WRAL-TV
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Template:Infobox Broadcast WRAL-TV is a broadcast television station based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Broadcasting on VHF channel 5 (DTV on UHF channel 53), WRAL has been an affiliate of the CBS television network since 1985, and is locally owned by Capitol Broadcasting Company. Its transmitter is located in Garner, North Carolina.
History
The station's first broadcast was on December 15, 1956; an airing of the 1947 movie Miracle on 34th Street. From its inception, the station was an NBC affiliate until 1962, when it began a 23-year affiliation to ABC.
During the 1960s, future North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms was a regular editorial commentator on WRAL's news broadcasts.
In 1979, the station was the state's first to begin using a helicopter for newsgathering (Sky 5).
A severe ice storm in December 1989 caused the station's 2,000-foot tower to collapse. By cooperation with Fayetteville station WKFT-TV, (UHF channel 40), it was back on the air in 3 hours. The station's new, stronger tower was launched on October 25, 1990.
In 1996, WRAL-TV was granted the first experimental high-definition television license in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission. In 2000, WRAL-HD aired the world's first all-HDTV newscast on October 13th. In January 2001, WRAL converted all of its local news broadcasts to high-definition.
External links
- WRAL website (http://www.wral.com)
- A documentation of the WRAL tower crash of 1989 (http://www.oldradio.com/archives/warstories/WRAL.htm)