WTAP-TV
Encyclopedia
WTAP-TV is the NBC
-affiliated television station
for the Mid-Ohio Valley licensed to Parkersburg, West Virginia
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 49 (virtual channel
15.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter in Independence Township, Ohio
. The station can also be seen on Suddenlink
channel 4 and CAS Cable channel 7. There is a high definition feed offered on Suddenlink digital channel 104 and CAS Cable digital channel 384. Owned by Gray Television
, WTAP has studios on Market Street (official address says One Television Plaza) in Downtown Parkersburg. Syndicated
programming on the station includes Wheel of Fortune
, Jeopardy!
, Inside Edition
and Dr. Phil
among others. WTAP's NBC affiliate is also available in HD on DirecTV and in SD (standard definition) on Dish/Echostar within the 3-county DMA.
as well as CAS Cable and Suddenlink channel 14 is the area's Fox affiliate. Known on-air as Fox Parkersburg, there is a high definition feed seen on Suddenlink digital channel 114 and CAS Cable digital channel 305. Syndicated programming on WTAP-DT2 includes Family Guy
, The Dr. Oz Show
, Judge Judy
, and Judge Joe Brown along with others. On WTAP-DT3
as well as CAS Cable and Suddenlink channel 5 is the area's MyNetworkTV
affiliate. WTAP's FOX affiliate is also available in HD on DirecTV and in SD on Dish/Echostar within the 3-county DMA.
It is known on-air as My 5 based on the cable channel location. Syndicated programming on WTAP-DT3 includes The Office, How I Met Your Mother
, Two and a Half Men
, and America's Funniest Home Videos
among others. Overnight, the main channel and WTAP-DT2 air Jewelry Television
while WTAP-DT3 shows a live Doppler
weather radar
feed used in weather forecast segments on WTAP's newscasts. WTAP's My5 station is also available in SD on DirecTV within the 3-county DMA.
. WTAP aired an analog signal on UHF channel 15 and, early in its life, aired programming from all three major networks of the time--NBC, ABC
and CBS
--but, then as now, was a primary NBC affiliate. WJPB-TV in Fairmont
(now WDTV
) would launch four months later and take on the exact same affiliation. Original plans called for WTAP to join WJPB and turn North-Central West Virginia into one giant television market
. However, the area is a very rugged dissected plateau
and neither station's signal was strong enough to carry across the terrain. Additionally, Parkersburg and Fairmont are 70 miles apart, and UHF stations don't carry very well across long distances in any event.
As a result, WTAP currently remains the only commercial station
based in Parkersburg. The only other outlets licensed to the city are outlying translators
of West Virginia Public Broadcasting
and the Trinity Broadcasting Network
. By the mid-1950s, it was obvious that Clarksburg
/Weston
/Fairmont and Parkersburg/Marietta
were going to be separate markets. However, WTAP retained secondary affiliations with ABC and CBS until 1970, when it became a sole NBC affiliate.
As it is the sole commercial station in town, area cable systems have long piped in stations from outlying markets. Suddenlink's system in Washington County, Ohio
(home to Marietta) supplements the area with stations from Columbus
, as does the Parkersburg/Marietta DirecTV
feed. CAS Cable and Suddenlink's systems in Wood
and Pleasants
Counties in West Virginia supplement coverage with stations from the Huntington/Charleston
market.
The station's first studios were on West 7th Street in Downtown Parkersburg near Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital. It had a number of owners in its early days including the Zanesville
Publishing Company which bailed WTAP out when it almost went off-the-air in the mid-1950s. It held ownership for about a decade until a group of local businessmen bought the station. The station was acquired by Benedek Broadcasting
of Hoffman Estates, Illinois
in 1980. The West 7th Street facilities were also home to WTAP-AM
1230 until the radio station
was spun-off and sold to a separate entity. In Summer 1990, WTAP-TV moved to its present studios in a former industrial research building. A long-time WTAP on-air personality, Glenn Wilson, suggested and got Parkersburg's approval to rename the last block of Market Street "Television Plaza." As a result, the new building was given "One Television Plaza" as the official mailing address.
After Benedek declared bankruptcy
and sold most of its stations in 2002, WTAP was bought by Gray Television. In 2004, it was the first NBC affiliate in West Virginia to offer programming from the network in high definition. In late-2005, Gray purchased NBC affiliate WSAZ-TV
in Huntington
making that station and WTAP sisters. On April 10, 2006, the station launched new second and third digital subchannel
to serve as the area's Fox and UPN
affiliates, respectively. To make these services possible, WTAP underwent a technical transformation. It carved out two new digital high definition-ready control rooms from space previously used for storage. The station also installed entirely digital production and master control
rooms.
After UPN merged with The WB to form The CW in September 2006, WTAP-DT3 transitioned from UPN to Fox's new sister network, MyNetworkTV. As part of the DTV transition in 2009, WTAP shut-down its analog signal on channel 15 and began broadcasting exclusively in digital on channel 49. As of May 2011, the station has received approval from Parkersburg to erect a new transmitter tower adjacent to its studios. This will greatly improve its over-the-air signals WTAP sends to and from its main transmitter site across the Ohio River
in Independence Township. The new tower is expected to be completed before the end of 2011.
In addition, WTAP has been given permission by the FCC to maximize its over-the-air television signal from its Constitution, OH, main transmitter site. This will raise the Effective Radiated Power (ERP) from the current 47KW to 315KW. While this may result in some increased service area, it is actually designed to improve the overall penetration of WTAP's free signal within the three main service counties of Wood (WV), Pleasants (WV), and Washington (OH). This increased power may go into service in late 2011 or early 2012.
WTAP is carried on multiple cable systems (in roughly a fifty mile radius of Parkersburg) stretching as far east as West Union, West Virginia
, as far south as Point Pleasant, West Virginia
, as far north as Guernsey County, Ohio
, and as far west as Athens, Ohio
.
according to Nielsen ratings
. Over the years, its various owners have invested considerable resources in its news operation, resulting in a higher-quality product than conventional wisdom would suggest for what has always been a very small market. It airs 4.5 hours of news every weekday, a considerable amount considering that Parkersburg is the 193rd market. Although it serves a largely rural area of only 125,000 people, its newscasts have more viewers than many other television stations in medium to large markets sharing audiences with up to three other affiliates.
After Gray Television bought WSAZ, there were rumors WTAP would scrap its news operation and simulcast newscasts from that station. WSAZ has long been available on cable in Parkersburg and its local newscasts, also among the highest-rated in the country, have always covered Parkersburg. However, Gray itself never considered shuttering WTAP's news department. There are times when this station pulls more revenue than WSAZ, even though Huntington/Charleston is seven times as large as Parkersburg/Marietta. Additionally, many of WTAP and WSAZ's stablemates are fairly close to each other while operating independently.
At some point in time after adding Fox, WTAP-DT2 began offering a 30-minute prime time newscast. Known as Fox Parkersburg News at 10, the weeknight show mirrors local news seen on the main channel, except for slightly different graphics and unique features. The station became the first outlet in West Virginia to upgrade newscasts to high definition on May 29, 2011. The WTAP-DT2
broadcast was included in the change. In addition to its main studios, WTAP operates a bureau in Marietta. Unlike most NBC affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone
, the station does not air a full two-hour weekday morning show, half-hour newscast weeknights at 5:30, or local news Sunday nights at 6. All newscasts are streamed live online.
Producers
Meteorologists
Sports
Reporters
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for the Mid-Ohio Valley licensed to Parkersburg, West Virginia
Parkersburg, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 33,099 people, 14,467 households, and 8,767 families residing in the city. In 2006 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that Parkersburg's population had decreased 4.4% to 31,755. The population density was 2,800.5 people per square mile . There were 16,100 housing...
. It broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on UHF channel 49 (virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
15.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter in Independence Township, Ohio
Independence Township, Washington County, Ohio
Independence Township is one of the twenty-two townships of Washington County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 387 people in the township.-Geography:...
. The station can also be seen on Suddenlink
Suddenlink Communications
Suddenlink Communications, formerly Cebridge Connections, is a top-10 cable broadband services provider in the United States with approximately 1.4 million subscribers. Suddenlink operates in 18 states in primarily medium-sized communities. With its corporate headquarters in St. Louis, MO,...
channel 4 and CAS Cable channel 7. There is a high definition feed offered on Suddenlink digital channel 104 and CAS Cable digital channel 384. Owned by Gray Television
Gray Television
Gray Television, Inc. is a communications company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with administrative offices in Albany, Georgia.Established in 1946 by James H...
, WTAP has studios on Market Street (official address says One Television Plaza) in Downtown Parkersburg. Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on the station includes Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
, Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
, Inside Edition
Inside Edition
Inside Edition is a thirty-minute American television syndicated news program, first aired on CBS on October 9, 1988. It was originally similar to the programs Hard Copy and A Current Affair, but now more closely resembles a condensed version of breakfast television, exclusively with pre-recorded...
and Dr. Phil
Dr. Phil (TV series)
Dr. Phil is a reality/talk television show hosted by Phil McGraw. After McGraw's success with his segments on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil debuted on September 16, 2002...
among others. WTAP's NBC affiliate is also available in HD on DirecTV and in SD (standard definition) on Dish/Echostar within the 3-county DMA.
Digital programming
On WTAP-DT2WTAP-DT2
WTAP-DT2 is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Mid-Ohio Valley. The station is a second digital subchannel of NBC affiliate WTAP-TV owned by Gray Television. Over-the-air, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 49.2 from a transmitter in Independence Township, Ohio...
as well as CAS Cable and Suddenlink channel 14 is the area's Fox affiliate. Known on-air as Fox Parkersburg, there is a high definition feed seen on Suddenlink digital channel 114 and CAS Cable digital channel 305. Syndicated programming on WTAP-DT2 includes Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
, The Dr. Oz Show
The Dr. Oz Show
The Dr. Oz Show is an American syndicated television talk show, hosted by Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon and teaching professor at Columbia University who became famous for his appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show from 2004 until 2009....
, Judge Judy
Judge Judy
Judge Judy is an American court show featuring former family court judge Judith Sheindlin arbitrating over small claims cases in small claims court...
, and Judge Joe Brown along with others. On WTAP-DT3
WTAP-DT3
WTAP-DT3 is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Mid-Ohio Valley. The station is a third digital subchannel of NBC affiliate WTAP-TV owned by Gray Television. Over-the-air, it broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 49.3 from a transmitter in Independence...
as well as CAS Cable and Suddenlink channel 5 is the area's MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
affiliate. WTAP's FOX affiliate is also available in HD on DirecTV and in SD on Dish/Echostar within the 3-county DMA.
It is known on-air as My 5 based on the cable channel location. Syndicated programming on WTAP-DT3 includes The Office, How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
, Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake...
, and America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos
America's Funniest Home Videos is an American reality television program on ABC in which viewers are able to send in humorous homemade videotapes. The most common videos usually feature slapstick physical comedy arising from incidents, accidents and mishaps...
among others. Overnight, the main channel and WTAP-DT2 air Jewelry Television
Jewelry Television
Jewelry Television is an American television network, similar to the Home Shopping Network. It was formerly called "America's Collectibles Network" . The privately-held company was founded in 1993 and broadcasts high definition programming 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to over 80 million unique...
while WTAP-DT3 shows a live Doppler
Pulse-doppler radar
Pulse-Doppler is a 4D radar system capable of detecting both target 3D location as well as measuring radial velocity . It uses the Doppler effect to avoid overloading computers and operators as well as to reduce power consumption...
weather radar
Weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type . Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the...
feed used in weather forecast segments on WTAP's newscasts. WTAP's My5 station is also available in SD on DirecTV within the 3-county DMA.
| Channels (virtual/physical) | Name | Video | Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15.1/49.1 | WTAP-HD | 1080i 1080i 1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
main WTAP programming/NBC (HD) |
| 15.2/49.2 | WTAP-DT2 | 720p 720p 720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan... |
16:9 | "Fox Parkersburg" (HD) |
| 15.3/49.3 | WTAP-DT3 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | "My 5" (SD) |
History
The station signed-on Veteran's Day 1953. It was the first television station to launch in North-Central West VirginiaNorth-Central West Virginia
North-Central West Virginia is a region of the U.S. State of West Virginia. The region's largest city is Morgantown.- Counties :*Monongalia County*Marion County*Harrison County*Taylor County*Doddridge County...
. WTAP aired an analog signal on UHF channel 15 and, early in its life, aired programming from all three major networks of the time--NBC, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
and CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
--but, then as now, was a primary NBC affiliate. WJPB-TV in Fairmont
Fairmont, West Virginia
Fairmont is a city in Marion County, West Virginia, United States. Nicknamed "The Friendly City". The population was 18,704 at the 2010 census...
(now WDTV
WDTV
WDTV is the CBS-affiliated television station for North-Central West Virginia licensed to Weston. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 5 from a transmitter in an unincorporated area between Clarksburg and Arlington. The station can also be seen on Comcast, Suddenlink, and...
) would launch four months later and take on the exact same affiliation. Original plans called for WTAP to join WJPB and turn North-Central West Virginia into one giant television market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
. However, the area is a very rugged dissected plateau
Dissected plateau
A dissected plateau is a plateau area that has been severely eroded so that the relief is sharp. Such an area may be referred to as mountainous, but dissected plateaus are distinguishable from orogenic mountain belts by the lack of folding, metamorphism, extensive faulting, or magmatic activity...
and neither station's signal was strong enough to carry across the terrain. Additionally, Parkersburg and Fairmont are 70 miles apart, and UHF stations don't carry very well across long distances in any event.
As a result, WTAP currently remains the only commercial station
Commercial broadcasting
Commercial broadcasting is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship...
based in Parkersburg. The only other outlets licensed to the city are outlying translators
Broadcast relay station
A broadcast relay station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator , rebroadcaster , or repeater is a broadcast transmitter which relays, repeats, or reflects the signal of another radio station or television station, usually to an area not covered by the signal of the originating station...
of West Virginia Public Broadcasting
West Virginia Public Broadcasting
West Virginia Public Broadcasting is the Public Broadcasting Service member Non-commercial educational Public television state network in West Virginia, whose primary station is WPBY, based in Charleston, West Virginia. Its studios are located at 600 Capitol Street...
and the Trinity Broadcasting Network
Trinity Broadcasting Network
The Trinity Broadcasting Network is a major American Christian television network. TBN is based in Costa Mesa, California, with auxiliary studio facilities in Irving, Texas; Hendersonville, Tennessee; Gadsden, Alabama; Decatur, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Orlando, Florida; and New...
. By the mid-1950s, it was obvious that Clarksburg
Clarksburg, West Virginia
Clarksburg is a city in and the county seat of Harrison County, West Virginia, United States, in the north-central region of the state. It is the principal city of the Clarksburg, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area...
/Weston
Weston, West Virginia
Weston is a city in Lewis County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 4,317 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lewis County, and home to the West Virginia Museum of American Glass.-History:...
/Fairmont and Parkersburg/Marietta
Marietta, Ohio
Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Ohio, United States. During 1788, pioneers to the Ohio Country established Marietta as the first permanent American settlement of the new United States in the Northwest Territory. Marietta is located in southeastern Ohio at the mouth...
were going to be separate markets. However, WTAP retained secondary affiliations with ABC and CBS until 1970, when it became a sole NBC affiliate.
As it is the sole commercial station in town, area cable systems have long piped in stations from outlying markets. Suddenlink's system in Washington County, Ohio
Washington County, Ohio
Washington County is a county located in the state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 61,778. Its county seat is Marietta. The county, the oldest in the state, is named for George Washington. Washington County is included in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna, West Virginia-Ohio...
(home to Marietta) supplements the area with stations from Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, as does the Parkersburg/Marietta DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
feed. CAS Cable and Suddenlink's systems in Wood
Wood County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 87,986 people, 36,275 households, and 24,884 families residing in the county. The population density was 240 people per square mile . There were 39,785 housing units at an average density of 108 per square mile...
and Pleasants
Pleasants County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,514 people, 2,887 households, and 2,136 families residing in the county. The population density was 58 people per square mile . There were 3,214 housing units at an average density of 25 per square mile...
Counties in West Virginia supplement coverage with stations from the Huntington/Charleston
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
market.
The station's first studios were on West 7th Street in Downtown Parkersburg near Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital. It had a number of owners in its early days including the Zanesville
Zanesville, Ohio
Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. The population was 25,586 at the 2000 census.Zanesville was named after Ebenezer Zane, who had constructed Zane's Trace, a pioneer road through present-day Ohio...
Publishing Company which bailed WTAP out when it almost went off-the-air in the mid-1950s. It held ownership for about a decade until a group of local businessmen bought the station. The station was acquired by Benedek Broadcasting
Benedek Broadcasting
Benedek Broadcasting is a former television broadcaster, who owned and operated 22 network-affiliated television stations throughout the United States, all affiliated with major television networks, serving mainly small and medium-size markets. The company was founded in the late 1970s by A...
of Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Hoffman Estates is a northwestern suburb of Chicago in Illinois. The village is located primarily in Cook County with a small section in Kane County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 49,495 and estimated to be 52,520 in 2003...
in 1980. The West 7th Street facilities were also home to WTAP-AM
WVNT
WVNT, The Valleys News Talk Leader, is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format. Licensed to Parkersburg, West Virginia, USA, it serves the Parkersburg-Marietta area...
1230 until the radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
was spun-off and sold to a separate entity. In Summer 1990, WTAP-TV moved to its present studios in a former industrial research building. A long-time WTAP on-air personality, Glenn Wilson, suggested and got Parkersburg's approval to rename the last block of Market Street "Television Plaza." As a result, the new building was given "One Television Plaza" as the official mailing address.
After Benedek declared bankruptcy
Bankruptcy in the United States
Bankruptcy in the United States is governed under the United States Constitution which authorizes Congress to enact "uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States." Congress has exercised this authority several times since 1801, most recently by adopting the Bankruptcy...
and sold most of its stations in 2002, WTAP was bought by Gray Television. In 2004, it was the first NBC affiliate in West Virginia to offer programming from the network in high definition. In late-2005, Gray purchased NBC affiliate WSAZ-TV
WSAZ-TV
WSAZ-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Huntington and Charleston, West Virginia. This area is the second-largest market in terms of area east of the Mississippi River consisting of 61 counties in Central West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and Southeastern Ohio. It broadcasts a high...
in Huntington
Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Most of the city is in Cabell County, for which it is the county seat. A small portion of the city, mainly the neighborhood of Westmoreland, is in Wayne County. Its population was 49,138 at...
making that station and WTAP sisters. On April 10, 2006, the station launched new second and third digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
to serve as the area's Fox and UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
affiliates, respectively. To make these services possible, WTAP underwent a technical transformation. It carved out two new digital high definition-ready control rooms from space previously used for storage. The station also installed entirely digital production and master control
Master control
Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and television networks. It is distinct from a production control room in television studios where the activities such as switching from camera to camera are coordinated...
rooms.
After UPN merged with The WB to form The CW in September 2006, WTAP-DT3 transitioned from UPN to Fox's new sister network, MyNetworkTV. As part of the DTV transition in 2009, WTAP shut-down its analog signal on channel 15 and began broadcasting exclusively in digital on channel 49. As of May 2011, the station has received approval from Parkersburg to erect a new transmitter tower adjacent to its studios. This will greatly improve its over-the-air signals WTAP sends to and from its main transmitter site across the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
in Independence Township. The new tower is expected to be completed before the end of 2011.
In addition, WTAP has been given permission by the FCC to maximize its over-the-air television signal from its Constitution, OH, main transmitter site. This will raise the Effective Radiated Power (ERP) from the current 47KW to 315KW. While this may result in some increased service area, it is actually designed to improve the overall penetration of WTAP's free signal within the three main service counties of Wood (WV), Pleasants (WV), and Washington (OH). This increased power may go into service in late 2011 or early 2012.
WTAP is carried on multiple cable systems (in roughly a fifty mile radius of Parkersburg) stretching as far east as West Union, West Virginia
West Union, West Virginia
West Union, incorporated July 20, 1881, is a town in Doddridge County, West Virginia. The population was 806 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Doddridge County. The mayor is Robert Fetty as of 2011. The town is located along Middle Island Creek at the junction of U.S...
, as far south as Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Point Pleasant is a city in Mason County, West Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers. The population was 4,637 at the 2000 census...
, as far north as Guernsey County, Ohio
Guernsey County, Ohio
Guernsey County is a county located in the state of Ohio. As of 2010, the population was 40,087. Its county seat is Cambridge and is named for the Isle of Guernsey in the English Channel, from which many of the county's early settlers came....
, and as far west as Athens, Ohio
Athens, Ohio
Athens is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Athens County, Ohio, United States. It is located along the Hocking River in the southeastern part of Ohio. A historic college town, Athens is home to Ohio University and is the principal city of the Athens, Ohio Micropolitan Statistical Area. ...
.
News operation
WTAP is one of the strongest NBC affiliates in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
according to Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
. Over the years, its various owners have invested considerable resources in its news operation, resulting in a higher-quality product than conventional wisdom would suggest for what has always been a very small market. It airs 4.5 hours of news every weekday, a considerable amount considering that Parkersburg is the 193rd market. Although it serves a largely rural area of only 125,000 people, its newscasts have more viewers than many other television stations in medium to large markets sharing audiences with up to three other affiliates.
After Gray Television bought WSAZ, there were rumors WTAP would scrap its news operation and simulcast newscasts from that station. WSAZ has long been available on cable in Parkersburg and its local newscasts, also among the highest-rated in the country, have always covered Parkersburg. However, Gray itself never considered shuttering WTAP's news department. There are times when this station pulls more revenue than WSAZ, even though Huntington/Charleston is seven times as large as Parkersburg/Marietta. Additionally, many of WTAP and WSAZ's stablemates are fairly close to each other while operating independently.
At some point in time after adding Fox, WTAP-DT2 began offering a 30-minute prime time newscast. Known as Fox Parkersburg News at 10, the weeknight show mirrors local news seen on the main channel, except for slightly different graphics and unique features. The station became the first outlet in West Virginia to upgrade newscasts to high definition on May 29, 2011. The WTAP-DT2
WTAP-DT2
WTAP-DT2 is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Mid-Ohio Valley. The station is a second digital subchannel of NBC affiliate WTAP-TV owned by Gray Television. Over-the-air, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 49.2 from a transmitter in Independence Township, Ohio...
broadcast was included in the change. In addition to its main studios, WTAP operates a bureau in Marietta. Unlike most NBC affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
, the station does not air a full two-hour weekday morning show, half-hour newscast weeknights at 5:30, or local news Sunday nights at 6. All newscasts are streamed live online.
News team
Anchors- Shannon Houser - weekends and reporter (also videographer and "Wednesday's Child" segment producer)
- Lauren Keeling - weeknights at 6 and 11 (also reporter)
- Allison Rhea - weeknights at 5 and 10 (also reporter and "Mid-Ohio Valley's Most Wanted" segment producer)
- Brittany Sweeney - weekday mornings and noon (also weekday morning producer and "Pet of the Week" segment producer)
Producers
- Phillip Hickman - Assignment Editor, 5pm producer
- Cyndi Murray - Daybreak producer
Meteorologists
- Kirk Greenfield - Chief seen weeknights and "Surfin' With Kirk" segment producer
- Alan Longstreet - weekday mornings and noon
Sports
- Jim Wharton - DirectorSports DirectorA sports director is an individual at a television or radio station who is in charge of the sports department. In local news, the sports director is typically the station's primary sportscaster, and often anchors the primetime newscasts on weekdays. They are in charge of sports programming and...
seen weeknights at 6, 10 and 11 (also Football Frenzy host) - Rich Donnelly - weekends and sports reporter (also "Student Athlete of the Week" segment producer)
Reporters
- Todd Baucher
- Erin Pulsanti - Weekend reporter and weather
- Mollie Lair
- Brittany Lowe (Marietta Bureau reporter)