WTVZ-TV

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Not to be confused with KTVZ, KZTV, or WZTV.

WTVZ-TV
kW
HAAT360.5 m (1,183 ft)
Transmitter coordinates36°48′31.8″N 76°30′11.3″W / 36.808833°N 76.503139°W / 36.808833; -76.503139
Links
Public license information
Websitemytvz.com

WTVZ-TV (channel 33) is a

Virginia Beach, and its transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia
.

WTVZ signed on September 24, 1979, as the second

WYAH-TV throughout the 1980s. As with other TVX stations, it joined Fox
at its launch in 1986.

TVX sold WTVZ to its general manager, Charles A. McFadden, in 1989; at the time, the company was selling smaller stations to reduce debt. McFadden's group, later known as Max Television, dallied with the possibility of producing a local newscast for the station throughout the early 1990s but never followed through. Sinclair acquired WTVZ in 1995; that year, Fox announced it would move its affiliation to WVBT (channel 43) in 1998 due to a business dispute with Sinclair. The station then joined The WB in 1998 and MyNetworkTV in 2006.

History

TVX ownership

In 1976, the Television Corporation of Virginia

WTAR-TV,[6] and Tim McDonald, who had last been programming Washington independent WTTG, to help run the new WTVZ; McDonald required six months of coaxing to be lured away from Washington.[7][8] The station aimed to offer counterprogramming to the existing network affiliates, reach the children's market (which Trinder and McDonald felt underserved), and provide facilities for local commercial production.[3]

WTVZ-TV began broadcasting on September 24, 1979, featuring a general-entertainment mix including movies, sitcoms, cartoons, and sports.[9] The new station quickly made an impact in the market, claiming nine percent total-day share within a year of going on the air and buoyed by the market's large young male population.[10] Where the general manager of a local network affiliate had once declared to Trinder, "We will bury you", sitcom reruns helped the station rise to number two in the valuable early fringe hours opposite the network affiliates.[10][11] It took seven months for WTVZ to turn a profit, quickly leaving behind the early days when, Trinder recalled, "we made payroll by going to the bank and trading auto titles for cash".[10][8]

The investors sought to replicate WTVZ's success in other markets. The first expansion of what became

Nashville in 1984.[13]

In 1986, as with the other stations TVX owned at the time, WTVZ joined the new

WYAH-TV (channel 27), owned by the Portsmouth-based Christian Broadcasting Network—had become more competitive, with total-day audiences slightly eclipsing WTVZ.[15] Even though the Fox affiliation lifted WTVZ's ratings above WYAH and made it the company's only profitable TV station,[16] TVX began to face financial problems after its large purchase of five major-market independents from Taft Broadcasting in 1986. It was forced to recapitalize and began selling its smaller stations.[17]

McFadden/Max ownership

TVX announced in April 1989 that it would sell WTVZ-TV to Charles A. "Chuck" McFadden, its general manager, for $10.75 million (equivalent to $26.42 million in 2023

WSYT-TV, the Fox affiliate in Syracuse, New York, in 1990; the stations were put under the corporate name of Encore Communications.[19]

While Fox grew into a seven-night-a-week network, bringing with it a doubling of total audience share and double-digit year-over-year increases in revenue in 1989, 1990, and 1991,[19] the primary question for WTVZ under McFadden's ownership was that of possibly starting to produce a local newscast. The idea was first floated by the station in early 1991 for a start sometime between that May and late 1992, dependent on the national economy[20] By August 1992, it was considered a possibility for 1993,[21] and a news budget was drafted in late 1994.[22]

When ABC affiliate

WVEC-TV opted not to carry the new show NYPD Blue for content reasons upon its October 1993 premiere, WTVZ initially stepped up to air the program in Hampton Roads.[23] However, WTVZ also censored the program after McFadden had a change of heart, finding its nudity scenes "gross". When ABC learned of the station's own censorship, it insisted McFadden air the program without edits; the network then pulled the show from the station.[24]

Encore Communications eventually became Max Television, which in turn was affiliated with

Virginia Beach-based Max Media Properties, a concern in which TVX stakeholders Loving and Trinder were investors.[25]

Sinclair ownership and loss of Fox affiliation

Sinclair Broadcast Group announced in December 1994 that it had agreed to buy WTVZ-TV for $48 million (equivalent to $99 million in 2023[18]) from Max Television; the acquisition was structured as an asset sale, with the license to follow at a later date.[26][27] The Sinclair acquisition came as a surprise to employees and brought the long-simmering 10 p.m. news plans to another hold pending a change in management; one employee told Larry Bonko of The Virginian-Pilot, "The representatives from Sinclair wore all black to the meeting, including black shirts. Can you believe it? It was an incredibly insensitive of them to dress like that."[28] Sinclair management expressed optimism over the concept, but in November 1995, Steve Marx said the timing for starting the news operation, an expense estimated at $2 million (equivalent to $4 million in 2023[18]), was not right.[29][30]

On November 29, 1995, Fox announced that it would move its programming from WTVZ to WVBT (channel 43), a recently built station in Virginia Beach, beginning in September 1998. WVBT was an affiliate of The WB programmed under a local marketing agreement by local NBC affiliate WAVY-TV.[31] The surprise switch was announced with no reason given; however, three weeks later, the situation came into focus when Fox executed a similar affiliation switch with Sinclair's WLFL in Raleigh, North Carolina. Like in Hampton Roads, Fox announced it would move to a WB affiliate programmed by a major network station in 1998 at the expiration of its existing Sinclair contract; Sinclair cited "different philosophical views about the future" for the change. The company apparently had little confidence in Fox plans to expand to late night and early morning slots as well as in the area of news.[32] The additional network shows threatened to encroach on lucrative fringe periods where the Sinclair stations made money.[33] Even though relations improved between Sinclair and Fox, the network had already signed affiliation agreements with its new Raleigh and Norfolk stations and carried out the switch, with WTVZ joining The WB on August 31, 1998.[34][35] By that time, its general manager expressed a disdain for adding another newscast, noting that "[t]here is already too much news on the air in this market".[36] The idea of news came up again in 2003, after Sinclair had set up its News Central service, though no newscast materialized.[37]

MyNetworkTV affiliation

The WB and UPN announced on January 24, 2006, that they would be replaced by a new network, The CW, that fall. Announced among The CW's charter affiliates were a series of stations owned by UPN corporate parent CBS Corporation, including WGNT (the former WYAH-TV).[38][39] The news of the merger resulted in Sinclair announcing in early March that 17 of its UPN and WB affiliates, including WTVZ-TV, would join MyNetworkTV, a new service formed by the News Corporation, which also owned the Fox network.[40][41]

On May 15, 2012, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Fox agreed to a five-year affiliation agreement extension for Sinclair's 19 Fox-affiliated stations until 2017. This included an option, exercisable between July 1, 2012, and March 31, 2013, for Fox parent News Corporation to buy a combination of six Sinclair-owned stations (two CW/MyNetworkTV duopolies and two standalone MyNetworkTV affiliates) in three out of four markets; WTVZ was included in the Fox purchase option, along with stations in

Raleigh (WLFL and WRDC) and Las Vegas (KVCW and KVMY).[42] In January 2013, Fox announced that it would not exercise its option to buy any of the Sinclair stations in those four markets mentioned.[43]

In 2017, Sinclair entered into an agreement to acquire Tribune Media, which at the time was the operator of WTKR and WGNT. Sinclair would have had to select one of WGNT or WTVZ-TV to keep; though no divestiture plan was announced, Sinclair did mention specifically the possibility of launching a newscast for WTVZ.[44] However, the transaction was designated in July 2018 for hearing by an FCC administrative law judge, and Tribune moved to terminate the deal in August 2018.[45]

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is

multiplexed
:

Subchannels of WTVZ-TV[46]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
33.1 720p
16:9
 WTVZ-HD Main WTVZ-TV programming / MyNetworkTV
33.2 480i Charge Charge!
33.3 Comet Comet
33.4 TBD-TV TBD

Analog-to-digital conversion

WTVZ-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over

UHF channel 33, on February 17, 2009, to conclude the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[47] Its digital signal then moved from channel 38 to channel 33.[48]

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WTVZ-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ a b Cornelis, Ralph (June 15, 1977). "Electricity Rate Hike May Cut WHRO-TV Hours". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. p. 13. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b Edgar, Henry (June 10, 1979). "WTVZ To Offer TV Viewers A New Choice". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. p. E4. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Spencer, Jim (November 21, 1982). "Straight talker: Virginia's second lady commands respect". Roanoke Times & World-News. Landmark News Service. pp. E1, E12. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Norfolk to get new UHF station". The Times-Herald. Newport News, Virginia. Associated Press. June 10, 1978. p. 2. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "People In The News". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. May 6, 1979. p. F7. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ProQuest 1401345637
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  8. ^ a b Schapiro, Jeff E. (March 1987). "Air wolf: Tim McDonald is a broadcast animal". Virginia Business. p. 40.
  9. ^ "Channel 33: New TV Station On Air Monday". Daily Press. September 23, 1979. p. E3. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b c Atlee, Cindy (September 7, 1980). "Sky's The Limit For WTVZ". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. p. E1. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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  12. ^ Kenion, Jerry (October 27, 1980). "Ch. 45 Changes Format". Greensboro Daily News. p. A12. Archived from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  13. ^ Durden, Douglas (March 6, 1983). "Riding herd on TV's final frontier". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. pp. J1, J3. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Edgar, Henry (August 7, 1986). "Independent WTVZ planning to carry Joan Rivers show". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. p. E7. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Sheerin, Matthew (June 30, 1987). "TV station negotiating with group: Buyers look at WYAH facility". Daily Press. p. A1, A4. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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  17. ^ a b Pryweller, Joseph (April 4, 1989). "Employee plans to buy Channel 33". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. pp. B5, B6. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ a b c 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  19. ^ a b Mehta, Stephanie N. (May 3, 1993). "Eager to outfox its TV rivals". The Virginian-Pilot. p. Business Weekly 10.
  20. ^ Pryweller, Joseph (February 9, 1991). "Fox affiliate plans to launch own newscast". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. pp. D1, D2. Archived from the original on April 7, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Bonko, Larry (August 9, 1992). "Fox newscast promises to be unlike the rest". The Virginian-Pilot. p. G2.
  22. ^ Nicholson, David (October 1, 1994). "WTVZ may be moving into news business". Daily Press. p. D1. Retrieved April 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Bonko, Larry (October 13, 1993). "WTVZ steps in to carry 'NYPD'". The Virginian-Pilot. p. B1.
  24. ^ Bonko, Larry (November 4, 1993). "Censoring 'NYPD Blue' causes WTVZ to lose hit show". The Virginian-Pilot. p. B1.
  25. ^ Mayfield, Dave (February 14, 1994). "WTVZ gets new general manager, area's 1st woman". The Virginian-Pilot. p. D8.
  26. ^ Stoughton, Stephanie (December 3, 1994). "A Baltimore broadcast company said Friday...". The Virginian-Pilot. p. D1.
  27. ^ Mayfield, Dave (January 11, 1995). "Sinclair completes WTVZ asset buyout". The Virginian-Pilot. p. D1.
  28. ^ Bonko, Larry (December 9, 1994). "Fox and WTKR? It's possible". The Virginian-Pilot. p. E2.
  29. ^ Bonko, Larry (February 7, 1995). "New owners may launch early news on Channel 33". The Virginian-Pilot. p. E1.
  30. ^ Bonko, Larry (November 20, 1995). "News at 10 (again) hits the air". The Virginian-Pilot. p. E2.
  31. ^ Bonko, Larry (November 30, 1995). "Fox to change affiliation: In September 1998, Fox plans to move from WTVZ in Norfolk to WVBT in Virginia Beach". The Virginian-Pilot. p. D1.
  32. ^ Dresser, Michael (December 23, 1995). "Sinclair reveals breach with Fox Network". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. p. 10C, 17C. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ Gimein, Mark (January 1, 1996). "Fox knocks out affiliates". Mediaweek.
  34. ^ Johnson, Adrienne M. (June 28, 1998). "Changing channels". The News and Observer. p. 1G, 8G. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ Wagner, Lon (August 22, 1998). "Billboards on channel switch irk Fox affiliate: 'Don't have a cow,' Bart Simpson might say of copyright dispute". The Virginian-Pilot. p. D1.
  36. ^ Bonko, Larry (August 23, 1998). "The changing face of local TV". The Virginian-Pilot. p. E1.
  37. ^ Bonko, Larry (August 10, 2003). "WTVZ ponders a jump into the 10 p.m. news pool". The Virginian-Pilot. p. E1.
  38. CNN Money. CNN. Archived
    from the original on March 16, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  39. ^ Carter, Bill (January 24, 2006). "UPN and WB to Combine, Forming New TV Network". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 17, 2015. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  40. ^ "News Corp. Unveils MyNetworkTV". Broadcasting & Cable. February 22, 2006. Archived from the original on April 17, 2009. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  41. ^ Romano, Allison (March 2, 2006). "Sinclair Signs On to MyNetworkTV". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  42. ^ "Sinclair Reups With Fox, Gets WUTB Option". TVNewsCheck. May 15, 2012. Archived from the original on May 9, 2013. Retrieved May 15, 2012.
  43. ^ "Sinclair In An Acquisition State Of Mind". TVNewsCheck. February 6, 2013. Archived from the original on May 9, 2013. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
  44. ^ Eggerton, John (October 5, 2017). "Sinclair to FCC: We're Priming Divestiture Pump". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  45. News Corp. Archived
    from the original on April 5, 2019. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  46. ^ "RabbitEars TV Query for WTVZ". RabbitEars. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
  47. ^ "List of TV stations ending analog broadcasts". NBC News. Associated Press. February 17, 2009. Archived from the original on January 6, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  48. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. May 23, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved August 29, 2021.

External links

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