What WBAL-TV 11 does

WBAL-TV 11 is a local broadcast television station operating as the NBC affiliate on channel 11 in the Baltimore, Maryland market. It is owned by Hearst Television and operated under Hearst Stations Inc., and serves the Baltimore metropolitan area with local news, weather, sports, politics, entertainment, consumer, and community content. Distribution spans over-the-air broadcast, cable and satellite providers (Comcast, Verizon FiOS, DirecTV, Dish Network), the wbaltv.com website, iOS and Android mobile apps, email newsletters, and social media platforms (Facebook, X, YouTube); the station also participates in the Very Local streaming service and carries MeTV Baltimore programming. A core asset is an extensive digitized video archive of decades of Baltimore-area footage, monetized through a licensing program run in conjunction with Hearst Television.

The underlying technology is a conventional broadcast television stack augmented with digital streaming infrastructure: a content management and publishing system for wbaltv.com, mobile apps, weather radar and forecasting products, and a searchable YouTube archive for licensing inquiries. The station is privately held within Hearst Television, does not charge viewers, and does not disclose specific advertising rates. Revenue is generated through advertising and through footage licensing fees determined per inquiry. Customer segments are defined horizontally by geography — Baltimore-area residents — with use cases spanning local news consumption, severe weather alerts, sports coverage (including Washington Capitals/Nationals and local high school sports), and political coverage of state and local government. Distribution relationships are also B2B in nature, with cable and satellite providers as channel partners and sponsors/news sources as adjacent commercial counterparties.

Name

WBAL-TV 11

Legal name

Hearst Stations Inc.

Website

https://wbaltv.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1948

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

WBAL-TV 11 is a Hearst Television-owned NBC affiliate serving the Baltimore, Maryland metropolitan area with local news, weather, sports, and community content distributed via broadcast, cable, digital, mobile, and social channels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Broadcast Television News

NAICS

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

SIC

Television Broadcasting Stations (4833)

akta.pro primary industry

Local News & Weather Stations (MPABACAJ)

Keywords

• Broadcast television news
• Local news coverage
• Weather forecasting
• Sports broadcasting
• Video archive licensing

Headquarters

HQ city

Baltimore

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

WBAL-TV 11 is a Hearst Television-owned NBC affiliate broadcast television station providing local news, weather, sports, politics, and community content to the Baltimore, Maryland metropolitan area. The station distributes content free-to-viewer across over-the-air broadcast, cable/satellite, website, mobile apps, and social channels, and monetizes through on-air and digital advertising. It also operates a deep digitized video archive available for licensing to documentary and production clients.

Product overview

WBAL-TV 11 is a Baltimore-based local television news station owned by Hearst Television. The station offers a comprehensive news broadcasting operation delivering local, national, and regional content including news, weather, sports, politics, health, and entertainment coverage for the Maryland area. The station provides its content through multiple channels: traditional broadcast television, a mobile news app for iOS and Android, email newsletters, and an extensive video archive available for licensing. Additional offerings include weather radar services, TV listings through Titan TV Guide, and programming through partnerships with MeTV Baltimore and Very Local.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• WBAL-TV 11 News Broadcasting Local television news broadcasting on NBC-affiliate channel 11 covering Baltimore and Maryland, including local news, national news, politics, sports, weather, traffic, health, entertainment, and consumer news. Distributed free-to-viewer via over-the-air broadcast, cable/satellite, web, and mobile.
• WBAL-TV 11 News Mobile App Mobile application available for iOS and Android delivering breaking news alerts, local news coverage, weather updates, and on-demand video content for Baltimore and Maryland viewers.
• Video Archive & Footage Licensing Licensing service for the station's digitized archive of historical and current-event news footage from Baltimore spanning decades, available to documentary and broadcast producers via searchable YouTube collection and direct inquiry form through Hearst Television.
• Email Newsletter Subscriptions Email newsletter service delivering news alerts and station updates to subscribers.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights8 records

Direct peers

• WUVP-DT (Univision Baltimore): Spanish-language local broadcaster in the Baltimore DMA, offering overlapping local-news and advertising inventory for the Hispanic segment of the same market.
• WJZ-TV (CBS Baltimore): CBS-owned local broadcast television station in Baltimore, directly competing with WBAL-TV for the same local news, weather, sports, and advertising audience in the Baltimore DMA.
• WMAR-TV (ABC Baltimore): ABC affiliate (Scripps-owned) serving the Baltimore market, competing head-to-head with WBAL-TV 11 for local news viewers and regional advertising budgets.
• WBFF (FOX Baltimore): FOX-owned local television station in Baltimore, part of the same competitive set as WBAL-TV for local news, weather, and primetime entertainment audiences.

Broad incumbents

• WCVB-TV (Hearst Television, Boston): Sibling Hearst Television ABC affiliate in Boston, operating under the same parent (Hearst Stations Inc.) with shared corporate infrastructure, content resources, and operating model as WBAL-TV.
• WMAR-TV / Scripps local stations: E.W. Scripps Company owns multiple local broadcast stations including WMAR in Baltimore, providing a peer benchmark for station operations, local ad sales, and digital content strategy at competing affiliates.
• Sinclair Broadcast Group: One of the largest US local broadcast station operators, providing a comparable benchmark for multi-station operations, local news production scale, and digital distribution strategy.
• Tegna: Major US local broadcast station group with stations in similar mid-to-large DMAs, offering a comparable benchmark for local news monetization, digital platforms, and station-level M&A valuations.

Emerging players

• The Baltimore Banner: Digital-first local news outlet in Baltimore, competing with WBAL-TV for local advertising and audience attention from a digital-native platform with no broadcast-TV cost structure.

Others

• Very Local: Hearst-owned streaming platform that distributes WBAL-TV content; relevant as a distribution partner and as a peer for the streaming-extension strategy that all local broadcasters are pursuing.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/wbaltv11
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/wbal
• Facebookfacebook.com/timeline
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wbal-tv

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 WBAL-TV 11