WCNC-TV

{{main|WCCB}}

The first station to operate on UHF channel 36 in Charlotte signed on the air January 5, 1954, as WAYS-TV;{{Cite news |date=January 6, 1954 |title=New Charlotte TV Station Goes On Air |page=13-A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45233760/ |access-date=February 19, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012230/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45233760/new-charlotte-tv-station-goes-on-air/ |url-status=live }} that station was sold and changed its call letters to WQMC-TV on January 24, 1955.{{Cite news |date=January 25, 1955 |title=WAYS-TV Changes Its Name To WQMC |page=1-B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65832342/ |access-date=December 22, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012241/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65832342/ways-tv-changes-its-name-to-wqmc/ |url-status=live }} Charlotte's second television station, WAYS-TV/WQMC-TV did not make any headway against WBTV (channel 3) because television set manufacturers were not required to include UHF tuning capability at the time; this would not change until Congress passed the All-Channel Receiver Act in 1961. It ceased operations in March 1955.{{Cite news |date=March 16, 1955 |title=WQMC Goes Off Air Temporarily |page=1-B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65832796/ |access-date=December 22, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012242/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65832796/wqmc-tv-goes-off-air-temporarily/ |url-status=live }} A plan to return it to the air as WUTV under reconstituted ownership in 1957 was unsuccessful, but it aired educational programming from 1961{{Cite news | last=Connah | first=Douglas Jr. |date=March 2, 1962 |title=Local Firm To Seek 3rd TV Station Here |page=1-C |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65835109/ |access-date=December 22, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012313/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65835109/local-firm-to-seek-3rd-tv-station-here/ |url-status=live }} to 1963.{{Cite news |last=Batten |first=James K. |date=May 9, 1963 |title=Schools To Build TV Unit |page=1-B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65836639/ |access-date=December 22, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012248/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65836639/schools-to-build-tv-unit/ |url-status=live }} Cy Bahakel bought the station in 1964 and returned it to the air as WCCB, which broadcast on channel 36 before moving to UHF channel 18 in November 1966.{{Cite news |date=November 1, 1966 |title=WCCB Changes Channels Tonight |page=2A |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65837633/ |access-date=December 22, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012239/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65837633/wccb-changes-channels-tonight/ |url-status=live }}

The current incarnation of channel 36 signed on the air on July 9, 1967, as WCTU-TV.{{Cite news |date=July 1, 1967 |title=New Station Going On Air July 9 |page=12C |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45711915/new-station-going-on-air-july-9/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012235/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45711915/new-station-going-on-air-july-9/ |url-status=live }} Dr. Harold W. Twisdale, a dentist from Charlotte, and Washington, D.C.–based engineer David L. Steel were the leaders of the original ownership group, operating as Charlotte Telecasters Inc. (The station had intended to take the call letters WCTI, but citing potential confusion, local educational station WTVI successfully objected;{{r|life}} the U stood for UHF.{{Cite news |date=May 17, 1966 |title=Channel 36 Will Seek WCTU As Call Letters |page=14A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65679316/ |access-date=December 20, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182033/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65679316/channel-36-will-seek-wctu-as-call/ |url-status=live }}) WCTU was North Carolina's first independent station, beating Hickory-based WHKY-TV (channel 14) to the air by eight months.

Twisdale and Steel were the lead investors in other planned UHF stations; though construction permits were never built for stations in Memphis and Richmond and the group lost out on channel 28 in Durham, WCTU-TV and WATU-TV (later WAGT) in Augusta, Georgia, made it to air. WATU-TV was a profitable operation; in comparison, debts incurred in starting WCTU-TV would prompt Twisdale to shelve his Memphis and Richmond plans.{{Cite news |last=Jackson |first=Dot |date=August 20, 1969 |title=WTCU [sic] Owner Fights Debts To Stay On Air |page=6C |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66106729/ |access-date=December 26, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329010138/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66106729/court-hearing-wtcu-sic-owner-fights/ |archive-date=March 29, 2021}}

WCTU was initially a low-budget independent station operating about eight hours a day from 3 to 11 p.m. It ran a lineup of some very old movies, westerns, some comedy shows from the early 1950s, and public affairs shows.{{Cite news |date=June 28, 1967 |title=WCTU-TV Goes On Air July 9 at 3 |page=4A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45711809/wctu-tv-goes-on-air-july-9-at-3/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012434/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45711809/wctu-tv-goes-on-air-july-9-at-3/ |url-status=live }} The station, which operated from studios on Hood Road in the Hickory Grove neighborhood of Charlotte, had very modern equipment for the time and broadcast some shows and movies in color, as well as all of its local programming in color.{{Cite news |date=September 11, 1967 |title=WCTU-TV In Ultra Color |page=2C |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45711956/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012407/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45711956/wctu-tv-in-ultra-color/ |url-status=live }}

The station hit hard times financially in 1969. In July, equipment supplier Ampex filed two lawsuits seeking $1.3 million from WCTU-TV for failing to pay for products it had purchased from them.{{Cite news |last=Monts |first=Vivian |date=July 3, 1969 |title=WCTU TV Faces Suits |page=5A |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45711980/wctu-tv-faces-suits/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012415/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45711980/wctu-tv-faces-suits/ |url-status=live }} Film distributor National Telefilm Associates had also sued channel 36 for $80,000 for breaching a film rental contract.{{Cite news |last=Flanders |first=Joe |date=August 18, 1969 |title=Financial Woes: Court Gives WCTU 30 Days |page=1B |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45711906/court-gives-wctu-30-days/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012441/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45711906/court-gives-wctu-30-days/ |url-status=live }} That September, a court placed WCTU into receivership,{{Cite news |last=Flanders |first=Joe |date=September 16, 1969 |title=WCTU-TV Declared Insolvent |page=2A |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45711824/wctu-tv-declared-insolvent/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012427/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45711824/wctu-tv-declared-insolvent/ |url-status=live }} though it continued to broadcast.{{Cite news |last=Jackson |first=Dot |title=Channel 36 In Receivership |page=14A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65678434/ |access-date=December 20, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012418/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65678434/channel-36-in-receivership/ |url-status=live }} Stating that "we feel there have been combined forces which hinder our operation", Twisdale foreshadowed a years-long antitrust case against the Jefferson-Pilot Corporation, owner of WBTV, which was not fully dismissed until 1977.{{Cite news |date=October 19, 1977 |title=Judge Throws Out Suit By Defunct TV Station |page=3D |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65679467/ |access-date=December 20, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182055/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65679467/judge-throws-out-suit-by-defunct-tv/ |url-status=live }}

File:Ted Turner smoking a cigar.jpg

Channel 36 found a buyer in February 1970: Atlanta broadcasting mogul Ted Turner, who purchased WCTU through Turner Broadcasting of North Carolina for $1.25 million. Turner had scouted out buying equipment from the bankrupt station but decided instead to buy the whole operation.{{r|cinderella}} At the time, he owned just one other television property, WJRJ-TV in his hometown Atlanta, as well as three radio stations in other southeastern cities.{{Cite news |last=Doar |first=Harriet |date=February 12, 1970 |title=WCTU: Atlanta Firm Buys Charlotte TV Station |page=23A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45711885/atlanta-firm-buys-charlotte-tv-station/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012544/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45711885/atlanta-firm-buys-charlotte-tv-station/ |url-status=live }} Turner renamed the station WRET-TV—using the initials of his full name, Robert Edward Turner III—in July{{Cite news |date=July 13, 1970 |title=WRET On Channel 36 Now |page=3B |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65519882/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012530/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65519882/wret-on-channel-36-now/ |url-status=live }} and instituted a new and expanded program lineup in August.{{Cite news |date=August 16, 1970 |title=Channel 36 Begins New Slate Monday |page=6G |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45712230/channel-36-begins-new-slate-monday/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012548/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45712230/channel-36-begins-new-slate-monday/ |url-status=live }} Just two programs, wrestling and the music video program The Now Explosion, were retained.{{r|slate}}

Turner's new Charlotte station was not an immediate success. Programming costs were high relative to ratings. The station had just one on-air personality: announcer Bob Chesson, who as "Dead Ernest" hosted the station's block of horror films.{{Cite news |last=Eichel |first=Henry |date=February 13, 1972 |title=Will Channel 36 Survive? |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520114/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182034/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520114/will-channel-36-survive/ |url-status=live }} One Saturday morning in February 1972, Turner appeared on the station to appeal for contributions from viewers, saying that channel 36 had not broken even since he had purchased it.{{Cite news |date=February 6, 1972 |title=WRET Asks Viewers' Loans To Stay On Air |page=3B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65519992/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012727/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65519992/wret-asks-viewers-loans-to-stay-on-air/ |url-status=live }} The station drew $53,000 in donations, enough to help pay its bills, and also received interest from several new advertisers.{{Cite news |title=Nets $53,000: WRET-TV Prospects 'Good' After Appeal |page=1C |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520208/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012727/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520208/nets-53000-wret-tv-prospects-good/ |url-status=live }} WRET-TV became a typical UHF independent, airing a lineup of cartoons, sitcoms, older movies, and a heavy slate of sporting events.{{Cite news |last=Hanna |first=Charlie |date=April 19, 1974 |title=Channel 36 Adding WFL To Sports-Crowded Lineup |page=7B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520448/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012727/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520448/channel-36-adding-wfl-to-sports-crowded/ |url-status=live }} It was among the early carriers of The 700 Club, produced by the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN);{{Cite news |last=Barnard |first=Warren |date=June 17, 1972 |title=Churches Question The Union Of 9 Christian Denominations |page=4A |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520317/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012736/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520317/churches-question-the-union-of-9/ |url-status=live }} CBN founder Pat Robertson, who like Turner had gone to Brown University, read about the appeal for donations in The Wall Street Journal and placed his programs on the station.{{r|Char730516}} At one point, the Charlotte area accounted for 15 percent of CBN's pledge contributions.{{r|cinderella}} CBN programming was dropped by WRET in 1973 and replaced with programs of the Trinity Broadcasting Network,{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-thanks-to-begatho/143905716/|date=May 16, 1973|page=16A|first=Charlie|last=Hanna|title=Thanks To Begathon, Religious Tone, WRET Dialing Off Red|newspaper=The Charlotte Observer|location=Charlotte, North Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 22, 2024}} headed locally by Jim Bakker; the shows included The PTL Club.{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-religion-dominate/143905990/|date=March 23, 1975|pages=2F, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-religious-themes/143906086/ 4F]|title=Religion Dominates On Sunday Mornings: Radio And TV Provide Christian Programs|newspaper=The Charlotte Observer|location=Charlotte, North Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 22, 2024}} Bakker split from TBN in 1974 and moved his staff to Charlotte.{{Cite news|url=https://newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-news-pioneer-bakkers-mak/143906243/|date=May 13, 1975|pages=2B, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-news-the-ptl-cluba-tv-t/143906198/ 3B]|first=Bob|last=Wisehart|title=Pioneer: Bakkers' Make Christian TV A Booming Business|newspaper=The Charlotte News|location=Charlotte, North Carolina|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 22, 2024}}

By 1975, buoyed by a stronger film library, WRET-TV had emerged as the country's fifth-best independent station of 65 nationwide in audience share, per an analysis by Television/Radio Age, and was making a profit.{{Cite news |last=Hanna |first=Charlie |date=February 9, 1975 |title=Charlotte's Cinderella Station Is Fifth-Ranking Independent |page=TV Week 1 |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520560/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012818/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520560/charlottes-cinderella-station-is/ |url-status=live }} After five years of being independently operated from the rest of his Turner Communications Group, that company absorbed WRET-TV and its parent company later that year.{{Cite news |date=July 28, 1975 |title=Atlanta Corporation Absorbs WRET-TV |page=2B |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520701/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012819/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520701/atlanta-corporation-absorbs-wret-tv/ |url-status=live }} Late that year, Turner was making plans to uplink one of its two stations nationwide for distribution to cable providers. While Turner preferred to uplink his Atlanta flagship, by then renamed, WRET-TV was a backup in the event that the Federal Communications Commission did not relax rules that prevented the existence of superstations in top-25 television markets.{{Cite news |date=December 6, 1975 |title=WRET May Go Nationwide |page=2B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520821/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012819/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520821/wret-may-go-nationwide/ |url-status=live }} Channel 36 ended the year by announcing plans to repay the viewers whose contributions had saved it four years prior,{{Cite news |last=Barnard |first=Warren |date=December 29, 1975 |title=Channel 36 To Repay Viewers' Donations Soon |pages=1B, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520979/ 10B] |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520936/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012821/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520936/channel-36-to-repay-viewers-donations/ |url-status=live }} doing so in February 1976.{{Cite news |last=Alridge |first=Ron |date=February 5, 1976 |title=WRET Plans To Pay Back Viewer Loans |page=1A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521009/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012820/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521009/wret-plans-to-pay-back-viewer-loans/ |url-status=live }} Each of the 3,600 contributors, who had sent in from 25 cents to $200, received checks returning their money—with interest—from Turner.{{Cite news |last=Wister |first=Emery |date=February 6, 1976 |title=Even 25-Cent Lenders Happy To Get It Back |page=1B |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521039/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182039/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521039/wret-repaying-3600-viewers/ |url-status=live }}

In 1976 and 1977, channel 36 became an even more aggressive buyer of programming, grabbing local rights to Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman from WSOC-TV and stepping in to run CBS coverage of NBA basketball when WBTV passed on the package; it also aired other network shows that Charlotte's affiliates preempted. It was airing on 148 cable systems in the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Virginia.{{Cite news |last=Alridge |first=Ron |date=June 12, 1977 |title=WRET Is Big Story |page=TV Week 5 |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521240/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182045/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521240/wret-is-big-story/ |url-status=live }} However, WRET-TV remained a laggard in news and public affairs programming. Its 15-minute sign-off newscast—the only such program on the station as an independent—was read by Bill Tush from Turner's headquarters in Atlanta and fed to Charlotte by telephone.{{Cite news |last=Alridge |first=Ron |date=July 2, 1977 |title=Now, The WRET News From Atlanta |page=16A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65522213/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182036/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65522213/now-the-wret-news-from-atlanta/ |url-status=live }}

In 1977, ABC announced that it had lured longtime NBC affiliate WSOC-TV to be its new outlet in the Charlotte market beginning July 1, 1978, replacing WCCB-TV. That decision set off a two-station showdown between WCCB and WRET for the NBC affiliation in Charlotte.{{Cite news |last=Alridge |first=Ron |date=September 29, 1977 |title=WRET-TV Or WCCB-TV – Just Where Will NBC Go? |page=9B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521414/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182037/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521414/wret-tv-or-wccb-tv-just-where-will/ |url-status=live }} WCCB was seen as the favorite; unlike WRET, it had a functioning news department.{{Cite news |last=Alridge |first=Ron |date=January 26, 1978 |title=Soap Opera Star And Pickles Pitch in For Charity Drives |page=19A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521574/soap-opera-star-and-pickles-pitch-in/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182036/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521574/soap-opera-star-and-pickles-pitch-in/ |url-status=live }} 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.{{Cite news |last=Wisehart |first=Bob |date=March 15, 1978 |title=WTVI way short of goal |page=15A |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521626/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182041/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521626/wtvi-way-short-of-goal/ |url-status=live }}

Turner, however, promised NBC that he would spend $2.5 million on station improvements if the network moved its programming to WRET. Of that total, $1 million would go towards starting a full scale news department within one year; the proposed expansion would employ 22 people, compared to 26 at WSOC and 12 at WCCB.{{Cite news |last=Alridge |first=Ron |date=April 25, 1978 |title=WRET Goes All Out To Woo NBC |page=15A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521683/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182103/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521683/wret-goes-all-out-to-woo-nbc/ |url-status=live }} On April 29, news broke that channel 36 had been selected for the NBC affiliation, with the network preferring it over WCCB based on Turner's turnaround record with the station and his ownership of the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks.{{Cite news |last=Wister |first=Emery |date=April 29, 1978 |title=WRET-TV joining with NBC |pages=1A, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521850/ 2A] |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521774/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182038/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521774/wret-tv-joining-with-nbc/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Wister |first=Emery |date=April 29, 1978 |title=Station's lived Cinderella life |pages=1A, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521883/ 2A] |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521917/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182040/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521917/stations-lived-cinderella-life/ |url-status=live }} With the decision, WCCB became an independent station.{{Cite news |last=Alridge |first=Ron |date=April 29, 1978 |title=WRET-TV Will Tune in to NBC Network |page=1A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65522016/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182108/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65522016/wret-tv-will-tune-in-to-nbc-network/ |url-status=live }}

Two months after assuming the NBC affiliation, WRET launched its first newscasts in September, under the banner of "Action News"; Robert D. Raiford was the station's first news anchor.{{Cite news |last=Alridge |first=Ron |date=September 4, 1978 |title=WRET's 'Action News 36' Premieres Tonight at 7 |page=7B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65522396/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313013050/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65522396/wrets-action-news-36-premieres/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Wisehart |first=Bob |date=September 11, 1978 |title=WRET news: good, but... |page=11A |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65522144/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313013051/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65522144/wret-news-good-but/ |url-status=live }} The main news was presented at 7 p.m., but the different time slot failed to attract viewers. Where WBTV had a 52 share and WSOC a 23 for their 6 p.m. newscasts, WRET could only pull a 5.{{Cite news |last=Wisehart |first=Bob |date=January 3, 1979 |title=Year's biggest local TV news: the affiliation switch |page=13A |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65522271/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182040/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65522271/years-biggest-local-tv-news-the/ |url-status=live }} Bob Wisehart of the Charlotte News described WRET's news operation as "spend[ing] a great deal of effort going no place at all".{{r|biggest}} The same could have been said of the station, which was said to be barely breaking even after the switch.{{r|sells}}

Turner's ambitious and mostly successful ownership of the station would not last much longer after obtaining the NBC affiliation. By 1979, Turner was in the process of starting CNN, and he announced he would sell channel 36 to help raise the capital needed for the new venture.{{Cite news |last=Zoglin |first=Richard |date=May 12, 1979 |title=Ted Turner Turns 'Guilt' Into New TV Offensive |pages=1-A, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65522500/ 9-A] |work=Atlanta Journal and Constitution |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65522542/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182040/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65522542/ted-turner-turns-guilt-into-new-tv/ |url-status=live }} On May 16, 1979, the sale of WRET-TV to Westinghouse Broadcasting (also known as Group W) was announced for $20 million, setting a then-record for a single UHF television station.{{Cite news |date=May 21, 1979 |title=Westinghouse pays record $20 million for U|id={{ProQuest|1014686488}} |pages=34–35 |work=Broadcasting |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1979/BC-1979-05-21.pdf |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=World Radio History |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308045904/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1979/BC-1979-05-21.pdf |archive-date=March 8, 2021}} The news of a purchase by Group W, owner of regarded television and radio stations in other cities, was initially met with glee by the WRET-TV staff. Two station employees who had been looking for new jobs elsewhere decided to stay when the sale was announced.{{Cite news |last=Wisehart |first=Bob |date=May 16, 1979 |title=Turner sells WRET |page=1B |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65522686/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182051/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65522686/turner-sells-wret/ |url-status=live }} In 1984, Reese Schonfeld, who co-founded CNN with Turner, would note that by providing the collateral against which Turner obtained money for CNN in the WRET-TV purchase, Westinghouse financed the start of CNN and then of its own short-lived Satellite News Channel two years later.{{Cite news |date=September 1984 |title=A Sharper Irony |page=4 |work=Channels |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Channels-of-Communication/Channels-1984-09-10a.pdf |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182039/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Channels-of-Communication/Channels-1984-09-10a.pdf |url-status=live }}

Final approval of the sale was secured at the end of April 1980, when Westinghouse agreed to furnish $400,000 in grants and affirmative action programs in exchange for the withdrawal of a license renewal challenge by local civil rights groups; the Federal Communications Commission did find in their favor when it said the station did not employ enough minorities, renewing WRET-TV's license for a half-term of 18 months.{{Cite news |last=Gallman |first=Vanessa |date=May 1, 1980 |title=Rights Deal Will Permit WRET Sale |page=1D |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45712317/rights-deal-will-permit-wret-sale/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329010330/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45712317/rights-deal-will-permit-wret-sale/ |archive-date=March 29, 2021 |url-status=dead }} Some of the funds went to improve the journalism school at the historically Black Johnson C. Smith University.{{Cite news |last=Gist |first=Rosalyn |date=August 21, 1980 |title=Black groups to split 1st gift from WRET |page=1B |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45712299/black-groups-to-split-1st-gift-from-wret/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182202/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45712299/black-groups-to-split-1st-gift-from-wret/ |url-status=live }}

Westinghouse changed the station's call letters to WPCQ-TV, representing "People of the Carolinas and Queen City", on September 29; the station rebranded as "Q36" to go with the callsign change. The move came alongside a major programming reshuffle and an increase in effective radiated power from 1.3 to 2.5 million watts.{{Cite web|title=History Cards for WCNC-TV|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/b74ebc23-13d9-1b29-957c-d362ca82f040}} The newscasts were moved from 6 and 11 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m., and several new magazine shows were added,{{Cite news |last=Wolf |first=Mark |date=October 13, 1980 |title=Channel 36 Unveils New Name, New Look Under New Owners |page=17A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45712261/channel-36-unveils-new-name-new-look/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182202/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45712261/channel-36-unveils-new-name-new-look/ |url-status=live }} as was a Friday night public service-concept game show called Quibble, which was soon demoted to Saturdays.{{cite news|title=WPCQ-TV Demotes Its Pubservice 'Quibble'|page=76|work=Variety|date=May 20, 1981|id={{ProQuest|1438317670}} }} The early newscast was then moved back to 6 p.m., but WCCB, airing reruns of Good Times, drew 13 percent of the audience in May 1982 compared to the 2 percent that watched the WPCQ-TV newscast; the station was, again, losing money.{{Cite news |last=Mildenberg |first=David |date=July 7, 1982 |title=WPCQ clawing for foothold over local rivals |page=8A, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45712960/ 9A] |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45712974/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182217/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45712974/wpcq-clawing-for-foothold-over-local/ |url-status=live }} Westinghouse's inability to make channel 36 more competitive surprised even local rivals, who had expected the company to do more with the station.{{r|foothold}}

{{Quote box

| quote = We spent a million dollars a year, 80 percent of it on the news, promoting the station since we took it over in 1980. But we never got over a 1 or 2 percent rating.

| author = Laurence Freiberg

| source = president of the television station division of Group W, on the 1982 downsizing of WPCQ-TV's local news operation{{r|drops}}

| align = left

| width = 250px

| quoted = yes

| salign = left

}}

In August 1982, the station made another programming change, this time attracting considerable national attention: it dropped its low-rated early evening newscast.{{Cite news |last=Chapin |first=Catherine |date=August 19, 1982 |title=WPCQ TV Dropping News Shows |pages=1A, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713137/charlotte-nbc-affiliate-wpcq-dropping/ 10A] |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713122/wpcq-tv-dropping-news-shows/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182203/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713122/wpcq-tv-dropping-news-shows/ |url-status=live }} When it axed that program, it also decided to cease carrying the NBC Nightly News. This prompted NBC officials to shop the Nightly News to Charlotte's other stations, including WBTV.{{Cite news |date=September 22, 1982 |title=Carolina NBC-TV Outlet Drops the Evening News |page=C24 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/22/arts/carolina-nbc-tv-outlet-drops-the-evening-news.html |access-date=December 18, 2020 |archive-date=December 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201133203/http://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/22/arts/carolina-nbc-tv-outlet-drops-the-evening-news.html |url-status=live }} The station continued with its noon newscast, as well as short news capsules throughout the day and occasional news specials.{{Cite news |date=September 6, 1982 |title=Charlotte U to drop NBC News |id={{ProQuest|962727089}} |page=41 |work=Broadcasting |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1982/BC-1982-09-06.pdf |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308033253/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1982/BC-1982-09-06.pdf |url-status=live }} Station officials blamed WPCQ-TV's signal, which—despite the power increase—was not strong enough to reach outer areas of the market that got better signals from WXII-TV in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and WIS-TV in Columbia, South Carolina.{{r|drops}} John J. Spinola, the general manager of the station, admitted that he was "pretty well encircled by NBC affiliates".{{cite news|first=Charlie|last=Hanna|title=Programming Gamble Pays Off For Westinghouse's WPCQ-TV|page=46|date=July 6, 1983|id={{ProQuest|1438386014}} |work=Variety }}

{{Quote box

| quote = If this is Westinghouse's idea of how to run a television station, you wish they'd have stayed in the refrigerator business.

| author = Mark Wolf

| source = TV/radio columnist, The Charlotte Observer{{Cite news |last=Wolf |first=Mark |date=September 20, 1982 |title=WPCQ Subs Profitable Reruns For Local and 'NBC Nightly News' |page=15A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65547161/wpcq-subs-profitable-reruns-for-local/ |access-date=December 26, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182203/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65547161/wpcq-subs-profitable-reruns-for-local/ |url-status=live }}

| align = right

| width = 250px

| quoted = yes

| salign = left

}}

"Q36" became known for frequent preemptions of NBC network fare, including the soap opera Texas,{{Cite news |last=Wolf |first=Mark |date=April 19, 1982 |title=The Readers Write: Put 'Texas' On |page=13A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65547790/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182205/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65547790/the-readers-write-put-texas-on/ |url-status=live }} coverage of the 1984 Democratic National Convention,{{Cite news |last=Wolf |first=Mark |date=July 30, 1984 |title=Reader: WPCQ Often Deprives Charlotte Readers Of Programs |page=9A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713213/reader-wpcq-often-deprives-charlotte/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182205/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713213/reader-wpcq-often-deprives-charlotte/ |url-status=live }} and network sporting events.{{Cite news |last=Wolf |first=Mark |date=April 24, 1982 |title=Local TV Stations Not Good Sports |page=12A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65547336/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182206/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65547336/local-tv-stations-not-good-sports/ |url-status=live }} It also delayed the David Brinkley-hosted NBC Magazine to midnight to air its own Action News Magazine.{{r|texas|gamblehanna}} Even Westinghouse's own productions were not guaranteed an audience on the station; after two years of WPCQ-TV airing Hour Magazine, it moved to WBTV in 1982.{{Cite news |date=September 6, 1982 |title=Today On Television |page=15A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65548070/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182206/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65548070/hour-magazine-to-wbtv/ |url-status=live }}

Seeing little positive progress with WPCQ-TV, Westinghouse soon chose to use the station's low expectations to their advantage elsewhere in the company. Westinghouse had long extensively promoted from within and thus used WPCQ as the equivalent of a "farm team" for its larger stations. Its more promising on-air personalities merely treated WPCQ as a stepping stone towards promotion to Group W's well-regarded heritage radio and television stations outside Charlotte,{{r|foothold}} such as when sports director Lou Tilley moved to Boston to become the weekend sports anchor at WBZ-TV.{{Cite news |last=Snow |first=Steve |date=May 20, 1982 |title=WPCQ's Lou Tilley moving to Boston TV station |page=1B |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45712931/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313013132/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45712931/wpcqs-lou-tilley-moving-to-boston-tv/ |url-status=live }} Amanda Davis, who had anchored the news three years for WPCQ-TV, became a correspondent for Group W's Satellite News Channel after turning down an offer to report for its Baltimore station, WJZ-TV.{{Cite news |last=Wolf |first=Mark |date=October 11, 1982 |title='WBTV On The Job' Campaign To Pair Jobs With Job-Hunters |page=9A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65547700/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313013155/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65547700/wbtv-on-the-job-campaign-to-pair-jobs/ |url-status=live }} When a union strike at the company's New York City all-news station, WINS, left it without announcers, Westinghouse sent WPCQ anchor Raiford there as part of a team of 20 employees from other Group W stations to keep it running.{{Cite news |last=Wolf |first=Mark |date=March 19, 1982 |title=WPCQ News Anchor Replaces Striking New York Announcers |page=11B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45712916/wpcq-news-anchor-replaces-striking-new/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182207/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45712916/wpcq-news-anchor-replaces-striking-new/ |url-status=live }}

Odyssey Partners, a New York investment partnership headed by Michael Finkelstein, acquired WPCQ-TV in 1984 after four years of Westinghouse ownership.{{Cite news |last=Wolf |first=Mark |date=March 31, 1984 |title=N.Y. Investment Partnership Buying WPCQ-TV |page=2C |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713180/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313013132/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713180/ny-investment-partnership-buying/ |url-status=live }} For Westinghouse, the move was about focusing on major markets and shedding a station that was estimated to have lost $5 million in four years;{{r|investment}} Charlie Hanna, writing in Variety the year before, noted that Westinghouse had seemed to lose its "gung-hoism" for the station.{{r|gamblehanna}} Mark Wolf, television and radio columnist for The Charlotte Observer, would note that elements that Group W had used successfully elsewhere had failed to make a dent against two formidable and entrenched competitors in Charlotte, and that the company seemed to lack other ideas when its typical plans did not work.{{Cite news |last=Wolf |first=Mark |date=April 4, 1984 |title=What Worked With Other Stations Didn't Work For Group W's WPCQ |page=5E |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713203/what-worked-with-other-stations-didnt/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313013136/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713203/what-worked-with-other-stations-didnt/ |url-status=live }}

When the sale closed in February 1985, Odyssey immediately announced the restoration of the NBC Nightly News to the station's schedule.{{Cite news |last1=Mildenberg |first1=David |last2=Van Hecke |first2=M.S. |date=February 13, 1985 |title=Network news returning to WPCQ |pages=1A, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713250/ 3A] |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713241/network-news-returning-to-wpcq/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313013140/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713241/network-news-returning-to-wpcq/ |url-status=live }} Later that year, talk began of the potential return of local newscasts when station general manager Stan Rudick said that channel 36 was conducting market research on the idea.{{Cite news |last=Borden |first=Jeff |date=September 23, 1985 |title=WPCQ May Carry Local News; Manager Says It's Up To Viewers |page=11A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713273/wpcq-may-carry-local-news-manager-says/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182237/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713273/wpcq-may-carry-local-news-manager-says/ |url-status=live }} The station had reason to get back in the news game, as Charlotte was being cited as a potential market for NBC to move its affiliation.{{Cite news|date=August 5, 1985|work=Electronic Media|first=Susan|last=Mermigas|title=Affiliate raids: NBC targets markets for station swaps|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_televisionweek_1985-08-05_4_32|via=Internet Archive|pages=1, 32|access-date=January 6, 2022}} In February 1986, the station announced it would return to producing evening newscasts.{{Cite news |last=Borden |first=Jeff |date=February 28, 1986 |title=WPCQ To Resume Local News Shows |pages=1B, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713318/ 2B] |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713321/wpcq-to-resume-local-news-shows/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182207/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713321/wpcq-to-resume-local-news-shows/ |url-status=live }}

Following a $2 million investment, 5:30 and 11 p.m. news programs began airing September 8, 1986, anchored by former Atlanta newsman John McKnight and Karen Adams.{{Cite news |last=Borden |first=Jeff |date=September 7, 1986 |title=WPCQ's News Gamble |page=TV Week 3 |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713339/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182220/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713339/wpcqs-news-gamble/ |url-status=live }} Ratings were low but exceeded the levels of Action News in the Group W era.{{Cite news |last=Haight |first=Kathy |date=December 16, 1986 |title=WBTV's Evening News On Top Once More |page=7B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65550371/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182210/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65550371/wbtvs-evening-news-on-top-once-more/ |url-status=live }} The original "36 News" early evening newscast expanded to an hour and became "News 36" in May 1988 in what amounted to a soft reboot of the operation.{{Cite news |last=Borden |first=Jeff |date=April 2, 1988 |title=Changes in the Air At '36 News' |page=17A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43448793/changes-in-the-air-at-36-news/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182211/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43448793/changes-in-the-air-at-36-news/ |url-status=live }} The revamp brought a string of new faces, notably including weekend sports anchor Hannah Storm.{{r|changes}}

Odyssey also implemented a technical overhaul for WPCQ-TV. In 1987, the station bought land north of Dallas to build a new tower near those owned by WBTV and newly built WJZY{{Cite news |last=Borden |first=Jeff |date=April 18, 1987 |title=FCC Indecency Rating Expected To Have Little Effect On Charlotte |page=2C |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65550656/fcc-indecency-rating-expected-to-have/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182211/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65550656/fcc-indecency-rating-expected-to-have/ |url-status=live }} and filed to increase power to the maximum 5 million watts.{{Cite news |last=Borden |first=Jeff |date=June 2, 1987 |title=WTVI Markets 'Homestretch' Program Nationally |page=5B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65550734/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182222/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65550734/wtvi-markets-homestretch-program/ |url-status=live }} After surviving an attempt by NBC to move its affiliation from channel 36,{{Cite news |last=Borden |first=Jeff |date=March 12, 1988 |title=WPCQ Impatient For NBC Decision |page=21A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65550839/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182215/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65550839/wpcq-impatient-for-nbc-decision/ |url-status=live }} in which NBC attempted to court both Charlotte VHF stations{{Cite news |last=Borden |first=Jeff |date=March 30, 1988 |title=WPCQ, NBC Sign 2-Year Contract |page=2B |work=Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/68455144/ |access-date=January 24, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182216/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/68455144/wpcq-nbc-sign-2-year-contract/ |url-status=live }} and the new WJZY,{{Cite news |last=Mermigas |first=Diane |date=February 22, 1988 |title=NBC wins back Florida affiliate |pages=1, 4 |work=Electronic Media |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_televisionweek_1988-02-22_7_8?q=%22NBC+wins+back+Florida+affiliate%22 |access-date=January 24, 2021 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308053531/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Television-Week/80s/Electronic-Media-1988-02-22.pdf |url-status=live }} the new tower and stronger signal were activated in September 1988, giving WPCQ-TV signal parity with other Charlotte stations.{{Cite news |last=Borden |first=Jeff |date=September 21, 1988 |title=Football Fans Make Voices Heard By Telephone Voting |page=9C |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65551014/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182216/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65551014/football-fans-make-voices-heard-by/ |url-status=live }}

The Providence Journal Company (ProJo) purchased WPCQ-TV in 1988 for $30 million, marking its fourth television station purchase.{{Cite news |last=Dykes |first=David |date=July 26, 1988 |title=Rhode Island Firm Buys Channel 36 |page=10A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713538/rhode-island-firm-buys-channel-36/ |url-status=live |access-date=December 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182235/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713538/rhode-island-firm-buys-channel-36/ |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |last=Borden |first=Jeff |date=December 14, 1988 |title=Channel 36 Owners Find Station To Their Liking |page=12A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65553391/ |url-status=live |access-date=December 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182218/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65553391/channel-36-owners-find-station-to-their/ |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}} ProJo immediately set out to build a new identity for the station. After initially pursuing the call letters WPJB-TV, formerly used by the Journal{{'}}s Providence radio stations,{{Cite news |date=October 17, 1988 |title=Call Letters |page=81 |work=Broadcasting |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1988/BC-1988-10-17.pdf |id={{ProQuest|1016928633}} |url-status=live |access-date=December 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308042828/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1988/BC-1988-10-17.pdf |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |via=World Radio History}} the station instead became WCNC-TV (for "Charlotte, North Carolina"{{Cite news |last=Haight |first=Kathy |date=July 21, 1989 |title=$500,000 Pledge From WPCQ-TV Means JazzCharlotte Festival Lives |page=5B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713583/ |url-status=live |access-date=December 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182218/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713583/500000-pledge-from-wpcq-tv-means/ |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}) on September 3, 1989. That same day, the station split its 5:30 p.m. news hour into two half-hour newscasts, and it also moved to cable channel 6 on most area systems.{{Cite news |last=Toppman |first=Lawrence |date=August 22, 1989 |title=WPCQ To Split News Hour in Half |page=3B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713566/wpcq-to-split-news-hour-in-half/ |url-status=live |access-date=December 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182217/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713566/wpcq-to-split-news-hour-in-half/ |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}} The station also built new studios, costing $6.5 million,{{Cite news |last=Funk |first=Tim |date=October 19, 1991 |title=Turning up the volume: WCNC sees glimmers of hope in its long battle for a bigger share of the TV market |pages=7C, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65554614/ 9C] |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65554522/ |url-status=live |access-date=December 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182301/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65554522/turning-up-the-volume/ |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}} on Billy Graham Parkway in the Wood Ridge office complex, where it would be joined by the new headquarters of the NBC News Channel affiliate service,{{Cite news |last=Funk |first=Tim |date=September 26, 1990 |title=NBC Considers 'Headline News' Center For Charlotte |page=8B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65553813/ |url-status=live |access-date=December 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182309/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65553813/nbc-considers-headline-news-center/ |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |last=Funk |first=Tim |date=September 27, 1990 |title=Overnight News Show From N.C.? |newspaper=The Charlotte Observer |page=3C |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65554266/ |url-status=live |access-date=December 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182316/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65554266/overnight-news-show-from-nc/ |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}} which general manager John Hayes had successfully lured to Charlotte.{{Cite news |last=Funk |first=Tim |date=January 3, 1992 |title=WCNC general manager to take charge of media company's 10 TV properties |page=2D |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60831802/ |url-status=live |access-date=December 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182312/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60831802/wcnc-general-manager-to-take-charge-of/ |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}} ProJo also sprung for a new satellite truck, the only one in the market, and overnight ratings for the Charlotte market.{{r|volume}} The early months of NBC Nightside, an NBC News Channel production, came from the new WCNC set.{{r|volume}} Despite all the improvements, WCNC's news remained firmly in third.{{Cite news |last=Funk |first=Tim |date=March 26, 1993 |title=5:30 p.m. newscast boosts WSOC ratings |page=3E |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65555803/ |url-status=live |access-date=December 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182333/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65555803/530-pm-newscast-boosts-wsoc-ratings/ |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}

Beginning in 1996, the station was branded on-air as "NBC 6", in reference to its cable channel location; it quietly shed that moniker to go by its call letters in 2004, seeking to avoid potential confusion in ratings diaries.{{Cite news |last=Spanberg |first=Erik |date=April 22, 2004 |title=Name change a ratings winner for NBC station? |work=Charlotte Business Journal |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2004/04/26/story8.html |url-status=live |access-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040618074442/http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2004/04/26/story8.html |archive-date=June 18, 2004}}

{{Quote box

| quote = Two veteran anchors are gone, news ratings are perennially low and national consultants say the NBC affiliate is among the network's most dubious underachievers.

| author = Erik Spanberg

| source = Charlotte Business Journal, on the state of WCNC-TV at the time of the Belo purchase{{Cite news |last=Spanberg |first=Erik |date=March 31, 1997 |title=News6 has Rosie future |work=Charlotte Business Journal |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/1997/03/31/story1.html |access-date=December 26, 2020 |archive-date=June 15, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040615121214/http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/1997/03/31/story1.html |url-status=live }}

| align = right

| width = 250px

| quoted = yes

| salign = right

}}

In 1996, the Belo Corporation bought the Providence Journal Company.{{Cite news |last=Peterson |first=Iver |date=October 1, 1996 |title=Belo now a serious player in the print-TV merger game |page=7C |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65556624/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313013246/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65556624/belo-now-a-serious-player-in-the/ |url-status=live }} The station suffered from two anchor departures in just over a week in early 1997 as Belo completed the purchase; meanwhile, its newscasts were still in third place.{{Cite news |last=McFadden |first=Kay |date=March 14, 1997 |title=WCNC newscaster Chris Clackum quits |page=4C |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65556742/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313013247/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65556742/wcnc-newscaster-chris-clackum-quits/ |url-status=live }} Under new general manager Richard Keilty, WCNC lured Sonja Gantt, formerly of WBTV, back to the market from a stint in Chicago.{{Cite news |last=McFadden |first=Kay |title=WCNC lures Sonja Gantt back to Chicago as anchor |pages=1C, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65556999/ 7C] |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65556945/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313013320/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65556945/wcnc-lures-sonja-gantt-back-to-chicago/ |url-status=live }} The station also got a new $200,000 news set as Belo sought to raise the station from its perennial cellar.{{Cite news |last=McFadden |first=Kay |date=October 26, 1997 |title=New owner, new hire, new set |pages=1F, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65557050/ 3F] |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65557104/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182313/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65557104/new-owner-new-hire-new-set/ |url-status=live }}

The next year, Ray Boylan, a longtime meteorologist at WSOC-TV, unretired and did on-air reports on WCNC, while the station also hired Terri Bennett, who had been in the running to replace him on channel 9 but was passed over.{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Dean |date=June 28, 1998 |title=Boylan's back on weather beat—at WCNC |pages=1E, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65557371/ 4E] |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65557261/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182315/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65557261/boylans-back-on-weather-beatat-wcnc/ |url-status=live }} Boylan and Bennett were backed up by the station's purchase of a new Doppler radar and other weather equipment.{{r|beat}} However, not all of the talent changes made were positively received; the ouster of Beatrice Thompson, who had been Charlotte's first full-time Black anchor at WBTV in the 1980s, led to protests by some viewers who felt she had been forced out because of her race.{{r|doc}}

Boylan retired in December 2000.{{Cite news |last=Perlmutt |first=David |date=December 30, 2000 |title=For Boylan, forecast is Florida retirement |pages=1B, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65560600/ 5B] |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65561273/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182319/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65561273/for-boylan-forecast-is-florida/ |url-status=live }} The station showed momentum in local news ratings in the early 2000s, particularly in mornings and at 11,{{Cite news |last=Washburn |first=Mark |date=March 6, 2001 |title=WSOC on top of slippery slope |pages=1D, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65561073/ 2D] |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65561345/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182321/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65561345/wsoc-on-top-of-slippery-slope/ |url-status=live }} and between 2000 and 2002, it produced a 10 p.m. newscast for WB affiliate WFVT-TV.{{Cite news |last=Keveney |first=Bill |date=September 8, 2000 |title=WTVI 10 p.m. news will disappear after tonight |page=3C |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65562240/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182322/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65562240/wtvi-10-pm-news-will-disappear-after/ |url-status=live }}

On October 30, 2009, WCNC broke the record for most Halloween costume changes during a local news program, with 11 costumes worn by the station's anchor team (Jeff Campbell, Colleen Odegaard, and Larry Sprinkle, as well as producer Natalie Ridley) were involved in setting the record during its weekday morning newscast that day.{{Cite news |date=November 18, 2009 |title=NewsChannel 36 morning team sets world record |work=WCNC-TV |url=http://www.wcnc.com/on-tv/NewsChannel-36-morning-team-sets-world-record-70378437.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727125708/http://www.wcnc.com/on-tv/NewsChannel-36-morning-team-sets-world-record-70378437.html |archive-date=July 27, 2011}}

File:NBC Charlotte.png

In 2008, after referring to itself simply with its call letters and using the slogan "Carolinas' News Connection", WCNC changed its branding to "NewsChannel 36", citing its over-the-air channel number and the coming arrival of digital television.{{Cite news |date=September 6, 2008 |title=The Readers Write |page=6E |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65570333/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182331/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65570333/the-readers-write/ |url-status=live }} In 2012, the station's branding was changed once again to "NBC Charlotte"; this time, the reasoning for the change was that few people actually watched the station over-the-air or on satellite on virtual channel 36.{{Cite news |last=Washburn |first=Mark |date=October 6, 2012 |title=Struggles remain in the air for WTVI |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/10/05/3579341/struggles-remain.html#storylink=misearch |url-status=dead |access-date=October 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130102075820/http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/10/05/3579341/struggles-remain.html%23storylink=misearch |archive-date=January 2, 2013}}

On June 13, 2013, the Gannett Company announced that it would acquire Belo for $1.5 billion.{{Cite news |date=June 13, 2013 |title=WCNC owner Belo selling to Gannett |work=The Charlotte Observer |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/06/13/4103340/gannett-to-buy-tv-station-owner.html |url-status=dead |access-date=June 13, 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130616051232/http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/06/13/4103340/gannett-to-buy-tv-station-owner.html |archive-date=June 16, 2013}} The sale was finalized on December 23.{{Cite news |date=December 23, 2013 |title=Gannett Completes Its Acquisition of Belo |work=TVNewsCheck |url=http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/72893/gannett-completes-its-acquisition-of-belo |access-date=December 23, 2013 |archive-date=July 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726162142/http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/72893/gannett-completes-its-acquisition-of-belo |url-status=live }} Investments made by Gannett in WCNC after the Belo purchase included the conversion of newscasts to high definition and a new computer system for the newsroom.{{Cite news |last=Greeley |first=Paul |date=July 17, 2014 |title=Behind The Doors Of Local TV Consolidation In Charlotte |work=TVNewsCheck |url=https://marketshare.tvnewscheck.com/2014/07/17/behind-the-doors-of-local-tv-consolidation-in-charlotte/ |access-date=December 22, 2020 |archive-date=April 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427153051/https://marketshare.tvnewscheck.com/2014/07/17/behind-the-doors-of-local-tv-consolidation-in-charlotte/ |url-status=live }}

On June 29, 2015, Gannett split in two, with one side specializing in print media and the other side specializing in broadcast and digital media. WCNC, by that time rebranded back to its call letters, was retained by the latter company, named Tegna.{{Cite web |title=Separation of Gannett into two public companies completed {{!}} TEGNA |url=http://www.tegna.com/separation-of-gannett-into-two-public-companies-completed/ |access-date=June 29, 2015 |publisher=Tegna |archive-date=July 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702005302/http://www.tegna.com/separation-of-gannett-into-two-public-companies-completed/ |url-status=live }}

File:RNC_Sunday_LukeRussert_(7867814770).jpg during the 2012 Republican National Convention.]]

WCNC-TV presently broadcasts {{frac|40|1|2}} hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with {{frac|6|1|2}} hours each weekday, and four hours each on Saturdays and Sundays); in addition, the station produces the hour-long entertainment and lifestyle program Charlotte Today, which airs weekdays at 11 a.m. and was started in 2010.{{Cite news |last=Bethea |first=April |date=December 14, 2012 |title=Radio's Ramona now on TV |page=1B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66115303/ |access-date=December 26, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182327/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66115303/radios-ramona-now-on-tv/ |url-status=live }}

After a solid, if low-rated, start under Turner's watch,{{r|goodbut}} the news department was severely hamstrung by Group W's bargain-basement approach to running the station. Group W immediately dropped the station's weekend evening newscasts and moved the 11 p.m. newscast to 12:30 a.m. before canceling it altogether in 1981. The early evening newscast was shifted between the 5:30 and 6 p.m. timeslots until the fall of 1982, when it was canceled as well. For the remainder of Group W's ownership, the station's only remaining local news programming consisted of a half-hour newscast at noon, hourly cut-ins, five-minute local inserts during Today, a weekly magazine program, and occasional specials.{{r|udrop}}

After Odyssey Partners bought the station, the noon newscast was discontinued in the spring of 1985. In September 1986, WPCQ relaunched a full-fledged news department.{{r|gamble}} At first, the station scheduled its early-evening newscast for 5:30 p.m., knowing at the time that it could not hope to compete with WBTV and WSOC-TV at 6 p.m. In 1988, WPCQ expanded the 5:30 newscast to one hour and added a 6 p.m. newscast on weekends.{{r|changes}} After becoming WCNC, the station added a distinct 6 p.m. newscast to the weeknight schedule.{{r|split}} Under Belo, the station expanded further into new timeslots in the late 1990s, including a 5 a.m. morning show, unusual at the time.{{Cite news |date=September 14, 1998 |title=Early, Early News in N.C. |page=42 |work=Mediaweek |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Mediaweek/1998/Mwdiaweek-1998-09-14.pdf |access-date=December 26, 2020 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=March 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310034556/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Mediaweek/1998/Mwdiaweek-1998-09-14.pdf |url-status=live }}

In 1999, the station's news department was chronicled in the five-part PBS documentary series Local News.{{Cite news |last=Washburn |first=Mark |date=September 30, 2001 |title=The TV news you don't see: Ratings, ethics and more: Documentary looks at workings of NBC6 |pages=1H, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65561650/ 7H] |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65561509/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313013323/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65561509/the-tv-news-you-dont-see/ |url-status=live }} That same year, WCNC entered into a news share agreement with then-Fox affiliate WCCB to take over production of that station's 10 p.m. newscast, shortly after WSOC-TV ended its agreement to produce the program after WCCB announced it would launch its own news department. After WCCB's in-house news operation launched in 2000, WCNC began airing a 10 p.m. newscast on WB affiliate WWWB (channel 55, now WMYT-TV), which ran until the program was canceled due to low ratings in 2002.{{Cite news |last=Washburn |first=Mark |date=March 28, 2002 |title=WWWB kills its 10 p.m. newscast |pages=1D, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65565517/ 10D] |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65565560/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313013323/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65565560/wwwb-kills-its-10-pm-newscast/ |url-status=live }} The station won a Peabody Award in 2003, the first for a Charlotte television station in 27 years, for an investigation into dental care through Medicaid{{Cite news |last=Washburn |first=Mark |date=May 22, 2004 |title=Media movers |page=5E |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65567684/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313013344/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65567684/carolinas-guy-faces-7-ex-dates/ |url-status=live }} and attracted notice in the market for its award-winning ways.{{Cite news |last=Washburn |first=Mark |date=May 26, 2007 |title=TV exec will leave WCNC post in August |page=1D |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65607268/ |access-date=December 19, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313013325/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65607268/tv-exec-will-leave-wcnc-post-in-august/ |url-status=live }}

File:Alma_Adams_being_interviewed_-_2019.jpg being interviewed by WCNC reporter Nate Morabito.]]

For much of the 2000s, WCNC had waged a spirited battle with WBTV for second place behind WSOC-TV, though it would later return to a distant third place in most timeslots as the performance of the NBC network in the late 2000s and poor daytime syndicated offerings dragged it down.{{Cite news |last=Washburn |first=Mark |date=December 1, 2007 |title=WCNC ratings fall for most news shows |page=1E, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66112388/ 4E] |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66112177/ |access-date=December 26, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182327/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/66112177/wcnc-ratings-fall-for-most-news-shows/ |url-status=live }} This continued in the February 2016 sweeps, when its evening newscasts drew barely half the viewership of WBTV.{{Cite news |last=Washburn |first=Mark |date=March 2, 2016 |title=Historic sweep: WBTV wrestles the news ratings lead from WSOC |publisher=The Charlotte Observer |url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/tv/media-scene-blog/article63645822.html |access-date=December 18, 2020 |archive-date=January 9, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190109055408/https://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/tv/media-scene-blog/article63645822.html |url-status=live }}

In late 2005, WCNC debuted the Charlotte market's first 4:30 p.m. newscast, creating a two-hour local news block from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.{{Cite news |last=Washburn |first=Mark |date=October 29, 2005 |title=WCNC hopes more news, Geraldo snare viewers |pages=1D, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65606398/ 2D] |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65606542/ |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=December 19, 2020 |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182445/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65606542/wcnc-hopes-more-news-geraldo-snare/ |url-status=live }} In 2007, the station phased out its longtime 6News brand and rebranded itself as "WCNC, Carolinas' News Connection". In August 2008, it rebranded once again to NewsChannel 36, marking the first time in 12 years that WCNC had used its over-the-air channel number in its branding. Beginning in September 2008, WCNC aired news at 4 p.m., with Judge Judy at 4:30; in January 2012, the 4 p.m. news expanded to an hour and the noon news shrank from an hour to 30 minutes.{{Cite news |last=Washburn |first=Mark |date=January 27, 2012 |title=Sonja Gantt aims newscast in new direction |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/article9075815.html |access-date=December 22, 2020 |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182447/https://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/article9075815.html |url-status=live }}

On May 18, 2009, WCNC began broadcasting its local newscasts in 16:9 widescreen standard definition; this change came alongside the revamping of the station's on-air news graphics. A conversion to full high definition followed on June 28, 2014.{{r|share}}

• Sarah French – anchor{{Cite news |last=Miller |first=Mark K. |date=February 9, 2017 |title=Anchor Sarah French Joins WCNC Charlotte |language=en |work=TVNewsCheck |url=https://tvnewscheck.com/uncategorized/article/anchor-sarah-french-joins-wcnc-charlotte/ |access-date=March 28, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329005443/https://tvnewscheck.com/uncategorized/article/anchor-sarah-french-joins-wcnc-charlotte/ | archive-date=March 29, 2021}}

• Heather Childers – weekend anchor, 1992–1995{{Cite web |title=Heather Childers bio |url=http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/personalities/heather-childers/bio/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928043749/http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/personalities/heather-childers/bio/ |archive-date=September 28, 2013 |access-date=September 26, 2013 |publisher=Fox News}}
• Amanda Davis – reporter, 1979–1982{{r|davis}}
• Allen Denton – anchor, 1996–2000{{Cite news |last=Keveney |first=Bill |date=July 8, 2000 |title=WCNC-TV anchor Denton leaves for San Jose station |page=4B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65569682/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182425/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65569682/wcnc-tv-anchor-denton-leaves-for-san/ |url-status=live }}
• Doug McKelway – reporter, 1980–1982{{Cite news |last=Wolf |first=Mark |date=January 9, 1982 |title=Coverage Of Race A Marathon Job |page=16A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65569586/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182426/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65569586/coverage-of-race-a-marathon-job/ |url-status=live }}
• Bob Raiford – anchor and talk show host, 1978–1986{{r|action}}
• Hannah Storm – sports anchor, 1988–1989){{r|changes}}
• Beatrice Thompson – general assignment reporter, 1988–1989{{r|doc}}
• Beth Troutman – news anchor, 2015–2017{{Cite news |last=Kuperberg |first=Jonathan |date=October 19, 2015 |title=Bright Horizon Ahead For Charlotte and Its Stations |work=Broadcasting & Cable |url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/bright-horizon-ahead-charlotte-and-its-stations-145060 |access-date=December 18, 2020 |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182425/https://www.nexttv.com/news/bright-horizon-ahead-charlotte-and-its-stations-145060 |url-status=live }}

The station's signal is multiplexed:

{{legend|#DFEBF6|Broadcast on behalf of another station}}

Prior subchannel offerings from WCNC have included NBC Weather Plus{{Cite news |date=January 23, 2009 |title=Stations |work=Broadcasting & Cable |url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/stations-109787 |access-date=December 26, 2020 |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182323/https://www.nexttv.com/news/stations-109787 |url-status=live }} and the Live Well Network.{{Cite news |last=Jessell |first=Harry A. |date=February 22, 2011 |title=ABC's Multicast Play: All's Well With Live Well |work=TVNewsCheck |url=https://tvnewscheck.com/article/49295/abcs-multicast-play-alls-well-with-live-well/ |access-date=December 26, 2020 |archive-date=August 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814072508/https://tvnewscheck.com/article/49295/abcs-multicast-play-alls-well-with-live-well/ |url-status=live }}

WCNC-TV was added to Charlotte's ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) deployment on WAXN-TV on July 7, 2021.{{cite news|url=https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article252645748.html|title=These Charlotte TV stations upgraded broadcasts. Here's what that means for viewers.|last=Egitto|first=Daniel|work=The Charlotte Observer|date=July 8, 2021|access-date=July 8, 2021}} As part of the change, WAXN's 64.4 subchannel of Laff was placed on WCNC-TV's multiplex, keeping it available in ATSC 1.0 format.

WCNC-TV began digital transmission on November 1, 1999,{{Cite book|chapter=WCNC-DT|title=Television & Cable Factbook|date=2006|publisher=Warren Communications News|page=A-1612}} and shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 36, on the official digital transition date of June 12, 2009.{{Cite news |title=Digital TV switch |work=The Charlotte Observer |page=2D |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74606597/ |date=June 12, 2009 |access-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329010028/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74606597/digital-tv-switch/ |archive-date=March 29, 2021}} The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 22, continuing to use virtual channel 36.{{Cite web |title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds |url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |archive-date=August 29, 2013 |access-date=March 24, 2012}}

WCNC-TV moved its digital signal from channel 22 to channel 24 on September 6, 2019, as part of the FCC's spectrum reallocation process.{{Cite news |date=August 5, 2019 |title=We've improved our over-the-air signal! Here's how to rescan your TV to keep watching WCNC Charlotte |publisher=WCNC-TV |url=https://www.wcnc.com/article/about-us/rescan-wcnc-programming/275-7f894fc5-d084-434c-84db-f8c4e3116388 |access-date=October 19, 2020 |archive-date=October 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020142041/https://www.wcnc.com/article/about-us/rescan-wcnc-programming/275-7f894fc5-d084-434c-84db-f8c4e3116388 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |date=August 30, 2019 |title=TV antenna not working? Local channels start changing frequencies soon |work=The Gaston Gazette |url=https://www.gastongazette.com/news/20190830/antenna-tv-watchers-will-need-to-rescan-tvs |access-date=October 19, 2020 |archive-date=October 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020155353/https://www.gastongazette.com/news/20190830/antenna-tv-watchers-will-need-to-rescan-tvs |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=July 31, 2020 |title=Form 399: Incentive Auction Relocation Reimbursement Fund System |url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/form399/public/draftCopy.html?displayType=html&appKey=25076ff37386592b0173a66c0bd0787e&id=25076ff37386592b0173a66c0bd0787e&goBack=N |access-date=October 19, 2020 |website=Licensing and Management System |publisher=Federal Communications Commission |id=File Number: 0000028031 |archive-date=October 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022215028/https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/form399/public/draftCopy.html?displayType=html&appKey=25076ff37386592b0173a66c0bd0787e&id=25076ff37386592b0173a66c0bd0787e&goBack=N |url-status=live }}

WCNC-TV's signal is additionally rebroadcast over the following translators:{{Cite web|date=July 23, 2021|title=List of TV Translator Input Channels|url=https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/tv-translator-input-channels-07232021.xlsx|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209195336/https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/tv-translator-input-channels-07232021.xlsx|archive-date=December 9, 2021|access-date=December 17, 2021|publisher=Federal Communications Commission}}

• Biscoe: W36FB-D
• Lilesville–Wadesboro: W17EE-D

• Channel 6 branded TV stations in the United States
• Channel 24 digital TV stations in the United States
• Channel 36 virtual TV stations in the United States

{{Reflist}}

• {{official website|http://www.wcnc.com/}}

{{Charlotte TV}}

{{North Carolina TV}}

{{South Carolina TV}}

{{Tegna}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wcnc-Tv}}

Category:1967 establishments in North Carolina

Category:Court TV affiliates

Category:Former Gannett subsidiaries

Category:NBC affiliates

Category:Peabody Award winners

Category:Quest (American TV network) affiliates

Category:Tegna Inc.

Category:Television channels and stations established in 1967

CNC-TV

Category:True Crime Network affiliates

Category:Westinghouse Broadcasting