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WGHP (channel 8) is a
television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
licensed to
High Point, North Carolina High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, North Carolina, Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph County, North Carolina, Randolph, ...
, United States, serving the
Piedmont Triad The Piedmont Triad (or simply the Triad) is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of North Carolina anchored by three cities: Greensboro, North Carolina, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Winston-Salem, and H ...
region as an affiliate of the
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
network. The station is owned by
Nexstar Media Group Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarter offices in Irving, Texas; Midtown Manhattan; and Chicago, Illinois. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 te ...
, and maintains studios on Francis Street (just outside downtown High Point); its transmitter is located in
Sophia, North Carolina Sophia is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in central Randolph County, North Carolina, Randolph County in the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. It is located along U.S. Route 311, just northwest of the route's intersection ...
.


History


As an ABC affiliate

In 1958, the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
(FCC) assigned a third VHF channel frequency to the Piedmont Triad area. The channel 8 allocation was freed up by the move of
Florence, South Carolina Florence is a city in and the county seat of Florence County, South Carolina, United States. It lies at the intersection of Interstates 20 and 95 and is the eastern terminus of the former. It is the primary city within the Florence metropolit ...
's
WBTW WBTW (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Florence, South Carolina, United States, serving the Pee Dee and Grand Strand regions of South Carolina as an affiliate of CBS. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains st ...
, to channel 13, and was short-spaced to
WCHS-TV WCHS-TV (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Charleston, West Virginia, United States, serving the Charleston– Huntington market as an affiliate of ABC and Fox. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain servi ...
in
Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...
and WXEX-TV (now
WRIC-TV WRIC-TV (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Petersburg, Virginia, United States, serving the Richmond area as an affiliate of ABC. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios in unincorporated Chesterfield County (wi ...
) in
Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg (along with the city of Colonial Heights) with Din ...
. Applicants for the High Point channel 8 allocation included Jefferson Standard Broadcasting, owner of
WBTV WBTV (channel 3) is a television station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Gray Television. The station's studios are located off Morehead Street, just west of Uptown Charlotte, and its transmitter is ...
in
Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...
and WBTW. The owner of WTOB-TV (channel 26; whose channel allocation is now occupied by WUNL-TV) in
Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...
was also interested. Southern Broadcast Company—which was 55 percent owned by former WTOB-TV principals, with the remainder owned by former Raleigh UHF station
WNAO-TV WNAO-TV, UHF analog channel 28, was a CBS- affiliated television station licensed to Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Owned by the Sir Walter Television Company, it was the first television station in the Raleigh–Durham area and the fir ...
and residents of High Point—was awarded the license and signed on WGHP on October 14, 1963. It originally operated as an
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
affiliate, taking the affiliation from both
WFMY-TV WFMY-TV (channel 2) is a television station licensed to Greensboro, North Carolina, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Piedmont Triad region. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Phillips Avenue in Greensboro, an ...
(channel 2) and WSJS-TV (channel 12, now
WXII-TV WXII-TV (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States, serving the Piedmont Triad region as an affiliate of NBC. It is owned by Hearst Television alongside Lexington-licensed CW affiliate WCWG (c ...
), which previously shared secondary affiliations with the network, taking the Triad region 14 years to gain full-time affiliations for each of the three major networks. WGHP's original studios were located inside the Sheraton Hotel on North Main Street in downtown High Point. WGHP was subsequently sold to
Gulf Broadcasting The Taft Broadcasting Company (also known as Taft Television and Radio Company, Incorporated) was an American media conglomerate based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company was rooted in the family of William Howard Taft, the 27th President of the Un ...
in 1978. Gulf then sold the station to
Taft Broadcasting The Taft Broadcasting Company (also known as Taft Television and Radio Company, Incorporated) was an American media conglomerate based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company was rooted in the Taft family, family of William Howard Taft, the 27th Presid ...
as part of a group deal in 1984. That same year, the station moved to its current location on Francis Street outside of downtown High Point. On October 12, 1987, Taft was
restructured Restructuring is the corporate management term for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized for its present needs. Other reasons ...
into Great American Broadcasting after a
hostile takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to ...
. Former Taft president Dudley Taft formed a new company that took the Taft Broadcasting name and bought WGHP from Great American. The new Taft held onto channel 8 until 1992, when Great American repurchased the station. In December 1993, Great American Broadcasting filed for
Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...
bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
and was restructured again to become Citicasters; it then put its entire television division up for sale.


As a Fox O&O

In the winter of 1993,
New World Communications New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 197 ...
(which acquired stations from SCI in a similar type of business reorganization to the one Citicasters had come out of) agreed to buy WGHP and three other Citicasters-owned stations:
WBRC WBRC (channel 6) is a television station in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power, Class A Telemundo affiliate WTBM-CD (channel 24). The two stations studios ato ...
in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
,
WDAF-TV WDAF-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Summit Street in the Signal Hi ...
in
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
and
KSAZ-TV KSAZ-TV (channel 10) is a television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, broadcasting the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV station KUTP (channel 45). Both st ...
in
Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
. Around the same time, New World had also agreed to buy Argyle Television's four television stations, including
WVTM-TV WVTM-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, affiliated with NBC. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios and transmitter facilities atop Red Mountain, between Vulcan Trail and Valley V ...
in Birmingham (the transfer applications of the Argyle stations to New World were not submitted to the FCC until after New World closed on the Citicasters purchase). The two purchases combined, along with New World's existing seven stations, left the company with 15 stations—three more than the FCC had permitted a single station owner to operate at the time—and left New World with an ownership conflict in Birmingham. On May 23, 1994,
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
agreed to affiliate with 12 of New World's stations, with WVTM,
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
affiliate
KNSD KNSD (channel 39) is a television station in San Diego, California, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations alongside Poway-licensed Telemundo outlet KUAN-L ...
in
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
, and
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...
WSBK-TV WSBK-TV (channel 38) is an independent television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS owned-and-operated station WBZ-TV (channel 4). Both stations share studios on So ...
in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
left out of the agreement (the two NBC affiliates were bought by the network and became O&Os while WSBK was sold to the
Paramount Stations Group Paramount Stations Group (sometimes abbreviated as PSG) was a company that controlled a group of American broadcast television stations. The company existed from 1991 until 2001. History Paramount Communications, the then-parent company of Para ...
and joined
UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which prod ...
). New World later determined that due to the ownership conflicts and the fact it would go over the FCC's ownership limit, it would sell WGHP and WBRC to Fox directly. Since Fox was not able to immediately acquire WGHP and WBRC due to questions over the American citizenship of then-parent company
News Corporation News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Ne ...
's
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n-born
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
, New World decided to acquire WGHP but place it in an outside trust on September 9, 1994; WBRC was also put in this trust the following month on October 12. While WDAF switched to Fox and KSAZ became an independent station (a temporary move in preparation for its December switch to Fox) on September 12, three days after New World's purchase of those stations was consummated, ABC still had one year left on its affiliation contract with WGHP (likewise, the network's affiliation contract with WBRC would not run out for two years, which would give ABC time to find a replacement affiliate in Birmingham, which would turn out to be
WBMA-LP WBMA-LD (channel 58) is a low-power television station in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WABM (channel 68) and Homewood-licensed CW affiliate ...
). These factors also led to New World's decision to sell the two stations to Fox almost immediately. Fox's owned stations division took over the operations of both stations under
local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...
s in September 1995; WGHP subsequently switched to Fox on September 3. Fox completed its purchases of WGHP and WBRC on January 17, 1996, with WGHP becoming a Fox owned-and-operated station, and the first commercial station in the Piedmont Triad area to be owned by a major network (WBRC had to wait another 7½ months, until September 1996, to switch from ABC to Fox). The move gave WGHP its fifth owner in a little over a decade. The market's original Fox affiliate, WNRW (channel 45), assumed the ABC affiliation and changed its call letters to
WXLV-TV WXLV-TV (channel 45) is a television station licensed to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for the Piedmont Triad region. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Greensboro-licensed MyNetworkTV ...
. On September 10, 2007, WGHP debuted a new
logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...
and graphics package as part of a standardized on-air look that was rolled out all of Fox's owned-and-operated stations.


Sale to Local TV and then to Tribune

On December 22, 2007, Fox sold WGHP and seven other Fox O&O stations to the
Oak Hill Capital Partners Oak Hill Capital Partners is a private equity firm headquartered in New York City, with more than $19 billion of committed capital from entrepreneurs, endowments, foundations, corporations, pension funds and global financial institutions. Robe ...
subsidiary Local TV, which had earlier bought nine stations from
The New York Times Company The New York Times Company is an American mass media company that publishes ''The New York Times''. Its headquarters are in Manhattan, New York City. History The company was founded by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones in New York City. T ...
; the sale was finalized on July 14, 2008. On July 1, 2013, the
Tribune Company Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...
(which formed a management company that operated both Tribune and Local TV's stations in 2008) acquired the Local TV stations for $2.75 billion; the sale was completed on December 27, reuniting WGHP with
MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
affiliate
WPHL-TV WPHL-TV (channel 17) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with MyNetworkTV. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group and has studios in the Wynnefield section of West Philadelphia; it maintains a ...
in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, which Tribune acquired in 1992.


Aborted sale to Sinclair Broadcast Group

On May 8, 2017,
Hunt Valley, Maryland Hunt Valley is an unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States, near the site of the Maryland Hunt Cup Steeplechase. It lies just north of the city of Baltimore, along York Road (Maryland Route 45), parallel to Intersta ...
-based
Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, t ...
—which owns WXLV-TV and MyNetworkTV affiliate
WMYV-TV WMYV (channel 48) is a television station licensed to Greensboro, North Carolina, United States, serving the Piedmont Triad region as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside Winston-Salem–licensed ABC aff ...
(channel 48)—entered into an agreement to acquire Tribune Media for $3.9 billion, plus the assumption of $2.7 billion in debt held by Tribune. While WMYV is not in conflict with existing FCC in-market ownership rules and could have been retained by Sinclair in any event, the group was precluded from acquiring WGHP directly while retaining ownership of WXLV, as both rank among the four highest-rated stations in the
Greensboro Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...
–Winston-Salem–High Point market in total day viewership. On April 24, 2018, Sinclair announced that it would sell WXLV-TV and eight other stations – Sinclair-operated KOKH-TV in
Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
,
WRLH-TV WRLH-TV (channel 35) is a television station in Richmond, Virginia, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, it has studios on Westmoreland Street in the North Side area of Richmond, and its transmitte ...
in
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...
,
KDSM-TV KDSM-TV (channel 17) is a television station in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. The station is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, and has studios on Fleur Drive in Des Moines; its transmitter is located in Allem ...
in
Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...
, and
WOLF-TV WOLF-TV (channel 56) is a television station licensed to Hazleton, Pennsylvania, United States, serving Northeastern Pennsylvania as an affiliate of the Fox network. It is the flagship property of locally based New Age Media, LLC, and is co-ow ...
(along with LMA partners
WSWB WSWB (channel 38) is a television station licensed to Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States, serving as the CW affiliate for Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is owned by MPS Media, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with New Age M ...
and
WQMY WQMY (channel 53) is a television station licensed to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States, serving Northeastern Pennsylvania as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is owned by locally based New Age Media, LLC, alongside Hazleton-licensed Fox a ...
) in
Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...
–
Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the secon ...
, and Tribune-owned
WPMT WPMT, virtual channel 43 (Ultra high frequency, UHF digital terrestrial television, digital channel 36), is a Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox-network affiliate, affiliated television station city of license, licensed to York, Pennsylvania, United ...
in
Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
and
WXMI WXMI (channel 17) is a television station licensed to Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States, serving West Michigan as an affiliate of the Fox network. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, the station maintains studios on Plaza Drive (near M-37) o ...
in
Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is the ...
– to Standard Media Group (an independent broadcast holding company formed by
private equity firm A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leve ...
Standard General to assume ownership of and absolve ownership conflicts involving the aforementioned stations) for $441.1 million. The transaction includes a transitional services agreement, through which Sinclair would have continued operating WXLV for six months after the sale's completion. Three weeks after the FCC's July 18 vote to have the deal reviewed by an
administrative law judge An administrative law judge (ALJ) in the United States is a judge and trier of fact who both presides over trials and adjudicates claims or disputes involving administrative law. ALJs can administer oaths, take testimony, rule on questions of evid ...
amid "serious concerns" about Sinclair's forthrightness in its applications to sell certain conflict properties, on August 9, 2018, Tribune announced it would terminate the Sinclair deal, intending to seek other M&A opportunities. Tribune also filed a
breach of contract Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party ...
lawsuit in the
Delaware Chancery Court The Delaware Court of Chancery is a court of equity in the American state of Delaware. It is one of Delaware's three constitutional courts, along with the Supreme Court and Superior Court. Since 2018, the court consists of seven judges. The chie ...
, alleging that Sinclair engaged in protracted negotiations with the FCC and the DOJ over regulatory issues, refused to sell stations in markets where it already had properties, and proposed divestitures to parties with ties to Sinclair executive chair David D. Smith that were rejected or highly subject to rejection to maintain control over stations it was required to sell. The termination of the Sinclair sale agreement also meant that Standard Media's purchases of WXLV and the other six Tribune- and Sinclair-operated stations included in that deal would not proceed, because they were predicated on the closure of the Sinclair–Tribune merger, meaning that WXLV will remain with Sinclair for the foreseeable future.


Sale to Nexstar Media Group

On December 3, 2018,
Irving, Texas Irving is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. Located in Dallas County, it is also an inner ring suburb of Dallas. The city of Irving is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. According to a 2019 estimate from the United States Census Bureau, ...
-based
Nexstar Media Group Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is an American publicly traded media company with headquarter offices in Irving, Texas; Midtown Manhattan; and Chicago, Illinois. The company is the largest television station owner in the United States, owning 197 te ...
announced it would acquire Tribune Media in an all-cash deal valued at $6.4 billion, including the assumption of Tribune-held outstanding debt. The deal—which would make Nexstar the largest television station operator by total number of stations upon its expected closure late in the third quarter of 2019—would give WGHP additional
sister station In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio or television stations operated by the same company, either by direct ownership or through a management agreement. Radio sister stations will often have different formats, and somet ...
s in Greenville–
New Bern New Bern, formerly called Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 29,524, which had risen to an estimated 29,994 as of 2019. It is the county seat of Craven County and t ...
–
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
(CBS/CW affiliate
WNCT-TV WNCT-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Greenville, North Carolina, United States, serving Eastern North Carolina as an affiliate of CBS and The CW Plus. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on South Evans ...
) and
Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...
–
Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...
(CBS affiliate
WNCN WNCN (channel 17) is a television station licensed to Goldsboro, North Carolina, United States, serving the Research Triangle area as an affiliate of CBS. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on Front Street in north Ral ...
). The sale was approved by the FCC on September 16 and was completed on September 19, 2019.


Programming

Syndicated programming on WGHP includes ''
Rachael Ray Rachael Domenica Ray (born August 25, 1968) is an American cook, television personality, businesswoman, and author. She hosts the syndicated daily talk and lifestyle program ''Rachael Ray'', and the Food Network series '' 30 Minute Meals''. ...
'', ''
Judge Judy ''Judge Judy'' is an American Court show#Arbitration-based reality court show, arbitration-based reality court show presided over by former Manhattan Family Court Judge Judy Sheindlin, Judith Sheindlin. The show featured Sheindlin as she adjudi ...
'', ''
Access Hollywood ''Access Hollywood'', formerly known as ''Access'' from 2017 to 2019, is an American weekday television entertainment news program that premiered on September 9, 1996. It covers events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created ...
'', ''
TMZ TMZ is a tabloid news website owned by Fox Corporation. It made its debut on November 8, 2005, originally as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. On September 13, 202 ...
'', ''
The Drew Barrymore Show ''The Drew Barrymore Show'' (often shortened to ''Drew'') is a first-run syndicated American talk show hosted by actress Drew Barrymore. The show is distributed by CBS Media Ventures and debuted on September 14, 2020. In April 2022, the show w ...
'' and ''
Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...
''. As an ABC affiliate, the station occasionally delayed or declined some network programs; for example, it carried the
paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Nota ...
-themed
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
''
Dark Shadows ''Dark Shadows'' is an American gothic soap opera that aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show depicted the lives, loves, trials, and tribulations of the wealthy Collins family of Collinsport ...
'' during its network run on ABC, but in the mornings on a day-behind basis, choosing to run classic
movies A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
in the afternoons. On the other hand, it did not carry ''
The Edge of Night ''The Edge of Night'' is an American television mystery crime drama series and soap opera, created by Irving Vendig and produced by Procter & Gamble Productions. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that networ ...
'' during its 1975 to 1984 run. In its last years as an ABC affiliate, WGHP aired ''
Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News' late-night television news program broadcast on ABC in the United States with a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. Created by Roone Arledge, the progra ...
'' on a 30-minute delay in favor of running syndicated programs, most notably ''
M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. The ...
''. When WGHP became a Fox affiliate in 1995, it carried all of the network's programs, including
Fox Kids Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's block programming, programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channel ...
(whose weekday afternoon block ran from 1 to 4 p.m., replacing ABC's soap operas, as well as on Saturday mornings where a local newscast previously ran). WGHP added a few more
talk Talk may refer to: Communication * Communication, the encoding and decoding of exchanged messages between people * Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people * Lecture, an oral presentation intended to inform or instruct ...
and
reality shows Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
, as well as some off-network
sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
s such as ''
I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along with ...
'' and ''Seinfeld''. Upon gaining new affiliates through New World, Fox executives at the time decided to change the carriage policies for Fox Kids, to allow a station to choose to keep airing it or be granted the right to pass the block to another station in the market. In February 1996,
Pappas Telecasting Companies Pappas Telecasting Companies was a diversely organized broadcasting company headquartered in Visalia, California, United States. Founded in 1971, it was one of the largest privately held broadcasting companies in the country, with its stations r ...
approached WGHP about acquiring Fox Kids programming for its newly acquired WB affiliate WBFX (channel 20; now CW affiliate
WCWG WCWG (channel 20) is a television station licensed to Lexington, North Carolina, United States, serving the Piedmont Triad region as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Hearst Television alongside Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Winston-Salem†...
). WGHP accepted the offer, and permitted the Fox Kids block to move to WBFX beginning in March 1996, becoming the first Fox-owned station to no longer run the block, and only one of two (along with WBRC) to do so, before New World merged with Fox in 1997. WGHP added more talk and
court show A court show (also known as a judge show, legal/courtroom program, courtroom series, or judicial show) is a broadcast programming subgenre of either legal dramas or reality legal programming. Court shows present content mainly in the form of lega ...
s in the afternoon. WTWB dropped Fox's children's programming in late 2001, when Fox canceled the weekday block nationwide; WGHP chose not to pick up Fox's new Saturday morning cartoon block, Fox Box (later
4Kids TV 4Kids TV (often stylized as 4K!DSTV and formerly known as FoxBox from September 14, 2002 to January 15, 2005) was an American block programming, television programming block and Internet-based video on demand children's network operated by 4Kid ...
), which replaced Fox Kids in 2002. As a result, the block did not air at all in the Piedmont Triad. Fox discontinued children's programming on December 28, 2008, replacing it with a two-hour Saturday morning
infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...
block called ''
Weekend Marketplace ''Weekend Marketplace'' is a two-hour block of paid programming airing on Fox that debuted on January 3, 2009, replacing the 4Kids TV cartoon block due to the termination of the network's time lease agreement with 4Kids Entertainment. The block, w ...
'', which WGHP also declined to air; it airs instead on MyNetworkTV affiliate WMYV.


News operation

WGHP presently broadcasts 55¾ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 10½ hours on Monday-Thursday, 10¼ hours on Friday and 1¾ hours on weekends); in regards to the number of hours devoted to news programming, it is the highest local newscast output of any television station in the
Piedmont Triad The Piedmont Triad (or simply the Triad) is a metropolitan region in the north-central part of the U.S. state of North Carolina anchored by three cities: Greensboro, North Carolina, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Winston-Salem, and H ...
. Now, WGHP also opens a 15-minute sports show following the 10 p.m. newscasts from Friday to Sunday only. Local news has been a stable product on WGHP since it went on the air in 1963. During the 1960s and 1970s, the station aired newscasts at noon, 6:00 and 11:00 p.m., and occasionally at 7:00 p.m. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, WGHP sporadically maintained a 24-hour broadcast schedule so 11:00 p.m. newscast rebroadcasts during the early morning hours were only scheduled when ABC network programming was extended long enough to warrant its scheduling; in 1994, the station began broadcasting 24 hours a day. During the 1980s, channel 8 ran various long-form morning news programs, eventually settling towards five-minute updates during ABC's ''
Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
'', along with a noon newscast (that was dropped in the late 1980s). In the early 1990s, the current morning newscast began as an hour-long program at 6:00 a.m.; it was joined by a half-hour 5:00 p.m. newscast that expanded to a full hour in 1994. When WGHP affiliated with Fox in 1995, the station began placing more emphasis on its local newscasts: the station's newscasts expanded to just under 40 hours each week. Around this time, WGHP aired three hours of daily newscasts with news on weekday mornings expanding to 2 hours to occupy ''GMA''s former 7:00–9:00 a.m. timeslot on the station (the 8:00 a.m. hour was occupied with syndicated programming), along with the addition of a 5:30 p.m. newscast; the station's late evening newscast was also moved from 11:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and was expanded to one hour. Daily newscasts expanded to 4½ hours—with a half-hour expansion of its morning newscast and the return of a noon newscast—immediately after it became a Fox owned-and-operated station in 1996. The morning newscast would eventually expand over time to five hours by 2011. WGHP is one of only two ex-New World stations that were acquired by Fox and sold by the network in 2008, that did not relaunch a newscast in the traditional late news timeslot—in WGHP's case, 11:00 p.m.
Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small port ...
—as Fox did with some of its other O&Os (
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
's WJW is the other). On September 13, 2009, WGHP began broadcasting its newscasts in 16:9
widescreen Widescreen images are displayed within a set of aspect ratios (relationship of image width to height) used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than t ...
standard definition Standard-definition television (SDTV, SD, often shortened to standard definition) is a television system which uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. "Standard" refers to it being the prevailing sp ...
. On September 12, 2010, WGHP became the first station in the Piedmont Triad to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition. It remained the only station in the Piedmont Triad with high-definition newscasts until WFMY-TV upgraded its newscasts from widescreen enhanced definition to full high definition on November 13, 2011. However, WGHP remains the only station in the market that broadcasts all of its field video in high definition. On September 12, 2011, WGHP expanded its weekday morning newscast by one hour, adding a fifth hour from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. On January 9, 2012, WGHP's weekday morning newscast expanded a half-hour early to 4:30 a.m. On February 3, 2014, WGHP expanded its noon and 6:00 p.m. newscasts on weekdays by an additional half-hour (extending both broadcasts to one hour). On April 21, 2014, WGHP debuted an hour-long 4:00 p.m. newscast on weekday afternoons. On January 3, 2022, WGHP debuted a 7:00 p.m. newscast.


Notable former on-air staff

* Dr. Paul Bearer (Dick Bennick) – host of ''Shock Theatre'' (1966–1971; deceased) *
Rich Brenner Rich Brenner (November 24, 1946 – February 27, 2012) was an American television Sports commentator, sportscaster. Life and career Brenner was a graduate of Baldwin Wallace University, Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. He was student senat ...
– sports anchor (1987–2008; deceased) *
Sharon Crews Sharon Dahlonega Bush (born Sharon Daisy Raiford) is an American television newscaster and print journalist."Additions Made To Newswatch 3 Staff" ''The Commercial Appeal'', February 3, 1981. She was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, and resides ...
– news and weather anchor (1977–1980) *
Mike Hogewood Michael Ashley Hogewood (September 13, 1954 – September 5, 2018) was an American sportscaster. He was a play-by-play announcer, studio host, and sideline reporter. Hogewood was best known for calling play-by-play and sideline reporting on ...
– sports anchor (1985–1987; deceased)


Technical information


Subchannels

The station's digital signal is
multiplexed In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...
: WGHP broadcasts programming from Antenna TV on digital subchannel 8.2, the subchannel launched on January 1, 2011 as a charter affiliate of the network through an affiliation agreement related to network owner
Tribune Broadcasting Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC was an American media company which operated as a subsidiary of Tribune Media, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. The group owned and operated television and radio stations throughout the United Sta ...
's management agreement with Local TV. The subchannel uses the on-air branding "TV8.2", a reference to the "TV8" branding used by WGHP from 1977 to 1987. It uses a modified version of the logo that the station used from 1977 to 1982.


Analog-to-digital conversion

WGHP shut down its analog signal at approximately 11:05 p.m. on June 12, 2009, as part of the FCC-mandated transition to digital television for full-power stations.List of Digital Full-Power Stations
/ref> The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 35 to VHF channel 8 for post-transition operations. The signal had broadcast at full power from an auxiliary tower until the analog transmitter on the main tower was converted two weeks after the transition. Due to the number of complaints from those unable to pick up the signal on channel 8, WGHP received temporary authorization to broadcast an alternate digital signal on UHF channel 35 on August 19, 2009. While technical issues with the channel 8 signal were being worked out, WGHP transmitted digitally on both 8 and 35 beginning on August 19, 2009. On October 14, WGHP requested that the FCC change its digital signal's physical channel from VHF 8 to UHF 35. After the station lost "a sizeable number" of its viewers, the FCC agreed with WGHP's assessment that it would be "best served" by staying on channel 35. On December 15, 2009, the FCC issued a ''Report & Order'', approving WGHP's move from channel 8 to channel 35. At 11:02 a.m. WGHP terminated operations on channel 8 on March 8, 2010, operating solely on channel 35 on a permanent basis. On April 27, 2020, WGHP transferred to channel 31, as part of the FCC's "
repack RePack is a packaging service which enables the return and reuse of delivery packaging for online retailers and their users. The service and packaging is designed by Original RePack Oy, a Finnish company focused on sustainable products and busin ...
" initiative.


Out-of-market cable and satellite carriage

In recent years, WGHP has been carried on
cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
outside of the Greensboro
television market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...
, including carriage on cable providers within the Charlotte and Raleigh–Durham markets in North Carolina, and the Roanoke market in
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
. On
DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...
, WGHP has been carried in parts of the Raleigh and Roanoke markets. During the 1970s and 1980s through CATV, WGHP was carried in areas much farther south and east. In North Carolina, it was carried in Boone, Fayetteville, Raleigh, Wadesboro, Albemarle, Rockingham,
Laurinburg Laurinburg is a city in and the county seat of Scotland County, North Carolina, United States. Located in southern North Carolina near the South Carolina border, Laurinburg is southwest of Fayetteville and is home to St. Andrews University. ...
,
Raeford Raeford is a city in Hoke County, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 4,611 at the 2010 census, and in 2018, the estimated population was 4,962. It is the county seat of Hoke County. History John McRae and A.A. Williford operated ...
, Robbins, Rowland,
Southern Pines Southern Pines is a town in Moore County, North Carolina, Moore County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 12,334 as of the 2010 United States Census. History Southern Pines was founded as a winter health resort for Northeastern U ...
and Lumberton. In South Carolina, it was carried in
Cheraw The Cheraw people, also known as the Saraw or Saura, were a Siouan-speaking tribe of indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, in the Piedmont area of North Carolina near the Sauratown Mountains, east of Pilot Mountain and north of the Yad ...
and
Bennettsville Bennettsville is a city located in the U.S. state of South Carolina on the Great Pee Dee River. As the county seat of Marlboro County, Bennettsville is noted for its historic homes and buildings from the 19th and early 20th centuries—including ...
.http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/coals7/forms/search/cableSearchNf.cfm


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wghp Fox network affiliates Antenna TV affiliates Dabl affiliates Court TV affiliates High Point, North Carolina Television channels and stations established in 1963 1963 establishments in North Carolina GHP Nexstar Media Group New World Communications television stations Taft Broadcasting