WTVZ-TV

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WTVZ-TV
Norfolk, Virginia
Branding	MyTVZ
Channels	33 (UHF) analog, 38 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	My Network TV
Owner	Sinclair Broadcast Group
Founded	1979
Call letters meaning	TVX Broadcast Group (original owner)
Former affiliations	Fox (1986-98) The WB (1998-2006)
Website	www.mytvz.com

WTVZ-TV is the My Network TV affiliate serving the Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News, Virginia (or Hampton Roads) television market. The station broadcasts on channel 33 and is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. WTVZ's transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia.

[edit] History

WTVZ began operations in 1979, and was founded by TVX Broadcast Group Incorporated, a locally-based firm controlled by Tim McDonald. The station ran a general entertainment format similar to its competitor, the Christian Broadcasting Network-owned WYAH-TV (channel 27, now WGNT), but with much less religious programming (although it ran the PTL Club between 10 AM and Noon). It aired a number of movies, sitcoms, and cartoons. Its programming policy was somewhat more liberal than that of WYAH (which was owned by Pat Robertson) and immediately surpassed WYAH as the top independent station in the market.

TVX began expanding outside of Norfolk and launched WRLH-TV (channel 35) in nearby Richmond in 1982. TVX also bought independent stations in Raleigh and Greensboro, North Carolina, New Orleans, and Little Rock, Arkansas, and launched new independents in Nashville, Memphis, San Antonio and Buffalo, New York throughout the mid-1980s. In 1986, TVX affiliated all of its stations, including WTVZ, with the Fox Broadcasting Company.

In February 1987 TVX purchased Taft Broadcasting's Fox affiliates and independent stations, all of which were located in larger markets such as Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Miami. However, the company began to run into financial troubles due to debt incurred from the Taft purchase, and proceeded to sell its smaller-market stations one by one. In 1989, WTVZ was sold to Sullivan Broadcasting. The station was acquired by the Sinclair Broadcast Group in 1996, and was reunited with several of its former TVX sister stations which had also been purchased by Sinclair.

WTVZ lost its Fox affiliation to WVBT-TV (channel 43) in August 1998, and became a WB affiliate in its place.

On January 24, 2006, the UPN and WB networks announced they would merge into a new service, to be called The CW, to take effect in September 2006. Former UPN affiliate WGNT became the CW's Hampton Roads affiliate. On March 2, 2006, Sinclair announced that WTVZ and sixteen of its sister stations would become MyNetworkTV affiliates, that affect in September. MyNetworkTV is operated by Fox and its parent company, the News Corporation. As a MyNetworkTV affiliate, the station changed its branding to "MyTVZ" as shown at the logo section.

WTVZ added The Tube music video channel on its digital signal in late July 2006.

[edit] External links

• WTVZ MyNetworkTV Homepage
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WTVZ