}''' Wilmington ([[ATSC 3.0]])

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.wilm-tv.com/ WILM-LD]
*[http://www.wral.com WRAL-TV]

{{Wilmington TV}}
{{Capital Broadcasting}}

[[Category:1989 establishments in North Carolina]]
[[Category:Capitol Broadcasting Company]]
[[Category:Heroes & Icons affiliates]]
[[Category:Independent television stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Low-power television stations in North Carolina|ILM-LD]]
[[Category:MeTV affiliates]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1989]]
[[Category:Television stations in Wilmington, North Carolina|ILM-LD]]