Action News 5

What Action News 5 does

Action News 5 is the on-air brand of WMC-TV, an FCC-licensed NBC-affiliated broadcast television station headquartered at 1960 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, serving the Mid-South region across Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi. The station has operated continuously since 1955 and was acquired into Gray Television's Gray Local Media division (Gray Television, Inc., NYSE: GTN) in 2002, with 124 employees. It produces local news, weather, sports, and community feature content for a multi-state regional audience, anchored by flagship sub-brands including First Alert Weather, 5 Star Stories, Impact Team (solutions journalism), Digital Desk, Better Memphis, Mom to Mom, and Watching Your Wallet.

The station's underlying technology stack consists of digital over-the-air broadcast infrastructure, video production systems, content management for the actionnews5.com web property, dedicated iOS and Android mobile applications, and streaming/livestream capability. Content is syndicated through parent Gray Television networks (InvestigateTV, PowerNation, Watching Your Wallet) and augmented by national NBC programming including Olympics coverage. Distribution is multi-modal: free over-the-air antenna reception, cable and satellite carriage on DirecTV and Dish Network, digital livestream via website and apps, and active social media channels on Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube.

Action News 5 monetizes through three primary revenue streams: (1) television advertising sold to local and regional businesses via quote-based time-slot pricing on multi-year contracts through [email protected]; (2) digital advertising and digital marketing services offered through GDMMemphis.com, the station's digital agency arm; and (3) recurring cable and satellite carriage fees paid by MVPDs for retransmission rights. The sales-led GTM motion targets local and regional advertisers as the primary paying customer segment, while the general Mid-South television audience is the secondary consumer that advertisers are buying reach against.

Name

Action News 5

Legal name

WMC-TV (Action News 5)

Website

https://actionnews5.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

1955

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Action News 5 is the Memphis, Tennessee NBC-affiliated broadcast television station (WMC-TV), owned by Gray Television (NYSE: GTN), serving the Mid-South region with local news, weather, sports, and digital content distributed via over-the-air, cable, satellite, web, and mobile.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Television Broadcasting

NAICS

Television Broadcasting Stations (516120)

SIC

Television Broadcasting Stations (4833)

akta.pro primary industry

Local News & Weather Stations (MPABACAJ)

Keywords

• Local television broadcasting
• Broadcast news production
• Television advertising sales
• Weather forecasting services
• Digital news streaming

Headquarters

HQ city

Memphis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Television Advertising: Primary revenue stream from selling advertising time during news programming, weather segments, and other broadcast content to local Memphis and Mid-South businesses.
2. Digital Advertising: Revenue from digital marketing services offered through GDMMemphis.com, the station's digital marketing arm, providing online advertising solutions to local businesses.
3. Cable/Satellite Carriage Fees: Fees paid by cable and satellite providers for carrying the station's signal, a standard revenue source for broadcast television stations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Action News 5 / WMC-TV is a local NBC-affiliated broadcast television station that produces and distributes local news, weather (First Alert Weather), sports, and community content across the Memphis and Mid-South region. The station sells advertising time on its broadcasts and digital marketing services via GDMMemphis.com to local and regional businesses, generates carriage fees from cable and satellite providers, and distributes its content through over-the-air transmission, mobile apps, and live streaming.

Product overview

Action News 5 operates as a unified local television news platform offering a primary broadcast news channel supplemented by specialized modules. The core product is the Action News 5 broadcast delivering local news, sports, and weather. Supporting modules include First Alert Weather for meteorological services, Livestream for video content delivery, 5 Star Stories for positive community features, Digital Desk for digital-exclusive coverage, and Mobile Applications for on-the-go access. The station is owned by Gray Television and licensed in Memphis, Tennessee, serving the broader Mid-South region.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• First Alert Weather: The station's weather forecasting brand offering local forecasts, severe weather alerts, and the First Alert 7-Day Forecast.
• 5 Star Stories
• Impact Team
• Digital Desk
• Better Memphis
• Mom to Mom
• Watching Your Wallet
• PowerNation

Products and services

• Action News 5 Broadcast The station's flagship local television news broadcast delivering regional news, weather, sports, and feature stories to the Memphis and Mid-South viewing area across broadcast, cable, satellite, web, and mobile platforms.
• Action News 5 Mobile Applications Downloadable mobile applications for iOS (Apple App Store) and Android (Google Play) devices providing on-the-go access to news, weather alerts, live streaming, and push notifications.
• Action News 5 Livestream
• First Alert Weather The station's branded weather forecasting and severe weather alert system providing real-time current conditions, 7-day forecasts, and severe weather warnings for the Mid-South region, including dedicated features like The Breakdown, Deep Dive, and Weather Vault.
• Digital Desk
• 5 Star Stories
• GDM Memphis Digital Marketing Agency The station's digital marketing agency arm (GDMMemphis.com) providing online advertising and digital marketing services to local and regional businesses seeking to extend their reach beyond traditional television.

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Gray TelevisioncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorGray Television, Inc. is the parent company and owner of Action News 5 (WMC-TV). As part of the Gray Television network, the station operates under the company's broadcast standards, advertising policies, and digital platforms. Gray Television is one of the largest television broadcasting companies in the United States.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• WLMT-TV (CW30 Memphis): CW-affiliated local TV station in Memphis competing in the same DMA. While smaller in news resources, it competes for audience share and cable/satellite carriage in the same local market.
• WHBQ-TV (FOX13 Memphis): Fox-affiliated local TV station in Memphis. Direct competitor for local news, weather, and advertising share in the same Mid-South market as Action News 5.
• WREG-TV (News Channel 3): CBS-affiliated local TV station in Memphis operating in the exact same DMA as Action News 5. Competes head-to-head for local news audiences, weather coverage, and the same local advertiser budgets across Memphis and the Mid-South.
• WATN-TV (ABC24): ABC-affiliated local TV station in the Memphis market. Direct competitor for local news, weather alerts, and advertiser dollars in the Mid-South region.

Broad incumbents

• Sinclair Broadcast Group: Major US local TV station operator with significant mid-market presence. Closely comparable business in terms of local news production, political advertising reliance, and multi-platform distribution strategy.
• TEGNA: Large US local broadcast group operating stations in mid-sized markets comparable to Memphis. Similar reliance on local news, weather, and high-margin political advertising cycles.
• E.W. Scripps Company: Operates local TV stations and national networks. Comparable in operating local affiliate stations with similar advertiser bases and content production requirements.
• Hearst Television: Operates local TV stations across the US, with strong news and weather franchises. Comparable operating model and mid-market station profile to Action News 5.
• Nexstar Media Group: Largest US TV broadcaster, operating local stations across major and mid-size markets. Comparable business model — local affiliate stations monetizing advertising and retransmission fees — and a key industry benchmark for station-level economics.
• Gray Television, Inc. Parent company and operator of Action News 5; one of the largest US local broadcast groups with hundreds of stations. Comparable as the broader enterprise whose strategy and capital allocation drive the station's trajectory.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/actionnews5
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC5qB8Dy0cF3b7tP3FGC5Yog
• Facebookfacebook.com/actionnews5
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wmcactionnews5
• Instagraminstagram.com/actionnews5

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 Action News 5