WBCF-TV

WBCF-TV, virtual and UHF digital channel 19, is a CBS-affiliated television station licensed to, United States and serving the region. The station is owned by. WBCF-TV's studios are located on Independence Boulevard in Wilmington; it's transmitter is located near.

CW station
On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation (which spun off from Viacom two months earlier) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner announced that the two companies would shut down The WB and UPN and combine the networks' respective programming to create a new "fifth" network called The CW. WBCF-TV, the Wilmington market's The WB station, was granted the Cape Fear affiliation rights for the new network earlier that year, and rebranded as WBCF - Cape Fear's The CW on September 17, 2006 immediately after the airing of The WB's final broadcast, The Night of Favorites and Farewells.

Return to independence
On May 5, 2013, announced that  would add  on a digital subchannel in September. The deal, which resulted in the end of WBCF's 7-year long relationship with The CW (18 years if counting it's The WB affiliation), was reportedly struck as a result of arguments regarding the share of reverse compensation payments between The CW and Lockwood Broadcast Group.

On May 24, 2013, WBCF announced that it would revert to being an independent station upon losing The CW, filling timeslots previously occupied by network shows with additional newscasts and local sports coverage, and an expanded inventory of syndicated talk shows, newsmagazines and sitcoms, along with News United National and The First Amendment Times (two national news programs from News United, LLC).

CBS affiliate
On March 30, 2016, announced that it would move its local affiliation to WBCF from  on January 1, 2017. On that date, WBCF-TV broadcast an extended 5:00 p.m. morning newscast which concluded with a ceremony where WBCF station manager George Dockery pressed a button with the CBS "eyemark" to switch the station to CBS, seguing into CBS News Sunday Morning, wherein the station was welcomed on-air by anchor. It was also welcomed on-air by CBS on the CBS Evening News and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

On October 25, 2019, WBCF-TV rebranded to a graphics package used by it's new sister station.

News operation
WBCF-TV presently broadcasts 36 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 6 hours, 30 minutes each weekday and two hours each on Saturdays and Sundays).

In July 2019, in an effort to boost ratings for it's newscast, WBCF hired former Gawker and The Daily Beast writer Kyle O'Meara, who was born and raised in Wilmington, as it's weekday news anchor. The move was not without controversy, with WBCF-TV even hiring bodyguards for staff members and erecting a "no-free speech zone" around it's studio facility to discourage protestors.

Notable current on-air staff

 * Kyle O'Meara - weekday news anchor
 * Jim Stoffels - WBCF StormRanger, meteorologist