WTRF-DT3
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| Wheeling, West Virginia / Steubenville, Ohio United States | |
|---|---|
| Branding |
"ABC Ohio Valley" 7 News |
| Slogan |
Live and Local From Your Town |
| Channels | Digital: 7 (VHF, WTRF-DT 7.3) |
| Affiliations | ABC |
| Owner |
West Virginia Media Holdings (sale to Nexstar Broadcasting Group pending) |
| Founded | August 1, 2008 |
| Call letters' meaning | Two Radio Frequencies |
| Transmitter power | 25.4 kW |
| Height | 293 m |
| Facility ID | 6869 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°3′41″N 80°45′8″W / 40.06139°N 80.75222°W |
| Website | www.yourohiovalley.com |
WTRF-DT3 is the ABC-affiliated television station for Wheeling, West Virginia and Steubenville, Ohio. It is a third digital subchannel of CBS affiliate WTRF-TV which is owned by West Virginia Media Holdings. Over-the-air, the station broadcasts a digital signal on VHF channel 7.3 from WTRF's transmitter located in Boydsville, Ohio. WTRF-DT3 is also offered on Comcast digital cable channel 205. The station is known on-air as ABC Ohio Valley. WTRF-DT3's parent station has studios on 16th Street in downtown Wheeling. Syndicated programming on the station includes: Judge Joe Brown, Judge Judy, Family Feud, and The Rachel Maddow Show.
History
WTRF launched a new third digital subchannel with ABC programming on August 1, 2008, a year after it had launched Fox programming on WTRF-DT2. Previously, WTRF and WTOV-TV aired ABC programming in off-hours, but began phasing out ABC in the 1970s. WTRF dropped it entirely in the early 1980s, but WTOV continued to air a few ABC programs until 2000. However, WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh provided grade B coverage to most of the Wheeling / Steubenville market and was available in most area cable systems, while the far western part of the market could also get WSYX-TV in Columbus, Ohio and WYTV in Youngstown, Ohio. The launch of WTRF-DT3 allowed the tiny Wheeling/Steubenville market to finally receive full-time affiliates of all four major networks. Despite the presence of WTRF-DT3, however, both WTAE and WYTV retain their analog cable carriage on local Comcast systems, with "ABC Ohio Valley" airing only on Comcast digital cable. "ABC Ohio Valley" is broadcast in 480i 4:3 standard-definition via WTRF-DT3 but is simulcast into 720p 16:9 high-definition over WVTX-CD2 in Bridgeport, OH.[1][2]
Newscasts
WTRF-DT3 simulcasts the weekday editions of 7 News at 6 a.m., Noon, 6, and 11 p.m. from its main channel. The only difference in news between the two channels is separate on-screen branding to denote "ABC Ohio Valley".