WNCT-TV Channel 9 was the first television station in Eastern North Carolina to sign on the air. From the moment WNCT signed on the air, the station set the standard in quality programming. For a considerable period of time Channel 9 was the only station the people in some forty counties of Eastern North Carolina were able to watch.

The station executives knew that the station's networks would provide top entertainment, variety, comedies and dramatic programs. So they focused on the local level to provide the desired complete service.

In the beginning, one of the first items was weather, a most valuable service to the farmers, and for that matter, everyone. Teletype, plus a complete weather station at the studio set up a weather department with government weather service reports. Sherman Housted, a former Navy officer with a good aerology background, was hired to service as weatherman.

Next came local news. A news department was established under the direction of David W. Mosier who was formerly editor and publisher of a daily newspaper and who also had had radio experience. A United Press picture receiver was installed and new film developing machinery purchased. The station covered news events in any of the three ways: still pictures, movie film, and sound movie film.

One of the longest running morning talk shows on television, "Carolina Today,'" aired from 1959 until 1998. WNCT-TV was the first station on the air in Eastern North Carolina to telecast in color and first with videotapes, and consistently averaged first in overall audience from sign on to sign off. WNCT-TV has set the standard for quality programming throughout Eastern North Carolina.

WNCT became a part of the Media General family in January 1997. Since the acquisition, major improvements have been made. When the floods ravaged Eastern North Carolina, Eyewitness News Nine provided round the clock coverage of the natural disaster.

WNCT provided more than six days of continuous coverage of the worst natural disaster in North Carolina's history. The station leased two helicopters and kept them in the air as much as possible, providing vital information to residents who were caught off guard by the severity of the flood.

In the process, WNCT led viewers to raise $100,000 for relief efforts and filled 10 tractor-trailers with food, clothing, toys and household items. After the flood, the station also raised another $242,000 to help flood victims by selling copies of "Flood of the Century," a documentary videotape depicting stories of loss and survival.

For our efforts, WNCT earned a national Edward R. Murrow Award, becoming the smallest station that year to win the top prize in television news. Eyewitness News nine also won the prestigious Service to America Award.

Throughout our 50 years of service to the people of Eastern North Carolina, we have seen many changes: the transition from black and white to color, the advancement in technology from an analog signal to HDTV, but what remains the same is our commitment to serving the great people of this state. People helping people, one of the many reasons that make Eastern North Carolina a great place to live and Eyewitness News Nine is constantly striving throughout the community to be "On Your Side."