WTOV-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WTOV-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan = WTOV (or News) 9 Is Everywhere.
station_branding = WTOV 9
analog = 9 (VHF)
digital = 9 (VHF)
digital_temporary = 57 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = NBC
NBC Weather Plus on DT2
founded =
airdate = December 24, 1953
location = Steubenville, Ohio/
Wheeling, West Virginia
callsign_meaning = We're
Television for the
Ohio
Valley
former_callsigns = WSTV-TV (1953-1979)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Cox Enterprises, Inc.
licensee = WTOV, Inc.
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = Primary:
CBS (1953-1980)
Secondary:
ABC (1953-2000)
effective_radiated_power = 9 kW (digital)
erp_temporary = 316 kW (analog)
485 kW (digital)
HAAT = 282 m (analog)
261 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 74122
coordinates = coord|40|20|33.3|N|80|37|12.6|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.wtov9.com/ www.wtov9.com]

WTOV-TV, channel 9, is the NBC affiliate for the Wheeling, West Virginia/Steubenville, Ohio television market. It is licensed to Steubenville, and also operates a bureau in Wheeling. WTOV's transmitter is located in Mingo Junction, Ohio. The station's signal can be reached as far north as Youngstown, Ohio, as far west as Coshocton, as far east as Greensburg, Pennsylvania and as far south as Monroe County, Ohio. Although the area is much better served by sister station WPXI, WTOV's signal can easily be picked up in higher-elevated areas of the city of Pittsburgh with only a "rabbit-ear" antenna. WTOV is also carried on many cable systems that fall outside of its broadcast signal in Northern and North Central West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania.

History

The station first went on air as CBS affiliate WSTV-TV (for STeubenVille) on December 24, 1953. It was owned by Rust Craft Broadcasting along with WSTV radio (AM 1340 and FM 103.5, now WOGH). It also carried a secondary affiliation with ABC, sharing that network's programming with NBC affiliate WTRF-TV. It changed its call letters to WTOV (standing for "We're Television for the Ohio Valley") in 1978 after Rust Craft, merged with Ziff Davis. On January 7, 1980, WTOV swapped affiliations with WTRF and became an NBC affiliate. The station began phasing out ABC in the 1970s, but continued to carry a few ABC programs in off-hours for many years. Channel 9 had little need to air many ABC shows, however, as Pittsburgh's WTAE-TV was widely available on cable.

In 1983, Ziff Davis sold WTOV, along with then-sister stations WEYI-TV in Saginaw, Michigan, WRDW-TV in Augusta, Georgia and WROC-TV in Rochester, New York, to Television Station Partners, L.P. WTOV, along with WEYI and WROC, were sold to Smith Broadcast Group in 1996. In 2000, Cox Enterprises acquired WTOV, along with fellow NBC affiliate WJAC-TV in Johnstown, Pennsylvania on the other side of the Pittsburgh market, from Sunrise/STC Broadcasting (one of several subsidiaries of Smith Broadcasting). The station dropped the remaining ABC shows from its schedule soon after Cox took over. It also updated its logo to resemble that of sister station WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh, and along with WJAC, the three are occasionally marketed together as a result. The station airs tape-delayed high school football games of the week including numerous playoff games of local teams. WTOV aired many college football/basketball games from ABC and ESPN Plus. One of the station's slogans is "WTOV9 Is Everywhere".

Digital TV

It is not known at this time if the station will join sister stations WPXI and WJAC in carrying the Retro Television Network on a digital subchannel. Like both stations, it does offers NBC Weather Plus on channel 9.2, however unlike WPXI and WJAC, WTOV offers live local doppler radar on its third digital subchannel as 9.3

Analog-to-digital conversion

After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf] , WTOV-TV will move its digital broadcasts back to its present analog channel number, 9. [http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101234236&formid=387&fac_num=25455 CDBS Print ] ] http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id=616897] With WTRF moving it's digital signal back to 7, the Wheeling/Steubenville market will be one of the few that none of its stations will need PSIP to air on a virtual channel.

Former Slogans

*"The Ohio Valley's News Station"
*"Follow The Leader"
*"Your 24 Hour News Station"

News Personalities

*Nate Adams - Reporter
*Jackie Cain - 11 PM Anchor/Evening Reporter
*Kevin Carter - Chief Meteorologist (AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologist)
*Natalie Herbick - Weekend Anchor / Reporter
*Ashley Koe - Belmont County Newsroom Reporter
*Allison Latos - Morning Anchor/Reporter
*Jasmine Lo - Wheeling Newsroom Reporter
*Chandi Lowry - Reporter
*Rob Metzger - Sports Reporter
*Eric Minor - Evening Anchor (5, 6 & 11)/producer/reporter
*Jeff Oechslein - Morning/Noon Meteorologist
*Dino Orsatti - Morning Anchor/Reporter
*Mike Skurko - Weekend Meteorologist/Reporter
*Don Sloan - Sports Director
*Deb Witkowski - Lifestyle Reporter (What Would Deb Do)
*Shelby Zarotney - Noon, 5 & 6 PM anchor/producer/reporter

Former News Personalities

* Sherri McChutchen - Evening Anchor (now works for WKKX 1600AM in Wheeling)
* Jim Forbes - Evening Anchor (now works for competitor WTRF)
* Pete Yaksick - Reporter - now Professor of Criminology at Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA
* Joe Murgo - Former Morning Meteorologist (currently works at WTAJ in Altoona, PA)
* Bill Phillips - former sports director (currently works for sister Pittsburgh station WPXI)
* Mark Zinni - Former Weekend Anchor/Reporter (currently Morning Anchor/Reporter at WPRI in Providence, RI)
* Lisa Kick - Former Anchor/Reporter (currently works at WBNS-TV in Columbus, OH)
* Jim Hanchett - Reporter (now anchor at WECT in Wilmington, NC)
* Dave Bloomquist - Sports anchor (now with WWVA in Wheeling)
* Deena Centofani - Anchor (now anchor at WJBK-TV in Detroit)
* Liz Habib - now anchor at KTTV-TV in Los Angeles
* Holly Morris - Anchor (now at WTTG-TV in Washington, DC)
* Bill Burr - Reporter (now at WCSC-TV in Charleston, SC)
*Natalie Pasquarella - Former 11 PM Anchor/Evening Reporter Now at WSOC-TV

Trivia

* The call letters WTOV previously were used by channel 27 in Portsmouth, Virginia from 1953 until it went dark in 1956. The station went back on the air in 1961 as WYAH (owned by televangelist Pat Robertson), and today it is CW O&O WGNT.

References

External links

* [http://www.wtov9.com/ WTOV 9]
*TVQ|WTOV
*BIA|WTOV|TV|TV