WRAL loses CBS affiliation effective next month

[tyrannical bastard 3487]

 

All I can say is, WNCN should have just tacked on a CBS logo to the WNCN logo and called it a day.

 

AMEN!!!

 

Branding is not rocket science as these companies have made it out to be.

It seems these long drawn out and vague brands are a result of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) as companies are so paranoid and desperate to draw in viewers and ad dollars, that they will throw ANYTHING into their brand to suck people in. If you've ever seen all the words at the end of a website, that's the garbage that sucks in the searches.

 

And if call letters are so important to Nielsen, why drop them in favor of a brand that falls short of it's reach?

[T.L. Hughes 760]

Have WRAL and WNCN aired any specials pertaining to the switch during the past week or have they limited details of it to reports within their newscasts and station promos?

[MidwestTV 1174]

As of now CBSNorthCarolina.com redirects to WNCN.com; I suspect that will change soon.

 

Why would you change your URL to be something longer than what it is now? Just leave it how it is now, at wncn.com, but let that long url be redirected.

[TexasTVNews 1367]

Have WRAL and WNCN aired any specials pertaining to the switch during the past week or have they limited details of it to reports within their newscasts and station promos?

 

WRAL did a special edition of On The Record with David Crabtree talking about the switch to NBC as well as in interview with Lester Holt.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/video/15437010/

[SterlingNorth 33]

Why would you change your URL to be something longer than what it is now? Just leave it how it is now, at wncn.com, but let that long url be redirected.

Do not know, but it was something many stations love to do. WCVB․com became TheBostonChannel․com Of course, now they're back to WCVB․com (When Internet Broadcasting took over sites, they loved those TheCityChannel․com or ChannelX000․com constructions). I guess they think a phrase is better to remember and say than a set of call letters. Moreso now that many stations don't brand by call letters.

[Samantha 2878]

Do not know, but it was something many stations love to do. WCVB․com became TheBostonChannel․com Of course, now they're back to WCVB․com (When Internet Broadcasting took over sites, they loved those TheCityChannel․com or ChannelX000․com constructions). I guess they think a phrase is better to remember and say than a set of call letters. Moreso now that many stations don't brand by call letters.

 

In the late 90s/early 2000s there were also a lot of "portal"-type site names. Until about 2002 KNXV's site was phoenix360.com.

 

In some cases, I think they do it to reinforce the rest of their branding (e.g. KPHO - CBS5AZ.com). In other cases, even when it's not necessary, a city identifier helps keep things consistent and less confusing on social.

 

Nexstar uses "portal"-type names simply because most of their operations in different cities are clusters.

[bhratbrat 423]

I didn't think animals could sign legal contracts.

 

[mrschimpf 2065]

Nexstar uses "portal"-type names simply because most of their operations in different cities are clusters.

 

That and their terrible attempts at creating separate local advertising sites on the scam/spam-heavy .biz domain (their newer acquisitions haven't even bothered setting those up outside of a GoDaddy park page). Whoever made that creative decision had no idea what they were doing.

 

There's also a video on WNCN's site of them giving their longtime NBC-specific mascot "Feathers" his walking papers. Pity to whoever had to wear that costume; at least they didn't have to wave around a sign like one of those Liberty Tax 'statues'.

[elfuego35 89]

If anything....this will help WNCT immensely in the ratings. Their biggest impediment was having to compete with WRAL, which in most cases until recently was on cable alongside WNCT in Greenville itself. WITN historically took charge as the dominant NBC station in surrounding areas when Raleigh/Durham suffered through WRDU / WPTF / WRDC as their NBC affiliate. Now WITN will have reason to fear WRAL and could use their influence to black out any duplicate programming.

 

Well, actually, WNCT did the dirty work for them. In 2014, WNCT filed a petition with the FCC to have WRAL's significantly viewed protection withdrawn in two major counties with WRAL on their cable system, and WNCT's petition was granted... 3 days before it became WITN's issue. This means, once enforced that WITN doesn't have to worry about the same audience fragmentation that WNCT did.

[Samantha 2878]

I wonder how they're explaining that the changes don't apply (yet) to Wilmington viewers. It would not surprise me if WECT and WILM engineer an affiliation switch because a WRAL semi-satellite with a different network affiliation is kind of untenable...*

 

*Not that it hasn't been done. WMUR used to have some translators that carried Fox, for whatever reason, in the mid-1990s through the early 2000s.

[TriangleTriadMediaNews 267]

"WNCN, the Triangle's new home for CBS"

I wonder how they're explaining that the changes don't apply (yet) to Wilmington viewers. It would not surprise me if WECT and WILM engineer an affiliation switch because a WRAL semi-satellite with a different network affiliation is kind of untenable...*

 

*Not that it hasn't been done. WMUR used to have some translators that carried Fox, for whatever reason, in the mid-1990s through the early 2000s.

 

I had thought about that as well. For now, I wonder how WILM will handle moments when WRAL runs a story from an NBC News correspondent.

[tyrannical bastard 3487]

Jackson, TN is another one of those markets that kept the affiliation on their semi-satellite with WJKT.

When WPTY (now WATN) picked up ABC from WLMT when they switched to FOX, WJKT kept their affiliation (and likely due to the fact the ONLY station in the market at the time was WBBJ which has a longstanding affiliation with ABC). When they began newscasts, they could simply simulcast the WLMT 9pm show on WJKT live due to the similar scheduling.

[TennTV1983 756]

Jackson, TN is another one of those markets that kept the affiliation on their semi-satellite with WJKT.

When WPTY (now WATN) picked up ABC from WLMT when they switched to FOX, WJKT kept their affiliation (and likely due to the fact the ONLY station in the market at the time was WBBJ which has a longstanding affiliation with ABC). When they began newscasts, they could simply simulcast the WLMT 9pm show on WJKT live due to the similar scheduling.

No. You have it all wrong.

 

WLMT (then WMKW) was a Fox affiliate until 1990 when Fox moved to WPTY because of a dispute with then-owner MT Communications. While WLMT and WJKT (then WJWT and WMTU) were basically joined at the hip, the latter did manage to keep its Fox affiliation except for a period between 1995 and 2006 when it became a UPN-affiliated satellite of WLMT right after Fox had purchased then-ABC affiliate WHBQ (now owned by Cox).

[RGSJenkins 432]

When old meets new.

[GALLERY=media, 783]WNCN mismatch by RGSJenkins posted Feb 29, 2016 at 1:39 AM[/GALLERY]

[Mrtraveler01 737]

Looks like WNCN is using the new MG graphics.Same music as before though.

 

Funny goof, the anchor referred to the newscast as "WNCN Today" instead of "CBS North Carolina at 4:30"

[brianpr3 173]

i wonder did anyone catch the moment of switch over?

[TheRob 920]

[MEDIA=twitter]704275666338975744[/MEDIA]

[Hexagonal10 84]

Still using Canvas.

[Daybreak 270]

Looks like WNCN is using the new MG graphics.Same music as before though.

 

Funny goof, the anchor referred to the newscast as "WNCN Today" instead of "CBS North Carolina at 4:30"

 

That's because they didn't officially switched until 7 this morning.

[GoldenShine9 1509]

Regardless, I think the only losers here are CBS. They took themselves off the dominant station in the market for retransmission cash, money they can probably make up easily through WRAL's high ratings. Regardless of affiliation, I still see WRAL absolutely dominating the ratings. Maybe MG's thinking was that WNCN could challenge WTVD? We'll see. NBC hits a home run as a result with an unlikely opportunity to go from a weak station (after being on an even weaker station) to the 100-ton gorilla.

[TheRolyPoly 1847]

Regardless, I think the only losers here are CBS. They took themselves off the dominant station in the market for retransmission cash, money they can probably make up easily through WRAL's high ratings. Regardless of affiliation, I still see WRAL absolutely dominating the ratings. Maybe MG's thinking was that WNCN could challenge WTVD? We'll see. NBC hits a home run as a result with an unlikely opportunity to go from a weak station (after being on an even weaker station) to the 100-ton gorilla.

 

WRAL is the true winner here, no matter what affiliation they get. They can even get FOX, CW, MyTV or become Independent and still become the 1,000-ton gorilla in the market. That's how good they are.

[johnothy 43]

What exactly does CBS expect from their affiliates that has them considering other networks? Too much of a share of the retransmission fees they get from cable and satellite? I assume other networks aren't as greedy? With more people watching off air and cutting the cord, this retransmission money should drop anyway.

[atlnews2 563]

here is the new WNCN open and graphics for those who are curious

 

[Ntropolis 593]

I wonder how they're explaining that the changes don't apply (yet) to Wilmington viewers.

 

I'm watching WILM's news simulcast right now and don't see much change, if any. I haven't seen any promo spots or the like explaining there will be no change. The only thing I noticed was right before the 6pm news started tonight, WILM showed a static skycam shot for about 10 seconds... maybe to sync up something with scheduling between the two stations? I'm not sure if this is a normal thing or not... I wouldn't know because everyone around here (myself included) watches WECT.

[nickp 297]

Not particularly crazy about WNCN's CBS North Carolina branding. CBS 17 would've been a better branding, or sticking with the WNCN branding