WTVY (channel 4) is a
television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
in
Dothan, Alabama
Dothan () is a city in Dale, Henry, and Houston counties and the Houston county seat in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is Alabama's eighth-largest city, with a population of 71,072 at the 2020 census. It is near the state's southeastern corner, ...
, United States, affiliated with
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
. It is owned by
Gray Television
Gray Television, Inc. is an American publicly traded television broadcasting company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1946 by James Harrison Gray as Gray Communications Systems, the company owns or operates 180 stations across the United St ...
alongside
low-power dual
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
/
CW+ affiliate
WRGX-LD
WRGX-LD (channel 23) is a low-power television station in Dothan, Alabama, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Gray Television alongside CBS affiliate WTVY (channel 4). The two stations share studios on North Fos ...
(channel 23). The two stations share studios on North Foster Street in downtown Dothan; WTVY's transmitter is located in
Bethlehem, Florida
Bethlehem is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Holmes County, Florida, Holmes County, Florida, United States (US).
Telecommunications
The WTVY (TV), WTVY-TV Tower, which measures 1,901 ft, is located in Bethlehem. The tow ...
(in the
Panama City
Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...
market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
*Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
*Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, an ...
).
WTVY is used to provide full-market
over-the-air coverage of WRGX-LD1 (simulcast over WTVY-DT4) and WRGX-LD2 (simulcast over WTVY-DT3); however, these simulcasts are not presently in
high definition.
History
WTVY's first broadcast was on February 12, 1955, originally on channel 9, as a CBS affiliate. During the late-1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the
NTA Film Network
The NTA Film Network was an early American television network founded by Ely Landau in 1956. The network was not a full-time television network like CBS, NBC, or ABC. Rather, it operated on a part-time basis, broadcasting films and several first ...
.
In a massive reallocation of signals in Alabama and
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
mandated by the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
(FCC) to minimize signal interference, the station moved to channel 4 on November 2, 1960.
[''Dothan Eagle'', Nov. 1, 1960, pg. 9]
At the time of the reallocation, WTVY also moved to new studios with a tower in
Webb
Webb most often refers to James Webb Space Telescope which is named after James E. Webb, second Administrator of NASA.
It may also refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Webb Glacier (South Georgia)
* Webb Glacier (Victoria Land)
*Webb Névé, Victoria ...
, east of Dothan. At the time, the tower was the tallest structure in the state of Alabama.
WTVY-FM
WTVY-FM ("Your Country" 95.5 WTVY) is an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Dothan, Alabama, United States. The station is owned by Digio Strategies. The station began broadcasting on September 20, 1968; the station was or ...
still utilizes the tower to transmit its signal. In the early 1970s, WTVY became one of the first stations in the country to broadcast 24 hours a day.
In 1978, WTVY moved to its current (height above ground) tower in Bethlehem ( southwest of Dothan). The tower is the tallest structure in the state of Florida. The tower is so tall that on clear nights the strobe warning lights on the tower have been seen as far as away in certain locations. The move was made in part to improve its signal in Panama City and along the Florida
Gulf Coast
The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...
, where it had been the default CBS affiliate since 1961.
The new tower gave WTVY one of the largest coverage areas in the Southeastern United States. It provides at least grade B coverage as far west as the Florida side of the
Mobile
Mobile may refer to:
Places
* Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city
* Mobile County, Alabama
* Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S.
* Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Mobile ( ...
/
Pensacola
Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ci ...
market
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
*Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
*Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, an ...
(including
Fort Walton Beach
Fort Walton Beach is a city in southern Okaloosa County, Florida. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 20,922, up from 19,507 in 2010. It is the principal city of the Fort Walton Beach− Crestview− Destin Metropolitan Statistical Area ...
and
Destin) and as far northwest as the fringes of the
Montgomery market.
In 1993, WTVY moved its studios to the historic Houston Hotel building in downtown Dothan (now known as the Woods Building) and operates on the first two floors. The news studio is actually located in what used to be the grand ballroom of the hotel. The building is tall enough (eight stories) that the station's studio-to-transmitter microwave dish is located on top of the building, not requiring a smaller tower to be built on the property.
For many years
Charles Woods, a perennial aspirant to the
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
ship of Alabama and occasional
minor-party presidential candidate
A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example:
* to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs.
* t ...
, owned WTVY via Woods Communications Group; it is not to be confused with Woods Communications Corporation, a company owned by his son, David Woods, that owns
WCOV-TV
WCOV-TV (channel 20) is a television station in Montgomery, Alabama, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Woods Communications Corporation alongside Troy-licensed Cozi TV affiliate WIYC (channel 48) and low-power loca ...
in Montgomery and formerly owned
WDFX-TV
WDFX-TV (channel 34) is a television station licensed to Ozark, Alabama, United States, serving as the Fox affiliate for the Dothan area. Owned by Lockwood Broadcast Group, the station has studios on Ross Clark Circle ( AL 210/US 231) in Dot ...
in Dothan. In the early 1990s ownership of WTVY was transferred to
Chemical Bank
Chemical Bank was a bank with headquarters in New York City from 1824 until 1996. At the end of 1995, Chemical was the third-largest bank in the U.S., with about $182.9 billion in assets and more than 39,000 employees around the world.
Beginning ...
and operated under the corporate name of Dothan Holdings,
LLC.
Benedek Broadcasting
Benedek Broadcasting was a television broadcasting company, who owned and operated 22 network-affiliated television stations throughout the United States, all affiliated with major television networks, serving mainly small and medium-size markets. ...
bought WTVY from Chemical Bank/Dothan Holdings in 1995 for a price of $28 million. WTVY was one of the Benedek stations that was purchased by Gray Television in 2002.
For much of its history, WTVY doubled as the CBS affiliate for the Panama City market. Since Gray bought the station in 2002, WTVY has been a sister station to Panama City's NBC affiliate,
WJHG-TV
WJHG-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Panama City, Florida, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power dual CBS/MyNetworkTV affiliate WECP-LD (channel 21). Both stations share ...
. WTVY's transmitter is technically located in the Panama City market even though it is only from Dothan. In exchange, WJHG had long been available in Dothan on
cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
since the area did not have its own NBC affiliate. This status ended on September 24, 2012 when Gray launched
WECP-LD
WECP-LD (channel 21) is a low-power television station in Panama City, Florida, United States, affiliated with CBS and MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Gray Television alongside dual NBC/ CW+ affiliate WJHG-TV (channel 7). The two stations share stud ...
as a Panama City-based CBS affiliate.
However, most cable systems in that market continued to carry WTVY in lieu of WECP until October when the latter replaced WTVY on area systems.
Gray likewise launched WRGX-LD as a Dothan-based NBC affiliate on June 1, 2013 replacing WJHG and Montgomery's
WSFA
WSFA (channel 12) is a television station in Montgomery, Alabama, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Low-power broadcasting#Television, low-power, Class A television service, Class A Telemundo affiliate ...
on area cable systems.
Programming
Syndicated programming includes ''
Wheel of Fortune The Wheel of Fortune or ''Rota Fortunae'' has been a concept and metaphor since ancient times referring to the capricious nature of Fate. Wheel of Fortune may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Art
* ''The Wheel of Fortune'' (Burne-Jo ...
'', ''
Inside Edition
''Inside Edition'' is an American news broadcasting newsmagazine program that is distributed in first-run syndication by CBS Media Ventures. Having premiered on January 9, 1989, it is the longest-running syndicated-newsmagazine program that is n ...
'', ''
Rachael Ray
Rachael Domenica Ray (born August 25, 1968) is an American cook, television personality, businesswoman, and author. She hosts the syndicated daily talk and lifestyle program ''Rachael Ray'', and the Food Network series '' 30 Minute Meals''. ...
'', and ''
Live with Kelly and Ryan
''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show formula has aired under various hosts since ...
'' among others. ''Wheels sister game show, ''
Jeopardy!
''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given genera ...
'', airs on NBC-affiliated
WRGX, making Dothan one of the few markets to air both shows on separate stations. When Panama City relied on WTVY for a CBS station, all syndicated programming that was duplicated on WJHG and
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
outlet
WMBB
WMBB (channel 13) is a television station in Panama City, Florida, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Nexstar Media Group. The station's studios are located on Harrison Avenue/US 231 in downtown Panama City, and its transmitter is ...
was still shown on WTVY on Panama City's cable systems. This is in contrast to
SyndEx laws which gives local stations the option to restrict importing of syndicated programming that is already available on an in-market station. After WECP replaced WTVY, the former station is able to air shows that WJHG cannot and does not have to rely on an out-of-market station to fill an affiliation slot.
News operation
WTVY has historically been a
ratings powerhouse in the Wiregrass Region winning every time slot. This is partly because its only local competition, ABC affiliate
WDHN, has a coverage area only half as large and does not produce newscasts on weekends. Although
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
outlet
WDFX-TV
WDFX-TV (channel 34) is a television station licensed to Ozark, Alabama, United States, serving as the Fox affiliate for the Dothan area. Owned by Lockwood Broadcast Group, the station has studios on Ross Clark Circle ( AL 210/US 231) in Dot ...
also airs local news, most coverage focuses on other areas of Alabama (it simulcasts a weekday morning show from
WBRC
WBRC (channel 6) is a television station in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power, Class A Telemundo affiliate WTBM-CD (channel 24). The two stations studios ato ...
in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
; there is also an hour-long weekday program at 4 p.m. and a nightly half-hour prime time newscast at 9 p.m. from WSFA in Montgomery). During the prime time broadcast on WDFX, there is limited coverage of the Wiregrass provided by WSFA reporters based in Dothan.
On weekdays, WTVY produces two thirty-minute newscasts (at 4 and 5:30 p.m.) that are exclusive to WRGX. As a result, the NBC station airs ''
NBC Nightly News
''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt'' for its weeknight broadcasts since June 22, 2015) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NB ...
'' on
tape delay at 6 p.m. unlike most NBC outlets in the
Central Time Zone
The North American Central Time Zone (CT) is a time zone in parts of Canada, the United States, Mexico, Central America, some Caribbean Islands, and part of the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
Central Standard Time (CST) is six hours behind Coordinate ...
. The WRGX news programs broadcast from a secondary set at the North Foster Street facility. Although it features additional reporters from WTVY, the NBC station maintains separate news anchors and a
meteorologist
A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while t ...
. It does not simulcast any newscasts from WTVY.
Since WJHG and WTVY had traditionally been available on cable in both Dothan and Panama City, and since both stations have the same ownership, WJHG has run WTVY stories that take place in those parts of northwestern Florida that are in northern part of the Panama City market. Meanwhile, WTVY has run WJHG stories focusing on Panama City and the coast. Sometimes, WTVY will run its own stories on Panama City that WJHG did not cover.
The building that WTVY broadcasts from in Downtown Dothan also has a
Doppler weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern weather radars are mostly puls ...
dome that is specifically made for the station. On June 4, 2012, WTVY became the first station in the Dothan market to broadcast local newscasts in high definition. One notable former personality of WTVY is
Mitch English
Mitch English (born October 2, 1969) is an American morning talk show host, comedian, actor, reporter and weatherman. He is best known for being the host of the nationally syndicated morning television show, '' The Daily Buzz'', and was the last r ...
who was a
weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the ...
anchor and news reporter at the station. He was a co-host of the nationally syndicated weekday morning show, ''
The Daily Buzz
''The Daily Buzz'' (occasionally abbreviated ''"theDBZ"'') is a nationally syndicated news and infotainment program. The show premiered as a 3-hour weekday morning television show on September 16, 2002, initially airing on 10 stations owned and ...
'', from 2002 until 2012.
Subchannels
The station's digital signal is
multiplexed
In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...
:
See also
*
Channel 4 virtual TV stations in the United States The following television stations operate on virtual channel 4 in the United States:
* K02LH-D in Clarks Fork, Wyoming
* K03DJ-D in Polson, Montana
* K03IZ-D in Salinas, California
* K04DH-D in Gunnison, Colorado
* K04GF-D in Wolf Point, Montana
* ...
*
Channel 10 branded TV stations in the United States The following television stations in the United States brand as channel 10 (though neither using virtual channel
In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program ...
*
Channel 36 digital TV stations in the United States
References
External links
WTVY.com- Official WTVY-TV Website
WRGX-LD2/WTVY-DT3 "Dothan's CW"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wtvy (Tv)
CBS network affiliates
MeTV affiliates
Circle (TV network) affiliates
Gray Television
Television channels and stations established in 1955
TVY (TV)
1955 establishments in Alabama