WWAY
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Wilmington, North Carolina United States |
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| Branding | WWAY 3 (general) WWAY News (newscasts) WWAY ABC (on DT1) WWAY CBS (on DT2) Cape Fear CW (on DT3) |
| Slogan |
Live. Local. Interactive. CBS Has a New Home on WWAY (on DT2) Dare to Defy (on DT3) |
| Channels |
Digital: 46 (UHF) Virtual: 3 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 3.1 ABC 3.2 CBS 3.3 CW+ |
| Owner |
Morris Multimedia (WWAY-TV, LLC) |
| First air date | October 30, 1964 |
| Call letters' meaning | Wonderful Watching All Year |
| Former channel number(s) | 3 (VHF analog, 1964–2008) |
| Transmitter power | 1,000 kW |
| Height | 590 m |
| Class | DT |
| Facility ID | 12033 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 34°7′53.8″N 78°11′15.4″W / 34.131611°N 78.187611°W |
| Website | wwaytv3.com |
WWAY is the ABC/CBS/CW-affiliated television station for North Carolina's Cape Fear region that is licensed to Wilmington. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 46 (or virtual channel 3.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter, west of Winnabow, in Town Creek Township. Owned by Morris Multimedia, the station has studios on North Front Street in downtown Wilmington next to Cape Fear Community College. On cable, the station is carried on Charter Spectrum channel 10.
After CBS moved to WWAY-DT2 from WILM-LD (which became an independent station), the multiplex bandwidth was switched around so that the main ABC signal continued to be carried in 720p, with WWAY-DT2 broadcasting in CBS's default 1080i resolution. Due to this, WWAY-DT3's high definition signal is exclusive to cable due to bandwidth limitations.
WWAY signed-on October 30, 1964 as the second television station in Wilmington, 10.5 years after NBC affiliate WECT (channel 6). It was originally owned by Cape Fear Telecasting, a firm controlled by local interests. Logically, it should have signed on as a CBS affiliate. However, it has been an ABC affiliate from the very first day. 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. However, at the time channel 3 signed on, no ABC affiliate put even a grade B signal into Wilmington. In contrast, WBTW in Florence, South Carolina put a fairly strong grade B signal into the area. Cape Fear thus figured that if it signed with ABC, it would not get much local competition.
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