| Wilmington, North Carolina | |
|---|---|
| Branding | WWAY NewsChannel 3 RTV Wilmington (on DT2) |
| Slogan | Live. Local. Interactive. |
| Channels | Digital: 46 (UHF) Virtual: 3 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 3.1 ABC 3.2 RTV |
| Owner | Morris Multimedia (WWAY-TV, LLC) |
| First air date | October 30, 1964 |
| Call letters' meaning | Wilmington's World All Yours |
| Former channel number(s) | 3 (VHF analog, 1964-2008) |
| Former affiliations | local weather (on DT2) |
| Transmitter power | 1,000 kW |
| Height | 590 m |
| Facility ID | 12033 |
| Website | wwaytv3.com |
WWAY is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Cape Fear area of North Carolina that is licensed to Wilmington. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 46 (Ex-Analog Channel 3) from a transmitter northwest of Bolivia. Owned by Morris Multimedia, the station has studios on North Front Street in Downtown Wilmington. Syndicated programming on WWAY includes: The Insider, Entertainment Tonight, Judge Judy and The Dr. Oz Show.
Contents |
On WWAY-DT2, Time Warner digital channel 106, and Charter digital channel 148 is the Retro Television Network (RTV).
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 3.1 | Main WWAY programming / ABC |
| 3.2 | "RTV Wilmington" |
WWAY signed-on October 30, 1964 as the second television station in Wilmington, preceded by WECT (channel 6) by ten years. It was originally owned by Cape Fear Telecasting, a firm controlled by local interests. It has been an ABC affiliate since its inception. This was somewhat unusual for a two-station market, especially one of Wilmington's size. For most of its first 20 years in television, ABC was relegated to secondary status on existing stations in most two-station markets.
In 1968, Cape Fear sold WWAY to Clay Broadcasting (later to become Clay Communications). In 1987 Clay sold its broadcasting interests, including WWAY, to Price Communications, [1] setting off a revolving door of owners over the course of the next two decades. In 1988, Price sold WWAY to Adams Television [2] who flipped the station to Hillside Broadcasting a few years later. Hillside then sold WWAY to Cosmos Broadcasting, a subsidiary of the Liberty Corporation, in 1999. [3] That company sold off its insurance interests two years later bringing WWAY directly under the Liberty banner.
In 2005, Liberty merged with Raycom Media. That company already owned WECT and could not keep both stations due to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) duopoly rules that do not allow common ownership of two of the four largest stations in a single market. Raycom opted to keep the higher-rated WECT and spun-off WWAY to current owner Morris Multimedia in 2006. However, the station still retains its Liberty-era logo.
On May 8, 2008, the FCC announced that Wilmington had been selected as a test market for the 2009 national digital television transition. Five stations in Wilmington, including WWAY, also agreed to voluntarily cease analog broadcasting on September 8. Channel 3 made its transition from analog to digital at Noon on that date. [4] On June 15, WWAY started broadcasting the Retro Television Network on its second digital channel. This had previously served as a 24-hour local weather channel.
In North Carolina, WWAY is still carried in Rowland which is part of the Florence/Myrtle Beach/Lumberton market. Rowland and all of Robeson County used to be part of the Wilmington market and even earlier the Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville DMA. Lumberton, the county seat of Robeson County, used to carry WWAY as well until around 1999. Jacksonville still carries WWAY even though it is part of the Greenville/Washington/New Bern market. In South Carolina, WWAY used to be carried in Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach up until the late-1990s. It was carried along the South Carolina borderbelt communities near the North Carolina state line but no longer is. WWAY is not carried on satellite outside of the market in the Carolinas. In Brunswick County, the station is carried on ATMC channel 5.
For its entire history, WWAY has been ranked at a distant second place behind WECT. Besides being the first station in Wilmington, that channel offers the most newscasts including throughout the weekend. Low-powered CBS affiliate WILM-LD does not operate a news department of its own unlike most big three stations. It simulcasts some shows from WRAL-TV in Raleigh with local weather inserts targeted toward Wilmington.
From March 10, 2008 until February 27, 2009 through a news share agreement, WWAY produced a prime time newscast weeknights at 7 on WILM that offered local coverage. On August 1, 2009, this station discontinued its airing of weekend newscasts leaving WECT/WSFX-TV as the only outlet. According to the Star-News, WWAY said it would restart those broadcasts when the economy recovers.
As of October 10, 2010, the station has brought back weekend broadcasts with a Sunday night show at 11. WWAY currently airs its newscasts in 16x9 widescreen enhanced definition. Although not truly high definition, the broadcasts match the ratio of HD television screens. Like all RTV affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone, WWAY-DT2 airs Daytime weekday mornings at 9 for an hour. That channel also repeats the weeknight 5 and 6 o'clock shows at 7 and 7:30 respectively.
Anchors
StormTrack 3 Meteorologists
Sports
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