WITN-TV(channel 7) is atelevision stationlicensed toWashington, North Carolina,United States, servingEastern North Carolinaas an affiliate ofNBCandMyNetworkTV.Owned byGray Television,the station has primary studio facilities on East Arlington Boulevard inGreenville,with an additional studio inNew Bern.[citation needed]Its transmitter is located inGrifton TownshipalongNC 118.
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| City | Washington, North Carolina |
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| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| W27DP-D | |
| History | |
First air date | September 28, 1955 |
Former call signs | WITN (1955–1978) |
Former channel number(s) |
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| ABC(secondary, 1955–1963) | |
Call signmeaning | Washington orEyewitness News |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 594 |
| ERP | 1,000kW |
| HAAT | 591.9 m (1,942 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 35°21′55.9″N77°23′34.6″W/ 35.365528°N 77.392944°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
History
editThe station signed on September 28, 1955, from facilities onUS 17inChocowinity(outside Washington, though with a Washingtonmailingaddress). It was the area's second television outlet to launch after Greenville'sWNCT-TV(channel 9). It was an NBC affiliate from the start but shared secondaryABCrelations with WNCT until the 1963 sign-on of WNBE-TV (channel 12, nowWCTI-TV) inNew Bern.WITN's first broadcast was game 1 of the1955 World Series.[2]
WITN aired ananalogsignal onVHFchannel 7 from the region's highest transmitter at that time. The station was originally owned by North Carolina Television, a consortium of radio stations from Northeastern North Carolina. Majority ownership was held by the Roberson family, owners of WITN radio (930 AM, nowWDLX;and FM 93.3, nowWERO).
The group held onto the television station until 1985, when it was sold toAFLAC.[3]It added the "-TV" suffix to itscall signon July 31, 1978. In 1997, AFLAC sold its broadcasting group to Retirement Systems ofAlabamawhich merged with Ellis Communications to formRaycom Media.However, Raycom could not keep WITN for long due to a significant signal overlap withWilmington'sWECT,an Ellis property that was part of the deal. WITN's city-grade signal reaches the northern portion of the Wilmington market. At the time, the FCC normally did not allow one company to own two stations with overlapping signals, and would not even consider a waiver for a city-grade overlap. What was then known as Gray Communications (nowGray Television) bought the station later in 1997. It has been broadcasting a full-power digital signal since June 2006. They eventually reunited in 2019 after Gray acquired Raycom, but by then, overlaps of signals were not considered as long as the stations were in separate markets.[4]
On January 7, 2009, a high definition feed of WITN-TV was launched onDirecTVand can now also be obtained onDish Network.WITN-TV ended regular programming over its analog signal, over VHF channel 7, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcastsunder federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transitionUHFchannel 32, usingvirtual channel7.[5][6]As part of theSAFER Act,WITN-TV kept its analog signal on the air until June 26 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop ofpublic service announcementsfrom theNational Association of Broadcasters.[6]In June 2013, the station moved from its longtime home outside Washington to new high definition-ready studios in Greenville.
In addition to offering network and syndicated programming, WITN was also a multimedia rights partner forEast Carolina UniversityAthletics from 1998 to 2014. In addition to hosting the weekly coaches' shows forfootballandbasketball,the station produced live broadcasts of select games that were not picked up nationally byESPNas part of its deal withConference USA.Even though most of the broadcasts were limited to its own market, WITN got other television outlets throughout North Carolina to carry a football game in 2003 which saw ECU competing against in-state rivalUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillfromDowdy–Ficklen Stadium.In 2014, WNCT-TV picked up the ECU sports package, just as the school moved its programs to theAmerican Athletic Conference.[7]
WITN-DT2
editWITN-DT2is theMyNetworkTV-affiliated seconddigital subchannelof WITN-TV, broadcasting instandard definitionon channel 7.2.
History
editOriginally, WITN-DT2 served as a 24-hour localweatherchannel. It picked up MyNetworkTV on September 28, 2009, after the area'sIon Televisionowned-and-operated stationWEPX-TV,channel 38 (and its full-timesatellite,WPXU-TV,channel 35) dropped the programming service.[8]At that point, local weather programming was reduced to overnights and mornings while syndicated offerings made up the rest of WITN-DT2's schedule. A further addition to that service occurred April 18, 2011, when it added MeTV and dropped all remaining weather-related programming with the new network taking up most of the weekend and daytime schedule.
Eventually, a new third digital subchannel signed on and began offering a 24-hour live feed of WITN's ownDopplerweather radar.[9]On January 17, 2013, it separated programming from MyNetworkTV and MeTV onto dedicated digital subchannels (with MeTV relocating to the third subchannel).[10]
For a period of time, WITN-DT2 could also be seen on the digital tier ofTime Warner Cablein the greater Wilmington area since that market's MyNetworkTV affiliate,W47CK,was technically ineligible for carriage on cable providers due to itslow-poweredstatus. As a result, the clearance allowed WITN-DT2 to unofficially serve as Wilmington's MeTV outlet (since, at that time, there was no television outlet affiliated with the network in that area). Eventually, Time Warner Cable (nowCharter Spectrum) picked up W47CK and subsequently dropped WITN-DT2 from the lineup.
News operation
editIn terms ofNielsen ratings,Eastern North Carolina is usually not very competitive duringsweepsperiods. Historically, WITN has been the #1 ranked newscast in the Greenville–Washington–New Bern market.[11]
The station's direct competitors are WCTI-TV and WNCT-TV. There have been occasions that WITN has come in 2nd place in ratings. WITN News ranked 2nd in the market to WCTI in 2014, before regaining 1st place in 2015. In July 2008, WNCT was the most watched television station in the market after taking first place weeknights at 6 and 11. However, since then, WNCT has fallen to 3rd place weeknights at 6.[12]
While broadcasting from its original facility in Chocowinity, WITN maintained secondary studios in Greenville on East Arlington Boulevard (within the Square Shopping Center) less than two blocks from its current base of operations. This location began broadcasting a weekday morning newscast in 1997 featuring a news anchor,meteorologist,and photographer based out of there. In addition, weeknight interview segments were conducted from the old secondary studios.
After moving into its brand new facility in Greenville on June 5, 2013, WITN became the area's second television outlet to upgrade news production to high definition level.[13]In addition to its main studios in Greenville, the station operates news bureaus inJacksonville(on Valencia Drive) and in New Bern (on Middle Street).
Notable former on-air staff
edit- John Beard– news anchor (1972-1976; most recently atWGRZinBuffalo, New York,leaving that station January 18, 2018.
- David Crabtree– anchor/reporter (1985–1988; now atWRAL-TVinRaleigh, North Carolina)
- Susan Roesgen– now atWGNOinNew Orleans
Technical information
editSubchannels
editThe station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WITN-DT | NBC |
| 7.2 | 480i | WITN-MY | MyNetworkTV | |
| 7.3 | WITN-ME | MeTV | ||
| 7.4 | STARTTV | Start TV | ||
| 7.5 | HEROES | Heroes & Icons | ||
| 7.6 | THE365 | The365 | ||
| 7.7 | OXYGEN | Oxygen |
References
edit- ^"Facility Technical Data for WITN-TV".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
- ^Langley, David."WITN Goes On The Air and My WITN Experience"(PDF).w4ydy.RetrievedJune 25,2018.
- ^"WITN History: A Look At How We Began In 1955".Witn.com. Archived fromthe originalon July 2, 2015.RetrievedJuly 27,2015.
- ^"Gray Completes Acquisition of Raycom Media and Related Transactions",Gray Television,January 2, 2019, Retrieved January 2, 2019.
- ^"DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on August 29, 2013.RetrievedJune 30,2024.
- ^ab"UPDATED List of Participants in the Analog Nightlight Program"(PDF).Federal Communications Commission. June 12, 2009.RetrievedJune 30,2024.
- ^http://www.wnct.com/story/26083523/east-carolina-athletics-wnct-tv-announce-television-partnershipECU Media Relations, WNCT.com, July 22, 2014
- ^"WITN's Weather Channel Evolving To My TV - Eastern Carolina".Witn.com. March 15, 2011. Archived fromthe originalon April 19, 2011.RetrievedJuly 27,2015.
- ^Mossman, Chris (May 10, 2011)."The Honeymooners, Twilight Zone, Rawhide, Bonanza and Cannon On WITN 7.2, Live Doppler 7 On WITN 7.3".Witn.com. Archived fromthe originalon March 3, 2016.RetrievedJuly 27,2015.
- ^Malone, Michael (September 24, 2012)."Market Eye: Good Night, Irene | Broadcasting & Cable".Broadcastingcable.com.RetrievedJuly 27,2015.
- ^"Reports - Gray Television".
- ^3
- ^"WITN Starts HD Broadcasts From New Greenville Studio".Witn.com. June 5, 2013.RetrievedJuly 27,2015.
- ^RabbitEars TV Query for WITN