WBTV (Charlotte)
U.S. center
Background
WBTV signed on July 15, 1949, becoming the first television station in the Carolinas and the 13th in the entire United States; it remains the oldest TV station between Richmond and Atlanta. The station grew out of WBT (1110 AM), a radio outlet owned by Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company of Greensboro, which had long been a CBS Radio affiliate, giving WBTV its lasting CBS relationship. In its early years it carried all four major networks of the era — CBS, NBC, ABC, and DuMont — before consolidating as a primary CBS affiliate. Jefferson Standard merged into Jefferson-Pilot Corporation, which later merged with Lincoln National Corporation, placing WBTV under the Lincoln Financial Media banner. In 2008, Lincoln Financial sold WBTV and several sister stations to Raycom Media for $583 million. In January 2019, Gray Television completed a $3.6 billion merger with Raycom, making Gray (now rebranded Gray Media) the current owner. Gray is led by CEO Hilton Howell Jr., who has donated to Republican candidates, praised Donald Trump and Elon Musk publicly, and stated his expectation that the Trump administration would loosen broadcast-ownership regulations to the company's benefit; Gray's Washington bureau chief also attended a White House dinner following Trump's address to Congress in 2025. Despite this corporate environment, third-party analyst Media Bias/Fact Check rates WBTV itself as least biased with high factual reporting, consistent with a station whose editorial focus remains local news rather than national political commentary.
Sources
- WBTV – Wikipedia
- WBTV – Bias and Credibility, Media Bias/Fact Check
- WBTV – North Carolina History Encyclopedia
- About WBTV
- Gray executives see deregulation coming under Trump (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- Is Gray Television Liberal or Conservative? (Television USA)
- Who Owns Gray Media – Free Press
Profile compiled 2026-07-13; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.