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Capitol Broadcasting Company

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Not to be confused with Capital Cities Communications or Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc.
TypePrivate
Industry
Founded1937
FounderA.J. Fletcher
Headquarters
Raleigh, North Carolina
,
U.S.
Key people
Products
Websitewww.capitolbroadcasting.com Edit this at Wikidata

Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc. (CBC) is an American media company based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Capitol owns three television stations and nine radio stations in the Raleigh–Durham and Wilmington areas of North Carolina and the Durham Bulls minor league baseball team as well as the Coastal Plain League, a college summer baseball league. It is one of the few family-owned broadcasting companies left in the country, owned by four generations of the Fletcher-Goodmon family.

History

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A.J. Fletcher founded the Capitol Broadcasting Company in 1937 when he founded Raleigh radio station WRAL (1240 AM, now WPJL). WRAL radio began transmission two years later in 1939, using a 250-watt transmitter, becoming Raleigh's second radio station (after WPTF). In 1942, Capitol created the Tobacco Radio Network, a farm news radio service that was discontinued in 2002. On September 6, 1946, Capitol Broadcasting received a license with the Federal Communications Commission for WCOY-FM (whose callsign was later changed to WRAL-FM), operating from a 250,000-watt transmitter. In 1960, CBC founded the North Carolina News Network, a statewide radio network that now provides news, weather, and sports content to about 80 radio stations. This property was sold to Curtis Media Group in 2009.

On December 15, 1956, Capitol Broadcasting's flagship television station WRAL-TV went on the air in Raleigh.[1]

In 1979, WRAL-TV became the first television station in North Carolina to have a dedicated helicopter for newsgathering.

In 1987, Capitol acquired independent station WJZY-TV in Charlotte.[2] The following year, Capitol also acquired another independent station, WTTV and its satellite station, WTTK, in the Indianapolis area. WTTV and WTTK were sold in 1991 to River City Broadcasting.

In 1996, WRAL-TV was granted the first experimental high definition digital television license in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission. On October 13, 2000, WRAL became the first television station in the world to broadcast a news program entirely in high-definition; the station would begin broadcasting all of its local newscasts in high-definition in January 2001.

Former Logo

In 2001, Capitol purchased WFVT (now WMYT-TV) in Charlotte, creating the market's second television duopoly.

On October 14, 2005, Capitol Broadcasting signed on WCMC-FM on 99.9 MHz in Raleigh with a country music format, "Genuine Country".

In July 2008, Capitol Broadcasting acquired five radio stations in Wilmington from NextMedia Group for $12 million.[3]

On April 14, 2009, Capitol Broadcasting and the City of Raleigh partnered to introduce the first mobile digital television in a public transit bus.

On January 28, 2013, Fox Television Stations announced that it had entered into an agreement to purchase WJZY and WMYT from Capitol for $18 million;[4][5] the deal was completed on April 17.[6][7]

On April 20, 2026, Capitol announced to sell its five Wilmington radio stations (Sunrise Broadcasting) to Curtis Media Group for $1.75 million.[8][9]

Major assets

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(**) – Station that was built and signed-on by Capitol Broadcasting Company.

Television stations

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City of license / Market Station
Owned since Primary affiliation
Raleigh, NC WRAL-TV ** 5 (17) 1956
WRAZ 50 (15) 2000
Smithfield-Selma, NC WNGT-CD 34 (23) 2020 Independent
Wilmington, NC WILM-LD 10 (15) 1999

Radio stations

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Note: Stations operated within the Wilmington radio station cluster are operated under the name Sunrise Broadcasting;

City of license / Market Station Owned since Current format Notes
Boiling Spring Lakes, NC WKXB 99.9 2008 Rhythmic oldies Serves the Wilmington market
Durham, NC WDNC 620 2009 Sports radio Serves the Raleigh market
Holly Springs, NC WCMC-FM 99.9 2005 ESPN Radio affiliate Serves the Raleigh market
Raleigh, NC WRAL-FM 101.5 1947 Adult contemporary
Jacksonville, NC WRMR 98.7 2011 AAA Serves the Wilmington market
Southport, NC WAZO 107.5 2008 Contemporary hits Serves the Wilmington market
Wilmington, NC WILT 103.7 2015 Adult contemporary
WMFD 630 2008 Sports radio

Sports

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Real Estate

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Investments

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Former stations

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Television

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Media market State Station Purchased Sold Notes
Bloomington Indiana WTTV 1988 1991
Kokomo–Indianapolis WTTK [a]
Belmont–Charlotte North Carolina WJZY 1987 2013
Rock Hill South Carolina WMYT-TV 2000
  1. ^ WTTK is a satellite of WTTV.

This list does not include KNAZ-TV in Flagstaff, Arizona, KKTV in Colorado Springs, Colorado and WJTV in Jackson, Mississippi. These television stations were owned by an unrelated and defunct Capitol Broadcasting Company based out of Jackson.[11]

Radio

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References

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  1. ^ "Saturday Television". The News and Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. December 15, 1956. p. 6. Retrieved January 16, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ Borden, Jeff (November 25, 1987). "FCC Approves Sale Of WJZY Television To Raleigh Firm". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, North Carolina. p. 1B, 2B. Retrieved December 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Capitol Broadcasting acquires seven radio stations in deals worth nearly $13M, WRAL-TV, Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  4. ^ "Fox Affiliate Switch in Works for Charlotte". Broadcasting and Cable. Retrieved 2013-01-29.
  5. ^ "Price revealed for Fox Charlotte TV buy". Radio & Television Business Report. January 29, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
  6. ^ "Consummation Notice (WJZY)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. April 17, 2013. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  7. ^ "Consummation Notice (WMYT-TV)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. April 17, 2013. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  8. ^ "Raleigh-based broadcasting firm acquires local radio stations in $1.75M deal". WilmingtonBiz. Retrieved 2026-05-02.
  9. ^ Jacobson, Adam (2026-04-30). "Curtis' Access To Capitol: A Seven-Signal Eastern N.C. Deal | Radio & Television Business Report". Retrieved 2026-05-02.
  10. ^ Kramer, Staci D. (2007-01-17). "Syndicate Buys Control Of TV Tech/Data Company Decisionmark Control; Name Changes To TitanTV Media". gigaom.com. Retrieved 2021-04-07.[dead link]
  11. ^ "KOAI Stockholders Okay Sale of Television Station". Arizona Daily Sun. Flagstaff, Arizona. June 29, 1980. p. 10. Archived from the original on June 7, 2022. Retrieved June 7, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
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