WECT (channel 6) is a television station in

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, eighth-most populous city in the st ...

, United States, affiliated with

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

. It is owned by

Gray Media Gray Media, Inc., doing business as Gray Television, is an American publicly traded television broadcasting company based in Atlanta. Founded in 1946 by James Harrison Gray as Gray Communications Systems, the company owns or operates 180 statio ...

alongside

Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It provides content ...

affiliate

WTWL-LD This is a list of broadcast television stations that are licensed in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Full-power stations VC refers to the station's PSIP virtual channel. RF refers to the station's physical RF channel. Defunct full-power stati ...

(channel 31); Gray provides certain services to

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 ("brush"). Twelve species ...

affiliate

WSFX-TV WSFX-TV (channel 26) is a television station in Wilmington, North Carolina, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by American Spirit Media, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with Gray Media, owner of NBC a ...

(channel 26) under a

shared services Shared services is the provision of a service by one part of an organization or group where that service had previously been found in more than one part of the organization or group. Thus the funding and resourcing of the service is shared and the ...

agreement (SSA) with

American Spirit Media American Spirit Media, LLC is a broadcasting company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded by Thomas B. Henson in 2003 as Ottumwa Media Holdings, it owns television stations in several cities in the Southeastern United States. History In 2 ...

. The three stations share studios on Shipyard Boulevard in Wilmington; WECT's transmitter is located near

Winnabow, North Carolina Winnabow is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place in Brunswick County, North Carolina, Brunswick County in the U.S. states, U.S. state of North Carolina. It is mainly a farming community along U.S. Route 17 ...

History

Channel 6 began broadcasting on April 9, 1954, with the call sign WMFD-TV. It aired an

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

signal on VHF channel 6 from a

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

near Delco. The station was owned by Atlantic Telecasting Corporation alongside Wilmington's oldest radio station, WMFD. Atlantic Telecasting sold off the radio station in 1958 and changed the television station's calls changed to the current WECT. The callsign

WMFD-TV WMFD-TV (channel 68) is an independent television station in Mansfield, Ohio, United States. It is owned by Mid-State Television, Inc., along with sister radio stations WVNO-FM (106.1) and WRGM (1440 AM/106.7 FM). The stations share studio ...

is now used by an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

television station in

Mansfield, Ohio Mansfield is a city in Richland County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 47,534 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located approximately from Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, Columbus via Interstate 71, it i ...

. At its launch, channel 6 was affiliated with all four networks of the day—NBC,

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

, DuMont and

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

. However, it has always been a primary NBC affiliate. It lost DuMont when that network went silent in 1956. The station finally got local competition in 1964 when

WWAY WWAY (channel 3) is a television station in Wilmington, North Carolina, United States, affiliated with ABC, CBS, and The CW Plus. Owned by Morris Multimedia, the station has studios on Magnolia Village Way in Leland, and its transmitter is l ...

signed on. However, WWAY opted to affiliate with the much weaker ABC, forcing WECT to shoehorn NBC and CBS onto its schedule until the 1970s, when cable arrived in the Wilmington market. It primarily carried CBS soap operas and CBS' Sunday afternoon

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

coverage. At one point, this station was carried on cable systems in the

Triangle A triangle is a polygon with three corners and three sides, one of the basic shapes in geometry. The corners, also called ''vertices'', are zero-dimensional points while the sides connecting them, also called ''edges'', are one-dimension ...

region of North Carolina (

Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

Fayetteville Fayetteville may refer to: *Fayetteville, Alabama *Fayetteville, Arkansas ** The Fayetteville Formation *Fayetteville, Georgia *Fayetteville, Illinois *Fayetteville, Indiana *Fayetteville, Washington County, Indiana *Fayetteville, Missouri *Fayette ...

, and Chapel Hill) for a time when NBC did not have a full-time affiliate in that

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...

. At one time, WECT had a Fayetteville news bureau. In 1969, WECT moved to a tall tower near White Lake—among the tallest east of the

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. From the 1970s to the 1980s, WECT was picked up by numerous cable systems from Fayetteville eastward. At one point, it was carried on cable as far west as Wadesboro and as far north as Greenville.Cable Search
fcc.gov Due to its longstanding popularity, WECT is still carried on cable systems in the eastern portion of the Triangle market, including Fayetteville and

Southern Pines Southern Pines is a town in Moore County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,545 as of the 2020 census, up from 12,334 in 2010. History Founded as a winter health resort for Northerners,Southern Pines North Carolina 2040 Com ...

. It is also available on cable in

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, which is part of the Greenville–

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

–

New Bern New Bern, formerly Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. It had a population of 31,291 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located at the confluence of the Neuse River, Neuse a ...

market.

For its first half-century on the air, the station served as the default NBC affiliate for the northern and eastern portions of the

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

–

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the East Coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as the "Grand Strand” in the northeastern part of the state. Its ...

market, including Myrtle Beach itself. That market was one of the last on the East Coast without its own NBC affiliate. It was carried on cable as far south as

Georgetown, South Carolina Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County, South Carolina, Georgetown County, in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census ...

. Well into the 1990s, it identified as "Wilmington–Fayetteville–Myrtle Beach" to acknowledge its viewership in Fayetteville and the Grand Strand. However, WECT's signal was somewhat weak on the North Carolina side of the market, such as

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. Th ...

. Atlantic Telecasting sold the station to the

News-Press & Gazette Company The News-Press & Gazette Company (NPG) is an American media company based in St. Joseph, Missouri, wholly owned and operated by the Bradley family. It is presided by Brian Bradley and David R. Bradley, with Hank Bradley (retired), Eric Bradley, ...

in 1986. That company then sold its entire station group to the first incarnation of

New Vision Television New Vision Television was a broadcast company based in Los Angeles, California. Throughout its two decade plus history, the company owned or managed over 50 television stations in large and medium-sized markets. History New Vision I Formed ...

in 1993. New Vision turned around and sold its entire group to Ellis Communications in 1995. Ellis was folded into

Raycom Media Raycom Media, Inc. was an American television broadcasting company based in Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery, Alabama. Raycom owned and/or provided services for 65 television stations and two radio stations across 44 markets in 20 states. Raycom ...

in 1997. In 2006, Raycom bought out the

Liberty Corporation The Liberty Corporation was a media corporation originally based in Greenville, South Carolina. At its peak, Liberty owned 15 network-affiliated television stations across the Midwest and Southern regions of the United States. Cable advertisin ...

, owner of WWAY. However, FCC

duopoly A duopoly (from Greek , ; and , ) is a type of oligopoly where two firms have dominant or exclusive control over a market, and most (if not all) of the competition within that market occurs directly between them. Duopoly is the most commonly ...

rules forced Raycom to spin off WWAY to

Morris Multimedia Morris Multimedia, Inc. is a media company based in Savannah, Georgia, founded in 1970 by Charles H. Morris. Morris Multimedia is the parent company of Morris Newspaper Corporation and Morris Network. The company's offices are in the Oliver St ...

as a condition of the Raycom–Liberty merger. On May 8, 2008, the FCC announced that five stations in Wilmington (including WECT) had agreed to voluntarily cease analog broadcasting on September 8FCC Document
/ref> five months ahead of the February 17, 2009, tentative date for television stations to complete the analog-to-digital transition.FCC Document
/ref> The market was used by the FCC as a pre-transition test market. After the digital transition,

WGNI WGNI (102.7 FM) is a radio station broadcasting an adult contemporary format. Licensed to Wilmington, North Carolina, United States, it serves the Wilmington area. The station is owned by Cumulus Licensing LLC. History The call letters WGNI ...

radio agreed to air emergency weather information from WECT. Previously, because channel 6 is adjacent to the FM band, its broadcasts could be heard on FM 87.7. WECT's coverage has been reduced as a result of the digital transition which left the station on

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...

. The move of the station's transmitter by from south of White Lake to Winnabow left Fayetteville viewers unable to watch the station over the air.Michael Futch, "No more WECT on radio since transition," ''The Fayetteville Observer'', March 26, 2009, Business section. The station's former transmitter was located in

Bladen County Bladen County ()
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

, approximately halfway between Wilmington and Fayetteville. While Myrtle Beach itself is just outside the fringe area for the digital signal,

North Myrtle Beach North Myrtle Beach is a city in Horry County, South Carolina, United States. It was created in 1968 from four existing municipalities, and is located about northeast of Myrtle Beach. It serves as one of the primary tourist destinations along t ...

is just inside it. The southern and western portions of the Florence–Myrtle Beach market were served by another Raycom station, WIS in Columbia. On August 8, 2008, Raycom signed-on

WMBF-TV WMBF-TV (channel 32) is a television station licensed to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Grand Strand and Pee Dee regions of South Carolina. It is owned by Gray Media alongside low-power Tele ...

, a new digital-only NBC affiliate in Myrtle Beach covering the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

in Beijing as part of its first network programming. Due to FCC regulations, WECT disappeared from most cable systems in the Florence–Myrtle Beach market when WMBF signed on. For longtime viewers, this was controversial as this station had been on cable systems in Laurinburg and Lumberton for decades. On December 1, 2008, WECT returned to the

Time Warner Cable Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, o ...

lineup in Lumberton, but was placed in the

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

tier. In 2012, Raycom gave the station's defunct analog transmitter site to the

Green Beret The green beret was the official headdress of the British Commandos, a special-forces unit active during World War II. It is still worn by members of the Royal Marines after passing the Commando Course, and personnel from other units of the Roy ...

Foundation. On September 20, 2012, the tower, which was built in 1969 and was among the tallest man-made structures east of the Mississippi River, was imploded. At the time it was the tallest-ever man-made structure leveled via explosive demolition. Plans called for the scrap metal and the site to be sold to benefit the foundation.

Sale to Gray Television

On June 25, 2018,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

-based

Gray Television Gray Media, Inc., doing business as Gray Television, is an American publicly traded television broadcasting company based in Atlanta. Founded in 1946 by James Harrison Gray as Gray Communications Systems, the company owns or operates 180 statio ...

announced it had reached an agreement to merge with Raycom, with Gray as the surviving company. The cash-and-stock merger transaction valued at $3.6 billion – in which Gray shareholders would acquire preferred stock currently held by Raycom – made WECT a sister station to fellow NBC affiliate

WITN-TV WITN-TV (channel 7) is a television station licensed to Washington, North Carolina, United States, serving Eastern North Carolina as an affiliate of NBC and MyNetworkTV. Owned by Gray Media, the station has primary studio facilities on East ...

in Washington. WITN-TV and WECT had briefly been sister stations when Raycom was formed in 1997. However, Raycom was forced to sell WITN to Gray in 1997 because WITN's signal has city-grade quality in the northern portion of the Wilmington market. At the time, the

FCC The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains ju ...

normally did not allow one company to own two stations with overlapping signals, and would not even consider a waiver for a city-grade overlap. The sale was approved on December 20 and completed on January 2, 2019."Gray Completes Acquisition of Raycom Media and Related Transactions"

, January 2, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2019.

News operation

On September 22, 2003, through a news share agreement, WECT began producing a nightly half-hour prime time newscast on WSFX (''Fox 26 News at 10'', now ''Fox Wilmington News at 10''). This was eventually joined by a 60-minute extension of WECT's weekday morning show on September 13, 2006, called ''Carolina in the Morning on Fox 26'' (now ''Carolina in the Morning on Fox Wilmington''), seen from 7 to 8 on WSFX offering an alternative to the national morning shows seen on the market's big three network-affiliated stations. On August 31, 2008, WECT became Wilmington's first television outlet to upgrade local news production to high definition level and the broadcasts on WSFX were included in the change. At some point in time, WECT added a third newscast to WSFX, under the title ''Fox 26 News at 6:30'' (later became ''Fox Wilmington News at 6:30''). It only aired on weeknights and attempted to compete against the national evening newscasts seen on the big three networks. It would be canceled by the end of 2013 in preparation to expand the weeknight edition of the 10 p.m. show to an hour (which occurred on January 15, 2014). After WWAY stopped producing weekend evening newscasts on August 1, 2009, WECT and WSFX became the only outlets in Wilmington to offer evening broadcasts seen seven nights a week. Although WWAY eventually reintroduced a local newscast airing Sunday nights at 11, WECT and WSFX remain the only channels in the market to air newscasts throughout the weekend. All newscasts on WSFX air from WECT's primary set but with modified

duratrans Duratrans were invented by Eastman Kodak Co. in the late 1970s and trademarked in 1982, to ascribe to their newly developed large-format backlit color transparency film, Kodak shortened the material name Endura Transparency to its current name. T ...

indicating the Fox-branded shows.

Subchannels

The station's 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— ...

: Prior to September 26, 2012, WECT-DT2 aired a 24-hour local weather channel with the branding "WECT Plus". The subchannel also aired repeats of the main channel's weeknight 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts as well as local traffic and travel information. Occasionally, other special programming aired on WECT-DT2. From April 15, 2005, until the end of December 2008, WECT-DT2 carried the defunct

NBC Weather Plus NBC Weather Plus was an American weather-oriented digital multicast television network owned as a joint venture between NBCUniversal and the local affiliates of the NBC television network. The service, which was broadcast in standard definition, ...

. WECT replaced the local weather channel with

Bounce TV Bounce TV is an American digital terrestrial television, digital broadcast television network owned by Scripps Networks, a subsidiary of E. W. Scripps Company. It launched on September 26, 2011, and was promoted as "the first 24/7 digital multic ...

on August 18, 2014. Escape (now

Ion Mystery Ion Mystery (formerly Escape and Court TV Mystery, stylized as ESCAPE and MYSTERY; formerly branded on-air as Mystery) is an American free-to-air television network owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. It focu ...

) was added to a new subchannel.

References

External links

* {{Gray TV 1954 establishments in North Carolina Bounce TV affiliates Gray Media Ion Mystery affiliates Laff (TV network) affiliates NBC affiliates Television channels and stations established in 1954 ECT True Crime Network affiliates