WTVR-TV
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| WTVR-TV | |
|---|---|
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| Richmond, Virginia | |
| Branding | CBS 6 |
| Slogan | First • Fair • Everywhere |
| Channels | Analog: 6 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | CBS (secondary 1948-55; sole affliiate 1955-56 and since 1960) |
| Owner | Raycom Media, Inc. (sale pending) (Elcom of Virginia License Subsidiary, LLC) |
| First air date | April 22, 1948 |
| Call letters’ meaning | TeleVision Richmond |
| Sister station(s) | WUPV |
| Former affiliations | NBC (1948-1955) ABC (1956-1960) DuMont (secondary, 1948-1955) ABC (secondary, 1948-1956) |
| Transmitter Power | 100 kW (analog) 410 kW (digital) |
| Height | 256 m (analog) 347 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 57832 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | (analog) (digital) |
| Website | www.wtvr.com |
WTVR-TV (CBS 6) is a CBS television affiliate based in Richmond, Virginia owned by Raycom Media. It broadcasts on analog channel 6, and its studios and tower are located on West Broad Street in downtown Richmond. The tower is also the transmitter for former sister station WTVR-FM and NPR member WCVE-FM. It also operates Richmond's CW affiliate, WUPV, under a shared services agreement.
The station's audio signal can also be heard on the standard radio dial at 87.7 MHz FM in most of central Virginia. This is because television channel 6 is uniquely positioned on the radio spectrum so that its frequency modulated audio signal coincidentally borders the lower limit of the standard FM radio dial at 87.75 MHz.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early years
WTVR arose from unlikely roots. Auto parts dealer Wilbur Havens started WMBG (which stood for "Magnetos, Batteries, and Generators"), a 10-watt station on AM 1380, in 1926 in his auto-parts shop on West Broad Street in downtown Richmond. By 1939, Havens' original $500 investment had turned into a studio on West Broad (a former bus garage), where WTVR-TV operates today. Havens brought FM service to Richmond in 1947 when he signed on WCOD-FM 98.1. No one expected him to go after one of the four channels originally allocated to Richmond for television, so it came as a complete surprise when Havens filed an application for channel 6. With no other applications to consider, FCC approval was a mere formality, and WTVR took to the air on April 22, 1948 as the first television station south of Washington, D.C. For many years, it used a colorized version of its original ID slide to start its newscasts.
In 1953, WTVR activated its tall tower, located atop its West Broad studios. The 800-foot / 244 m (1049 feet / 320 m above sea level) tower is considered part of the Richmond skyline, and can be seen for several miles around Richmond. WTVR used a graphical version of the tower in its news opens for several years in the 1980s and early 1990s.
WTVR was originally a primary NBC affiliate, carrying secondary affiliations with CBS, ABC and DuMont. As it was one of the last stations to get a construction permit befor an FCC-imposed freeze on new permits, it was the only station in town until 1955. That year, WXEX-TV (now WRIC-TV) signed on from neighboring Petersburg and took the NBC affiliation. It was briefly a CBS affiliate until 1956, when WRVA-TV (now WWBT) signed on and took the CBS affiliation due to WRVA-AM's long history as a CBS radio affiliate. WTVR then carried on as an ABC affiliate until 1960, when CBS cut a new deal with Havens due to channel 12's low ratings. It has been with CBS ever since, and is one of a few stations in the country to have had primary affiliations with all three original television networks.
[edit] Park Communications era
Havens sold WTVR-TV, WMBG-AM, and WCOD-FM to Roy H. Park Communications in 1966, earning a handsome return on his investment of 40 years earlier. After taking ownership of the properties, the radio stations adopted the TV station's "WTVR" call letters.
When Park died in 1993, the company's assets were sold to a Lexington, Kentucky group of investors that sold the radio properties separately to various owners, with WTVR-AM-FM going to Clear Channel in 1995. WTVR-FM is still owned by Clear Channel, while the former WTVR-AM, bought by Salem Communications in 2001 and programmed as Christian talk, was later sold by Salem and is now Spanish religious station WBTK.
WTVR was the overall ratings leader in Richmond until the early 1980s, when WWBT surpassed it, mainly in local news ratings and, later in the 1980s, due to strength from WWBT's affiliation with NBC and its top rated primetime lineup. Channel 6 also suffered in 1994 when CBS lost the rights to broadcast NFL Football to Fox (CBS returned to NFL broadcasting in 1998). Through it all, WTVR has been a solid runner-up, sometimes waging a spirited battle for second place with WRIC in news ratings.
[edit] Raycom Media era
Park merged with Media General in 1996. However, Media General already owned the Richmond Times-Dispatch and could not keep channel 6 because FCC rules of the time did not allow cross-ownership of newspapers and television stations in the same market. As a result, Media General sold WTVR to Raycom Media in 1997.
WTVR was the only CBS station between Richmond and Roanoke until WCAV-TV signed on in Charlottesville in 2003.
Local features and community programs have included "For Kids' Sake", "Paws for Pets", and Battle of the Brains and a new 24-hour weather news channel broadcast on broadband and digital cable in the area. The station carried Raycom's 24/7 music television format "The Tube" on WTVR-DT3 until its shutdown on October 1, 2007.
On November 12, 2007, Raycom Media announced its intention to purchase the television broadcasting and production properties of Lincoln Financial Media, including rival WWBT. Since FCC rules do not allow one person to own two of the four largest stations in a single market, Raycom decided to keep WWBT and sell WTVR to another owner. [1]
[edit] Past personalities
- Charles Fishburne, Main anchor from 1984 to 1999, now runs his own video production company[2]
- Lisa LaFata, Co-anchor from 1984-1994.
- Mike Wankum, Chief meteorologist in the early 90s, now at WCVB in Boston
- Alan Winfield, Early 90s morning and noon meteorologist, now at Bay News 9 in Tampa, Florida [3]*
- Roger Harvey, Anchor in the late 80s and into the 90s, now Vice President of Bose Public Affairs Group in Indianapolis
- Marty Snyder, Morning and noon meteorologist, now at WHAM-TV in Rochester, New York[4]
- Tracy Lewis, Weekend meteorologist, now at WSOC in Charlotte
- Mike Goldberg, Chief meteorologist 1998 to 2007
- Nichelle King, Morning and noon co-anchor, later went to WHDH in Boston
- Jim Hale, Morning and noon anchor late 90s-2000
- Ray Collins, Main anchor from 1999-2003, now at WTVT in Tampa
- Elliot Wiser, Financial reporter in the 80s-early 90s and former news director[5]; was general manager of Bay News 9 in Tampa from 1997-2007; now group vice president of local programming for Bright House Networks [6]
- Ivan Schwartz, Sports director in the 80s-90s; now on the sports medicine staff of CJW Medicine Center in Richmond[7]
- Ros Runner, Weekend meteorologist from 2004-2007, now at WSLS in Roanoke
- John Carlin, at the station in the early 80s, been main anchor at WSLS in Roanoke since 1987
- Angela Miles, Co-anchor in the late 90s
- Reba Hollingsworth, Saturday morning anchor, later weekday morning and noon co-anchor
- Bob Woodward, reporter in the 1980s, now at ABC News
- Cindy Trembly, weekend meteorologist before Ros Runner
- Jeanne Meserve, former reporter who has had a long career as a reporter at CNN
- Wyatt Andrews, former reporter who has had a long career as a reporter for CBS News
[edit] External links
- WTVR website
- History of WWBT Television in Richmond
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WTVR-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WTVR-TV
[edit] References
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