WCNC Charlotte

What WCNC Charlotte does

WCNC Charlotte (legal entity WCNC-TV) is the NBC-affiliated local broadcast television station serving the Charlotte, North Carolina metropolitan area and surrounding counties in North and South Carolina, including Mecklenburg, Lancaster, Union, and Iredell. Founded in 1967 and now owned by TEGNA, the station produces local news, weather, sports, traffic, and community programming across three primary content pillars: core broadcast news, the WCNC+ over-the-top streaming service (available on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV), and the "VERIFY" fact-checking editorial product. A second non-news product, the "Bragg About It" podcast hosted by Meghan Bragg and Carleen Bragg, extends the brand into on-demand audio.

The underlying technology platform combines traditional over-the-air broadcast distribution with a digital streaming stack (WCNC+), a news website (wcnc.com), mobile applications for iOS and Android, and a multi-platform social presence (Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn). Editorial operations include a dedicated meteorology function recognized at the state and national level (NC Dogwood Award, National Weather Appreciation Award for Hurricane Helene coverage), a sports desk covering the Carolina Panthers, Charlotte Hornets, Charlotte FC, and high-school athletics, plus a fact-checking unit (VERIFY) with public-submission intake.

The business model is advertising-driven: WCNC generates revenue through television advertising, digital advertising on wcnc.com, sponsored segments, and streaming/CTV inventory, supplemented by retransmission fees negotiated by parent TEGNA. Content is delivered free to consumers across broadcast, web, streaming, and mobile; there is no consumer paywall. Customer concentration risk on the demand side is undisclosed (advertiser identities are not named), while on the audience side, reach is distributed across the Charlotte metro mass market. Parent TEGNA provides operational scale, network affiliation, and shared-services infrastructure across its ~64-station portfolio, while WCNC retains local editorial and commercial autonomy within the Charlotte DMA.

Name

WCNC Charlotte

Legal name

WCNC-TV

Website

https://wcnc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

WCNC Charlotte (WCNC-TV) is the NBC-affiliated local broadcast television station serving the Charlotte, NC metropolitan area. Owned by TEGNA, it delivers local news, weather, sports, and community content across broadcast, wcnc.com, the WCNC+ streaming service, mobile apps, and podcasts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Broadcast Television News

NAICS

Television Broadcasting Stations (516120), Radio and Television Broadcasting Stations (5161)

SIC

Television Broadcasting Stations (4833)

akta.pro primary industry

Network-Affiliated Local TV Stations (ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX/CW/Telemundo/Univision, etc.) (MPABACAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Local News & Weather Stations (MPABACAJ)

Keywords

• Local news broadcast
• Weather forecasting
• Sports coverage
• Fact-checking journalism
• Streaming media

Headquarters

HQ city

Charlotte

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Advertising Revenue: WCNC Charlotte generates revenue through television advertising, digital advertising on wcnc.com, sponsored content segments, and streaming platform partnerships. The station operates as an NBC affiliate owned by TEGNA.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

WCNC Charlotte is an NBC-affiliated local television broadcast station serving the Charlotte, North Carolina metropolitan area. It produces and distributes local news, weather forecasts, sports coverage (Panthers, Hornets, Charlotte FC), traffic updates, and community journalism across over-the-air broadcast, the WCNC+ streaming platform, and the wcnc.com website. The station also operates the VERIFY fact-checking initiative and the 'Bragg About It' podcast.

Product overview

WCNC Charlotte is a local broadcast television news station serving the Charlotte, North Carolina market. The station offers a unified news platform comprising its core broadcast news division, the WCNC+ streaming service for over-the-top content delivery, and the VERIFY fact-checking feature. The station covers local news, weather, sports (including coverage of the Carolina Panthers, Charlotte Hornets, Charlotte FC, and other regional teams), crime, health, politics, and national/world news. Content is distributed across traditional broadcast, the WCNC+ streaming platform (available on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV), and the website and mobile app.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• VERIFY: Fact-checking segment dedicated to helping the public distinguish between true and false information in news and social media.
• WCNC+
• Bragg About It

Products and services

• WCNC Charlotte News Broadcast Local television news broadcast covering Charlotte, North Carolina and surrounding areas with reporting on local news, weather, sports, crime, health, politics, and current events.
• WCNC+ Over-the-top streaming service allowing users to stream WCNC Charlotte content on connected TV platforms including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and Apple TV.
• Bragg About It Podcast Podcast celebrating the people, businesses and organizations making Charlotte better, hosted by Meghan Bragg and Carleen Bragg.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• TEGNAcoreOthersTEGNA is the parent company and owner of WCNC Charlotte. As a large media company, TEGNA operates multiple television stations and digital platforms across the United States. WCNC Charlotte operates as an NBC affiliate under the TEGNA portfolio.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• WSOC-TV: Charlotte's ABC affiliate and Hearst-owned local news station, directly competing for the same Charlotte DMA audience, advertisers, and sports rights. The most head-to-head comparable in the market.
• WBTV: Charlotte's CBS affiliate (Gray Television-owned), the legacy ratings leader in the Charlotte DMA. Competes with WCNC across news, weather, and sports for audience share and local ad spend.
• WJZY (Queen City News): Charlotte's Fox affiliate and local news competitor, covering overlapping news, weather, and sports content for the same Charlotte metro households.

Broad incumbents

• KARE 11 (NBC Minneapolis): TEGNA-owned NBC affiliate in the Minneapolis market, referenced in WCNC's own marketing materials. Operates the same broadcast + digital + OTT playbook as WCNC in another top-25 DMA.
• WPTV (NBC West Palm Beach): TEGNA-owned NBC affiliate in a large Southeastern U.S. DMA, sharing corporate operating model and audience strategy with WCNC. Useful comparable for portfolio-level performance.
• WLWT (NBC Cincinnati): TEGNA-owned NBC affiliate in a mid-sized Midwest DMA, leveraging the same programming, sales, and digital infrastructure as WCNC. Strong same-network and same-owner comparable.
• WFAA (ABC Dallas): TEGNA-owned ABC affiliate in a top-10 U.S. DMA. Comparable as a Big Four network affiliate with full local newsroom and digital operation.
• WBAL-TV (NBC Baltimore): Hearst-owned NBC affiliate in the Baltimore DMA, a direct network and operating-model comparable to WCNC at a similar U.S. market scale.

Regional players

• WRAL (NBC Raleigh): NBC affiliate serving the neighboring Raleigh-Durham DMA in North Carolina. Competes for North Carolina regional advertisers and audiences, with a strong digital operation.
• WLTX (CBS Columbia, SC): TEGNA-owned CBS affiliate covering a South Carolina market that overlaps parts of WCNC's coverage area. Comparable as a neighboring Carolinas broadcaster within TEGNA's portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/wcnc
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCi_LldC6FSJeflDYjlfqR8A
• Facebookfacebook.com/WCNCCharlotte
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wcnc-tv
• Instagraminstagram.com/wcnc_charlotte

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about WCNC Charlotte