WSOC-TV

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WSOC-TV
Charlotte, North Carolina
Branding	Channel 9
Slogan	Covering the Carolinas
Channels	9 (VHF) analog, 34 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	ABC (secondary, 1957-67; sole affiliate, 1978-present)
Owner	Cox
Founded	April 29, 1957
Call letters meaning	We Serve Our Community or W Sounds Of Charlotte (both from WSOC radio)
Former affiliations	NBC (1957-78)
Website	www.wsoctv.com

WSOC-TV "Channel 9" is the ABC affiliate in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is owned by Cox Broadcasting. Its transmitter is located in Charlotte.

WSOC was Charlotte's second television station, signing on on April 29, 1957 as a primary NBC affiliate, with a secondary ABC affiliation. It was owned by the Jones family, who put WSOC-AM (now WYFQ-AM), Charlotte's second radio station, on the air in 1929. Cox bought the station in 1959. WCCB signed on in 1964 as a nominal ABC affiliate, but WSOC continued to air some ABC programs until 1967. it rejoined ABC in 1978 after ABC became the highest-rated network in the country for the first time ever and wanted a stronger outlet than WCCB. NBC was sent over to WRET (channel 36, now WCNC-TV). The radio stations were sold off in the early 1990s.

For many years, WSOC was a very distant second in the Charlotte market, behind the older WBTV. Since 1990, WSOC has led in most news timeslots, but is just a few points behind WBTV for overall viewership. After a 25-year run as the late night news leader, WSOC has dropped to second place at 11 PM behind WBTV. [1]

Since 1994, WSOC-TV has produced a 10:00pm newscast, which now airs on its sister station, WAXN-TV. Its 10:00 news aired on WCCB until that station launched its own local news operation in 2000.

Bill Walker was WSOC's main anchor from 1967 until his retirement in 2005, longer than anyone in Charlotte television history.

Contents 1 Newscasts 1.1 Current Personalities 1.2 Former Personalities 2 Trivia 3 External links

[edit] Newscasts

WSOC-TV plans to start producing local newscasts in high-definition in early 2007 [2]. That would make WSOC the first television station in Charlotte and the second station in North Carolina (behind Raleigh's WRAL) to do newscasts in HD.

Weekdays

• Channel 9 Eyewitness News Daybreak - 5AM-7AM

Scott Wickersham and Erica Bryant

• Channel 9 Eyewitness News Midday - NOON-1PM

Scott Wickersham and Erica Bryant

• Channel 9 Eyewitness News at 5:00 - 5PM-5:30PM

Debi Faubion & Vince Coakley

• Channel 9 Eyewitness News at 5:30 - 5:30PM-6PM

Kim Brattain & Blair Miller

• Channel 9 Eyewitness News at 6:00 - 6PM-6:30PM

Debi Faubion & Vince Coakley

• Channel 9 Eyewitness News at 11:00 - 11PM-11:35PM

Debi Faubion & Vince Coakley

Weekends

• Channel 9 Eyewitness News Daybreak - 7AM-10AM (Saturdays only)

Ann Marie O'Keefe

• Channel 9 Eyewitness News Midday - NOON-12:30PM

Ann Marie O'Keefe

• Channel 9 Eyewitness News at 6:00 - 6PM-6:30PM

Ben Thompson and Susan Tran

• Channel 9 Eyewitness News at 11:00 - 11PM-11:35PM

Ben Thompson and Susan Tran

[edit] Current Personalities

• John Ahrens, Meteorologist
• Mark Becker, General Assignment Reporter
• Jamie Bowers, Traffic Reporter
• Jim Bradley, General Assignment Reporter
• Kim Brattain, 5:30PM and 10PM Anchor/Reporter
• Erica Bryant, Daybreak and Midday Anchor/Reporter
• Vince Coakley, 5PM, 6PM, and 11PM Anchor/Reporter
• Debi Faubion, 5PM, 6PM, and 11PM Anchor/Reporter
• Dave Faherty, General Assignment Reporter
• Don Griffin, Consumer and Business Reporter
• Ashlea Kosikowski, General Assignment Reporter
• Ken Lemon, General Assignment Reporter
• Tracey Lewis, Meteorologist
• Steve Litz, General Assignment Reporter
• Brigida Mack, General Assignment Reporter
• Ron Magnuson, General Assignment Reporter
• Blair Miller, 5:30PM and 10PM Anchor/Reporter
• Ann Marie O'Keefe, Weekend Daybreak and Midday Anchor/Reporter
• Laura Palka, Weekend 6PM, 10PM, and 11PM Anchor/Reporter
• Rene Romo, General Assignment Reporter
• Brian Stickley, Traffic Reporter
• Greg Suskin, General Assignment Reporter
• Ben Thompson, Weekend 6PM, 10PM, and 11PM Anchor/Reporter
• Susan Tran, Weekend 6PM, 10PM, and 11PM Anchor/Reporter
• Steve Udelson, Chief Meteorologist
• Bill Voth, Sports Anchor/Reporter
• Mark Watkins, Daybreak and Midday Meteorologist
• Scott Wickersham, Daybreak and Midday Anchor/Reporter
• Tiffany Wright, Sports Anchor/Reporter

[edit] Former Personalities

• Holly Bristow, General Assignment Reporter (2003-2006)
• Harold Johnson, Sports Director (1979-2006, retired)
• Cullen Ferguson, Anchor/Reporter (1969-2005, retired)
• Doreen Gentzler, Anchor/Reporter (?-1983, now at WRC-TV)
• Bill Walker, Anchor/Reporter (1968-2005, retired)
• Patty Pan, General Assignment Reporter (2002-2005, now at WAGA-TV)
• Tracey Neale, Anchor/Reporter (?-1994, now at WUSA-TV)
• Michelle Kosinski, Reporter (?-2001, now at NBC)
• Rob Boisvert, Anchor/Reporter (?-?, now at News 14 Carolina)
• Meg MacDonald, Anchor/Reporter (1983-1990, later at Inside Edition)
• Cory Kessler, Sports Anchor/Reporter (?-?, now at Fox Sports Net South)
• Jeff Sonier, Reporter (?-?, now at WCNC-TV)
• Joe Johns, Reporter (?-?, later at NBC, now at CNN)
• Jeremy Reiner, Meteorologist (?-?, now at WHDH-TV)
• Bob Pearse, Sports Anchor (1978-1980, now at Cable News 2, Rock Hill, SC)
• Brett McMillan, Sports Anchor (1980s, now at WBT)
• John Humphries, Sports Reporter/Anchor (1980s, now at WYFF)
• Melonie Holt, Anchor/Reporter (1996-2004, now at WFTV)
• John Cochran, Reporter (1960s, later at NBC, now at ABC)
• Doug Mayes, Anchor (1980s, retired)
• Brooke Sanders, Reporter (1995-1998, now at WMC-TV)

Other notable employees include editor John Bultmann (1988-1996) and producer Lee Baber (1992-1997).

[edit] Trivia

• WSOC retains the same call letters as its former sister station, country music radio station WSOC-FM 103.7 FM, which is now owned by CBS Radio. The former WSOC (AM) 930 is now Bible Broadcasting Network-owned WYFQ.

• WSOC is one of the few ABC affiliates not to air Jimmy Kimmel Live. WSOC's sister station in Atlanta, WSB-TV, also does not air the program.

• WSOC is one of the few ABC affiliates not to air Good Morning America, Weekend Edition. WSOC's sister stations in Atlanta, WSB-TV and Orlando, WFTV, also do not air the program.

[edit] External links

• WSOC-TV Homepage
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WSOC-TV

Broadcast television in the Charlotte market  (Nielsen DMA #26)
WBTV 3 (CBS) - WSOC 9 (ABC) - WHKY 14 (Ind) - W16CF 16 / W38CN 38 / W66ST 66 (TBN) - WUNE 17 / WUNG 58 (PBS/UNC-TV) - WCCB 18 (Fox) - WLNN-LP 24 / WTBL-LP 49 (A1) - WGTB-LP 28 (FN) - WNSC 30 (PBS/SCETV) - WCNC 36 (NBC) - WTVI 42 (PBS) - WJZY 46 (The CW) - WMYT 55 (MNTV) - WAXN 64 (Ind)
Local cable television channels
News 14 Carolina - C-SET (defunct)
See also Broadcast television in Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville, Columbia and Piedmont Triad

ABC Network Affiliates in the state of North Carolina
WWAY 3 (Wilmington) - WSOC 9 (Charlotte) - WTVD 11 (Durham) - WCTI 12 (New Bern) - WLOS 13 (Asheville) - WXLV 45 (Winston-Salem)
See also: CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS, CW, MNTV and Other stations in North Carolina