, based in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina , is the
ABC affiliate serving the
Greensboro /
Winston-Salem, North Carolina /
High Point designated market area. Licensed in Winston-Salem, WXLV-TV broadcasts its analog signal on
UHF channel 45 (making it ABC's only UHF affiliate in North Carolina) and a digital signal on channel 29, and can be found on cable channel 7 on most systems. Its transmitter is located in
Randleman, North Carolina .
WXLV's current numeric "45" is similar to that of Sinclair flagship
WBFF in
Baltimore .
The station signed on in 1979 as
Independent Station . It later changed its call sign to '''WJTM-TV'''. Over the years the station ran a general entertainment format consisting of cartoons, movies, sitcoms, and dramas. The station was bought by the
TVX Broadcast Group in 1983, and changed its call letters to '''WNRW''' in 1984. It became the market's
FOX affiliate when the network premiered on
October 9 1986 . During its Fox affliation, WNRW would go by either ''FOX45'' or ''TV45'' on air.
TVX sold off many of its smaller stations in 1988, including WNRW, which it sold to
Act III Broadcasting . Meanwhile, one of channel 45's competitors, WGGT channel 48, filed for bankruptcy in the late 1980s, and still had not emerged from it by 1991. At that time, Act III bought WGGT's programming, which it moved onto WNRW's lineup. WGGT then began to simulcast WNRW, creating a strong combined signal with over 60% overlap known as the "Piedmont Superstation."
The simulcast continued after Act III was bought by Abry in 1993. It took on a secondary
UPN affiliation when that network debuted in January 1995. In September 1995, when FOX acquired longtime
ABC affiliate
WGHP , the ABC affiliation went to channels 45 and 48, and all FOX programming (including
Fox Kids ) went to WGHP. WNRW also changed its calls to .
In 1996, Sinclair acquired WXLV through its merger with Abry. It then had Glencairn purchase WGGT from Guilford Broadcasters. The simulcast was discontinued, and the two stations entered into a
Local Marketing Agreement instead with all UPN programming moving to WGGT in 1997, which was renamed WUPN-TV. Since the Smith family, founders of Sinclair, owned most of Glencairn's stock, Sinclair effectively had a duopoly in the Triad. A similar situation existed in the
Triangle , where Sinclair owned
WLFL and Glencairn owned
WRDC . Sinclair bought WUPN outright in 2000. (WUPN is now
WMYV .)
The station opened a news department after becoming an ABC affiliate. However, it had no luck whatsoever competing with
WFMY-TV , WGHP, and
WXII-TV , and ended its morning and weekend newscasts in 2000. The news operation shut down entirely on
January 11 ,
2002 . The following year, WUPN began airing a 10pm newscast featuring former WFMY anchor Frank Fraboni as well as content from Sinclair's ''
News Central '' package. The newscast, rebranded ''ABC 45 News Late Edition'', aired at 11pm on WXLV from 2004 until 2005, when both newscasts were pulled by Sinclair for poor ratings. WXLV and sister station
KDNL in St. Louis are the only two ABC affiliates under Sinclair to have no newscast to this day.
In early 2006, some viewers complained about WXLV's
HDTV signal not being carried on
Time Warner Cable , but the station noted that Sinclair's companywide policy is to not allow cable providers to carry their HD signals without compensation. With
NASCAR On ESPN broadcasts during the
Chase For The Nextel Cup on WXLV, this creates an interesting dilemma for the Triad market, regarded as the highest-rated NASCAR television market.
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