WTAP-TV
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| WTAP-TV | |
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| Parkersburg, West Virginia / Marietta, Ohio | |
| Branding | WTAP |
| Slogan | Come Home |
| Channels | 15 (UHF) analog, 49 (UHF) digital |
| Affiliations | NBC, FOX (on DT2), MyNetworkTV (on DT3) |
| Owner | Gray Television |
| Founded | October 8, 1953 |
| Former affiliations | ABC, CBS(both secondary), UPN |
| Transmitter Power | 220 kW/192 m (analog) 47.4 kW/193 m (digital) |
| Website | www.wtap.com |
WTAP-TV is the NBC television station in the Parkersburg, West Virginia-Marietta, Ohio market. It operates its analog signal on UHF channel 15 and its digital signal on channel 49. It came on the air on October 8, 1953 and began regular programming on November 11. It is affiliated with NBC; early in the station's life, however, it also aired programming from ABC and CBS.[1] It is owned by Gray Television, and its transmitter is located near Constitution, Ohio.
Original plans called for WTAP to join with WDTV and WBOY in Clarksburg, 70 miles to the east, and turn north-central West Virginia into a single television market. This market would have been one of the largest geographic markets in the country. However, northern West Virginia is a very rugged dissected plateau, and the UHF signal was not strong enough to make it across the terrain. As a result, WTAP is the only commercial station in town. The only other stations licensed there are translators of West Virginia Public Broadcasting and TBN.
As it is the only commercial station in the market, cable television systems in Washington County, Ohio (home to Marietta) supplement it with the other Columbus stations and those in Wood and Pleasants counties in West Virginia supplement it with the other Huntington-Charleston stations.
In late 2005, Gray purchased Huntington's NBC affiliate, WSAZ-TV. There was rumor WTAP would scrap its news operation and just broadcast WSAZ's newscasts. WSAZ has long been available on cable in Parkersburg, and its newscasts--among the highest-rated in the country--have always covered Parkersburg events. However, Gray never even considered shuttering WTAP's news department. In fact, A.C. Nielsen recently named WTAP as the highest-rated NBC affiliate in the country—ahead of even WSAZ. WTAP's newscasts pull in revenues almost as large as WSAZ's newscasts. Even though WTAP is the sole full-power station in its market, its shows and newscasts have more viewers than many stations in medium to large markets that must share their audience with up to three other affiliates.
On Monday, April 10, 2006, the station began offering "FOX Parkersburg" on Charter Cable and CAS Cable channel 14 and "Your UPN" on Charter Cable and CAS Cable channel 5. On that date, WTAP also began broadcasting FOX Parkersburg on digital channel 15.2 and "Your UPN" over the air on digital channel 15.3. However, beginning on Monday, September 5, 2006, My Network TV programming replaced UPN programming. WTAP also changed the name of the station from "Your UPN" to "My 5". On FOX Parkersburg, there is a 10 PM weekday newscast called FOX Parkersburg News Update. [2]
To make these stations possible, WTAP has undergone a technical transformation in the past six months, carving two new control rooms about of space that previously used for storage, and installing entirely digital production and master control rooms.
[edit] Newscasts
- Daybreak (5:30 a.m. - 7:00 a.m.)
- Hosts: Patrick Newton & Kristen Kirby
- WTAP News at Noon (12:00 p.m. - 12:30 p.m.)
- Anchor: Kristen Kirby
- Weather: Patrick Newton
- WTAP News at 5 (6:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.)
- Anchor: Shanisty Myers
- Weather: Kirk Greenfield
- Sports: Jim Wharton
- WTAP News at 6 (7:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.)
- Anchor: Elizabeth Green
- Weather: Kirk Greenfield
- Sports: Jim Wharton
- FOX Parkersburg News Update (10:00 p.m. - 10:15 p.m.)
- Anchor: Shanisty Myers
- WTAP News at 11 (11:00 p.m. - 11:35 p.m.)
- Anchor: Elizabeth Green
- Weather: Kirk Greenfield
- Sports: Jim Warton
- WTAP News at 6 (Saturday Edition) (6:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.)
- Anchor: Rachel Withers
- Weather: Open
- Sports: Keith Cawley
- WTAP at 11 (Weekend Edition) (11:00 p.m. - 11:35 p.m.)
- Anchor: Rachel Withers
- Weather: Open
- Sports: Keith Cawley
[edit] External links
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WTAP 15 (NBC, FOX on DT2, MNTV on DT3) - W26AL 26 (TBN) - W57AG 57 (PBS/WVPB) |
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| Local cable television channels | |||
| Columbus, OH market stations on cable in the market | |||
| Huntington/Charleston market stations on cable in the market | |||
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WSAZ 3 (NBC) - WCHS 8 (ABC) - WVAH 11 (FOX) - WOWK 13 (CBS) See also television stations in the Wheeling, WV, Zanesville, OH and Columbus, OH television markets.
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WSAZ 3 (Huntington) - WVVA 6 (Bluefield) - WBOY 12 (Clarksburg) - WTAP 15 (Parkersburg) |
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| See also: ABC, CBS, The CW, Fox, My Network TV, PBS and Other Stations in West Virginia | |
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WVAH 11 (Charleston) - WVFX 46 (Clarksburg) - WTAP-DT 49.3 (Parkersburg) - WVNS-DT 8.2 (Lewisburg) |
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| See also: ABC, CBS, The CW, My Network TV, NBC, PBS, and Other Stations in West Virginia | |
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WSAZ-DT 3.2 (Huntington) - WTAP-DT 15.2 (Parkersburg) - WVNS-DT 8.2 (Lewisburg) |
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| *All My Network TV affilates in the state of West Virginia are secondary affiliates. | |
| See also: ABC, CBS, The CW, Fox, NBC, PBS and Other stations in West Virginia | |
