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Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
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In 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. In 1972 she launched a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, breaking another political barrier.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
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| City | Virginia Beach, Virginia |
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| Channels | |
| Branding |
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| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WAVY-TV; Tegna: WVEC | |
| History | |
First air date | December 17, 1992 |
Former channel numbers |
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Call sign meaning | Virginia Beach Television |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| 65387 | |
| ERP | 850 kW |
| HAAT | 300 m (980 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 36°49′15″N 76°30′40″W / 36.82083°N 76.51111°W |
| Translator(s) | WPMC-CD 36 Mappsville |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
WVBT (channel 43) is a television station licensed to Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States, affiliated with Fox and The CW. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside NBC affiliate WAVY-TV (channel 10); Nexstar's Tegna subsidiary owns ABC affiliate WVEC (channel 13). WVBT and WAVY-TV share studios on Wavy Street in downtown Portsmouth. WVBT's transmitter is located near Driver in Suffolk.
Though the construction permit was awarded in 1985, WVBT began broadcasting in December 1992, initially with home shopping programming. In January 1995, it affiliated with The WB, converted to a general-entertainment schedule, and came under the operational control of WAVY-TV under a local marketing agreement. Later that year, it secured affiliation with Fox, effective August 31, 1998. On that date, the station began airing a 10 p.m. local newscast produced by WAVY-TV. Nexstar acquired WAVY and WVBT in 2017 as part of its purchase of Media General.
The Federal Communications Commission allocated channel 43 to Virginia Beach in February 1982 on a petition by Ocean Broadcasting Corporation, headed by a Virginia Beach attorney.[2] Other applicants also filed for the channel, including a lawyer from Knoxville, Tennessee; Summit Communications, led by developer Dewey Simmons; and Tidewater Christian Communications Corporation, a group of Black pastors.[3] In all, six groups had filed, three of which merged in December 1983.[4] Summit was awarded the construction permit in 1985.[5] The station was not built immediately because of the illness of Summit's president, Simmons, and other delays. It reorganized in 1986 and changed its name to Virginia Beach Television Inc.[6] WVBT began broadcasting as a full-time Home Shopping Network affiliate on December 17, 1992.[7][8] By this time, it was owned by Walter Ulloa of Los Angeles.[9]
This programming changed in January 1995 with three near-simultaneous events. The station affiliated with The WB when it launched on January 11, 1995; changed from home shopping to a general-entertainment schedule; and signed a local marketing agreement (LMA) with LIN TV, owner of Portsmouth-based NBC affiliate WAVY-TV (channel 10).[10][11] WVBT also began offering overflow programming—for instance, NBC daytime shows during coverage of the murder trial of O. J. Simpson and conflicting sports telecasts. The new programming and alliance with WAVY earned WVBT interest from cable operators, who had previously shunned adding the home shopping station to their lineups but were more interested in the station as a WB affiliate.[8] On May 18, 1996, the station began broadcasting from a new transmitter facility, with its antenna 500 feet (150 m) higher and its power increased to the maximum of 5 million watts.[12]
On November 29, 1995, Fox announced that it would move its programming to WVBT from WTVZ-TV (channel 33) in Norfolk, a station owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.[13] The surprise switch was announced with no reason given; however, three weeks later, the situation came into focus when Fox executed a similar affiliation switch with Sinclair's WLFL in Raleigh, North Carolina. Like in Hampton Roads, Fox announced it would move to a WB affiliate programmed by a major network station in 1998 at the expiration of its existing Sinclair contract; Sinclair cited "different philosophical views about the future" for the change. The company apparently had little confidence in Fox plans to expand to late night and early morning slots as well as in the area of news.[14] The additional network shows threatened to encroach on lucrative fringe periods where the Sinclair stations made money.[15] Notably, WTVZ did not have a 10 p.m. local newscast and under Sinclair had held off on doing so.[9] Even though relations improved between Sinclair and Fox, the network had already signed affiliation agreements with its new Raleigh and Norfolk stations and carried out the switch, with WVBT joining Fox on August 31, 1998.[16][17]
As part of the affiliation with Fox, WAVY committed to develop a 10 p.m. newscast for WVBT.[18] By 1998, no such newscast was available on a broadcast station; WTKR produced one for WGNT, which was canceled in December 1997,[19][20] and a newscast co-produced by WVEC and The Virginian-Pilot, Pilot 13 News at 10, aired on the cable channel Local News on Cable.[21] On August 31, 1998, concurrent with the switch, WVBT debuted Fox43 News at 10. The program—promoted as "the newest newscast on the planet"—featured its own anchors (Kelly Wright and Krista Marino on weeknights), news set, and purple graphics, as well as a faster-paced production style oriented to younger viewers, with WAVY's weather and sports presenters.[22] Within a year, ratings for Fox43 News at 10 tripled.[23]
WVBT and Cox Communications, the primary cable television provider in Hampton Roads, entered into a dispute that culminated with WVBT pulling its programming from Cox on December 31, 1999.[24] The reason for the dispute was that Cox continued to give WVBT a high channel number—channel 43—on its cable system. WVBT asked to be moved to channel 5, 6, 11 or 14, which the cable company refused to do.[25] Many viewers—and even station staffers and the station facilities—needed antennas to see WVBT's signal.[26] After 35 days, WVBT returned to the Cox system and won a move to channel 14 on cable.[27] In 2002, LIN TV purchased WVBT from Beach 43 Corporation, creating an outright duopoly.[7]
WVBT expanded its news offerings in February 2009 with the debut of a morning news extension, Fox43 News at 7am. This was reformatted into an 8 a.m. lifestyle show, The Hampton Roads Show, in January 2010.[28] The Hampton Roads Show moved to WAVY-TV in 2011.[29] The 7 a.m. newscast was later revived and extended to two hours by January 2014.[30]
In 2014, LIN TV was acquired by Media General.[31][32][33] After purchasing LIN, Media General initially agreed to merge with the Meredith Corporation[34] but faced a shareholder revolt in the wake of an unsolicited offer from Nexstar Broadcasting Group,[35] which agreed to acquire the company in 2016[36] and completed the acquisition in 2017.[37] Though Nexstar agreed to acquire Tribune Media—owner of WTKR and WGNT—in 2018, it elected to retain WAVY and WVBT and spin off the other stations.[38]
Under Media General and Nexstar, WVBT added a half-hour 7 p.m. newscast in 2016[39] and a 6:30 p.m. newscast in February 2019. The addition of the latter increased WAVY–WVBT's local news output to 61 hours a week.[40]
On May 1, 2024, it was announced that WVBT's second subchannel would join The CW in September; Cozi TV moved to subchannel 43.4.[41][42]
WVBT's transmitter is located near Driver in Suffolk.[1] The station's signal is multiplexed:
| Subchannel | Res. | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 43.1 | 720p | WVBT | Fox |
| 43.2 | CW | The CW[41] | |
| 43.3 | 480i | Antenna | Antenna TV |
| 43.4 | COZI | Cozi TV |
WVBT began broadcasting a digital signal on channel 29 on March 21, 2002,[44] and ended regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 43, on June 12, 2009, as part of the digital television transition.[45] The station's digital signal remained on channel 29,[46] where it remained until moving to channel 21 on January 17, 2020, as a result of the 2016 United States wireless spectrum auction.[47][48]
An associated facility to WVBT, Norfolk-licensed WNLO-CD (channel 14), serves as the ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) lighthouse station for Hampton Roads, serving the Nexstar stations and WTVZ-TV. It began this service in November 2020.[49]
| Subchannel | Res. | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10.1 | 1080p | WAVY | NBC (WAVY-TV) |
| 33.1 | 720p | WTVZ | MyNetworkTV (WTVZ-TV) |
| 33.10 | 1080p | T2 | T2 |
| 33.11 | PBTV | Pickleballtv | |
| 43.1 | 720p | WVBT | Fox (WVBT) |
| 45.1 | WNLO-CD |
To serve the northern part of Accomack County, Virginia, that is too distant to receive signals from Norfolk, WVBT's main subchannel is rebroadcast on class A translator WPMC-CD, licensed to Mappsville with a transmitter site near Bloxom:
| Subchannel | Res. | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 36.1 | 480i | WPMC-CD | Fox |
Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the Commonwealth of Virginia | ||
|---|---|---|
Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Virginia | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
| Spanish | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
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Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the state of North Carolina | ||
|---|---|---|
Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of North Carolina | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
| Spanish | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
| ||
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
WVBT (channel 43) is a television station licensed to Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States, affiliated with Fox and The CW. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside NBC affiliate WAVY-TV (channel 10); Nexstar's Tegna subsidiary owns ABC affiliate WVEC (channel 13). WVBT and WAVY-TV share studios on Wavy Street in downtown Portsmouth. WVBT's transmitter is located near Driver in Suffolk. Though the construction permit was awarded in 1985, WVBT began broadcasting in December 1992, initially with home shopping programming. In January 1995, it affiliated with The WB, converted to a general-entertainment schedule, and came under the operational control of WAVY-TV under a local marketing agreement. Later that year, it secured affiliation with Fox, effective August 31, 1998. On that date, the station began airing a 10 p.m. local newscast produced by WAVY-TV. Nexstar acquired WAVY and WVBT in 2017 as part of its purchase of Media General.
WAVY-TV (channel 10) is a television station licensed to Portsmouth, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of NBC. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside Fox affiliate WVBT (channel 43); Nexstar's Tegna subsidiary owns ABC affiliate WVEC (channel 13). WAVY-TV and WVBT share studios on Wavy Street in downtown Portsmouth; WAVY-TV's transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia.
WVEC (channel 13) is a television station licensed to Hampton, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by the Tegna subsidiary of Nexstar Media Group; Nexstar owns NBC affiliate WAVY-TV (channel 10) and Fox affiliate WVBT (channel 43). WVEC's studios are located on Woodis Avenue in Norfolk; its transmitter is located near Driver in Suffolk. WVEC began broadcasting on UHF channel 15 on September 19, 1953, from studios in Hampton. It was the second television station in Hampton Roads and broke the monopoly on television programming and affiliations held by WTAR-TV (now WTKR), which broadcast on a VHF channel. The station was originally an NBC affiliate; NBC provided pre-launch support to the new station, at a time when UHF stations could only be seen by viewers with specially fitted converters. The station was a modestly successful second-place outlet until 1957, when Hampton Roads gained a second VHF station: WAVY-TV in Portsmouth, originally the ABC affiliate. WVEC-TV lost viewers and some NBC programs to the new VHF station, which could be seen in all homes. It was successful in encouraging the Federal Communications Commission to allocate a third VHF channel, channel 13, to Hampton Roads. It merged with the other applicants for the channel, and WVEC-TV moved to channel 13 on November 13, 1959. It simultaneously opened its current Norfolk studio and switched to a full-time ABC affiliation. The channel 15 facilities were then used for educational television by WHRO-TV, which began in 1961. The station's limited local news efforts gradually expanded in the 1970s and in the 1980s after Corinthian Broadcasting and the A. H. Belo Corporation in turn acquired channel 13. The bulk of station operations shifted to Norfolk, and after WTKR experienced a collapse in its news ratings in the mid-1980s, WAVY and WVEC began contending for first place in the market. In partnership with Cox Communications and The Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk, WVEC launched a local cable news channel, Local News on Cable, in 1997; it operated until 2010 and for most of that time featured an original 10 p.m. local newscast co-produced with The Virginian-Pilot. Belo sold the station to the Gannett Company, predecessor to Tegna, in 2013. Tegna's sale to Nexstar Media Group in 2026 brought WVEC under common ownership with WAVY-TV and Fox affiliate WVBT.
WTVZ-TV (channel 33) is an independent television station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area and having a secondary affiliation with MyNetworkTV. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station maintains studios on Office Square Lane in Virginia Beach, and its transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia. WTVZ signed on September 24, 1979, as the second independent station in the Hampton Roads area. It was owned by a consortium of local investors known as the Television Corporation of Virginia. The investors soon formed a station group: Television Corporation Stations, later TVX Broadcast Group, which was headquartered in Norfolk. WTVZ was immediately competitive in local ratings and battled with the more religiously oriented WYAH-TV throughout the 1980s. As with other TVX stations, it joined Fox at its launch in 1986. TVX sold WTVZ to its general manager, Charles A. McFadden, in 1989; at the time, the company was selling smaller stations to reduce debt. McFadden's group, later known as Max Television, dallied with the possibility of producing a local newscast for the station throughout the early 1990s but never followed through. Sinclair acquired WTVZ in 1995; that year, Fox announced it would move its affiliation to WVBT (channel 43) in 1998 due to a business dispute with Sinclair. The station then joined The WB in 1998 and MyNetworkTV in 2006.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Madam C.J. Walker
