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Turner's new Charlotte station was not an immediate success. Programming costs were high relative to ratings. The station had just one on-air personality: announcer Bob Chesson, who as "Dead Ernest" hosted the station's block of horror films.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Eichel |first=Henry |date=February 13, 1972 |title=Will Channel 36 Survive? |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520114/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182034/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520114/will-channel-36-survive/ |url-status=live }}</ref> One Saturday morning in February 1972, Turner appeared on the station to appeal for contributions from viewers, saying that channel 36 had not broken even since he had purchased it.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 6, 1972 |title=WRET Asks Viewers' Loans To Stay On Air |page=3B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65519992/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012727/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65519992/wret-asks-viewers-loans-to-stay-on-air/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The station drew $53,000 in donations, enough to help pay its bills, and also received interest from several new advertisers.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Nets $53,000: WRET-TV Prospects 'Good' After Appeal |page=1C |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520208/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012727/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520208/nets-53000-wret-tv-prospects-good/ |url-status=live }}</ref> WRET-TV became a typical UHF independent, airing a lineup of [[animated cartoon|cartoons]], [[sitcom]]s, older movies, and a heavy slate of sporting events.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hanna |first=Charlie |date=April 19, 1974 |title=Channel 36 Adding WFL To Sports-Crowded Lineup |page=7B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520448/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012727/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520448/channel-36-adding-wfl-to-sports-crowded/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It was among the early carriers of ''[[The 700 Club]]'', produced by the [[Christian Broadcasting Network]];<ref>{{Cite news |last=Barnard |first=Warren |date=June 17, 1972 |title=Churches Question The Union Of 9 Christian Denominations |page=4A |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520317/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012736/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520317/churches-question-the-union-of-9/ |url-status=live }}</ref> at one point, the Charlotte area accounted for 15 percent of CBN's pledge contributions.{{r|cinderella}}
[[File:WRET-TV Logo 1970s.png|150px|thumb|right|WRET-TV logo from the 1970s.]]
By 1975, buoyed by a stronger film library, WRET-TV had emerged as the country's fifth-best independent station of 65 nationwide in audience share, per an analysis by ''[[Television/Radio Age (magazine)|Television/Radio Age]]'', and was making a profit.<ref name="cinderella">{{Cite news |last=Hanna |first=Charlie |date=February 9, 1975 |title=Charlotte's Cinderella Station Is Fifth-Ranking Independent |page=TV Week 1 |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520560/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012818/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520560/charlottes-cinderella-station-is/ |url-status=live }}</ref> After five years of being independently operated from the rest of his Turner Communications Group, that company absorbed WRET-TV and its parent company later that year.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 28, 1975 |title=Atlanta Corporation Absorbs WRET-TV |page=2B |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520701/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012819/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520701/atlanta-corporation-absorbs-wret-tv/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Late that year, Turner was making plans to uplink one of its two stations nationwide for distribution to cable providers. While Turner preferred to uplink his Atlanta flagship, by then renamed, WRET-TV was a backup in the event that the [[Federal Communications Commission]] did not relax rules that prevented the existence of [[superstation]]s in top-25 television markets.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 6, 1975 |title=WRET May Go Nationwide |page=2B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520821/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012819/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520821/wret-may-go-nationwide/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Channel 36 ended the year by announcing plans to repay the viewers whose contributions had saved it four years prior,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Barnard |first=Warren |date=December 29, 1975 |title=Channel 36 To Repay Viewers' Donations Soon |pages=1B, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520979/ 10B] |work=The Charlotte News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520936/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012821/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65520936/channel-36-to-repay-viewers-donations/ |url-status=live }}</ref> doing so in February 1976.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Alridge |first=Ron |date=February 5, 1976 |title=WRET Plans To Pay Back Viewer Loans |page=1A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521009/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313012820/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521009/wret-plans-to-pay-back-viewer-loans/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Each of the 3,600 contributors, who
In 1976 and 1977, channel 36 became an even more aggressive buyer of programming, grabbing local rights to ''[[Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman]]'' from [[WSOC-TV]] and stepping in to run CBS coverage of NBA basketball when [[WBTV]] passed on the package; it also aired other network shows that Charlotte's affiliates preempted. It was airing on 148 cable systems in the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Virginia.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Alridge |first=Ron |date=June 12, 1977 |title=WRET Is Big Story |page=TV Week 5 |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521240/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182045/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65521240/wret-is-big-story/ |url-status=live }}</ref> However, WRET-TV remained a laggard in news and public affairs programming. Its 15-minute sign-off newscast—the only such program on the station as an independent—was read by [[Bill Tush]] from Turner's headquarters in Atlanta and fed to Charlotte by telephone.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Alridge |first=Ron |date=July 2, 1977 |title=Now, The WRET News From Atlanta |page=16A |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65522213/ |access-date=December 17, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182036/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65522213/now-the-wret-news-from-atlanta/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
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In August 1982, the station made another programming change, this time attracting considerable national attention: it dropped its low-rated early evening newscast.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chapin |first=Catherine |date=August 19, 1982 |title=WPCQ TV Dropping News Shows |pages=1A, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713137/charlotte-nbc-affiliate-wpcq-dropping/ 10A] |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713122/wpcq-tv-dropping-news-shows/ |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=March 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328182203/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/45713122/wpcq-tv-dropping-news-shows/ |url-status=live }}</ref> When it axed that program, it also decided to cease carrying the ''[[NBC Nightly News]].'' This prompted NBC officials to shop the ''Nightly News'' to Charlotte's other stations, including WBTV.<ref name="drops">{{Cite news |date=September 22, 1982 |title=Carolina NBC-TV Outlet Drops the Evening News |page=C24 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/22/arts/carolina-nbc-tv-outlet-drops-the-evening-news.html |access-date=December 18, 2020 |archive-date=December 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201133203/http://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/22/arts/carolina-nbc-tv-outlet-drops-the-evening-news.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The station continued with its noon newscast, as well as short news capsules throughout the day and occasional news specials.<ref name="udrop">{{Cite news |date=September 6, 1982 |title=Charlotte U to drop NBC News |id={{ProQuest|962727089}} |page=41 |work=Broadcasting |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1982/BC-1982-09-06.pdf |access-date=December 18, 2020 |via=World Radio History |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308033253/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1982/BC-1982-09-06.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Station officials blamed WPCQ-TV's signal, which—despite the power increase—was not strong enough to reach outer areas of the market that got better signals from [[WXII-TV]] in [[Winston-Salem, North Carolina]], and [[WIS (TV)|WIS-TV]] in [[Columbia, South Carolina]].{{r|drops}} John J. Spinola, the general manager of the station, admitted that he was "pretty well encircled by NBC affiliates".<ref name="gamblehanna">{{cite news|first=Charlie|last=Hanna|title=Programming Gamble Pays Off For Westinghouse's WPCQ-TV|page=46|date=July 6, 1983|id={{ProQuest|1438386014}} |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] }}</ref>
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