WSOC-TV (digital channel 34, virtual channel 9) is the ABC affiliate in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is owned by Cox Enterprises. The station's studio is located at North Tryon and 23rd Streets, just north of Uptown Charlotte, and is shared with sister station WAXN-TV (channel 64). The transmitter is located just outside Charlotte's northeastern city limits, in the Newell-Hickory Grove area. WSOC-TV is carried on cable channel 4 on cable systems in Charlotte, Gastonia and Rock Hill and on channel 9 in most outlying areas.

History

WSOC-TV signed on April 28, 1957.[84966] It was Charlotte's third television station, after WBTV and WAYS-TV, which broadcast on channel 36 from 1954 to 1955. WSOC was the second station on the VHF band, and is now Charlotte's second-oldest continuously operating station.

It was originally owned by the Jones family along with WSOC radio (AM 1240, later on AM 930 and now WYFQ; and FM 103.7). WSOC-AM was Charlotte's second radio station, having signed on the air in 1929, seven years after WBT.

Originally, Channel 9 was a primary NBC affiliate, and shared ABC programs with WBTV. Cox Communications of Atlanta bought WSOC AM-FM-TV in 1959.

Channel 36 returned to the air in 1964 as WCCB. WCCB moved to channel 18 in 1966, but it continued to be at a competitive disadvantage because many Charlotte-area homes did not yet have sets with UHF tuning capability. For the next three years, WSOC and WCCB split both NBC and ABC programming roughly equally; WBTV continued to air some ABC programs as well. WCCB aired programs from all three networks that the other two stations declined.

In 1967, NBC, which has historically been very intolerant of local pre-emptions, told channel 9's management to start clearing all of NBC's programming as a condition of renewing its affiliation with the station. WSOC then dropped all remaining ABC programming and became a sole NBC affiliate, while WCCB became a full-time ABC affiliate with no NBC programming.

By 1978 ABC had become the country's highest-rated network for the first time, and wanted a stronger outlet in Charlotte than WCCB. Cox quickly cut a deal to switch both WSOC and its flagship station, WSB-TV in Atlanta, to ABC affiliation. WSOC joined ABC on July 1, 1978 (WSB-TV joined ABC two years later). NBC was sent over to WRET (channel 36, now WCNC-TV), and WCCB became an independent station (it is now affiliated with Fox). The radio stations were sold off in the early 1990s; the AM station is now owned by Bible Broadcasting Network, and WSOC-FM by CBS Radio.

In 1996, WSOC-TV entered into a joint sales agreement with WKAY-TV, channel 64. As part of the deal, WKAY moved its operations to WSOC-TV's studios and changed its calls to WAXN-TV. Cox bought WAXN outright in 2001.

WSOC-TV was Charlotte's home of the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon from 1974 to 2001; the program now airs on WAXN.

News/Station Presentation

Newscast Titles

• WSOC-TV News (1957-1963)
• The 11th Hour Report (1963-1967)
• Pulse (1967-1970)
• Channel 9 Eyewitness News (1970-present)

Station Slogans

• We're Still the One, on Channel 9 (1979-1980; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• You and Me and Channel 9 (1980-1981; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• Now is the Time, Channel 9 is the Place (1981-1982; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• Come on Along with Channel 9 (1982-1984; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• We're With You on Channel 9 (1984-1985; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• You'll Love it on Channel 9 (1985-1986; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• Together on Channel 9 (1986-1987; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• Covering the Carolinas (circa 1990-present)

Digital television

The station's digital signal is multiplexed. After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion on June 12, 2009, WSOC-DT continued broadcasting on channel 34. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display the station's virtual channel as 9. In conjunction with the conversion, the station has a digital translator near Valdese to better serve the Unifour region. The translator operates on channel 42. It broadcast WSOC-DT on channel 6.1 in HD and WAXN-DT on channel 6.2 in 16x9, 480. The station went on the air at 12:17 pm on May 28, 2009. The call sign is W42DR-D. WSOC-TV ended analog broadcasting at 1:00:02pm on June 12, 2009.

Channel	Programming	Digital Cable Channel
9.1 / 34.1	WSOC-DT (main WSOC/ABC programming)	Charter 780, Comporium 304, MI 700, TWC 235
9.2 / 34.2	WSOC-WX (Severe Weather Center Now)	TWC 236

Newscasts

Since the early 1970s, WSOC-TV has used the Eyewitness News moniker for its newscasts. However, its style is very similar to the Action News format at sister station WSB-TV.

For many years, WSOC's news was a very distant second in the Charlotte market, behind the older WBTV. However, in 1981 it scored a major coup when it poached WBTV's longtime anchorman, Doug Mayes. The move quickly paid off; in 1982 it overtook WBTV for the lead at 11 PM, a lead it held for almost 25 years. It surpassed WBTV in most other time slots beginning in 1990, but lost the lead at noon to WBTV in 1994. It has been able to dominate the early news timeslots largely because of the presence of Oprah as a lead-in; the show has aired on channel 9 since its national premiere in 1986. In the February 2008 ratings, WSOC led in every time slot. [84967]. However, during the May 2008 sweeps, WSOC lost the lead at 11 PM to WBTV. The subsequent July 2008 ratings period showed WSOC-TV at 11 pm back on top.

Since 1994, WSOC-TV has produced a 10:00pm newscast, which now airs on its sister station, WAXN-TV. Its 10:00 news aired on WCCB until that station launched its own local news operation in 2000. In November 2007, WAXN's newscast was second in the 10 PM news ratings, behind WCCB and ahead of the WBTV-produced newscast on WJZY. [84968]

Bill Walker was WSOC's main anchor from 1971 until his retirement in 2005, longer than anyone in Charlotte television history.

WSOC-TV started producing local high definition newscasts on April 22, 2007 [84969]. That made WSOC the first television station in Charlotte and the second station in North Carolina (behind Raleigh's WRAL-TV) to do newscasts in HD.

Channel 9 has sometimes been criticized for having more of a tabloid feel than its competitors, leading to local jokes that its call letters stand for We Show Only Crime. [84970]

Cable and Satellite Availability

In North Carolina, WSOC is carried on cable in Wilkesboro, Sparta and Troy, which are both part of the Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem market. In South Carolina, WSOC is carried in Gaffney, which is part of the Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville market. Since early 2009, WSOC was dropped in Bennettsville. The FCC in recent years have allowed some out of market counties to receive significantly viewed stations [84971]. The North Carolina counties of Alleghany, Davidson, Davie, Montgomery, Wilkes and Yadkin can receive WSOC on DirecTV due to its high viewership and the fact that WSOC is easier to receive than the weaker WXLV analog signal in parts of the Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem market.

Personalities

Current Personalities

News

• Mark Becker, General Assignment & Special Projects Reporter
• Jamie Bowers, Traffic Team 9 Reporter/Anchor
• Jim Bradley, General Assignment & Special Projects Reporter
• Erica Bryant, 5PM, 5:30PM, 6PM, 10PM and 11PM Anchor/Reporter
• Tim Caputo, General Assignment Reporter
• Alan Cavanna, General Assignment Reporter
• Vince Coakley, 5PM, 6PM, and 11PM Anchor/Reporter
• Dave Faherty, Hickory Bureau Reporter
• Don Griffin, Consumer and Business Reporter
• Ken Lemon, Western Bureau Reporter (Gaston County, N.C.)
• Kara Lusk, Daybreak & General Assignment Reporter
• Blair Miller, 5:30PM and 10PM Anchor/Reporter
• Natalie Pasquarella, Daybreak and Midday Anchor/Reporter
• Kala Rama, Weekend Morning and Midday Anchor/Reporter
• Tennika Smith, General Assignment Reporter
• Jason Stoogenke, General Assignment & Local Government Reporter
• Greg Suskin, South Carolina Bureau Reporter (Rock Hill, S.C.)
• Scott Wickersham, Daybreak and Midday Anchor/Reporter

Severe Weather Center 9 with AccuWeather

• John Ahrens, Weekend Evening Meteorologist (AMS Certified)
• Steve Udelson, Chief Meteorologist (AMS-CBM)
• Keith Monday, Weekday Morning and Noon Meteorologist (AMS Certified)
• Katie Virtue, Weekend Morning and Noon Meteorologist (AMS-CBM)

Sports

• Tiffany Wright, Lead Sports Anchor/Reporter
• Bill Voth, Sports Anchor/Reporter

Former Personalities

• Lanie Pope, Meteorologist (Now Chief Meteorologist at WXII 12 in Winston Salem, NC)
• Diana Williams - reporter (1979-1982; now at WABC-TV in New York City)
• Holly Bristow, General Assignment Reporter (2003-2006, now at WOFL)
• Harold Johnson, Sports Director (1979-2006, retired)
• Ray Boylan, Meteorologist (1986-1996, retired)
• Terri Bennett, Meteorologist (1991-1996, at WCNC-TV Charlotte 1997-2007)
• Steve Adamson, Meteorologist (1994-1996, now at WXIA-TV Atlanta)
• Cullen Ferguson, Anchor/Reporter (1969-2005, retired)
• Doreen Gentzler, Anchor/Reporter (1979-1983, now at WRC-TV Washington)
• Bill Walker, Anchor/Managing Edito (1968-2005, retired)
• Patty Pan, General Assignment Reporter (2002-2005, now at WAGA-TV Atlanta)
• Tracey Neale, Anchor/Reporter (?-1994, last seen at WUSA-TV Washington)
• Michelle Kosinski, Reporter (?-2001, now at NBC)
• Rob Boisvert, Anchor/Reporter (?-?, now at News 14 Carolina)
• Meg MacDonald, Anchor/Reporter (1983-1990, later at WCAU-TV Philadelphia and Inside Edition)
• Cory Kessler, Sports Anchor/Reporter (?-?, now at Fox Sports Net South)
• Jeff Sonier, Reporter (1980's-1990's, now at WCNC-TV)
• Joe Johns, Reporter (?-?, later at WRC-TV and NBC, now at CNN)
• Jeremy Reiner, Meteorologist (1999-2006, now at WHDH-TV)
• Bob Pearse, Sports Anchor (1978-1980, now at Cable News 2, Rock Hill, SC)
• Brett McMillan, Sports Anchor (1980's, now at WBT)
• John Humphries, Sports Reporter/Anchor (1980's, now at WYFF)
• Melonie Holt, Anchor/Reporter (1996-2004, now at WFTV)
• John Cochran, Reporter (1960's, later at NBC, now at ABC)
• Doug Mayes, Anchor (1981-1989, retired)
• Brooke Sanders, Reporter (1995-1998, now at WMC-TV)
• Sean Hennessey, Reporter (1993, now at WCBS-TV)
• Jerry Peterson, Meteorologist (1970's and 1980's, now at WRHI-AM/WRHM-FM, Rock Hill, SC)
• Steve Litz, Reporter (1998-2006) (Now reporter at WTVJ in Miami, Florida)
• Brad Lacey, Co-Anchor/Update Desk, "Good Morning Carolina" anchor, (1970s, deceased 1984)
• Jack Callaghan, Program Host, News Anchor, Station Manager and Editorial Director (1957-1995, deceased)
• Ted W. Austin, Anchor (1961-1966, deceased)
• Bob Tyson, Weekend Weather (1980's)
• David Hains, Reporter (1980's, now spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte)
• Tad Maguire, Meteorologist (1980's)
• Amanda Nissen, Reporter (1990's)
• Debi Faubion, Anchor/Reporter (1990-2009, retired)
• Ben Thompson, Anchor/Reporter (2006-2009)
• Susan Tran, Anchor/Reporter (2006-2009)

Other notable employees include editor John Bultmann (1988-1996) and producer Lee Baber (1992-1997).

External links

• WSOC-TV Homepage

References