North Carolina Television, Inc. was the station's original owner. The company was made up of radio station owners from Washington, Wilson, New Bern, Tarboro, Goldsboro, and Kinston. W.R. Roberson, Jr. was its president. In 1985 the station was sold to AFLAC. In 1997 AFLAC decided to sell its group of television stations and WITN was purchased by Gray Television Group, which continues to own the station today.

The beginning for WITN was a stormy one. That summer three hurricanes hit Eastern Carolina, the last just two weeks before the station was to sign on the air. The station’s studios were inundated with flood waters, so the first broadcasts had to come from the tower site in Grifton. W.R. Roberson, Jr. said it cost $750,000 to put Channel 7 on the air.

WITN is proud to have been affiliated with NBC since we signed on the air. But many will remember seeing ABC programming on Channel 7 in the early years as well. That's because before the station in New Bern signed on the air, the other two stations shared ABC programming. The station’s studios and offices are located south of Washington along Highway 17 in Chocowinity and have seen several additions and updates over the years.

WITN has never actually transmitted from Beaufort County. That's because our transmitter has always been in Grifton, in neighboring Pitt County. The station chose Grifton because that was the farthest west we could locate our tower and not waste the signal transmitting out into the ocean.

Channel 7 has had three broadcast towers over the years in Grifton. The original one of 919 feet was the tallest in the market at the time. It was replaced in 1961 with a 1549 foot tower, and then in 1978 the current 2000 foot structure was erected. At the time the 2000 foot tower was one of the tallest structures in the country. Our signal covers all of Eastern Carolina, from Raleigh to Wilmington and to Elizabeth City.

WITN News consistently ranks among the most watched in the Greenville-New Bern-Washington television market. WITN’s commitment to news is not matched by any other station in the area, broadcasting more than 5-1/2 hours of news each day of the week, and more than 2 hours on the weekends.

WITN started broadcasting morning newscasts from our studio in Greenville in 1997 and is the only station with news bureaus in all of the market’s major cities. Each day our news crews in Greenville, Washington, New Bern and Jacksonville reach out to cover what’s important to the viewers in the 29 counties that we serve.

Weather plays an important part at WITN. The station has the only truly live Doppler radar in Eastern Carolina, giving its viewers critical extra minutes of warning when bad weather approaches. WITN also was the first area television station to have a staff of four full-time meteorologists. They are committed to giving you the most up-to-date weather possible, around the clock, every day of the year.

WITN is already set for the digital conversion early next year. Since June of 2006 our digital transmitter has been broadcasting with 795,000 watts of power from atop our Grifton tower. When the conversion takes place, our existing digital viewers will see no change in their reception.

Channel 7 is also heavily committed to the Internet. Our web site, witn.com is the most viewed broadcast web site in the area. In 2008 it was named the best web site in its division by the North Carolina Associated Press. Each day, around the clock, our team of producers and reporters continuously keep our web site updated with breaking news, weather and sports.

WITN also operates a weather channel, WITN 24/7 Weather Channel, on its digital subchannel 7.2 (32.2), offering weather updates on the 7’s. It also features maps, VIPIR radar, PinPoint Weather, 7 day forecast and web cams. The channel is available also on digital cable through SuddenLink and Time Warner.

Through its various formats, WITN remains Your Breaking News and Weather Authority here in Eastern Carolina. Whether you’re at home, at work, or on the road, WITN is always there to keep you informed.