Charlotte CSA is now over 3.3 M per the 2020, which means it's nearly 1 million population difference between it and the Raleigh-Durham CSA.
The Unifour area had already tied economically themselves to Charlotte but merged into it officially by the US Census. Lake Norman development along with commuting between the two areas solidified it.
I have ample knowledge of Sacramento due to family, like Raleigh it's DMA is tied to Modesto and Stockton in the a Central Valley. Sacramento is also not keeping up with Charlotte either. Charlotte is projected to be continued to accelerate in growth due to the the simultaneously growth from urban infill and rapid growth of its surrounding counties and the satellite cities of Concord, Kannapolis, Rock Hill, and Gastonia, Hickory.
CBS never had news offices here. They do have sports bureaus here. NBC News Channel is in the same complex as WCNC. Its arrangement is similar to how WXIA is housing the NBC News Atlanta bureau. NASCAR, MLS & college sports programming are why FOX has its FS1 HQs in University City. Similar reasons with ESPN.
I don't think it's a battle between the two areas. It's just becoming more apparent that Charlotte is more dominant area because it wasn't trying to seperate itself from other markets in the past.