New general managers at Charlotte stations are injecting a bit of dynamism into the local TV scene in North Carolina’s largest city. Michelle Robinson Harper took over at WBTV in September 2022. Lloyd Bucher just marked two years as WJZY-WMYT VP and general manager. Going back a little further, Joan Barrett reached the three-year mark as president and GM of WCNC in March.
WCNC was something of an also-ran when Barrett took over, and is more in the mix now. “I feel like the market has tightened up into more of a three-horse race,” she said, thanks to WCNC’s community outreach efforts and a strategy built around key news segments Barrett refers to as “content pillars.”
Cox Media Group owns ABC affiliate WSOC and independent WAXN, and also has Telemundo Charlotte. Gray Television owns CBS affiliate WBTV. Tegna has NBC-aligned WCNC and Nexstar owns Fox-MyNetworkTV duo WJZY-WMYT. Bahakel Communications holds WCCB, The CW station. Univision owns WUVC and Central Piedmont Community College has PBS station WTVI.
Spectrum is the primary pay TV operator in DMA No. 21.
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The race may have tightened, but WSOC still rules ratings. In September, WSOC won the 6 a.m. battle in households and the 25-54 demo, according to Nielsen numbers, with WBTV in second. At 6 p.m., it was the same in both households and the key demo. At 10 p.m., WCCB averaged a 0.7 in households and 0.2 in the demo, while WJZY had a 0.4 and 0.1. On to 11 p.m., where WSOC averaged a 1.9 household score, with a 0.5 in the demo. WBTV had a 1.6 and 0.4, and WCNC a 0.8 and a 0.2.
WSOC leadership did not return calls for comment. WBTV did not either.
WCNC’s content pillars include Where’s the Money?, which spawned during COVID-19, helping viewers get unemployment funds and businesses get PPP loans. Seeking Solutions checks in with both people who need a problem solved, and those with solutions to common issues.
The content pillar strategy started rolling out early in 2021. It also includes Tegna’s fact-checking Verify brand, which has a dedicated reporter and producer in Charlotte. WCNC’s See the Difference branding promises “a two-way conversation” with viewers.
Arrivals and Departures
Anchor Fred Shropshire departed WCNC for WCAU Philadelphia in May, and Colin Mayfield, who started on the 5 p.m. news in January, added 6 and 11 p.m. duties after Shropshire moved on. Mayfield came from WLWT Cincinnati.
Barrett has been helping manage Tegna’s WXIA-WATL Atlanta since general manager John Deushane retired in August. (Kristie Gonzales starts in Atlanta October 23.) She’s looking for a news director at WCNC. Department heads at the station, including former news director Carrie Hofmann and marketing director Robert Dwyer, have been in demand for GM jobs, Hofmann taking over at WLTX Columbia and Dwyer taking on KCEN-KAGS in Temple-Waco, both part of Tegna.
“Those were great moves for them,” said Barrett.
WCCB had been the market’s Fox affiliate and switched to The CW a decade ago when Fox acquired WJZY-WMYT, and made the former the Fox affiliate. Nexstar acquired WJZY-WMYT in 2020.
WJZY rebranded early last year, when Fox Charlotte shifted to Queen City News, a nod to Charlotte’s nickname. “We felt the time was right to take on a hyperlocal brand such as Queen City News,” Bucher said.
The station has invested heavily in local content, cranking out 11½ hours of local news and sports each weekday. Casey Clark runs the newsroom. Queen City News Now starts at 4 a.m. and Charlotte Sports Live goes at 11 p.m. A partnership with the Carolina Panthers sees the Nexstar stations run preseason games and Panthers programming in-season.
Alas, the NFL team has not yet won this season. WJZY, on the other hand, was awarded its first National Murrow Award in August, for Excellence in Continuing Coverage, related to an exhaustive investigation spearheaded by chief investigative reporter Jody Barr into local government corruption. The report was called “Lost Trust.”
“Our peers are recognizing some of the work that’s being done here following the Nexstar purchase,” said Bucher. “I couldn’t be more proud.”
WCCB’s news output includes WCCB News Rising from 5 to 9 a.m. and WCCB News @ Ten from 10 to 11 p.m.
WAXN introduced 7 p.m. news a few years ago.
WBTV general manager Robinson Harper used to be the general sales manager at WSOC, then left to be the general manager at WHBQ Memphis before taking the GM job at WBTV. Last year, Shelly Hill Crawford was promoted to WBTV station manager.
WBTV news director Molly Kelleher left the station this month to be assistant news director at Gray Television-owned KCTV Kansas City.
WBTV suffered a terrible tragedy last November, when pilot Chip Tayag and meteorologist Jason Myers died in a helicopter crash.
Charlotte is growing, with more and more people choosing to relocate there in the work-from-home era. The market was Nielsen’s No. 23 DMA in 2019, and sits at No. 21 right now. It is a banking hub, and the base for American Airlines. Barrett said Charlotte is the “perfect size” — large enough to enjoy major cosmopolitan attractions, including Charlotte Motor Speedway and the NASCAR Hall of Fame, but not so big that there’s a ton of traffic. Beaches and mountains are both an easy drive.
Bucher sounded a similar sentiment. “It’s big enough that you have two professional teams,” he said, “but not so big that you can’t get around.”
