CBS17 (Nexstar)
U.S. center-right (corporate parent)
Background
The station signed on the air on April 11, 1988, as WYED-TV, one of the first TV stations owned by the Beasley Broadcasting Group. In 1994 it was sold to The Outlet Company and rebranded WNCN. NBC then acquired it and held it for more than a decade before selling to Media General in 2006. In February 2016, the station became the CBS affiliate for the Triangle market in a swap with longtime CBS affiliate WRAL-TV, and shortly after rebranded from 'CBS North Carolina' to 'CBS17.' Nexstar Media Group acquired Media General for roughly $4.6 billion, with the deal closing January 17, 2017, folding WNCN into a portfolio that now spans more than 200 stations. At the corporate level, Nexstar has drawn scrutiny for right-leaning editorial pressure: in 2021, staff at Nexstar's NewsNation cable channel departed citing conservative bias. In late 2024, CEO Perry Sook publicly praised the prospect of FCC deregulation under the incoming Trump administration, calling the regulatory environment the most favorable in recent memory. In September 2025, Nexstar preempted 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' across its ABC affiliates after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr threatened regulatory action against broadcasters airing the program — a move that drew a formal inquiry from Senator Elizabeth Warren. CBS17's own local journalism covers the Triangle area in a standard local-TV style, with no documented history of overt partisan editorial direction at the station level.
Sources
- WNCN - Wikipedia
- CBS North Carolina rebrands as CBS 17 — CBS17.com
- Nexstar Media Group - Wikipedia
- As Nexstar and Sinclair Take on Disney Over Jimmy Kimmel, the FCC Is Happy — Variety
- Nexstar ABC Affiliates To Preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! Indefinitely — Nexstar.tv
- Warren Letter to Nexstar and Sinclair on Jimmy Kimmel — warren.senate.gov
- Nexstar Media Group Profile — OpenSecrets
- Who Owns Nexstar — Free Press
Profile compiled 2026-07-11; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.