What WMBF does

WMBF is a single-market, NBC-affiliated local television station headquartered in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, owned and operated as a Gray Local Media property of Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE: GTN). Founded in 2002, the station serves the Grand Strand and Pee Dee regions — covering Horry, Georgetown, Florence, Darlington, Marion, Dillon, and Marlboro counties — with local news, weather, sports, and investigative programming. Core products include WMBF News broadcast, the First Alert Weather franchise (with hurricane tracking and severe-weather alerts), a 24/7 livestream, the WMBF News mobile app, the Skycam Network of live cameras, community-focused segments such as 'This Is Carolina,' and a portfolio of podcasts (Palmetto Playbook, Palmetto Sports Daily, Are You Cirrus). Technology stack spans over-the-air broadcasting enhanced with NextGen TV (ATSC 3.0), continuous IP-based livestreaming, mobile applications, and standard web/social content distribution.

Revenue is generated primarily through traditional television advertising (spot sales during news and programming) and digital advertising sold through Gray Digital Myrtle Beach. A 24/7 livestream functions as a continuous engagement surface, and podcasts create incremental ad inventory. Distribution spans owned broadcast plus owned digital channels (website, mobile apps, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok). The station holds an FCC broadcast license and operates under Gray Television's centralized Standard Terms and Conditions and AI Policy. Primary customer segments are local viewers (geographic) and local businesses advertising in the Grand Strand and Pee Dee markets; sports fans in the region are a defined secondary audience. Pricing for advertising is not publicly disclosed; sales inquiries route through the station's advertising team.

Operationally, the station employs 101-250 staff under Vice President and General Manager Sarah Miles, supported by the broader Gray Television network for news-gathering, back-office, and corporate functions. Strategic posture is mature and stable, with incremental digital extensions and broadcast-technology upgrades rather than transformative moves.

Name

WMBF

Legal name

Gray Television, Inc.

Website

https://wmbfnews.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

WMBF is an NBC-affiliated local television station serving the Grand Strand and Pee Dee regions of South Carolina, producing local news, First Alert Weather, sports, and investigative programming. It is owned by Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE: GTN) and monetizes through traditional and digital advertising across broadcast, livestream, mobile, and podcast channels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Broadcast Television News

NAICS

Television Broadcasting Stations (516120), Television Broadcasting Stations (51612)

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 Sports Broadcast Stations (Regional Local Rights, High School/College) (MPABACAK)

Keywords

• Local television broadcasting
• Local news coverage
• Weather forecasting services
• Digital news streaming
• Regional sports coverage

Headquarters

HQ city

Myrtle Beach

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, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Television Advertising: Traditional TV advertising sales including commercial spots during news broadcasts and programming. All advertising subject to Gray Television's Standard Terms and Conditions.
2. Digital Advertising: Digital marketing services sold through Gray Digital Myrtle Beach (GDMM), including online advertising and digital content promotion
3. Livestream Services: 24/7 continuous news coverage available via livestream and mobile apps

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

WMBF is a local NBC-affiliated television station producing and broadcasting local news, weather, sports, and investigative content for Myrtle Beach, Florence, and the surrounding Grand Strand and Pee Dee regions of South Carolina. The station distributes content across over-the-air broadcast, a 24/7 livestream, mobile applications, and digital platforms, and generates revenue primarily by selling advertising on these channels.

Product overview

WMBF is a local broadcast television station offering a unified news and information platform serving the Myrtle Beach and Florence markets. The core offering consists of local television news broadcasts combined with the First Alert Weather service for severe weather coverage. Supporting digital products include a 24/7 live streaming service, mobile applications for news and weather access, and podcast programming. The station also produces community-focused segments such as 'This Is Carolina' and maintains accessibility services including closed captioning.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• WMBF News Broadcast Local television news programming covering Myrtle Beach, Florence, and surrounding Grand Strand and Pee Dee regions in South Carolina.
• First Alert Weather Weather forecasting service with live radar, forecasts, hurricane tracking, and severe weather alerts for the Grand Strand area.
• WMBF Live Streaming 24/7 live video stream of WMBF news content available online through the website and mobile apps.
• WMBF Mobile App Smartphone application for accessing news, weather alerts, and live streaming content on iOS and Android devices.
• WMBF Podcasts Audio podcast programming including Are You Cirrus, Palmetto Playbook, and Palmetto Sports Daily, available through the website and podcast platforms.
• This Is Carolina Community feature segment highlighting local stories, people, and businesses in the Carolina region.
• Gray Digital Myrtle Beach (GDMM) Digital Advertising Digital marketing services for local businesses seeking online advertising and digital content promotion in the Myrtle Beach market.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Gray Television (Parent Company)coreOthersWMBF is owned and operated by Gray Television, Inc. through its Gray Local Media subsidiary. Gray Television is a broadcast media company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, operating multiple local television stations across the United States.
• Gray Television (Parent Company)coreOthersStation operates under Gray's AI Policy and Standard Terms and Conditions for advertising. Company is a Gray Local Media station.
• FCCcoreOthersFCC licensed broadcast station; FCC Public File and FCC Applications documents maintained and available for public access.
• InvestigateTVminorGTM or Marketing PartnerInvestigateTV is a national investigative journalism initiative that WMBF participates in, providing deeper investigative content resources.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• WCBD: NBC-affiliated local TV station in Charleston, SC, running the same network programming model and similar local-news/weather/digital operations as WMBF.
• WCSC (Live 5 News): CBS-affiliated station in Charleston, SC — adjacent South Carolina NBC/CBS affiliate market running comparable local news, weather, and investigative programming format.
• WTOC: CBS affiliate in Savannah, GA, covering a coastal/hurricane-exposed market analogous to Myrtle Beach with a parallel local news and First Alert-style weather product.
• WPDE: ABC-affiliated local TV station covering the Florence/Myrtle Beach market, competing with WMBF for both viewers and local advertiser budgets in identical geographies.
• WIS: NBC-affiliated station in Columbia, SC, another South Carolina NBC market with comparable news/weather/sports structure and Gray Television-style network affiliate economics.
• WBTW: CBS-affiliated local TV station serving the same Myrtle Beach/Grand Strand/Pee Dee DMA as WMBF, directly competing for local advertising spend and audience share.

Broad incumbents

• TEGNA: Major U.S. local TV station group with a portfolio of network affiliates, comparable to Gray/WMBF in operating a broadcast-plus-digital advertising model.
• Sinclair Broadcast Group: Large publicly-traded broadcast operator (NASDAQ: SBGI) that owns dozens of local TV affiliates, directly comparable to Gray Television in scale, business model, and ad sales structure.
• Nexstar Media Group: Largest U.S. owner of local TV stations (NASDAQ: NXST), operating across hundreds of markets with the same local-TV, digital ad, and network-affiliate economics as WMBF.

Others

• Gray Television: Parent company of WMBF (NYSE: GTN); included as a peer reference point since the station's economics, pricing terms, and content policies are set centrally by Gray.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/wmbf
• Facebookfacebook.com/wmbfnews
• Instagraminstagram.com/wmbfnews
• TikToktiktok.com/@wmbfnews
• Xx.com/wmbfnews
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wmbf

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 WMBF