WCTI-TV (channel 12) is a television station licensed to New Bern, North Carolina, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for Eastern North Carolina. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to Greenville-licensed Fox affiliate WYDO (channel 14) under a shared services agreement (SSA) with Cunningham Broadcasting. However, Sinclair effectively owns WYDO as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. Both stations share studios on Glenburnie Drive in New Bern, while WCTI-TV's transmitter is located north of Trenton along NC 41. History Nathan Frank, a businessman from Henderson, had filed an application for channel 13 in New Bern in 1954. However, final approval was delayed for almost seven years due to numerous challenges. The Army, Navy and Air Force were concerned that the proposed tower on Glenburnie Drive would interfere with the operations of the numerous military installations located in Eastern North Carolina. Several commercial airlines and pilot associations also expressed concerns about the tower. A new problem arose in 1958, when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) dropped in a channel 13 allocation in Hampton, Virginia, to give the Hampton Roads area a third VHF station; WVEC-TV moved there from channel 15 shortly afterward. To alleviate concerns about short-spacing, the channel 13 allocation for New Bern was moved to channel 12. Almost immediately, WRVA-TV in Richmond, Virginia (now WWBT), raised concerns of its own about short-spacing. All objections were eventually overcome by 1961, and the station went on the air on September 7, 1963, as WNBE-TV (for "New Bern"). The call letters were changed to the current WCTI-TV in 1970, and the station would activate a 1,000-foot tower at full VHF high-band power, off NC Highway 58 south of Trenton. The station has been an ABC affiliate since its inception. When it signed on, the Greenville/Washington/New Bern market became one of the smallest DMAs in the country with three commercial network affiliates. Continental Television sold the station to Malrite Communications in 1976. In 1980, WCTI erected a tower north of Trenton. The new tower expanded the station's secondary coverage as far east as the Outer Banks, as far south as Wilmington and as far west as the Triangle (including Rocky Mount and much of eastern Raleigh). The station's original tower at its New Bern studios is still used as a backup. Malrite sold the station to Heritage