WRAZ-TV signed on the air, as a WB affiliate, on September 7, 1995. Owned by Tar Heel Broadcasting, WRAZ-TV was operated by Capitol Broadcasting under a Local Marketing Agreement.
Cheers to FOX 50! WRAZ-TV celebrated its birthday on September 7th. The station signed on as part of the CBC family on that date in 1995. Originally a WB affiliate, WB 50 in the early days, WRAZ-TV was owned by Tar Heel Broadcasting Company and operated by CBC under a local marketing agreement. The operations of WB 50, an affiliate of the Warner Brothers’ WB network, were located in the WRAL building on Western Blvd in Raleigh.
The station would undergo several changes during the next half decade. On August 1, 1998, the FOX network announced it would not renew its affiliation with WLFL-TV. WRAZ and WLFL switched affiliations, and WRAZ-TV became FOX 50. To inaugurate the change, FOX 50 moved to the brand new Diamond View office building adjacent to right field of the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in downtown Durham.
CBC purchased WRAZ-TV from Tar Heel Broadcasting in April 2000, taking complete control of the station. Over a decade later, FOX 50 moved back to Raleigh. The merging of FOX 50’s master control with WRAL’s began in August 2012, and the final departments finished the move to CBC’s headquarters and the WRAL studios on Western Blvd in Raleigh on September 1, 2012.
- Read more of the WRAZ-TV story on CBC’s History website HERE.
- CBC History VIDEO: WRAZ 50 Goes On The Air
Thanks to Corp’s Pam Allen for contributions to this capcom story.