WCYB-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Bristol, Virginia, United States, serving the Tri-Cities area as an affiliate of NBC and The CW.

The two stations share studios on Lee Street on the Virginia side of Bristol (straddling the Virginia–Tennessee line); WCYB-TV's transmitter is located at Rye Patch Knob on Holston Mountain in the Cherokee National Forest.

As early as 1952, companies and groups began competing for a chance to get the better-picture, lower VHF channel 5, allocated to Bristol.

[5] The initial studio was planned for the first floor of the Hotel General Shelby (home to WCYB radio), at Cumberland and Front streets, with a full-power transmitter to be located on Brumley Mountain, 1,964 feet (599 m) above average terrain in the Jefferson National Forest, 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Bristol.

[4] On diversity of ownership grounds, a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hearing examiner found in favor of WCYB's bid in January 1955.

[8] WCYB-TV began broadcasting on August 13, 1956; it primarily continued testing for several more weeks until a full launch on September 1,[9] though the early start allowed it to present coverage of that year's Democratic National Convention.

During his tenure, well-known newscasters Merrill Moore, Johnny Wood, and Steve Hawkins began their successful careers.

In the 1960s, this station produced a live weekday cartoon show for children called the Looney Tunes Club, hosted by Ed Spiegel.

[16] WCYB's news dominance from the 1980s and beyond was largely due to the presence of the station's longtime anchormen Merrill Moore, Johnny Wood, and Steve Hawkins.

In the 1960s, News Director Walter Crockett also delivered editorials at 6:25 p.m. daily, and Evelyn Booher was one of the first woman newscasters in the Tri-Cities at that time.

In January 2005, WCYB won the RTNDA's Ultimate Newscast Makeover contest, which included a new set, graphics and music package at no charge.

[17][18] Starting with the 2012 election day newscast, WCYB debuted new graphics and a new logo, similar to San Antonio's WOAI.

On July 29, 2014, it was announced that the noon newscast on WCYB would be shortened to a 30-minute segment, followed by an episode of Judge Judy with anchors Preston Ayres and Samantha Kozsey rotating positions each week.

[citation needed] On February 20, 2015, it was announced that Meteorologist Donnie Cox would be moving to WCTI-TV in New Bern, North Carolina.

The station's signal is multiplexed: On August 23, 2011, Disney-ABC Television Group announced an affiliation agreement with WCYB to carry Live Well Network on a new third digital subchannel.

[31] During the 1970s and 1980s through CATV, WCYB was once carried in Pikeville, Kentucky, Wilkesboro, North Carolina, and McDowell County, West Virginia.