A celebration for the 20th Anniversary of WRAL TechWire took place in the WRAL Media Buildings at CBC's Corporate Headquarters in Raleigh on Thursday, January 26, 2023. WRAL Digital's Rick Smith with one of the original staff members, Cindy Stranad, holding up a photo of the original staff.
Capitol Broadcasting marked a milestone for WRAL TechWire with a special celebration on Thursday, January 26, 2023. The technology-specific publication turned 20. Contributors both past and present came together to honor the evolution and progress of WRAL TechWire in the WRAL Media Buildings at CBC's Corporate Headquarters in Raleigh.
Speaking at the event WRAL Digital Business & Technology Manager Rick Smith hailed the partnership and synergy with the WRAL newsroom for enhancing the online entity originally established in Charlotte in 2002 and purchased by CBC in December 2005. The date for the celebration was chosen because 21 years ago to the day, the publication launched.
Last week Capcom featured WRAL TechWire and its history in honor of the event:
Capcom: WRAL TechWire Marks 20th Anniversary
Along with photos from the celebration, this Capcom piece expounds on another facet of the publication's history. Smith said WRAL Digital Director of Strategic Business Development James Amato believed in the mission of WRAL TechWire and helped bring it out from behind a paywall to a broader audience.
The future of WRAL TechWire remains bright in and of itself but also in the bold endeavors it's sparked and those of us who have embraced and contributed to its potential.
WRAL Digital's James Amato The future of WRAL TechWire remains bright in and of itself but also in the bold endeavors it's sparked and those of us who have embraced and contributed to its potential.
Amato came to CBC in December 2015, originally in sales for FOX 50. He spent over a decade in higher education, designing environments and programs that helped students thrive, and then briefly as Director of Major and Planned Giving at United Way of the Greater Triangle. Through both roles he connected with leaders and visionaries, championing causes that aligned with their passion. Through sales at CBC, he saw the potential of the digital offerings of our company.
WRAL TechWire was a natural path to embrace the opportunity while having something that I could leverage to serve Triangle regional leaders and execs who I served in nonprofit and to whom I desired to remain connected, said Amato.
A celebration for the 20th Anniversary of WRAL TechWire took place in the WRAL Media Buildings at CBC's Corporate Headquarters in Raleigh on Thursday, January 26, 2023. (l to r) WRAL Digital's Cassie Richardson, James Amato, Rick Smith, Katie Daugherty, Corp's Jim Goodmon & WRAL Digital's Quinn Novels
He credited a long list of CBC'ers who welcomed and embraced his desire to get involved with WRAL TechWire.
I credit this old guard' cohort of leaders with not only fostering my enthusiasm for sales of WRAL-TW but also my understanding of the business at large, said Amato. Why this is important is because these people not only served as my gateway to understanding the business and successfully selling it but also inspired me to consider unique ways to bridge the gap between news and sales and to leverage TW and other company assets to boldly address client and community challenges.
After Amato joined the team, the first WRAL TechWire client brought abroad was the City of Wilson, of which he said their ubiquitous, gigabit broadband is still (IMO) among the most unique of value propositions of any community in the state.
Amato continued, The City's desire to leverage TW as their regional megaphone served as an infusion paving the way for us to phase out the paywall but also the first of many logs on a fire now called Capitol B Creative Studios CBC's full service strategic and creative agency. The City of Wilson remains WRAL TW's most profound supporter and in 2020 became Capitol B's first client. The arrangement allowed us to become member number 1 of their Gig East Exchange Innovation Hub.
Since the partnership began, both WRAL TechWire and Capitol B Creative Studios have staffed an office at the facility in downtown Wilson serving the city, its innovators and entrepreneurs.
It serves as a lab for us to develop and test new service offerings and products while giving us a chance to share the thought leadership of our tremendously talented strategy, biz dev, and creative teams.
At the celebration Smith pointed out that technology is changing fast, giving WRAL TechWire much fuel for coverage. He has also added an array of contributors that give us wider voice and diversity.
Amato and Smith both see a bright digital road ahead for WRAL TechWire.
The future? said Amato. Consider this, in addition to being the state's go-to source for tech and innovation news and a place to boldly address client and community challenges, WRAL TW and its synergy with Capitol B Creative is also a source for fostering economic and workforce development the Hub of the company co-created BioJobs Campaign aimed at addressing the 15,000 person workforce shortfall facing the multi-billion dollar industry mountains to coast. My assessment? The future of WRAL TechWire remains bright in and of itself but also in the bold endeavors it's sparked and those of us who have embraced and contributed to its potential.
A celebration for the 20th Anniversary of WRAL TechWire took place in the WRAL Media Buildings at CBC's Corporate Headquarters in Raleigh on Thursday, January 26, 2023. WRAL Digital's Rick Smith with one of the original staff members, Cindy Stranad, holding up a photo of the original staff. WRAL Digital's Rick Smith shared a photo of the original staff of WRAL T
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...
22/07/2026
Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...
22/07/2026
Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...
22/07/2026
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...
22/07/2026
Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...
22/07/2026
Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...
22/07/2026
FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...
22/07/2026
The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...
22/07/2026
Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...
22/07/2026
Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...
22/07/2026
FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...
22/07/2026
Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...
22/07/2026
SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...
22/07/2026
The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...
22/07/2026
At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room
NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...
22/07/2026
Library now available in Engine Player
Another of Eduardo Tarilonte's popular sample libraries has just been moved over to Engine Audio's Engine Pla...
22/07/2026
All-in-one mic & DSP interface overhauled
Cloudvocal have just refreshed the design of their all-in-one mic, audio interface and DSP processor, introducing ...
22/07/2026
The final boss of the lost dual-op-amp circuit
Electro-Harmonix have just introduced the Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2, which they say offers their latest take on t...
22/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...
22/07/2026
Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...
22/07/2026
AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back
Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026
0 Comments
A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...
22/07/2026
From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...
22/07/2026
A poisoned spy, a secret war, and a small English city contaminated by a deadly chemical weapon. Available on Sky Documentaries from 4 AugustWednesday 22 July 2...
22/07/2026
Audio at Parity: Comscore Launches Transcript-Level Targeting and Measurement wi...
22/07/2026
Arvato Systems and Lobster Enter into a Partnership and Combine the Integration Platform and Managed Services
Flexible integration solutions for cloud, hybrid...
22/07/2026
RT REPORTS NET SURPLUS OF 22.5 MILLION IN 2025...
22/07/2026
In the Opinion of the Censor airs Monday 27 July at 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player
In the Opinion of the Censor looks at how films for theatrical release wer...
22/07/2026
Before a healthcare robot can be useful in the real world, it has to learn how the physical world pushes back. Anatomy varies. Instruments bend, press, slip and...
21/07/2026
New research involving a cross-section of Mongolias independent media landscape finds enthusiasm for AI as a tool to improve efficiency, sustainability and resi...
21/07/2026
With winners Spain having already paraded the World Cup trophy through Madrid in front of millions of fans and the dust now settling on an epic tournament of th...
A celebration for the 20th Anniversary of WRAL TechWire took place in the WRAL Media Buildings at CBC's Corporate Headquarters in Raleigh on Thursday, January 26, 2023. WRAL Digital's Rick Smith with one of the original staff members, Cindy Stranad, holding up a photo of the original staff.
