WTVR-TV

WTVR-TV, virtual channel 6, is a CBS-affiliated television station located in Richmond, Virginia. The station is owned by Tribune Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Tribune Media Company. It broadcasts on physical digital channel 25, using the virtual channel assignment of 6.1 via PSIP (to associate it with its 60-year former position on analog channel 6), and its studios and tower are located on West Broad Street in the West End of the city of Richmond. The tower is also the transmitter for former sister station WTVR-FM and NPR member WCVE-FM.

History

When the channel 6 license in Richmond came up for bids before the Federal Communications Commission, it was thought to be a foregone conclusion that the license would go to either Larus and Brother Tobacco Company, owner of WRVA, or Richmond Newspapers, owner of WRNL, since they were reckoned as Virginia's leading broadcasters. However, for reasons that remain unknown, neither station submitted a bid. The only applicant turned out to be the Richmond Broadcasting Company, which was nowhere near as large as either WRVA or WRNL. Its owner, auto parts dealer Wilbur Havens, also owned WMBG (AM 1380) and WCOD (98.1 FM). FCC approval was a mere formality, and WTVR took to the air on April 22, 1948, as the first television station south of Washington, D.C.(Giving it the nickname "The South's First Television station"). It became an NBC affiliate June 1, 1948. For many years, it used a colorized version of its original ID slide to open newscasts. Then as now, the station operated from a converted bus garage on West Broad Street, where WMBG had been based since 1939.