WVIR-CD
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WVIR-CD, UHF digital channel 35, is a low-powered, Class A television station licensed to Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It is a translator of dual NBC/CW+ affiliate WVIR-TV (channel 29) which is owned by Gray Television. WVIR-CD's transmitter is located on Carters Mountain south of Charlottesville; its parent station maintains studios on East Market Street (US 250 Business) in downtown.
History
The station began its life as charter Pax TV affiliate WADA-LP on August 31, 1998. It first aired an analog signal on UHF channel 55 and later moved to UHF channel 27. In late-March 2005, owner Tiger Eye Broadcasting sold the station to Gray Television who proceeded to change the call letters to WAHU-CA. The station became a Fox affiliate and was integrated with CBS affiliate WCAV (channel 19) and ABC affiliate WVAW-LP (channel 16). Prior to WAHU's affiliation switch, Fox was available on cable from WTTG in Washington, D.C. That station was considered the default affiliate for the market and is still seen on cable due to "significantly viewed" status from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). (Pax TV's successor, Ion Television, returned to the market on October 1, 2018 on WCAV's fourth subchannel.) Since 2006, the three stations have been the flagship of University of Virginia sports.
On December 28, 2006, WAHU launched its digital signal on UHF channel 40. While providing an over-the-air standard definition Fox feed on its first digital subchannel, the station began airing a dedicated MyNetworkTV channel on a new second one. Following this addition, the station shifted several programs to the digital subchannel. Prior to the addition of WAHU-DT2, the network was added on September 5, 2006 as a secondary affiliation on the main channel. As part of the launch, Comcast moved WTTG from channel 9 to channel 18 in order to give WAHU the lower channel location.
On March 14, 2008, the station changed its call letters to WAHU-LD with "LD" meaning low-power digital. Also on the date, along with other television stations in Virginia, WAHU-LD2 aired the Virginia High School League championship basketball tournament for the first time.[1] On February 18, 2009, it began broadcasting in high definition over-the-air. On March 13 and 14, WAHU-LD2 (and other stations in the state) aired the Virginia High School League basketball championships for a second time. On September 7, 2009, This TV started airing on WAHU-LD2. On January 3, 2011, the station changed its calls again to WAHU-CD with "CD" meaning Class A low-power digital.[2]
In late 2018, WAHU-CD2 ended its affiliation with MyNetworkTV to take MeTV full-time.
Gray announced the sale of WCAV and WVAW-LD to Lockwood Broadcast Group on March 4, 2019. The sale is concurrent with Gray's purchase of rival WVIR-TV from Waterman Broadcasting. WAHU-CD was not included in the sale and would be retained by Gray as a sister station to WVIR-TV.[3][4][5]
Gray took WAHU-CD silent on April 1 to begin moving its equipment out of the shared Newsplex facility. The Fox, MeTV, and AccuWeather affiliations were included in the sale to Lockwood and moved to WCAV and WVAW-LD.[6]
As Gray's purchase of WVIR was held up by legal challenges, delaying construction of a new co-located transmitter, WAHU-CD returned to the air with Fox on August 23 with an interim facility from its previous location. Because the Fox feed on WCAV began using virtual channel 27 when WAHU-CD went silent, it began using virtual channel 35.[7]
On October 8, 2019, the station changed its callsign to WVIR-CD when the legal challenges were cleared and the sale to Gray closed.[8] Later that month, it converted to a translator of WVIR-TV. WVIR-CD will preserve UHF reception in the core of the market when WVIR-TV moves to VHF channel 2, which is difficult to receive indoors, in December 2019.
Digital television
Digital channels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming[9] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | NBC29HD | Simulcast of WVIR-TV / NBC |
| 29.2 | 480i | NBC29W+ | Simulcast of WVIR-DT2 / WeatherNation TV | |
| 29.3 | 720p | CW29 | Simulcast of WVIR-DT3 / CW 29 |
Analog-to-digital conversion
WAHU shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 27, on February 16, 2009. The station "flash-cut" its digital signal into operation UHF channel 40.[10] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 27.
References
- ^ http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=167154
- ^ http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=47705&Callsign=WAHU-CD
- ^ Aycock, Jason (March 4, 2019). "Gray Television changing stations in Virginia". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
- ^ "Gray Television to acquire NBC 29 from Waterman Broadcasting". The Daily Progress. March 4, 2019.
- ^ "Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. March 4, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
- ^ "Suspension of Operations and Silent Authority of a Digital Class A Station Application". FCC LMS. 5 April 2019.
- ^ "Extension of a Construction Permit". FCC LMS. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
- ^ "Call Sign History". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WVIR-CD
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2012-03-24.