Diemazz

WECT
Wilmington, North Carolina
Branding	WECT (general) WECT News (newscasts)
Slogan	Where News Comes First
Channels	Digital: 44 (UHF)
Subchannels	6.1 NBC
Owner	Raycom Media (WECT License Subsidiary, LLC)
First air date	April 9, 1954
Call letters’ meaning	Eastern Carolina Television
Sister station(s)	WSFX-TV
Former callsigns	WMFD-TV (1954-1958)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 6 (1954-2008)
Former affiliations	DuMont (1954-1956) ABC (1954-1964) CBS (1954-1980s) all secondary
Transmitter Power	575 kW
Height	280 m
Facility ID	48666
Transmitter Coordinates	34°19′16.7″N 78°13′41.7″W / 34.321306, -78.22825
Website	www.wect.com

WECT is the NBC-affiliated television station in Wilmington, North Carolina. The station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 44. While there is no over-the-air analog signal of the station, it can be seen on Time Warner and Charter cable channel 7. For high definition digital cable, the station is on Charter and Time Warner channel 706. Its transmitter is located in Delco. Owned by Raycom Media, the station is sister to Fox affiliate WSFX-TV. The two stations share studios on Shipyard Boulevard in downtown Wilmington. Syndicated programming on WECT includes: Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Oprah, Dr. Phil, and The Doctors.

The station usually airs the entire NBC schedule except for the network's late night repeats of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Instead, it airs paid programming during those hours. WECT also produces an outdoor-type program called Downeast Gardener that airs in segments during the morning newscast on Wednesdays and as a full program on Saturday mornings at 7:30.

History

As the first television station in Wilmington, channel 6 began broadcasting on April 9, 1954. it had the callsign WMFD-TV and was co-owned with WMFD-AM 630. In 1958, the station's calls changed to the current WECT. At its launch, channel 6 carried secondary affiliations with the DuMont Television Network (which went silent in 1956) and ABC (until 1964 at which point ABC moved to its own Wilmington affiliate, WWAY). WECT was also a secondary CBS station until the 1970s primarily carrying that network's Sunday afternoon National Football League coverage. At one point, WECT was carried on cable systems in the Triangle region of North Carolina (Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville, and Chapel Hill) for a time when NBC did not have a full-time affiliate in that market.

As a result of the station's long-held popularity, WECT is still carried on cable systems in Fayetteville, Jacksonville and Lumberton even though their respective markets have their own NBC affiliates. The station's analog signal once served as the default NBC affiliate for the northern and eastern portions of the nearby Florence / Myrtle Beach, South Carolina television market since that area did not have an affiliate of its own. However, WECT's reception in the northern parts of that area (such as Laurinburg) was not as good as other stations and coverage has been reduced further as a result of a digital transition which left WECT a UHF station. The southern and western portions of the Florence / Myrtle Beach market were served by another Raycom station, WIS-TV in Columbia.

On May 8, 2008, the Federal Communications Commission announced that five stations in Wilmington (including WECT) had agreed to voluntarily cease analog broadcasting on September 8, 2008 ^[1] five months ahead of the February 17, 2009 tentative date for television stations to complete the analog-to-digital transition. ^{[2] [3]} The market was used by the FCC as a post-transition test market.

On August 7, 2008, a new digital-only station WMBF-TV (also owned by Raycom Media) began broadcasting in Myrtle Beach, covering the 2008 Olympic Games as part of its first network programming.

On August 8th, 2008, counties in North and South Carolina lost WECT and/or WIS due to FCC regulations with WMBF signing on the air in the Florence/Myrtle Beach market. For long time viewers, this was controversial in Laurinburg and Lumberton with losing WECT in North Carolina and Florence and Hartsville losing WIS in South Carolina.

On December 1st, 2008, WECT returned to the Lumberton Time Warner Cable lineup on Digital Channel 220. This is next to WMBF's HD channel. There is no word if Florence, Laurinburg, Hartsville and other towns throughout the Florence/Myrtle Beach market will get their original NBC station back.

News team

WECT's news open.

Since September 22, 2003, WECT has been producing a nightly 10 o'clock newscast for sister station WSFX. It is currently the only primetime newscast in the market. On September 13, 2006, WECT began to produce an hour-long extension of its weekday morning news at 7 exclusively for WSFX. All news programs on that station broadcast from a secondary news set at WECT's studios. On August 31, 2008, WECT became the first station in Wilmington to launch news in high definition. The launch came with a new graphics package and the WSFX broadcast were included in the upgrade. WECT operates its own weather radar that is known on-air as "First Alert Digital Doppler". It is located north of Russtown. The station offered the now-defunct NBC Weather Plus on its second digital subchannel. Via digital cable, it can be seen on Charter channel 136 and Time Warner channel 939.

Anchors

• Bob Townsend - weekday mornings
  • host of Downeast Gardener
• Kim Ratcliff - weekday mornings and Noon
• Frances Weller - weeknights at 5 (5 to 5:20), 6, and 11
  • "Buddy Check 6" segment producer
• Jim Hanchett - Managing Editor seen on weeknights at 5 (5:20 to 5:40) and 6
• Genevieve Barker - weeknights at 5 (5:40 to 6) and 10
• Jon Evans - weeknights at 10 and 11

First Alert Weather Team

• Eric Davis (AMS Seal of Approval) - weekday mornings and Noon
• Colin Hackman
• Rob Ellis

Sports

• Bob Bonner - Director seen on weeknights at 6, 10, and 11
• Kevin Hull - weekends and sports reporter

Reporters

• Heather Setzler - arts and entertainment
  • Executive News Producer
• Max Winitz
• Laura Sinacori - news producer
• Lynda Figueredo
• Kristy Ondo
• Claire Simms
• Gavin Johnson
• Casey Roman

Photographers

• Ryan Koresko
  • Chief Photographer
• Justin West
• Fletcher Mangum
• Steve Smith

Station alumni

• Shirley Gilbert-anchored Carolina in the Morning. Weathercaster. Deceased.
• Ken Murphy - Anchor (retired on December 31, 2004 after 40 years at the station, died in January 2007 at the age of 67)
• Maureen O’Boyle, reporter - had a nationally syndicated talk show for a time. Now main co-anchor at WBTV in Charlotte.
• Jeff Goldblatt, anchored Carolina in the Morning – Moved on to a number of positions from Richmond, Virginia to Washington, DC. Correspondent for the nationally syndicated show, American Journal. Currently with FOX News.
• Ken Lemon - One time Myrtle Beach Bureau Chief, then general assignment reporter. Moved to WSOC-TV in Charlotte.
• Beth Parker, weekend anchor – Reporter for WTTG in Washington, DC.
• Ken Medlin, Sport's Director- now Sports Reporter at WRAL-TV
• Ned Bauer, reporter – Has worked at numerous stations and produced special programming for C-SPAN and CNN.
• Bryan Moore, anchored Carolina in the Morning – Moved onto WLFL Fox 22, and News 14 Carolina in Raleigh, NC. Now Manager of Marketing Communications and Special Events with Northrop Grumman in Newport News, Virginia.
• Elizabeth Gardner, weather, currently a morning meteorologist with WRAL-TV in Raleigh.
• Mitch Davis, Bureau Chief/reporter 1991-1997. Went on to anchor weekends and later serve as Executive Producer at WBTW in Myrtle Beach 1999-2006. Now Daybreak executive producer with WSOC-TV in Charlotte.
• Chad Headley, Photojournalist/Truck Op -- Now Aerial Photojournalist for WGN-TV in Chicago.
• John Field - Photographer/Editor/Tape Roller from 1993-1998 for WECT News at 5, 6, and 11 p.m. Moved out of the television industry and into research.
• Nicole Ferguson, reporter -- Now a reporter for WGHP in Greensboro, NC
• Dan Henry- Meteorogest (90's) now Cheif Meteorologest at KDFW-TV, Dallas, TX
• Chris Marshell- Meteorologest (90's) Now ?
• Steve White- Weekend Sports anchor (90's) Now ?
• Kim Fields, Anchor -- Now anchors at WTVC-TV in Chattanooga, TN
• Maggie Alexander, Reporter -- Now is a reporter with WIS-TV in Columbia, SC
• Ashley Hayes, Reporter -- Now is a reporter for WSB-TV Atlanta, GA
• George Elliot, Chief Meteorologest -- retired December 31, 2008.
• Craig Carnessi, Meteorologest now weekend Meteorologest at KSPR in Springfield, MO

Logos

WECT logo used from May 8, 1986 until 1995.

WECT logo used from 1995 until 2005.

Current WECT logo used since 2005. It is similar to the previous logo but enhanced for network HD.

Digital television

The station's digital channel is multiplexed and had been carrying NBC Weather Plus as a digital subchannel. NBC has ceased operation of the Weather Plus service effective December 1, 2008.^[4]

Weather Plus still operating as local weather channel as of January 6, 2009 but no NBC feeds, Has Local Weather updates and Doppler Radar with NOAA Radio feeds

See also

• WECT TV6 Tower

References

External links

• WECT channel 6
• WECT wireless
• WSFX-TV/DT "Fox 26"
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WECT

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