WBOY-TV

Last updated

WBOY-TV
WBOY-TV 2009.PNG
Wboy dt2.png
City Clarksburg, West Virginia
Channels
Branding
  • WBOY 12 News
  • WBOY Your ABC (on DT2)
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
WOWK-TV, WTRF-TV, WVNS-TV
History
First air date
November 17, 1957(66 years ago) (1957-11-17)
Former call signs
WBLK-TV (CP, 1954–1957) [1]
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 12 (VHF, 1957–2009)
  • Digital: 52 (UHF, 2002–2009)
  • ABC (secondary, 1957–1976)
Technical information [2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID 71220
ERP 12.25 kW
HAAT 262 m (860 ft)
Transmitter coordinates 39°17′5.7″N80°19′44.8″W / 39.284917°N 80.329111°W / 39.284917; -80.329111
Links
Public license information
Website www.wboy.com

WBOY-TV (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Clarksburg, West Virginia, United States, serving North Central West Virginia as an affiliate of NBC and ABC. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on West Pike Street in downtown Clarksburg, and its transmitter is located east of downtown and US 50.

Contents

The station identifies on-air as "Clarksburg–FairmontMorgantown" even though the latter city is considered to be part of the Pittsburgh market. Despite this, WBOY-TV operates a news bureau in Morgantown which makes it the only commercial station to have facilities there.

History

The station was launched on November 17, 1957. It was the second television station in its small market. WBOY was originally intended to be the ABC affiliate for all of North-Central West Virginia. However, the area's intended NBC affiliate, Parkersburg's WTAP-TV, did not have a signal strong enough to reach Clarksburg and Weston. North-Central West Virginia is a very rugged dissected plateau and WTAP's analog signal on UHF channel 15 was not strong enough to carry across the terrain. After it became clear that Parkersburg and Clarksburg were going to be separate markets, WBOY joined NBC and remains with the network to this day. However, it retained a secondary ABC affiliation for many years. Its original owner was Friendly Broadcasting, who owned several stations including WSTV in Steubenville, Ohio. Rust Craft sold the station to Northern West Virginia TV Broadcasting Company in 1964.

Imes Communications of Columbus, Mississippi, who also owned that city's CBS affiliate WCBI-TV bought the station in 1976, as well as ABC affiliate WMUR-TV in Manchester, New Hampshire. At that time, WBOY dropped the remainder of its ABC programming, allowing it to become a full NBC affiliate; as a result, cable systems began importing Pittsburgh's WTAE-TV for ABC programming. In early 2001, Hearst Television (the owner of WTAE-TV) acquired WBOY and WMUR from Imes; Hearst's acquisition of WBOY was finalized on April 30, 2001. In 2000, the FCC started to allow a company to own multiple stations with overlapping coverage areas. However, Hearst opted to keep WTAE-TV (one of its longtime flagship stations) and sold WBOY to West Virginia Media Holdings (which was creating a statewide "network" of stations to share resources) in September 2001; the sale closed on December 13 of that year.

WBOY launched a new second digital subchannel with ABC programming on August 1, 2008, with the branding "Your ABC". Sister station WTRF-TV in Wheeling also launched an ABC subchannel at the same time. Previously, both the Clarksburg–Weston–Fairmont and Wheeling–Steubenville markets were served by WTAE as the de facto affiliate while WDTV aired select ABC Sports programming.

On November 17, 2015, Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced that it would purchase the West Virginia Media Holdings stations, including WBOY-TV, for $130 million. [3] Under the terms of the deal, Nexstar assumed control of the stations through a time brokerage agreement in December 2015, with the sale of the license assets completed on January 31, 2017. [4]

News operation

After being acquired by West Virginia Media Holdings, the station upgraded its news operation and built secondary studios in Morgantown on Scott Avenue. While Morgantown is part of the Pittsburgh market, WBOY has long claimed that city as its primary coverage area; it has been carried on Xfinity's Morgantown cable system and its predecessors since the 1960s. A major emphasis was placed on further ramping up coverage of Morgantown events in the hopes of increasing ratings and thus getting Morgantown reassigned to the Clarksburg–Fairmont market. The move made WBOY the highest rated station in Monongalia County according to Nielsen ratings, beating even Pittsburgh stations. The station produces a large amount of sports content relative to West Virginia University and feeds it to its two sister stations. Today, it is the only former West Virginia Media Holdings station to be the news ratings leader in its respective market.

Nexstar Media produces a half-hour evening newscast that airs at 5:30 p.m. The newscast, titled West Virginia Tonight, is broadcast live from WOWK's Charleston studios in high definition on WOWK, WBOY, WVNS, WTRF and WDVM and is anchored by Mark Curtis and Amanda Barren. WBOY-DT2 simulcasts the weekday editions of 12 News at 5 a.m., 6 a.m., noon, 5, 5:30, 6, and 11 p.m. It does not simulcast weekend broadcasts from the main channel. In addition, there is a public affairs program called Inside West Virginia Politics hosted by Mark Curtis, airing Sundays at on all five Nexstar West Virginia stations.

On April 1, 2013, WBOY became the second station in the market and the last station owned by West Virginia Media Holdings to upgrade its local newscasts to high definition. With the upgrade came new graphics and a new music package (Aerial by Stephen Arnold).[ citation needed ]

Notable former staff

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WBOY-TV [6]
Channel Res. Aspect Short nameProgramming
12.1 1080i 16:9 WBOYNBC NBC
12.2 720p WBOYABC ABC
12.3 480i 4:3 Escape Ion Mystery
12.4Laff Laff

Analog-to-digital conversion

WBOY-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 12, on February 17, 2009, the original target date on which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 52, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to its analog-era VHF channel 12. [7] [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WCMH-TV</span> NBC affiliate in Columbus, Ohio

WCMH-TV is a television station in Columbus, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Nexstar Media Group. The station's studios are located on Olentangy River Road near the Ohio State University campus, and its transmitter is located on Twin Rivers Drive, west of downtown Columbus.

KDKA-TV, also known as CBS Pittsburgh, is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Jeannette-licensed WPKD-TV, an independent station. The two stations share studios at the Gateway Center in downtown Pittsburgh; KDKA-TV's transmitter is located in the city's Perry North neighborhood. KDKA-TV, along with sister station KYW-TV in Philadelphia, are the only CBS-affiliated television stations east of the Mississippi River with "K" call signs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTAE-TV</span> ABC affiliate in Pittsburgh

WTAE-TV is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with ABC. It has been owned by Hearst Television since the station's inception, making this one of two stations that have been built and signed on by Hearst. WTAE-TV's studios are located on Ardmore Boulevard in the suburb of Wilkinsburg, and its transmitter is located in Buena Vista, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WPXI</span> NBC affiliate in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US

WPXI is a television station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Cox Media Group. The station's offices and studios are located on Evergreen Road in the Summer Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Its transmitter is on Television Hill in the Fineview section of the city, at the site of the station's original studio location.

WSAZ-TV is a television station licensed to Huntington, West Virginia, United States, affiliated with NBC. It serves the Charleston–Huntington market, the second-largest television market east of the Mississippi River; the station's coverage area includes 31 counties in central West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and southeastern Ohio. WSAZ-TV is owned by Gray Television alongside Portsmouth, Ohio–licensed CW affiliate WQCW. The two stations share studios on 5th Avenue in Huntington, with an additional studio and newsroom on Columbia Avenue in Charleston. WSAZ-TV's transmitter is located on Barker Ridge near Milton, West Virginia.

West Virginia Media Holdings was a media company in West Virginia. It owned television stations in each of the four main media markets in the state, as well as a weekly newspaper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTRF-TV</span> CBS/MyNetworkTV/ABC affiliate in Wheeling, West Virginia

WTRF-TV is a television station licensed to Wheeling, West Virginia, United States, serving the Wheeling, West Virginia–Steubenville, Ohio market as an affiliate of CBS, MyNetworkTV, and ABC. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group and maintains studios on 16th Street in downtown Wheeling; its transmitter is located in Bridgeport, Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTOV-TV</span> NBC/Fox affiliate in Steubenville, Ohio

WTOV-TV is a television station licensed to Steubenville, Ohio, United States, serving the Wheeling, West Virginia–Steubenville, Ohio market as an affiliate of NBC and Fox. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Burr Avenue in Mingo Junction, Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WOWK-TV</span> CBS affiliate in Huntington, West Virginia

WOWK-TV is a television station licensed to Huntington, West Virginia, United States, serving the Charleston–Huntington market as an affiliate of CBS. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on Quarrier Street near the Charleston Town Center in downtown Charleston, and its transmitter is located in Milton, West Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WEHT</span> ABC affiliate in Evansville, Indiana

WEHT is a television station in Evansville, Indiana, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to CW outlet WTVW under a shared services agreement (SSA) with Mission Broadcasting. The two stations share studios on Marywood Drive in Henderson, Kentucky, where WEHT's transmitter is also located.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTWO</span> NBC/CW affiliate in Terre Haute, Indiana

WTWO is a television station in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States, affiliated with NBC. Its second digital subchannel serves as an owned-and-operated station of The CW. WTWO is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to ABC affiliate WAWV-TV under joint sales and shared services agreements with Mission Broadcasting. The two stations share studios on US 41/150 in unincorporated Sullivan County, where WTWO's transmitter is also located.

WAWV-TV is a television station in Terre Haute, Indiana, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which maintains joint sales and shared services agreements with Nexstar Media Group, owner of dual NBC affiliate/CW owned-and-operated station WTWO, for the provision of certain services. The two stations share studios on US 41/150 in unincorporated Sullivan County, where WAWV-TV's transmitter is also located.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WJTV</span> TV station in Jackson, Mississippi

WJTV is a television station in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station has studios on TV Road in southwest Jackson, and its transmitter is located in Raymond, Mississippi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSYX</span> ABC/MyNetworkTV/Fox affiliate in Columbus, Ohio

WSYX is a television station in Columbus, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC and Fox. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to TBD station WTTE and Chillicothe-licensed CW affiliate WWHO under separate local marketing agreements (LMAs). However, Sinclair effectively owns WTTE as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. The three stations share studios on Dublin Road in Grandview Heights ; WSYX's transmitter is located in the Franklinton section of Columbus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KARD (TV)</span> Fox affiliate in West Monroe, Louisiana

KARD is a television station licensed to West Monroe, Louisiana, United States, serving the Monroe, Louisiana–El Dorado, Arkansas market as an affiliate of the Fox network. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which acquired the station in 2003 as part of its purchase of Quorum Broadcasting. Nexstar provides certain services to El Dorado–licensed NBC affiliate KTVE through a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Mission Broadcasting. The two stations share studios on Pavilion Road in West Monroe; KARD's transmitter is located in Columbia, Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WVNS-TV</span> CBS/Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate in Lewisburg, West Virginia

WVNS-TV is a television station licensed to Lewisburg, West Virginia, United States, serving the Bluefield–Beckley–Oak Hill market as an affiliate of CBS, Fox, and MyNetworkTV. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and has studios on Old Cline Road in Ghent, West Virginia; its transmitter is near Alderson, West Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WDTV</span> CBS affiliate in Weston, West Virginia

WDTV is a television station licensed to Weston, West Virginia, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for North-Central West Virginia. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Clarksburg-licensed dual Fox/CW+ affiliate WVFX. The two stations share studios on Television Drive in Bridgeport ; WDTV's transmitter is located in an unincorporated area between Clarksburg and Arlington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WVFX</span> Fox/CW affiliate in Clarksburg, West Virginia

WVFX is a television station licensed to Clarksburg, West Virginia, United States, serving North-Central West Virginia as a dual affiliate of Fox and The CW Plus. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Weston-licensed CBS affiliate WDTV. The two stations share studios on Television Drive in Bridgeport ; WVFX's transmitter is located in an unincorporated area between Clarksburg and Arlington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTAP-TV</span> NBC affiliate in Parkersburg, West Virginia

WTAP-TV is a television station in Parkersburg, West Virginia, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Gray Television alongside two low-power stations: Fox affiliate WOVA-LD and CBS affiliate WIYE-LD. The three stations share studios on Market Street in downtown Parkersburg; WTAP-TV's transmitter is located in Independence Township, Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WVTX-CD</span> TV station in Bridgeport, Ohio (1998–2017)

WVTX-CD was a low-power, Class A television station licensed to Bridgeport, Ohio, United States, serving the Wheeling, West Virginia–Steubenville, Ohio market. WVTX-CD, along with its transmission facilities, were owned by OTA Broadcasting, LLC, a company owned by Michael Dell's MSD Capital, which also owned 11 other Class A television stations. WTRF's owner, Nexstar Media Group, programmed WVTX under a time brokerage agreement.

References

  1. "FCC History Cards for WBOY-TV" (PDF).
  2. "Facility Technical Data for WBOY-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. "Nexstar Buys 4 W.Va. TVs For $130M". TVNewsCheck. November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
  4. Consummation Notice, CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved February 1, 2017.
  5. "Staffannouncer.com Presents: Sandy Beach with Irv Weinstein & Stan Roberts 1988 WMJQ". WMJQ. 1988. Archived from the original on December 19, 2021. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  6. "Digital TV Market Listing for WBOY". RabbitEars.Info. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  7. Transmission Complete: WBOY Broadcasting In Digital, WBOY-TV, February 17, 2009
  8. "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.