WITN
U.S. center — local NBC affiliate
Background
WITN signed on September 28, 1955, from facilities near Washington, North Carolina, making its first broadcast game 1 of the 1955 World Series. It was an NBC affiliate from the start and is one of the longest-running television stations in Eastern North Carolina. The station was originally owned by North Carolina Television, a group tied to the Roberson family of radio broadcasters, until it was sold to AFLAC in 1985. In 1997, AFLAC divested its broadcast properties and Gray Television acquired WITN that same year. Gray Television rebranded as Gray Media effective January 1, 2025, and today operates more than 100 local TV stations across the United States. WITN maintains primary studios in Greenville and a second studio in New Bern. Gray Media's corporate leadership has been openly supportive of Trump-era broadcast deregulation, and CEO Hilton Howell Jr. has a history of donating to Republican candidates. Nonetheless, the company's Washington news bureau has been rated 'least biased' by Media Bias/Fact Check, and WITN's local reporting centers on weather, crime, and community news typical of a mid-market NBC affiliate.
Sources
- WITN-TV — Wikipedia
- Gray DC Bureau — Media Bias/Fact Check
- Is Gray Television Liberal or Conservative: A Media Analysis — Television USA
- Gray executives see deregulation coming to broadcasting under Trump — Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Gray Media — Wikipedia
- Gray Television Profile — OpenSecrets
- Gray Media sees lower revenue, but higher ad income, during Q4 — The Desk
- WITN History: A Look At How We Began In 1955 — WITN.com
Profile compiled 2026-07-13; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.