WCCB

WCCB

Charlotte, North Carolina United States
Branding	WCCB, Charlotte's CW (general) WCCB News (newscasts)
Channels	Digital: 27 (UHF) Virtual: 18 ()
Subchannels	18.1 The CW 18.2 Antenna TV 18.3 Me-TV 18.4 QVC Over the Air
Translators	W20DD-D Marion
Affiliations	The CW
Owner	Bahakel Communications (North Carolina Broadcasting Partners)
First air date	Original incarnation: December 31, 1953 (1953-12-31) Current incarnation: November 1, 1964; 52 years ago (1964-11-01)
Call letters' meaning	Charlotte Cy Bahakel (station owner and founder)
Former callsigns	WAYS-TV (1953–1954) WQMC-TV (1954–1955) WUTV (licensed, 1957)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 36 (UHF, 1953–1955, 1964–1966) 18 (UHF, 1966–2009)
Former affiliations	Primary: NBC (1953–1955) Independent (1964–1967, 1978–1986) ABC (1967–1978) Fox (1986–2013) Secondary: NBC (1964–1967) ABC (1953–1955, 1964–1967) CBS (1964–1967) (local Weather On DT3)
Transmitter power	1,000 kW
Height	368 m
Facility ID	49157
Transmitter coordinates	35°16′1″N 80°44′5″W / 35.26694°N 80.73472°W / 35.26694; -80.73472Coordinates: 35°16′1″N 80°44′5″W / 35.26694°N 80.73472°W / 35.26694; -80.73472
Licensing authority	FCC
Public license information:	Profile CDBS
Website	www.wccbcharlotte.com

WCCB, virtual channel 18 (UHF digital channel 27), is a CW–affiliated television station located in Charlotte, North Carolina. United States. It serves as the flagship station of owner Bahakel Communications. WCCB maintains studio facilities just outside Uptown Charlotte, off Independence Boulevard (across from Bojangles' Coliseum), and its transmitter is located in Newell, an unincorporated area of Mecklenburg County just northeast of the Charlotte city limits.

On cable, WCCB is carried on channel 11 in most areas, on TruVista channel 5, and on AT&T U-Verse channel 18.

WCCB traces its roots to WAYS-TV, a primary NBC and secondary ABC affiliate, which signed on the air on December 31, 1953. Broadcasting on UHF channel 36, it was North Carolina's second UHF station (after WNAO-TV in Raleigh), as well as the second television station in the Charlotte market. It was owned by George Dowdy and his company, Intercity Advertising, owners of WAYS radio (610 AM, now WFNZ). Hugh Deadwyler became co-owner of the station in 1954, and acquired the station outright after buying Deadwyler's interest in 1955. In January 1955, its call letters were changed to WQMC-TV.

Channel 36 had a very weak 100,000-watt signal which was spotty further than 10 miles from the transmitter, making it virtually unviewable even in some parts of Mecklenburg County. Even then, like most UHF stations, it was only viewable on most sets with an expensive UHF converter. Television set manufacturers were not required to include UHF tuners at the time; this would not change until Congress passed the All-Channel Receiver Act in 1961. As a result, it made almost no headway against CBS affiliate WBTV (channel 3), which continued to cherry-pick certain NBC programs.

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Wikipedia