| Tupelo/Columbus/Starkville/ West Point, Mississippi |
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|---|---|
| City of license | Tupelo |
| Branding | WTVA (general) WTVA News |
| Slogan | Live, Local, Latebreaking. |
| Channels | Digital: 8 (VHF) Virtual: 9 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 9.1 NBC 9.2 Me-TV |
| Owner | WTVA, Inc. |
| First air date | March 18, 1957 |
| Call letters' meaning | Tennessee Valley Authority (Tupelo was first city in corporation) |
| Sister station(s) | WKDH, WLOV-TV |
| Former callsigns | WTWV (1957-1979) |
| Former channel number(s) | 9 (VHF analog, 1957-2009) 22 W22BS (UHF analog repeater) |
| Former affiliations | ABC (secondary, 1957-1983) |
| Transmitter power | 16 kW |
| Height | 540.1 m |
| Class | DT |
| Facility ID | 74148 |
| Website | wtva.com |
WTVA is the NBC-affiliated television station for Northern Mississippi and Northwestern Alabama licensed to Tupelo, Mississippi. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 (or virtual channel 9.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter on County Road 70 in Woodland, Mississippi. The station can also be seen on Cable One channel 5 and Comcast channel 6. There is a high definition feed provided on Cable One digital channel 465 and Comcast digital channel 1006. Locally-owned, WTVA operates ABC affiliate WKDH and Fox affiliate WLOV-TV through separate local marketing agreements (LMAs).
Although each station has its own General Manager and owner in accordance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) policy, the LMAs create a unique situation where three major network outlets are controlled by one entity. All three stations share studios on County Road 681 in Saltillo, Mississippi. Syndicated programming on WTVA includes Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, The Dr. Oz Show, Dr. Phil, and Inside Edition among others.
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On WTVA-DT2 is the classic television network Me-TV. Previously, FamilyNet was carried on WTVA-DT2 until December 31, 2011.[1]
| Channels | Name | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9.1 | WTVA-DT | 1080i | 16:9 | Main WTVA programming / NBC |
| 9.2 | Me-TV | 480i | 4:3 | Me-TV |
This station was the brainchild of Frank K. Spain, an engineering graduate of Mississippi State University, who had helped build NBC-owned station WNBW (now WRC-TV) in Washington D.C.. While serving as Technical Director at WHEN-TV (now WTVH) in Syracuse, New York in the early-1950s, he dreamed of bringing a television station to Tupelo where he had spent most of his childhood. Spain applied for a license in 1953 which was granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1956.
The station first signed-on March 18, 1957 with the call letters WTWV an aired an analog signal on VHF channel 9. Its equipment (antenna, transmitter, cameras etc.) were all hand-built in Spain's garage, backyard, and basement in Syracuse. He hoped to parlay his good relations with NBC officials into getting his new station an affiliation with the network. However, several NBC executives believed Tupelo was not a desirable place for a local station because of its rural location dozens of miles away from cities such as Memphis, Tennessee and Birmingham, Alabama that already had affiliates.
Nonetheless, they told Spain that if he could figure out a way to obtain a network signal, he could carry it. Spain allegedly negotiated under-the-table deals with WMC-TV in Memphis and set up a network of microwave relays and repeater systems to carry the WMC-TV signal to Tupelo. Station engineers then switched to and from the signal when network programming aired. This setup, necessary in the days before satellites, enabled WTWV to bring NBC programming to Northeastern Mississippi and Northwestern Alabama. The station also carried a secondary affiliation with ABC.
In the mid-1960s, WTWV was approached about becoming a full ABC affiliate. Spain, who was still receiving "bootleg" NBC programming, told NBC executives that ABC was willing to pay him. This prompted NBC to negotiate a formal deal with Spain and WTWV formally became an NBC affiliate. It still carried some ABC programming in off-hours until WVSB (now WLOV) in nearby West Point began operating in 1983. Between 1972 and 1980, WTWV's signal was rebroadcast for viewers in East-Central Mississippi on a satellite WHTV (now WMDN) in Meridian. After becoming a separate entity, that station has operated primarily as a CBS affiliate and was sold to Meridian Media (now Waypoint Media) in January 2008. WTWV built a brand-new tower in 1970s that not only brought a city-grade signal to Columbus for the first time, but gave the station one of the largest coverage areas in the country.
On July 4, 1979, it changed its call letters to WTVA in honor of Tupelo's recognition as the first Tennessee Valley Authority city in the Southeast. The WTWV call sign was later used on WFRQ, a radio station in Mashpee, Massachusetts, unrelated to the current WTVA. The station is still locally-owned by the Spain family today. Frank Spain served as CEO of WTVA, Inc. until his death on April 25, 2006. He continued to visit the station regularly well into his 70s. His wife Jane has assumed the CEO position and continues the Spain family ownership. The outlet was the first commercial television station in Mississippi to devote its entire morning broadcast schedule to educational programming. The station also made history as the first in Mississippi to broadcast a live basketball game.
Although WTVA operates WLOV and WKDH through local marketing agreements (LMAs), each station has its own station manager and owner in accordance with FCC policy. WTVA, Inc. also previously owned and operated KTFL in Flagstaff, Arizona. During the majority of the time KTFL was broadcasting, it carried programing from FamilyNet which was previously seen on WTVA's second digital subchannel. KTFL's transmitter was licensed as the most powerful television station its own market. On July 24, 2008, WTVA began its digital service on VHF channel 8 but is mapped via PSIP to virtual channel 9. By comparison, sister station WLOV broadcasts network programming in high definition over a low-powered digital transmitter. It is likely the allowable power levels on channel 8, WTVA's post-transition digital channel, will be severely limited due to potential interference to other stations.[2]
In March 2000, WTVA began producing a Sunday through Friday night prime time newscast on WLOV-TV. Currently known as WLOV News at Nine, this broadcast can be seen for thirty minutes. On April 20, 2009, WTVA became the first station in the market and second in the state to upgrade local news to high definition. Compared nationwide, it was the smallest market outlet that made the change.
Anchors
The Weather Authority Meteorologists
Sports (both seen on Friday Night Fever)
Reporters
Photographers
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