| Lewisburg/Bluefield/ Beckley, West Virginia |
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|---|---|
| City of license | Lewisburg |
| Branding | CBS 59 (general) 59 News (newscasts) Fox 59 (on DT2) |
| Slogan | Your News Now |
| Channels | Digital: 8 (VHF) Virtual: 59 (PSIP) |
| Affiliations | 59.1 CBS 59.2 Fox (primary) MyNetworkTV (secondary) |
| Owner | West Virginia Media Holdings |
| First air date | August 12, 1995 |
| Call letters' meaning | West Virginia's News Station |
| Sister station(s) | WOWK-TV, WBOY-TV, WTRF-TV |
| Former callsigns | WVGV-TV (1995-1996) WVSX (1996-2003) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 59 (1995-2009) |
| Former affiliations | The WB (1995-1996) Fox (1996-2001) |
| Transmitter power | 3.68 kW |
| Height | 577 m |
| Facility ID | 74169 |
| Website | wvnstv.com |
WVNS-TV is the CBS affiliate for Southern West Virginia that is licensed to Lewisburg. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 from a transmitter on Keeney's Knob between Alderson and I-64. Owned by West Virginia Media Holdings, the station has studios on Old Cline Road in Ghent along I-77. Syndicated programming on WVNS includes: Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and Rachael Ray.
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It operates the area's primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV affiliate on a second digital subchannel. Known on-air as Fox 59, this is also offered on Suddenlink cable systems. In Beckley it is on channel 10, in Hinton and Princeton on channel 3, and on Comcast channel 2 (channel 434 in high definition) in Bluefield. It is found on Directv channel 60. Programming from MyNetworkTV airs weeknights from midnight until 2AM. Syndicated programming on WVNS-DT2 includes: Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother, Judge Joe Brown, and Judge Judy.
| Subchannel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 59.1 | main WVNS-TV programing / CBS HD |
| 59.2 | WVNS-DT2 "Fox 59" |
The station began broadcasting on August 12, 1995 as The WB affiliate WVGV-TV. It was the first station in the market not affiliated with one of the big three networks. The station was originally set to sign-on as a Fox affiliate but the network canceled the affiliation when the launch was delayed past the start of the fall season in 1994. WVGV was not successful due to difficulty in selling advertising time in the primarily urban-oriented programming that dominated The WB's schedule at the time as well as the difficulty competing with a UHF signal in a market used to receiving VHF stations. Furthermore, the late sign-on made it difficult to get carriage on the area's cable systems. This was a serious problem since cable is a must for acceptable television in this market, most of which is very mountainous.
By May, when cable systems in the area were ready to carry the station, WVGV had agreed to be sold to High Mountain Broadcasting. The new owners took the station dark in order to relocate the studios from Lewisburg to Ghent (between Beckley and Bluefield) and move the transmitter site from Cross Mountain to a more central location to better serve Beckley and Bluefield as well as Lewisburg. The station returned to the air on December 24, 1996 as Fox affiliate WVSX. However, due to problems with the transmitter's unique power supply design, it did not transmit regularly until after January 1, 1997. The station continued to struggle financially. WVSX changed its affiliation to CBS on September 29, 2001.
Prior to 2001, WOWK-TV in Huntington served as the default CBS affiliate for the West Virginia side of the market while WDBJ in Roanoke served the Virginia portion. Both stations are still available on most of the area's cable systems. On February 28, 2003, the station was again sold this time to West Virginia Media Holdings. As a result, the company owns three of the four CBS affiliates serving the state. The call sign was changed on June 7 to the current WVNS-TV. Bluefield/Beckley/Oak Hill is a relatively small television market. WVNS has continued to slowly but steadily grow in audience. However, it not only has to contend with local competitors WVVA and WOAY-TV but also WDBJ (which is still available on cable). Further, the local economy makes advertising sales hard to come by as in all of the adjacent television markets.
The Fox affiliation on a new second digital subchannel was acquired September 13, 2006 following a summer 2006 retransmission dispute between Charleston's WVAH-TV and Suddenlink Communications (the cable system serving Beckley). The demise of the Foxnet cable network on September 12 also played a role. Although it is carried on a digital subchannel, this is practically a return of Fox to WVNS after a five year absence. WVNS turned off its analog signal on UHF channel 59 at 12:30 P.M. on February 17, 2009. Although WVNS transmits its digital signal on channel 8, it remaps to channel 59 using PSIP.
The station operates its own news department while taking advantage of the statewide network to share news content from sister station WOWK (for state government coverage and Marshall University sports) and WBOY-TV (for West Virginia University sports). During all WVNS newscasts, weather forecasts are provided by WOWK's meteorologists based at that channel's facilities on 5th Avenue in Downtown Huntington. Weeknights at 5:30, WVNS airs West Virginia Tonight Live which is a statewide half-hour newscast (except for WOWK) produced by West Virginia Media Holdings out of WOWK's newsroom with stories from all four stations. In addition, there is a public affairs program called Decision Makers hosted by company president and CEO Bray Cary. This is simulcast on Saturday mornings at 9 and Sunday mornings at 8 on all West Virginia Media Holdings stations. Every night at 10, WVNS-DT2 offers a live 10 o'clock newscast known as Fox 59 News. Weekday mornings at 7, there is a rebroadcast of the second hour of the main channel's weekday morning show. In another arrangement between all of the company channels, weekend newscasts originate from WOWK.
Anchors
StormTracker 59 Meteorologists (from WOWK-TV)
Sports
Reporters
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