Outlet profile

WCNC (Charlotte NBC affiliate)

U.S. center / center-left

Owned byNexstar Media Group (completed $6.2 billion acquisition of TEGNA Inc. in March 2026; a federal court injunction requires TEGNA assets to be held separately pending ongoing antitrust litigation)

FundingLocal broadcast advertising revenue

On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

The station that became WCNC signed on July 9, 1967, as WCTU-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina, launched by a local dentist-led group called Charlotte Telecasters Inc. After falling into receivership, it was purchased by Ted Turner and renamed WRET-TV, stabilizing and growing through the 1970s. Turner sold it to Westinghouse Broadcasting in 1979—using the proceeds to fund the launch of CNN—at which point the station became WPCQ-TV. WPCQ had already become Charlotte's NBC affiliate in 1978, when WSOC-TV switched from NBC to ABC. Westinghouse spun the station off to local ownership in 1984, and Providence Journal Company purchased it in 1988 for roughly $30 million. On September 3, 1989, it was rebranded WCNC-TV, with the call letters standing for 'Charlotte, North Carolina.' Belo Corporation acquired it in 1996, and Gannett purchased it in 2013 as part of a $1.5 billion Belo deal. When Gannett split its print and broadcast divisions in 2015, WCNC was assigned to the broadcast side, which operated under the name TEGNA. In March 2026, Nexstar Media Group closed a $6.2 billion all-cash takeover of TEGNA, forming the nation's largest local broadcast group; multiple states filed antitrust suits, and a federal court ordered the assets held separately during litigation. Throughout its history the station has functioned as a mainstream local news operation, and Media Bias/Fact Check's 2025 review rated it 'Least Biased' with a high factual-reporting score.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-07-15; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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