Santa visits with guests at the CBC Partner Appreciation Social at the WRAL-TV Tower Lighting on Monday, December 3, 2018. (Photo by Ken Smith)

WRAL-TV lit the 300-foot tower for the 60^th time on Monday, December 3, 2018.  The evening began with weather reports from the fountain out front, continuing throughout the newscasts and culminating with a half-hour special at 7pm.  Several special guests helped with the lighting, including WRAL legend Charlie Gaddy, recently retired anchor Bill Leslie, cast members from Carolina Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’ and musical guests like ‘The Voice’ finalist Brooke Simpson.

“We knew we wanted to make our 60th Annual Tower Lighting special, well, ‘special’, and thanks to the hard work and creativity of some incredibly talented people, I can honestly say, this was our best ever,” said WRAL-TV Director of New Operations/Sports/Special Projects Leesa Moore.  “This was my 20th year as Executive Producer of our tower lighting coverage and every year we ask, what can we do different, better, more creatively … and everyone pitches in to deliver on the dream.  We truly want to make this CBC tradition memorable for our viewers and our community.”

Sky 5 captures the action as the WRAL-TV Tower is lit for the holidays for the 60th time on Monday, December 3, 2018. (Photo by Lisa Chappell)

CBC made the event extra special by holding a client reception from 4:30-7:30pm, hosted by the Corporate division and the sales staffs of CBC’s many divisions.  Santa visited with the guests while they enjoyed food, beverages, and fun for the kids.

“Our first Partner Appreciation Social was an incredible opportunity to open up our ‘home’ to some of our top clients, and show our appreciation, as well as remind them what sets us apart,” said NMG Account Executive Lisa Chappell.  “Not all of our clients get the big picture of CBC’s reach in the community, so the video we produced for the event did an amazing job of conveying that. Our on-air talent circulated around chatting and shaking hands which really impressed our guests. Additionally, having Jimmy Goodmon address them personally and thank them for their partnership, as well as hearing from other department heads from across multiple divisions, made our guests feel appreciated and like real VIP’s. The event made me so incredibly proud and thankful to work for CBC.”

Happy Holidays from Capitol Broadcasting!

Thanks to NMG’s Lisa Chappell, WRAL-TV’s Leesa Moore, Corp’s Pam White & WRAL-TV’s Ken Smith for some of these capcom photos.