WVNS-TV
{{Infobox broadcast}} may refer to:
- Template:Infobox broadcasting network
- Template:Infobox television channel
- Template:Infobox television station
If an internal transclusion led you here, you may wish to change it to point directly to the intended page.
{{Template disambiguation}} should never be transcluded in the main namespace.
WVNS-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for southern West Virginia that is licensed to Lewisburg. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 from a transmitter on Keeney's Knob between Alderson and I-64. Owned by West Virginia Media Holdings, the station has studios on Old Cline Road in Ghent along I-77. It forms the southern portion of a four-station statewide network, along with WOWK-TV in Huntington, West Virginia, WBOY-TV in Clarksburg and WTRF-TV in Wheeling.
Syndicated programming on WVNS includes: Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, Judge Judy, and Rachael Ray. The station operates the area's primary FOX and secondary MyNetworkTV affiliate on its second digital subchannel. Known on-air as FOX West Virginia, it is also offered on Suddenlink cable systems. In Beckley it is on channel 10, in Hinton and Princeton on channel 3, and on channel 2 in Bluefield. Programming from MyNetworkTV airs weeknights from 11 to 1 in the morning. For Saturday prime time, it airs early Sunday mornings from 12:30 to 2:30. Syndicated programming on WVNS-DT2 includes: Two and a Half Men, Everybody Loves Raymond, Judge Joe Brown, and Family Guy.
Digital television
The station's digital signal is multiplexed.
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 8.1 | main WVNS programing / CBS HD |
| 8.2 | WVNS-DT2 "FOX West Virginia" |
History
The station began broadcasting with the call sign WVGV-TV on August 12, 1995 as an affiliate of The WB. It was the first station in the market not affiliated with one of the big three networks. The station was originally set to sign on as a Fox affiliate but the network canceled when the sign-on was delayed past the start of the Fall season in 1994. WVGV was not successful due to difficulty in selling advertising time in The WB's then primarily urban-oriented programming and the difficulty competing with a UHF signal in a market used to receiving VHF stations. Furthermore, the late sign-on made it difficult to get carriage on the area's cable systems. This was a serious problem since cable is a must for acceptable television in this market, most of which is very mountainous. By May, when cable systems in the market were ready to carry the station, WVGV had agreed to be sold to High Mountain Broadcasting.
The new owners took the station "dark" in order to relocate the studios from Lewisburg to Ghent (between Beckley and Bluefield) and move the transmitter site from Cross Mountain to a more central location to better serve Beckley and Bluefield as well as Lewisburg. The station returned to the air on Christmas Eve 1996 as Fox affiliate WVSX. However, due to problems with the transmitter's unique power supply design, it did not transmit regularly until after January 1, 1997. The station continued to struggle financially. WVSX changed its affiliation to CBS on September 29, 2001. Prior to 2001, WOWK-TV in Huntington served as the CBS affiliate for the West Virginia side of the market while WDBJ in Roanoke served the Virginia portion. Both stations are still available on most of the area's cable systems. On February 28, 2003, the station was again sold, this time to West Virginia Media Holdings. As a result, West Virginia Media Holdings owns three of the four CBS affiliates serving the state. The callsign was changed on June 7 to the current WVNS-TV. This call sign is shared with an FM radio station in Nashville, Tennessee.
Bluefield / Beckley / Oak Hill is a relatively small television market. The station has continued to slowly but steadily grow in audience. However, it not only has to contend with local competitors WVVA and WOAY-TV but competes with WOWK and WDBJ (both of which are still available on cable). The Fox affiliation on a new second digital subchannel was acquired September 13, 2006 following a Summer 2006 retransmission dispute between Charleston's WVAH-TV and Suddenlink Communications (the cable system serving Beckley). The demise of the Foxnet cable network on September 12 also played a role. Although it is carried on a digital subchannel, this is practically a return of FOX to WVNS which was dropped three years earlier for CBS. It is also hampered by lack of satellite coverage; neither DirecTV nor Dish Network offer local feeds for the area. Further, the local economy makes advertising sales hard to come by as in all of the adjacent television markets. WVNS shut down its analog signal on UHF channel 59 at 12:30 A.M. on Februrary 17, 2009.
News operation
The station operates its own news department, while taking advantage of the statewide network to share news content from sister stations WOWK (for state government news and Marshall University sports) and WBOY (for West Virginia University sports). During all WVNS newscasts, weather forecasts are provided by WOWK's meteorologists from WOWK's studios in Huntington. On weeknights at 5:30, WVNS owner West Virginia Media Holdings produces a half-hour long newscast called West Virginia Tonight Live, which is simulcast on all four stations with additional stories from a newsroom in Morgantown. In addition, there is a public affairs program called Decision Makers. Hosted by company president and CEO Bray Cary, it is simulcast on Saturday mornings at 9 and Sunday mornings at 8 on all West Virginia Media Holdings stations. There is a nightly 10 o'clock newscast on WVNS-DT2 and a rebroadcast of the 6 A.M. hour of the main channel's weekday morning news. There is no weekend sports anchor.
Newscast titles
- WVGV-TV 59 News (August 12, 1995-December 17, 1995)
- WB 59 News (December 18, 1995-1996)
- WVSX FOX 59 News (1996-2001)
- WVSX News (2001-2002)
- WVSX News on CBS 59 (2002-2003)
- CBS 59 News (2003-2006)
- 59 News (2006-present)
Station slogans
- WVGV-TV, West Virginia's WB (1995-1996)
- WVSX, West Virginia's FOX Station (1996-2001)
- We're West Virginia's CBS Station (2001-2003)
- Where Local Coverage Comes First (2003-present)
News team
Anchors
- Rontina McCann - weekday mornings and Noon
- "Fugitive File" segment producer
- Alicia Suka - weeknights and reporter
- Martin Staunton - weeknights and reporter
- April Kaull - weeknights at 5:30 and Morgantown News Manager
- TBD - weekends
StormTracker 59 Meteorologists (all based at WOWK)
- Spencer Adkins (NWA and AMS Member) - West Virginia Media Holdings Chief Meteorologist, seen weeknights
- Alexandra Wilson - weekday mornings and Noon (AMS Certificate in Broadcast Meteorology)
- Jason Kratzwald - weekends
- Jared Hoffman (AMS Seal of Approval and NWA Member) - fill-in
Reporters
- Mike Levin - weeknight sports at 6, 10, and 11
- sports reporter
- Kate Krivanek - evenings
- Adam Baker
- Hillary Crowder
- Erin Barnett