| Revision as of 23:16, 8 August 2005 editNSR (talk | contribs)3,584 edits dab link← Previous edit | Revision as of 01:21, 29 August 2005 edit undoHangingCurve (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers100,954 editsNo edit summaryNext edit → | ||
| Line 6: | Line 6: | ||
| analog = 28 (])| | analog = 28 (])| | ||
| digital = 27 (])| | digital = 27 (])| | ||
| affiliations = ]| | affiliations = ] (since 1995)| | ||
| founded = ]| | founded = ]| | ||
| location = ]/]/]| | location = ]/]/]| | ||
| Line 14: | Line 14: | ||
| homepage = | | homepage = | | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| '''WRDC-TV (UPN 28)''' is the ] affiliate in the ] (]-]-]) ] market. It is licensed to Durham, but its studios are in the Highwoods office park just outside downtown Raleigh. | '''WRDC-TV (UPN 28)''' is the ] affiliate in the ] (]-]-]) ] market. It is licensed to Durham, but its studios are in the Highwoods office park just outside downtown Raleigh. | ||
| ==History== | ==History== | ||
| In ], WNAO-TV signed on channel 28 as the Triangle's first television station and the state's first ] station. It was owned by the ''],'' which had only gotten into broadcasting six years earlier when it opened WNAO AM-FM (now WRBZ-AM and WBBB-FM). However, television manufacturers weren't required to include UHF tuning capability at the time. UHF stations weren't viewable without a converter, and the picture was barely viewable even with one. It went dark in ]. The fiscal loss for the N&O was so great that it got out of broadcasting entirely. | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | Channel 28 stayed dark until ], when WRDU-TV signed on as an ] affiliate. For the next quarter-century, it was a textbook example of how not to be a network affiliate. It suffered from having longer-established NBC affiliates in ] and ] being available over the air in much of the area. Also, its main competitors, ] affiliate ] and ] affiliate ], were two of the strongest performers for their respective networks. It also frequently pre-empted NBC programming in favor of local shows. | ||
| ⚫ | The Durham Life Insurance Company, which owned the Triangle's oldest radio station, WPTF-AM, bought WRDU-TV in ] and changed the calls to WPTF-TV. Durham Life brought in a full-scale news operation, but had little success in the next 20 years. At one point, it was dead last in the Triangle television ratings |
||
| ⚫ | The Durham Life Insurance Company, which owned the Triangle's oldest radio station, WPTF-AM, bought WRDU-TV in ] and changed the calls to WPTF-TV. It was Durham Life's second attempt to get into television; it had previously lost a licensing war with the much smaller Capitol Broadcasting for what became WRAL. Durham Life brought in a full-scale news operation, but had little success in the next 20 years. At one point, it was dead last in the Triangle television ratings behind WRAL, WTVD and even WLFL-TV, a station that had only been on the air since ]. WRAL and WTVD switched affiliations in ] after WTVD's owner, ], bought ABC, but WPTF saw little windfall from the switch. | ||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | By ], Durham Life wanted out of broadcasting entirely. Its entire broadcasting unit was broken up and sold off to various owners. WPTF-TV went to the Communications Corporation of America, who changed the calls to WRDC (for '''R'''aleigh, '''D'''urham and ]). The new owners made the station profitable almost immediately. However, it suffered a major loss in credibility by firing the entire news department. One disgruntled ex-employee suggested that the station's new calls really stood for "We Really Don't Care." | ||
| ⚫ | In ], NBC merged with Outlet Communications, which owned independent ] |
||
| ⚫ | In ], NBC merged with Outlet Communications, which owned independent ], a ]-licensed station that had recently expanded its signal to cover just about the entire Triangle. By this time, NBC had finally had enough with channel 28 and was looking to move its programming elsewhere. WRDC had been airing some UPN programs since earlier that year, and took on the UPN affiliation full-time in September. It later entered a ] with WLFL. In ], WLFL's owner, ], purchased WRDC outright. | ||
| ==External links== | ==External links== | ||
Revision as of 01:21, 29 August 2005
{{Infobox broadcast}} may refer to:
- Template:Infobox broadcasting network
- Template:Infobox television channel
- Template:Infobox television station
Topics referred to by the same term
This is an unused template to list other templates associated with a similar title or shortcut.If an internal transclusion led you here, you may wish to change it to point directly to the intended page.
{{Template disambiguation}} should never be transcluded in the main namespace.
WRDC-TV (UPN 28) is the UPN affiliate in the Triangle (Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville) television market. It is licensed to Durham, but its studios are in the Highwoods office park just outside downtown Raleigh.
History
In 1953, WNAO-TV signed on channel 28 as the Triangle's first television station and the state's first UHF station. It was owned by the News and Observer, which had only gotten into broadcasting six years earlier when it opened WNAO AM-FM (now WRBZ-AM and WBBB-FM). However, television manufacturers weren't required to include UHF tuning capability at the time. UHF stations weren't viewable without a converter, and the picture was barely viewable even with one. It went dark in 1959. The fiscal loss for the N&O was so great that it got out of broadcasting entirely.
Channel 28 stayed dark until 1968, when WRDU-TV signed on as an NBC affiliate. For the next quarter-century, it was a textbook example of how not to be a network affiliate. It suffered from having longer-established NBC affiliates in Winston-Salem and Greenville being available over the air in much of the area. Also, its main competitors, CBS affiliate WTVD and ABC affiliate WRAL, were two of the strongest performers for their respective networks. It also frequently pre-empted NBC programming in favor of local shows.
The Durham Life Insurance Company, which owned the Triangle's oldest radio station, WPTF-AM, bought WRDU-TV in 1978 and changed the calls to WPTF-TV. It was Durham Life's second attempt to get into television; it had previously lost a licensing war with the much smaller Capitol Broadcasting for what became WRAL. Durham Life brought in a full-scale news operation, but had little success in the next 20 years. At one point, it was dead last in the Triangle television ratings behind WRAL, WTVD and even WLFL-TV, a station that had only been on the air since 1981. WRAL and WTVD switched affiliations in 1986 after WTVD's owner, Capital Cities Communications, bought ABC, but WPTF saw little windfall from the switch.
By 1992, Durham Life wanted out of broadcasting entirely. Its entire broadcasting unit was broken up and sold off to various owners. WPTF-TV went to the Communications Corporation of America, who changed the calls to WRDC (for Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill). The new owners made the station profitable almost immediately. However, it suffered a major loss in credibility by firing the entire news department. One disgruntled ex-employee suggested that the station's new calls really stood for "We Really Don't Care."
In 1995, NBC merged with Outlet Communications, which owned independent WNCN-TV, a Goldsboro-licensed station that had recently expanded its signal to cover just about the entire Triangle. By this time, NBC had finally had enough with channel 28 and was looking to move its programming elsewhere. WRDC had been airing some UPN programs since earlier that year, and took on the UPN affiliation full-time in September. It later entered a local marketing agreement with WLFL. In 2001, WLFL's owner, Sinclair Broadcast Group, purchased WRDC outright.
External links
| Broadcast television in the North Carolina Research Triangle region | |
|---|---|
| |
| Full power |
|
| Low-power |
|
| ATSC 3.0 | |
| Cable |
|
| Streaming | |
| Defunct | |
| |