WSVF-CD

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WSVF-CD
The Valleys FOX.png
WSVF-LD 2012.jpg
Harrisonburg–Staunton, Virginia
United States
CityHarrisonburg, Virginia
ChannelsDigital: 36 (UHF)
Virtual: 43
BrandingThe Valley's Fox
CBS The V (on CD2)
Programming
Affiliations43.1: Fox
43.2: CBS
Ownership
OwnerGray Television
(Gray Television Licensee, LLC)
WHSV-TV, WSVW-LD, WVIR-TV, WVIR-CD, WDBJ, WZBJ, WWBT, WUPV
History
First air date
1996 (1996) (as WAZT-CA repeater)
October 26, 2006 (15 years ago) (2006-10-26)
(Fox programming, on WHSV-TV 3.2)
Former call signs
  • W25CC (1996–1997)
  • W25AZ (1997–2000)
  • WAZM-LP (2000–2002)
  • WAZM-CA (2002–2012)
  • WSVF-CA (2012)
  • WSVF-LD (2012–2013)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
25 (UHF, 1996–2012)
Digital:
43 (UHF, 2012–2020)
Former affiliations
  • WAZT-CA repeater (on WSVF-CD, 1996–2012)
  • Sportsman Channel (secondary overnights on WHSV-DT2, 2006–2009)
Call sign meaning
We're Shenandoah Valley's Fox
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID190915
ClassCD
ERP15 kW
HAAT503.2 m (1,651 ft)
507.6 m (1,665 ft) (application)
Transmitter coordinates38°23′34.8″N 78°46′11.9″W / 38.393000°N 78.769972°W / 38.393000; -78.769972 (WSVF-CD)
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS

WSVF-CD, virtual channel 43 (UHF digital channel 36), is a low-powered, Class A dual Fox/CBS-affiliated television station licensed to Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States and serving the Shenandoah Valley. Owned by Gray Television, it is a sister station to ABC affiliate WHSV-TV (channel 3) and low-powered dual NBC/CW+ affiliate WSVW-LD (channel 30). The three stations share studios on North Main Street/US 11 in downtown Harrisonburg, and operate a newsroom in Fishersville, serving Staunton, Waynesboro, and Augusta County. WSVF-CD's transmitter is located atop Massanutten Mountain. There is no separate website for WSVF-CD; instead, it is integrated with that of sister station WHSV-TV.

Even though WSVF-CD has a digital signal of its own, the low-power broadcast range only covers the immediate Harrisonburg area. Therefore, the CBS-affiliated CD2 feed is simulcast in 16:9 widescreen standard definition on WHSV's fifth digital subchannel in order to reach the entire market; this signal can be seen on UHF channel 20.5 (or virtual channel 3.5 via PSIP) from a transmitter atop Elliott Knob west of Staunton.

History[]

The Valley's Fox[]

The Fox affiliation currently seen on WSVF-CD began on October 26, 2006 with the launch of WHSV-DT2, a standard definition subchannel of WHSV-TV.[1] The subchannel's launch gave the Shenandoah Valley its first full-time Fox affiliate; until then, WTTG, the Fox owned-and-operated station in Washington, D.C., served as the area's default Fox affiliate, though WHSV was a secondary Fox affiliate from 1994 through 1996.[2] To this day, WTTG continues to be carried on Comcast systems in the Shenandoah Valley. During the late summer and early fall of 2006, WHSV underwent major technical upgrades to make way for the creation of WHSV-DT2. A large receiving tower was built behind its Harrisonburg studios to accommodate the additional satellite receiver needed for the Fox venture.

In March 2007, WHSV-DT2 was added to Comcast systems in the market on digital channel 705. Eventually, it moved to the current location on channel 192. The OTA high definition feed of WSVF-CD1 is available on channel 213.

Broadcast license[]

What is now WSVF-CD was started in 1996[3] as W25CC, operating on channel 25 as the Staunton and Waynesboro translator for WAZT-LP, a Woodstock-based religious independent station. It changed its call letters to W25AZ in 1997 and WAZM-LP in 2000, and upgraded to class A status in 2002 (as WAZM-CA).[4] However, WAZM was all but invisible in the market because the area's cable companies wouldn't carry it. Cable and satellite are all but essential for acceptable television in the Shenandoah Valley, even more so because nearly all of this market is in the United States National Radio Quiet Zone. In April 2012, then-owner Jones Broadcasting announced it was selling WAZM-CA to Gray Television.[5] Gray changed its callsign to WSVF-CA on June 4, 2012.[6]

On June 1, 2012, Gray Television applied for and was granted a Notification of Suspension of Operations Request from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as Jones Broadcasting had no digital facilities built, and Gray preferred to relaunch the station as a digital-only operation clear of WAZM-LP's history (though it retains the license's previous history and FCC facility ID number).[7] WAZM-CA's analog signal, operating at 21,900 watts, completely missed the major cities in the market, including its city of license. However, WSVF's digital signal covers virtually all of the market, and extends as far southeast as the adjacent market of Charlottesville.

On July 17, 2012, Gray Television signed an affiliation agreement with CBS for WSVF-LD and two other low-powered stations WECP-LD in Panama City, Florida, and WIYE-LP in Parkersburg, West Virginia.[8] As a result, WSVF-LD became the CBS affiliate for the Shenandoah Valley in October 2012.[9] It is the first time CBS programming has been seen on a Shenandoah Valley station since WHSV-TV (then WSVA-TV) dropped CBS programming in 1963; since then, WUSA in Washington, D.C. had served as the default CBS affiliate for the Shenandoah Valley. However, CBS programming is aired on the station's second digital subchannel, while the Fox programming previously seen on WHSV-DT2 airs on WSVF's primary channel. This is to provide a high-definition signal for Fox network programming to the Shenandoah Valley; technical limitations do not allow any of WHSV's subchannels outside of the main ABC signal to air in high definition. WSVF is the second full-time terrestrial network affiliate in the area; WHSV has had the market more or less to itself since it signed on in 1953. In February 2013, WSVF's class A status was transferred from the former analog channel 25 signal to the digital station.[10]

Due to WSVF's link to WHSV, the same FCC must-carry rules that kept it off cable now forced its addition. The must-carry rules also give full-powered stations the option of retransmission consent, which allows these stations to request compensation from cable systems as a condition of carrying them. In this case, Gray has the right to require cable systems to carry WSVF as part of the compensation for carrying WHSV.

In early 2013, Gray won FCC permission to move the station's license to Harrisonburg.

Digital channels[]

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP short name Programming[11]
43.1 720p 16:9 FOX-HD Main WSVF-CD programming / Fox
43.2 1080i CBS-HD WSVF-CD2 / CBS

Newscast[]

WHSV currently produces a weeknight prime time newscast on WSVF. Known on-air as The Valley's Fox 10 O'Clock News, the show can be seen for thirty minutes from a secondary set at the North Main Street facility. Although it features additional reporters seen on WHSV, the show maintains a dedicated news anchor and reporter. The broadcast primarily features news anchor Gloria Balding, meteorologist Aubrey Urbanowicz, and reporter Tim Wronka (also fill-in news anchor). MyNetworkTV/MeTV affiliate WHSV-DT4 simulcasts the prime time newscast. Even if the program is delayed or preempted on WSVF, it still airs in the regular time slot on WHSV-DT4.

Simulcasts of some local newscasts seen on WHSV-TV are included on the WSVF-CD2 schedule. More specifically, WHSV's two-hour weekday morning newscast, and its weeknight at 5 and nightly 6 p.m. news broadcasts are not seen on WSVF-CD2. In lieu of a locally-produced weekday morning news program, the station airs CBS' late night news program CBS Overnight News and a double-run of the CBS Morning News between 5 and 7 a.m. The station does not carry any newscasts produced by WHSV-TV that are exclusive to the station.

References[]

  1. ^ "WHSV-TV3 and The Valley's FOX Are Coming To Satellite". WHSV.com. October 23, 2006. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  2. ^ "With Ratings Only So-So, WHSV Drops Fox's Redskins". Daily News-Record. March 4, 1996. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
  3. ^ "Application Search Details (license to cover W25CC permit)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  4. ^ "Call Sign History (WSVF-LP)". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  5. ^ Seyler, Dave (April 9, 2012). "Another Class A for Gray". Television Business Report. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
  6. ^ "Media Bureau Call Sign Actions" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. May 23, 2012. Retrieved May 27, 2012.
  7. ^ "Notification of Suspension of Operations/Request for Silent STA". Federal Communications Commission. June 1, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
  8. ^ "CBS SIGNS AFFILIATION AGREEMENTS WITH GRAY TELEVISION, INC. FOR STATIONS IN PANAMA CITY, FLA.; HARRISONBURG, VA.; AND PARKERSBURG, W.VA". CBS Corporation. July 17, 2012. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  9. ^ "CBS the Valley is Live Over the Air". WHSV-TV/Gray Television, Inc. October 10, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  10. ^ "APPLICATION FOR CLASS A TELEVISION BROADCAST STATION CONSTRUCTION PERMIT OR LICENSE". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. February 4, 2013. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  11. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WSVF-CD

External links[]

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