WCCW is The CW affiliate serving Charlotte, NC and the greater Charlotte area. Broadcasting on channel 17, WCCW is owned and operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group. WCCW was launched on May 3, 1978 as an independent, four years after WAXC was launched. Shortly after their launch and when WCTU became an NBC affiliate, WCCW acquired the majority of WCTU's independent programming. WCCW remained an independent until 1995 when they became an affiliate with The WB. When the WB and UPN merged to form The CW, WCCW became an affiliate of The CW.
History[]
WCCW was launched on May 3, 1978 as WAYS-TV. The first owners were the Bahakel Communications. For a brief moment, WAYS-TV was in a rivalry with WCTU, but that was changed on Sept. 1, 1978 when WCTU became an NBC affiliate, and the majority of WCTU's programming, including The Jim Bakker Telecast, was moved to WAYS-TV. WAYS-TV found themselves fighting a losing battle to WQNC, but they did had a cult following, and by 1990, WAYS-TV's ratings started to rise. In 1995, WAYS-TV became an affiliate of The WB. After 25 years of ownership with the station Bahakel Communications, decided to put the station up for sale. Lady Luck Comunications bought the station for $175 million. In 2006, The WB and UPN merged to become The CW. Thus, WAYS-TV changed their call sign to WCCW.
In 2013, Lady Luck Communications shocked the market when they bought NBC affiliate WCTU from Belo Broadcasting for $250 million. On Feb. 10, 2016, BeloOne bought back WCTU, and entered into a LMA with Lady Luck, in which BeloOne would own WCTU, and Lady Luck would run WCTU.
In March 30, 2021 Tribune Broadcasting sold to Sinclair Broadcast Group pending for $4.00 million the deal is expected to be completed on September 28, 2021
Newscast[]
When the station was an affiliate of The WB, WAYS-TV had their own newscast WAYS News went from 1995–98, but due to low ratings, the newscast was cancelled. In 2006, three years after Lady Luck bought the station, WCCW relaunched their newscast as The CW 17 News. From 2006-13, the newscast's ratings were moderate. When Lady Luck Communications bought WCTU in 2013, WCCW's newscast was closed down and WCTU started producing WCCW's newscasts. On May 21, 2016, Lady Luck Communications sold WCCW (and it's sister station WCTU) to Tunica Communications. On Dec. 31, 2016, Tunica would end the duopoly and sold the station to Tribune Broadcasting. Afterwards, Tribune announced plans of launching NewsFix for Charlotte.
| TV stations in the Charlotte, North Carolina area | |
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| Reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television | |
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| Low power | |
| ATSC 3.0 | |
| Cable channels | |