WJZY

WJZY, virtual channel 46 (UHF digital channel 47), is a Fox owned-and-operated television station serving Charlotte, North Carolina, United States that is licensed to Belmont. The station is owned by the Fox Television Stations subsidiary of 21st Century Fox, as part of a duopoly with Rock Hill, South Carolina-licensed MyNetworkTV owned-and-operated station WMYT-TV (channel 55). The two stations share studio facilities located on Performance Road (along I-85) in unincorporated western Mecklenburg County (with a Charlotte address); WJZY's transmitter is located in Dallas, North Carolina, along the Catawba River.

History

Early history

The station first signed on the air on March 9, 1987, originally operating as an independent station. It was the first full-power station to sign on in the Charlotte area since WCTU-TV (channel 36, now WCNC-TV) launched in July 1967. It was originally owned by Metro-Crescent Communications, a locally based group that included then-Charlotte mayor Harvey Gantt and longtime Charlotte broadcasters Bob Hilker and Bill Rollins. The station was originally licensed with the callsign WMHU, but prior to the station's official debut, the calls were changed to WJZY in November 1986. According to Rollins, the change was made because no other Charlotte station had a "J" or "Z" in its call letters at the time.