WTKR is the
CBSCBS 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...
affiliate television station serving the
Hampton RoadsHampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
area of
VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, officially known as the
NorfolkNorfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
-
PortsmouthPortsmouth is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the city had a total population of 95,535.The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard, is a historic and active U.S...
-Newport News
DMAA 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...
. The station is licensed to Norfolk and broadcasts on channel 40 (
virtual channelIn 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....
3). Its transmitter is located in
Suffolk, VirginiaSuffolk is the largest city by area in Virginia, United States, and is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 84,585. Its median household income was $57,546.-History:...
. Owned by
Local TVLocal TV LLC is a limited liability corporation, owned by Oak Hill Capital Partners , which operates 18 local network-affiliated television stations in the United States.-History:...
, the station is sister to
The CWThe CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
affiliate
WGNTWGNT, channel 27 , is a television station licensed to Portsmouth, Virginia, USA. WGNT is the CW Television Network affiliate for the Hampton Roads television market and is owned by Local TV, which also operates WTKR , Hampton Roads' CBS affiliate...
.
The main office and studio is located in Norfolk, and has additional studios in
Virginia BeachVirginia Beach is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay...
on Atlantic Avenue at the Oceanfront and inside the office of the
Daily PressThe Daily Press is a morning newspaper located in Newport News, Virginia, that covers the Hampton Roads metro area of Virginia. It was established in 1896 and has been owned by the Tribune Company since July 1986...
in Newport News. The station formerly operated news bureaus in the
Town CenterVirginia Beach Town Center is a group of offices, hotels, stores, and restaurants in Virginia Beach, Virginia.-Location:The Virginia Beach Town Center is located in the Central Business District of Virginia Beach across the street from Pembroke Mall...
area of Virginia Beach and in the City Center at Oyster Point section of Newport News. The station's transmission tower is located in northwest part of
Suffolk, VirginiaSuffolk is the largest city by area in Virginia, United States, and is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 84,585. Its median household income was $57,546.-History:...
, transmitting with 950 kilowatts of power at a height of 1250 feet (381 m) on a tower owned by ATC and co-located with WHRO, WTVZ and WPXV. It is the tallest antenna in southeastern Virginia.
Digital programming
WTKR began digital broadcasts on channel 40 on March 11, 2002 at 4:15pm. On June 12, 2009, WTKR-TV's digital signal remained on channel 40 when the analog to digital conversion was completed.
History
The station began operation on channel 4 on April 2, 1950 as WTAR-TV, Virginia's second television station. It carried programming from all four networks of the time--
NBCThe 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...
, CBS,
ABCThe 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
DuMontThe DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
--but was a primary NBC affiliate. It was owned by the
Virginian-PilotThe Virginian-Pilot is a daily newspaper based in Norfolk, Virginia, and serving the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, southeastern Virginia, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and northeastern North Carolina. The flagship property of Landmark Media Enterprises, The Pilot is Virginia's largest daily...
along with
WTAR radioWTAR is a comedy formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, serving Hampton Roads. WTAR is owned and operated by Sinclair Telecable, Inc.-History:...
(AM 790, now on AM 850), Virginia's first radio station. It moved to channel 3 in 1952. When
WVEC-TVWVEC is the ABC affiliate television station for the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, which includes Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, and the surrounding area. It is licensed to Hampton, with its main studio in downtown Norfolk. Its transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia...
signed on a year later as an NBC affiliate, WTAR-TV became a primary CBS affliliate, retaining its secondary ABC and DuMont affiliations (DuMont folded two years later).
WTAR became solely affiliated with CBS in 1957, when
WAVY-TVWAVY-TV, channel 10, is a television station licensed to Portsmouth, Virginia, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Hampton Roads area . WAVY is owned by LIN Television Corporation, and is a sister station to Fox affiliate WVBT...
signed on as the ABC affiliate (WAVY and WVEC would swap affiliations in 1959 making the latter station the ABC affiliate) When the Virginian-Pilot reorganized its various holdings as
Landmark CommunicationsLandmark Media Enterprises LLC is a privately held media company headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia specializing in cable television, broadcast television, print publishing, and internet publishing...
in 1967, WTAR-AM-
FMWVKL is a Urban Contemporary formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, serving Hampton Roads. WVKL is owned and operated by Entercom Communications.-External links:*...
-TV became the flagship stations.
The station was one of several in the country to produce a local version of
PM MagazinePM/Evening Magazine was a television series with a news and entertainment format. It was syndicated to stations throughout the United States...
from the late 1970s to mid-1980s.
The
Federal Communications CommissionThe Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
began tightening its ownership restrictions in the 1970s, eventually barring common ownership of newspapers and broadcasting outlets. Landmark tried to get grandfathered protection for its flagship Hampton Roads cluster, but was unsuccessful. In 1981, it opted to sell channel 3 to Knight-Ridder, who changed the station's calls to WTKR. The new calls reflected the new ownership and also sounded similar to the old ones. Knight-Ridder sold WTKR and sister station
WPRI-TVWPRI-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the state of Rhode Island and Bristol County, Massachusetts that is licensed to Providence. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter on Homestead Avenue in Rehoboth, Massachusetts...
in
Providence, Rhode IslandProvidence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
to Narragansett Television in 1989. Narragansett sold WTKR to
The New York Times CompanyThe New York Times Company is an American media company best known as the publisher of its namesake, The New York Times. Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr. has served as Chairman of the Board since 1997. It is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City....
in 1995. On May 7, 2007; the
Times sold its entire broadcasting division, including WTKR, to current owner Local TV.
In June 2010, Local TV announced that it would be acquiring
The CWThe CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
affiliate
WGNTWGNT, channel 27 , is a television station licensed to Portsmouth, Virginia, USA. WGNT is the CW Television Network affiliate for the Hampton Roads television market and is owned by Local TV, which also operates WTKR , Hampton Roads' CBS affiliate...
from
CBS CorporationCBS Corporation is an American media conglomerate focused on commercial broadcasting, publishing, billboards and television production, with most of its operations in the United States. The President and CEO of the company is Leslie Moonves. Sumner Redstone, owner of National Amusements, is CBS's...
. WTKR managed the station through a time brokerage agreement from that point until Local TV closed on the purchase on August 4. This purchase created the market's second co-owned
duopolyIn United States broadcast television and radio, duopoly is a term used to describe a single company which owns two or more stations in the same city or community....
operation, after the LIN TV-owned combination of WAVY and
FoxFox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
affiliate
WVBTWVBT is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Hampton Roads area of Southeastern Virginia that is licensed to Virginia Beach. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 29 from a transmitter in the Driver section of Suffolk...
.
Eastern ShoreThe Eastern Shore of Virginia consists of two counties on the Atlantic coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The region is part of the Delmarva Peninsula and is separated from the rest of Virginia by the Chesapeake Bay. Its population was 45,553 as of 2010...
Translators
There are two low-powered translators of WTKR that are located in the
Eastern Shore of VirginiaThe Eastern Shore of Virginia consists of two counties on the Atlantic coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The region is part of the Delmarva Peninsula and is separated from the rest of Virginia by the Chesapeake Bay. Its population was 45,553 as of 2010...
and are municipally-owned by
Accomack CountyAs of the census of 2010, there were 33,164 people, 15,299 households, and 10,388 families residing in the county. The population density was 84 people per square mile . There were 19,550 housing units at an average density of 43 per square mile...
rather than
Local TV, LLCLocal TV LLC is a limited liability corporation, owned by Oak Hill Capital Partners , which operates 18 local network-affiliated television stations in the United States.-History:...
. WTKR-TV and
Local TV, LLCLocal TV LLC is a limited liability corporation, owned by Oak Hill Capital Partners , which operates 18 local network-affiliated television stations in the United States.-History:...
does not own and operate any translators located in the Greater
Hampton RoadsHampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
area.
- W22DN Channel 22 Craddockville
-References:*...
- W39CS Channel 39 Onancock
Onancock is a town in Accomack County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,525 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Onancock is located at ....
News operation
Over the years, the station expanded its news operation to include about 30 hours of local news production per week. During the 2009
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball ChampionshipThe NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
,
independent stationAn independent station is in the category of television terminology used to describe a television station broadcasting in the United States or Canada that is not affiliated with any television network....
WSKY-TVWSKY-TV, which was launched in October 2001, is a full-power/full market television independent station serving the Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News, VA television market and the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The station, which is part of the Hampton Roads market, broadcasts on digital channel 9...
aired two weeknight 11 o'clock newscasts from WTKR during its coverage of the basketball tournament. The station did broadcast late newscasts at Midnight when the coverage concluded.
WTKR started the area's first 4 p.m. newscast on September 8, 2009. This is the station's second attempt at a newscast during the 4 p.m. hour, as WTKR had aired a short-lived 4:30 p.m. newscast in 1995.
WTKR began producing and airing its local newscasts in high definition on January 26, 2009 with the 5:00PM broadcast. WTKR is the third station in the Hampton Roads market, after
WAVY-TVWAVY-TV, channel 10, is a television station licensed to Portsmouth, Virginia, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Hampton Roads area . WAVY is owned by LIN Television Corporation, and is a sister station to Fox affiliate WVBT...
and
WVBTWVBT is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Hampton Roads area of Southeastern Virginia that is licensed to Virginia Beach. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 29 from a transmitter in the Driver section of Suffolk...
, to begin airing high definition newscasts (as opposed to the upconverted
widescreenWidescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
standard definition format of WVEC's newscasts).
News staff
| Anchors |
| Position |
Year Joined |
| Juliet Bickford |
Weeknights at 4pm and 5pm |
2008 |
| Barbara Ciara Barbara Ciara is a Norfolk, Va., based television journalist.-Career:Ciara is managing editor and anchor of WTKR NewsChannel 3 in Norfolk, Va., and columnist for . In August 2007, she began a two-year term as president of the National Association of Black Journalists...
|
Weeknights at 4pm, 5pm and 5:30pm |
2000 |
| Erica Greenway |
Weekend evenings |
2010 |
| Bianca Martinez |
Weeknights at 4pm, 6pm and 11pm |
2003 |
| Laila Muhammad |
Weekday mornings and noon |
2007 |
| Blaine Stewart -Career:Blaine Stewart is currently a morning and noon news anchor and fill-in weather anchor at WTKR "NewsChannel 3" in Norfolk, VA, the city's CBS television affiliate. He joined the station in January 2007...
|
Weekday mornings and noon |
2007 |
| Kurt Williams |
Weeknights at 5:30pm, 6pm, and 11pm |
1988 |
| VIPIR Weather |
| Position |
Year Joined |
| Patrick Rockey |
Chief Meteorologist; weekday evenings |
2002 |
| Myles Henderson |
Meteorologist; weekday mornings and noon |
2010 |
| Tony Smith |
Forecaster; weekend evenings |
2011 |
| Blaine Stewart |
Forecaster, fill-in |
2007 |
| Sports |
| Position |
Year Joined |
| Ted Alexander |
Weekend sports anchor, Locker Room host |
1996 |
Notable former on-air staff
- Ed Hughes
Edward F. Hughes was a longtime news anchor for WTKR from 1967 until shortly before his death in 2004. In addition, he was also the morning news anchor at radio station Z-104 for a time during the 1980s. Hughes was a former Navy veteran...
, often called the Walter Cronkite of Hampton Roads, from 1967 (as WTAR) to his death from cancer in 2004.
- Paula Miller
Paula Jean Miller is an American politician of the Democratic Party. Since 2005 she has been a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing the 87th district in the city of Norfolk...
, reporter from 1984 until 1999. Now member of the Virginia House of DelegatesThe Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbered years. The House is presided over by the Speaker of the House, who is elected from among the...
.
- Bob Rathbun
Bob Rathbun is a sports television announcer. He has been the announcer for the Atlanta Hawks basketball games on FSN South since 1996. He is currently partnered with Dominique Wilkins...
, sports anchor from 1990 until 1991. Previously at WTARWTAR is a comedy formatted broadcast radio station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, serving Hampton Roads. WTAR is owned and operated by Sinclair Telecable, Inc.-History:...
Radio for 12 years. Now play-by-play announcer for Atlanta HawksThe Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association .-The first years:...
.
External links
- WTKR website
- WTKR Facebook Page
- WTKR MySpace Page
- WTKR Twitter Page
- WTKR Mobile WAP
Wireless Application Protocol is a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless network.A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices such as mobile phones that uses the protocol.Before the introduction of WAP, mobile service providers had limited opportunities to offer...
portal