WRAZ
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| WRAZ | |
|---|---|
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| Raleigh / Durham, North Carolina | |
| Branding | Fox 50 WRAL News |
| Channels | Analog: 50 (UHF) Digital: 49 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | Fox RTN (on DT2) Weather (on DT3) |
| Owner | Capitol Broadcasting Company (WRAZ-TV, Inc.) |
| First air date | May 12, 1995 |
| Call letters’ meaning | variation of sister station's call letters |
| Sister station(s) | WRAL-TV |
| Former affiliations | Independent (May-September 1995) The WB (September 1995-1998) |
| Transmitter Power | 5,000 kW (analog) 1,000 kW (digital) |
| Height | 549 m (analog) 614.1 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 64611 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | myfoxraleigh.com |
WRAZ, channel 50, is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Triangle region of North Carolina, licensed to Raleigh. Its transmitter is located in Garner. Locally owned by Capitol Broadcasting Company, the station is sister to the company's flagship, CBS affiliate WRAL-TV. Although most operational functions are based at WRAL's facilities on Western Boulevard in Raleigh, WRAZ has their own studios on South Mangum Street in downtown Durham.
The station offers first-run programming from Fox, talk shows, court shows, sitcoms, and local news produced by WRAL. WRAZ is offered on cable channel 13 in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Fayetteville, and most suburbs. It can be seen on channel 8 in Cary, Garner, Clayton, and Smithfield. The station broadcasts on cable channel 11 in Carrboro.
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[edit] Digital programming
WRAZ's digital signal is multiplexed.
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 50.1 / 49.1 | main WRAZ programming / Fox HD |
| 50.2 / 49.2 | Retro Television Network |
| 50.3 / 49.3 | WRAL WeatherCenter Channel |
[edit] Post-analog shutdown
After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009, [1] WRAZ will remain on its current pre-transition channel number, 49. [2] However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display WRAZ's virtual channel as 50.
[edit] History
WRAZ signed on for the first time on May 12, 1995 as an independent station owned by Rev. James Layton's Tar Heel Broadcasting. The previous December, Layton signed a local marketing agreement for the then-under construction station with Capitol Broadcasting. Under this agreement, WRAZ's operations were run out of WRAL's studios.
WRAZ ran a blend of cartoons, classic sitcoms, and movies, as well as some CBS programming being pre-empted by WRAL in order to broadcast ACC men's basketball games. Rev. Layton, the owner of low power WACN in Apex, had a morning talk show on channel 50 early on. During the Friday quarterfinal rounds of the ACC Tournament, WRAZ even aired the full slate of CBS soaps pre-empted by WRAL.
In September of 1995, WRAZ picked up the WB affiliation for the Triangle market after WNCN switched to NBC. In 1996, WRAZ rebranded itself as WB 50 to reflect its network affiliation. But later that year, Fox decided to move its Triangle affiliation to WRAZ after its contract with charter Fox affiliate WLFL-TV ran out in 1998 due to a conflict over primetime newscast slots. WRAZ and WLFL switched affiliations on August 1 of that year.
Following the official affiliation switch, reality and talk shows as well as first-run court shows were added to the lineup and cartoons were cut to Saturday mornings. WRAZ's main offices and master control relocated to the Diamond View office building in downtown Durham next door to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and the American Tobacco complex. Capitol Broadcasting bought WRAZ outright in 2000. However, unlike most new duopolies that start sharing the same studios elsewhere, WRAZ's studios remained in Durham. In most markets, such a duopoly wouldn't have been allowed under the FCC's duopoly rules, which forbid one person from owning two of the four largest stations in a single market. However, the FCC allowed Capitol to buy WRAZ since channel 50 was the Triangle's sixth-rated station at the time. To this day, WRAZ is the largest Fox affiliate owned in a duopoly with another "Big Four" station.
Along with WRAL, WRAZ began digital broadcasting in late-2000 from a transmission tower located in Garner. WRAZ even produces live broadcasts of Durham Bulls home games on site which air on its second digital subchannel and carried by mostly by local Time Warner Cable outlets in central and eastern North Carolina on digital channel 251. That same channel began airing programming from the Retro Television Network on September 10, 2007. WRAZ broadcasts a 24-hour local weather channel on its third digital subchannel. This channel can also be seen on Time Warner digital cable channel 252. WRAZ's website layout is in the format of Fox owned and operated stations even though it is not owned by the network.
[edit] Controversial programming
The station has had a history of pre-empting some Fox programming deemed too risqué or controversial. It was one of the few Fox stations in the United States to refuse to air portions of the reality television programs Temptation Island and Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire. WRAZ viewed the programs as anti-family. Instead, they showed reruns of Cheers or The Andy Griffith Show. Conversely, neighboring Fox affiliate WCCB in Charlotte aired the show despite the conservative background of its owner, Bahakel Communications.
WRAZ used the same approach in 2003 by refusing to air additional episodes of Married by America claiming that the content of the show was demeaning to the institution of marriage. This also happened with Who's Your Daddy? in 2005 when WRAZ cited its treatment of adoption. The station was also one of a handful of Fox stations who initially declined to broadcast the controversial, two-part interview special on O.J. Simpson. it was set to air on November 27 and 29, 2006, before the network pulled the plug on the project.
[edit] American Idol ratings
During season 5 of Fox's mega-hit American Idol, WRAZ has been consistently one of the network's top-drawing stations. While the national Nielsen ratings for February 28, 2006 were 17.0 with a 25% share of overall households tuning in, WRAZ registered a 21.7 rating (equivalent to 213,788 households in the market) and a 31 share. Those numbers were roughly 28% higher than the national average. Part of the show's high ratings numbers in North Carolina are tied to the past success of artists such as season 2 runner-up Clay Aiken (who is from Raleigh) and season 3 champion Fantasia Barrino (of High Point. Season 5 had three finalists hailing from the Tar Heel State: Chris Daughtry (McLeansville), who finished fourth, Kellie Pickler (Albemarle), who finished sixth, and Bucky Covington (Rockingham), who finished eighth. American Idol Rewind airs on WRAZ at 6 P.M. every Saturday night.
[edit] News operation
In August of 1998, the station began to carry newscasts produced by WRAL. All of the local news broadcasts originate from WRAL's Raleigh studios and use that station's news team. WRAZ usually simulcasts local breaking news coverage from WRAL. For national breaking news, WRAZ carries Fox News coverage while WRAL carries CBS News. Otherwise, WRAZ may broadcast CBS programming in case WRAL cannot in news-related emergencies. Currently, WRAL produces three newscasts for WRAZ. This includes weekday mornings at 7 for two hours and half-hour broadcasts at 10 on weeknights as well as weekends. The WRAZ newscasts are simulcasted on WRAL's second digital subchannel.
WRAL Morning News on Fox 50
(Weekday Mornings 7 to 9 A.M.)
- Anchors:
- Bill Leslie
- Valonda Calloway
- Weather:
- Elizabeth Gardner
- Traffic:
- Brian Shrader
WRAL News at 10 on Fox 50 (10 to 10:30 P.M.)
Weeknights
- Anchors:
- Gerald Owens
- Debra Morgan
- Weather:
- Mike Maze
- Sports:
- Jeff Gravley
Weekends
- Anchors:
- Ken Smith
- Kelcey Carlson
- Weather:
- Chris Thompson (Saturdays)
- Kim Deaner (Sundays)
- Sports:
- Bob Holliday
WRAZ features additional news personnel from WRAL. See that article for a complete listing.
[edit] News/Station Presentation
[edit] Newscast Titles
- WRAL's 10 O'Clock News On WB 50 (1995-1998)
- FOX 50 10 O'Clock News (1998-2002)
- WRAL News On FOX 50 (2002-Present)
[edit] Newscast Music
- In-Sink (V.1, V.2, V.3, V.4), 615 Music (1995-1998)
- First News, Non-Stop Music (1998-2002)
- In-Sink (V.1, V.2, V.3, V.4), 615 Music (2002-Present)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- WRAZ "Fox 50"
- WRAL-TV/DT
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WRAZ
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WRAZ-TV
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WILM-LP | | WJZY | | WMYT | | WRAL-TV | | WRAZ | | North Carolina News Network | | WCMC | | WRAL-FM |
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