Early history
In December 1983, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) assigned UHF channel 46 to Belmont, North Carolina, near Gastonia.[1] Nine groups applied for the channel; one group, Piedmont Crescent Broadcasting Company, included Charlotte mayor Harvey Gantt and officials associated with local radio station WPEG and its owner, the Suburban Radio Group.[2] Another applicant, Metro Broadcasting, consisted of Charlotte dentist Spurgeon Webber and Winston-Salem attorney David Wagner. Metro and Piedmont Crescent merged to form Metro-Crescent Broadcasting, which settled with the other applicants[3] and was awarded the construction permit.[4] Originally, the station received the call sign WMHU.[5] Capitol Broadcasting Company of Raleigh reached a deal in February 1986 to buy a 49-percent stake in Metro-Crescent, with an option to purchase the remainder once the station started; to do so, it had to divest itself of two Charlotte-market radio stations to meet FCC rules on multiple station ownership.[6] The sale stood to make the partners, including Gantt, about $3 million (equivalent to $ in );[7] Gantt told Charlotte city council that he had violated city ethics policy in failing to disclose his stake in the firm among his business holdings, as required, in 1985 and 1986.[8] Before the station went on the air, the call sign was changed to WJZY in November 1986 in order to differentiate the new channel 46 from other Charlotte television stations, none of which had a "J" or "Z" in their call signs.[9]
WJZY, originally an independent station, made its first broadcast on March 9, 1987, testing its transmitter with a limited schedule of movies.[10] It began full commercial operations in July, airing off-network syndicated shows, movies, and first-run cartoons. The full launch was accelerated to the start of July as an aid to cable companies such as Cablevision of Charlotte, who dropped out-of-town stations to carry WJZY.[11] It was the first full-market Charlotte station since WCTU-TV (channel 36, now WCNC-TV) launched in July 1967.[12]
Capitol exercised its option to buy the remainder of WJZY months after it signed on; a group petitioned against the sale, claiming Metro–Crescent had trafficked in the permit and reneged on its promises for local programming.[13] The challenge was dropped, and the sale was approved by the FCC in November.[14] By that time, Gantt's stake had been an issue in his run for re-election; he lost in a close race to Sue Myrick and admitted that her statements on Metro–Crescent may have swung the race for her.
By 1990, channel 46 was even in the ratings with WCCB (channel 18), the Fox affiliate, in key dayparts.[15] In 1994, Capitol reached a deal to provide nearly all the programming of a new Charlotte-market TV station—WFVT (channel 55), licensed to Rock Hill, South Carolina—under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with its owner, Family Fifty Five.[16]
UPN and CW affiliation
WJZY became a charter affiliate of the United Paramount Network (UPN) when the network launched on January 16, 1995;[17] WFVT joined The WB at the same time.[18] By 2006, WJZY was tied with WUPA, UPN's station in Atlanta, as the network's fifth highest-rated station.[19]
WJZY served as the over-the-air home of the NBA's Charlotte Hornets from 1992 to 1998; the last two seasons were shared with WFVT.[20] When the Hornets returned as the Charlotte Bobcats in 2004, WJZY served as the team's over-the-air flagship until the telecasts moved to WMYT in 2006
Sale to Fox Television Stations and switch to Fox
On January 14, 2013,[25] Fox Television Stations entered into an agreement to acquire WJZY and WMYT from Capitol Broadcasting for $18 million, which was announced on January 28.[26][27] Jack Abernathy, president of Fox Television Stations, noted that the company was interested in buying a station in a growing market that was home to a National Football Conference (NFC) team, the Carolina Panthers; Fox owns the rights to telecast most NFC games.[28] After receiving FCC approval, the deal was consummated on April 17, 2013.[29]
The Fox affiliation moved to WJZY on July 1, 2013; the station branded as "Fox 46 Carolinas" in a reflection of its two-state coverage area.
