WWAY

WWAY

Wilmington, North Carolina
Branding	WWAY NewsChannel 3 RTV Wilmington (on DT2)
Slogan	Live. Local. Interactive.
Channels	Digital: 46 (UHF) Virtual: 3 (PSIP)
Subchannels	3.1 ABC 3.2 RTV
Owner	Morris Multimedia (WWAY-TV, LLC)
First air date	October 30, 1964
Call letters' meaning	Wilmington's World All Yours
Former channel number(s)	3 (VHF analog, 1964-2008)
Former affiliations	local weather (on DT2)
Transmitter power	1,000 kW
Height	590 m
Class	DT
Facility ID	12033
Transmitter coordinates	34°7′53.8″N 78°11′15.4″W
Website	wwaytv3.com

WWAY is the ABC-affiliated television station for North Carolina's Cape Fear area licensed to Wilmington. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 46 (or virtual channel 3.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter in Town Creek Township. The station can also be seen on Charter channel 3 and Time Warner Cable channel 10. There is a high definition feed provided on Charter digital channel 703 and Time Warner Cable digital channel 1125. Owned by Morris Multimedia, WWAY has studios on North Front Street in Downtown Wilmington on the Cape Fear Community College campus. Syndicated programming on the station includes The Insider, Entertainment Tonight, The Dr. Oz Show, and Judge Judy among others.

Digital programming

On WWAY-DT2, Time Warner Cable digital channel 106, and Charter digital channel 148 is the Retro Television Network (RTV).

Channels (virtual/physical)	Name	Video	Aspect	Programming
3.1/46.1	WWAY-HD	720p	16:9	main WWAY programming/ABC (HD)
3.2/46.2	WWAY-DT2	480i	4:3	"RTV Wilmington" (SD)

History

WWAY signed-on October 30, 1964 as the second television station in Wilmington, preceded by WECT (channel 6) by ten years. It was originally owned by Cape Fear Telecasting, a firm controlled by local interests. It has been an ABC affiliate since its inception. This was somewhat unusual for a two-station market, especially one of Wilmington's size. For most of its first 20 years in television, ABC was relegated to secondary status on existing stations in most two-station markets.

In 1968, Cape Fear sold WWAY to Clay Broadcasting (later to become Clay Communications). In 1987 Clay sold its broadcasting interests, including WWAY, to Price Communications, setting off a revolving door of owners over the course of the next two decades. In 1988, Price sold WWAY to Adams Television who flipped the station to Hillside Broadcasting a few years later. Hillside then sold WWAY to Cosmos Broadcasting, a subsidiary of the Liberty Corporation, in 1999. That company sold off its insurance interests two years later bringing WWAY directly under the Liberty banner.

In 2005, Liberty merged with Raycom Media. That company already owned WECT and could not keep both stations due to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) duopoly rules that do not allow common ownership of two of the four largest stations in a single market. Raycom opted to keep the higher-rated WECT and spun-off WWAY to current owner Morris Multimedia in 2006. However, the station still retains its Liberty-era logo.

On May 8, 2008, the FCC announced that Wilmington had been selected as a test market for the 2009 national digital television transition. Five stations in Wilmington, including WWAY, also agreed to voluntarily cease analog broadcasting on September 8. Channel 3 made its transition from analog to digital at Noon on that date. On June 15, WWAY started broadcasting the Retro Television Network on its second digital channel. This had previously served as a 24-hour local weather channel.

In North Carolina, WWAY is still carried in Rowland which is part of the Florence/Myrtle Beach/Lumberton market. Rowland and all of Robeson County used to be part of the Wilmington market and even earlier the Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville DMA. Lumberton, the county seat of Robeson County, used to carry WWAY as well until around 1999. Jacksonville still carries WWAY even though it is part of the Greenville/Washington/New Bern market. In South Carolina, WWAY used to be carried in Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach up until the late-1990s. It was carried along the South Carolina borderbelt communities near the North Carolina state line but no longer is. WWAY is not carried on satellite outside of the market in the Carolinas. In Brunswick County, the station is carried on ATMC channel 5.

News operation

News open seen weeknights at 11.

WWAY has traditionally been a distant runner up to WECT. The NBC affiliate has been a longtime ratings powerhouse due to its status as Wilmington's first television outlet. In addition, WECT produces daily newscasts for Fox affiliate WSFX-TV offering additional opportunities for local coverage. On August 1, 2009, WWAY dropped weekend broadcasts from its schedule which resulted in WECT increasing its viewership as the only outlet for news seven days a week. Although this station would eventually bring back a newscast on Sunday nights at 11 on October 3, 2010, WECT retains its dominance. Low-powered CBS affiliate WILM-LD does not operate a news department of its own unlike most big three stations.

It does, however, simulcast some broadcasts from sister station WRAL-TV in Raleigh with local weather inserts targeted toward Wilmington. In order to offer some local content and compete with WECT, WWAY actually produced a thirty minute news program weeknights at 7 on WILM. This partnership existed through a news share agreement from March 10, 2008 until February 27, 2009. WWAY-DT2 repeats the main channel's weeknight 5 and 6 local news broadcasts at 7 and 7:30, respectively. It operates a Doppler weather radar of its own, known as "Storm Track 3", at its studios. WWAY airs all newscasts in 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen. Although not truly high definition, broadcasts match the aspect ratio of HD television screens. Unlike most ABC affiliates, the station does not air a full two hour weekday morning show.

Newscast titles

• News Scope (1964–1971)
• TV 3 News (1971–1978)
• Eyewitness News 3 (1978–1991)
• NewsChannel 3 (1991–2003)
• WWAY NewsChannel 3 (2003–present)

Station slogans

• "Your WWAY" (1980s)
• "Now Is The Time, TV 3 Is The Place" (1981-1982, localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• "Coverage You Can Count On" (1990s)
• "First, Live, and Local" (1990s-2000s)
• "Live. Local. Interactive." (2007–present)

News team

Anchors

• Tim Buckley - weekday mornings and weekday morning meteorologist
• Cacky Catlett - weeknights
• Chris Phillips - weeknights and "Kitchen Cops" segment producer
• Marcy Cuevas - Sundays and reporter (also "Troubleshooters" segment producer)
• Ramon Herrera - Sundays and reporter
• Randy Aldridge - Your Home Town host and "Randy to the Rescue" segment producer
• Grace Schwartz - Your Home Town host

Storm Track 3 Meteorologists

• Jerry Jackson (AMS Seal of Approval) - Chief seen weeknights
• Asha Dave - Sundays and news reporter
• George Elliott (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - severe weather reporter and "Live with George" segment producer

Sports

• John Rendleman - weeknights at 6 and 11 (also news and sports reporter)
  • Coach's Corner, Fifth Quarter, and Full Court Press host
• Buzz Peterson - The Buzz Peterson Show host
• Mike Vaccaro - The Buzz Peterson Show host
• Trot Nixon - Friday Night Fifth Quarter host
• Kevin Schneider - Full Court Press host
• Jesse Jones - sports reporter

Reporters

• Kevin Wuzzardo - News Content Manager and "The Rant" segment producer
• Kim Czornij - "What's Happening" segment producer
• Art Gindburg - "Mr. Food" segment producer
• Marissa Jasek
• Katie Harden
• Cliff Pyron

References

• Digital TV transition kicks off in Wilmington NC, LA Times, September 8, 2008

External links

• WWAY
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WWAY