Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryMedia
Founded1937
FounderA.J. Fletcher
Headquarters,
Key people
Products
Websitewww.capitolbroadcasting.com

The Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc. (CBC) is an American media company based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Capitol owns three television stations and nine radio stations in the Raleigh–Durham and Wilmington areas of North Carolina and the Durham Bulls minor league baseball team as well as the Coastal Plain League, a college summer baseball league. It is one of the few family-owned broadcasting companies left in the country, owned by four generations of the Fletcher-Goodmon family.

History

A.J. Fletcher founded the Capitol Broadcasting Company in 1937 when he founded Raleigh radio station WRAL (1240 AM, now WPJL). WRAL radio began transmission two years later in 1939, using a 250-watt transmitter, becoming Raleigh's second radio station (after WPTF). In 1942, Capitol created the Tobacco Radio Network, a farm news radio service that was discontinued in 2002. On September 6, 1946, Capitol Broadcasting received a license with the Federal Communications Commission for WCOY-FM (whose callsign was later changed to WRAL-FM), operating from a 250,000-watt transmitter. In 1960, CBC founded the North Carolina News Network, a statewide radio network that now provides news, weather, and sports content to about 80 radio stations. This property was sold to Curtis Media Group in 2009.

On December 15, 1956, Capitol Broadcasting's flagship television station WRAL-TV went on the air in Raleigh. In 1979, WRAL-TV became the first television station in North Carolina to have a dedicated helicopter for newsgathering. In 1987, Capitol acquired independent station WJZY-TV in Charlotte. The following year, Capitol also acquired another independent station, WTTV and its satellite station, WTTK, in the Indianapolis area. WTTV and WTTK were sold in 1991 to River City Broadcasting. In 1996, WRAL-TV was granted the first experimental high definition digital television license in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission. On October 13, 2000, WRAL became the first television station in the world to broadcast a news program entirely in high-definition; the station would begin broadcasting all of its local newscasts in high-definition in January 2001. In 2001, Capitol purchased WFVT (now WMYT-TV) in Charlotte, creating the market's second television duopoly. On October 14, 2005, Capitol Broadcasting signed on WCMC-FM on 99.9 MHz in Raleigh with a country music format, "Genuine Country".

In July 2008, Capitol Broadcasting acquired five radio stations in Wilmington from NextMedia Group for $12 million.[1] On April 14, 2009, Capitol Broadcasting and the City of Raleigh partnered to introduce the first mobile digital television in a public transit bus. On January 28, 2013, Fox Television Stations announced that it had entered into an agreement to purchase WJZY and WMYT from Capitol for $18 million;[2][3] the deal was completed on April 17.[4][5]

Major assets

Notes:

1) Two boldface asterisks appearing following a station's call letters (**) indicate a station that was built and signed-on by Capitol Broadcasting Company;

Television stations

City of license / Market Station
  • Owned
  • since
Primary affiliation
Raleigh, North Carolina WRAL-TV ** 5 (17) 1956
WRAZ 50 (15) 2000
Smithfield-Selma, North Carolina WNGT-CD 34 (23) 2020 Catchy Comedy
Wilmington, North Carolina WILM-LD 10 (15) 1999

Radio stations

Note: Stations operated within the Wilmington radio station cluster are operated under the name Sunrise Broadcasting;

City of license /Market Station
  • Owned
  • since
Current format Notes
Boiling Spring Lakes, North Carolina WKXB 99.9 2008 Rhythmic oldies Serves the Wilmington market
Durham, North Carolina WDNC 620 2009 Sports radio Serves the Raleigh market
Holly Springs, North Carolina WCMC-FM 99.9 2005 ESPN Radio affiliate Serves the Raleigh market
Raleigh, North Carolina WCLY 1550 2009 Sports radio Simulcasts WDNC
WRAL-FM 101.5 1947 Adult contemporary
Jacksonville, North Carolina WRMR 98.7 2011 AAA Serves the Wilmington market
Southport, North Carolina WAZO 107.5 2008 Contemporary hits Serves the Wilmington market
Wilmington, North Carolina WILT 103.7 2008 Adult contemporary
WMFD 630 2008 Sports radio

Sports

Investments

  • TitanTV Media[6]

Former assets

Television stations

City of license / Market Station
  • Channel
  • TV (RF)
  • Years
  • owned
Current status
BloomingtonKokomoIndianapolis, Indiana WTTV 4 (27) 1988–1991 CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
WTTK[lower-alpha 1] 29 (15)
Rock Hill, South CarolinaBelmontCharlotte, North Carolina WJZY 46 (25) 1987–2013 Fox affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
WMYT-TV 55 (25) 2000–2013 MyNetworkTV affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group
  1. Satellite of WTTV.

Radio

References

  1. Capitol Broadcasting acquires seven radio stations in deals worth nearly $13M, WRAL-TV, Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  2. "Fox Affiliate Switch in Works for Charlotte". Broadcasting and Cable. Retrieved 2013-01-29.
  3. "Price revealed for Fox Charlotte TV buy". Radio & Television Business Report. January 29, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
  4. "Consummation Notice (WJZY)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. April 17, 2013. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  5. "Consummation Notice (WMYT-TV)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. April 17, 2013. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  6. Kramer, Staci D. (2007-01-17). "Syndicate Buys Control Of TV Tech/Data Company Decisionmark Control; Name Changes To TitanTV Media". gigaom.com. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
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