WSOC-TV

WSOC-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. It shows programs from ABC and Telemundo. The station is owned by Cox Media Group along with another station called WAXN-TV (channel 64), which is licensed in Kannapolis.

Both stations share their studios on West 23rd Street, north of downtown Charlotte. The tower for WSOC-TV is located near Reedy Creek Park in the Newell part of the city.

History

WSOC-TV started broadcasting on April 28, 1957, as Charlotte's third television station. It was originally owned by the Jones family and shared studios with WSOC radio. Initially, it was mainly affiliated with NBC but also showed some ABC programs.

Over the years, WSOC changed its network affiliations several times. It became an exclusive NBC station in 1967, then switched back to ABC in 1978 when ABC wanted a stronger partner in Charlotte. In 1996, WSOC formed a partnership with another station, WKAY-TV, which later became WAXN-TV, to broadcast extra shows. Cox Media Group fully purchased WAXN in 1999.

In 2019, Apollo Global Management acquired Cox Media Group, which continued to operate the stations. Recently, WSOC has simulcast some Charlotte Hornets basketball games.

News operation

WSOC-TV broadcasts over 37 hours of local news each week, with shows on weekdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. It also creates extra news programs for its sister station WAXN-TV. Since the 1970s, WSOC-TV has used the "Eyewitness News" name for its broadcasts.

In 1981, a popular anchor from a competing station joined WSOC-TV, helping it become a leader in news coverage for many years. The station was the first in its area to start broadcasting news in high definition in 2007. It has also created special morning news programs for WAXN-TV since 2010.

Technical information

Subchannels

WSOC-TV broadcasts on multiple channels. In 2017, it began showing Telemundo on channel 9.2. Another channel called Laff moved to a different station. In 2022, GetTV also moved to WSOC-TV on channel 9.3.

Analog to digital conversion

WSOC-TV stopped its old style broadcasts on June 12, 2009, and switched to digital. Its digital signal stayed on channel 34 before moving to channel 19 in 2019. Some viewers needed special antennas to get the station after this change.

NextGen TV

WSOC-TV started using NextGen TV technology on June 29, 2021.

Translators

Even though WSOC-TV has a strong signal, some areas lost coverage after the switch to digital. The station uses three smaller transmitters to help cover these areas. One started in Valdese in 2009, another in Shelby in 2010, and a third in Statesville in 2012.

W26FA-D Marion

  Broadcast on behalf of another station

WSOC-CR Shelby

WSOC-ST Statesville

Out-of-market cable and DirecTV carriage

WSOC-TV can be watched on cable in places beyond the Charlotte area. It is available in areas like the Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point region in North Carolina, as well as in Greenville and Florence–Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, and the Tri-Cities area in Tennessee and Virginia. It is also carried on DirecTV in several counties within the Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point market.