| Clarksburg/Fairmont/ Morgantown, West Virginia |
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|---|---|
| City of license | Clarksburg |
| Branding | 12 News Your ABC (on DT2) |
| Slogan | Your Town. Your State. Your Future. |
| Channels | Digital: 12 (VHF) |
| Subchannels | 12.1 NBC 12.2 ABC |
| Owner | West Virginia Media Holdings |
| First air date | November 17, 1957 |
| Sister station(s) | WOWK-TV, WVNS-TV, WTRF-TV |
| Former channel number(s) | 12 (VHF analog, 1957-2009) 52 (UHF digital) |
| Former affiliations | ABC (secondary on analog, 1957-1980s) |
| Transmitter power | 12.25 kW |
| Height | 262 m |
| Facility ID | 71220 |
| Website | wboy.com |
WBOY-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for North-Central West Virginia that is licensed to Clarksburg. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 12 from a transmitter east of downtown and U.S. 50. Owned by West Virginia Media Holdings, the station has studios on West Pike Street in Downtown Clarksburg. Syndicated programming on WBOY includes: Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, Oprah, and Dr. Phil. It identifies on-air as "Clarksburg/Fairmont/Morgantown" even though the third city is considered part of the Pittsburgh market. This is because it operates a bureau in Morgantown which makes it the only commercial station to have facilities there.
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WBOY operates the area's ABC affiliate on a second digital subchannel. Known on-air as Your ABC, this can also be seen on Time Warner channel 14. It is offered on all cable systems in the Clarksburg/Weston DMA. It is also the only ABC affiliate offerd in the DMA on Dish Network and DirectTV. Syndicated programming on WBOY-DT2 includes: Two and a Half Men, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Nancy Grace.
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 12.1 | main WBOY programming / NBC HD |
| 12.2 | WBOY-DT2 "Your ABC" |
The statiom was launched November 17, 1957. It was the second television station in its small market. WBOY was originally intended to be the ABC affiliate for all of North-Central West Virginia. However the area's intended NBC affiliate, Parkersburg's WTAP-TV, did not have a signal strong enough to reach Clarksburg and Weston. North-Central West Virginia is a very rugged dissected plateau and WTAP's analog signal on UHF channel 15 was not strong enough to carry across the terrain. After it became clear that Parkersburg and Clarksburg were going to be separate markets, WBOY joined NBC and remains with the network to this day. However, it retained a secondary ABC affiliation for many years. In 2001, Hearst Television (owner of Pittsburgh's WTAE-TV) acquired WBOY along with ABC affiliate WMUR-TV in Manchester, New Hampshire from Imes Communications of Mississippi.
Hearst's acquisition of WBOY was finalized on April 30 of that year. Almost immediately, the company sold WBOY to West Virginia Media Holdings (which was creating a statewide "network" of stations to share resources) in September of that year with the sale closing on December 13. It is the only primary station owned by the company to not be affiliated with CBS as well as the only one that leads its market ratings. Along with sister station WTRF-TV in Wheeling, WBOY launched a new second digital subchannel with ABC programming on August 1, 2008 bringing shows from that network back to the station. Previously, both the Clarksburg/Weston/Fairmont and Wheeling/Steubenville, Ohio markets were served by WTAE as the de facto affiliate while WDTV aired selected ABC sports programming. WBOY shut down its analog signal on February 17, 2009 continuing digital broadcasts on channel 12. [1]
After being acquired by West Virginia Media Holdings, the station upgraded its news operation and built secondary studios in Morgantown on Scott Avenue. A major emphasis was placed on news from that town in the hopes of increasing ratings and thus getting the town reassigned to the Clarksburg/Fairmont market. The move made WBOY the highest rated station in Monongalia County according to Nielsen ratings beating even Pittsburgh stations. The channel produces a large amount of sports content relative to West Virginia University, located in that town, for use by the other member stations. Today, it is the only West Virginia Media Holdings station to have the lead in local news ratings in its respective market.
The company produces a half-hour newscast called West Virginia Tonight Live that originates from the Morgantown newsroom. It airs weeknights at 5:30 simultaneously on WBOY, WTRF, and WVNS-TV as well as being simulcasted on Independent WJAL in Hagerstown, Maryland. When WBOY-DT2 launched, it resulted in the debut of the market's first weeknight 7 o'clock newscast. Known as 12 News Live on ABC, it broadcasts exclusively on the ABC station. Otherwise, WBOY-DT2 simulcasts the weekday editions of 12 News at 6 a.m., noon, 6, and 11 p.m. It does not simulcast weekend broadcasts from the main channel. In addition, there is a public affairs program called Decision Makers. Hosted by company president and CEO, Bray Cary, it airs on Sunday mornings at 8 on all West Virginia Media Holdings stations. In another arrangement between all of the company channels, weekend newscasts originate from WOWK's facilities on 5th Avenue in Downtown Huntington.
Anchors
StormTracker 12 Meteorologists
Sports
Reporters
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