WRIC-TV
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Petersburg - Richmond, Virginia United States |
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| City | Petersburg, Virginia |
| Branding | WRIC-TV 8 (general) 8 News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | News Where You Live |
| Channels |
Digital: 22 (UHF) Virtual: 8 (PSIP) |
| Affiliations |
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| Owner |
Nexstar Media Group (Young Broadcasting of Richmond, Inc.) |
| First air date | August 15, 1955 |
| Call letters' meaning | W-RIChmond |
| Former callsigns | WXEX-TV (1955–1990) |
| Former channel number(s) |
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| Former affiliations | |
| Transmitter power | 850 kW |
| Height | 328 m |
| Facility ID | 74416 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 37°30′45″N 77°36′5″W / 37.51250°N 77.60139°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
| Website | wric |
WRIC-TV, channel 8, is an ABC-affiliated television station located in Richmond, Virginia, USA. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group. The station is licensed to nearby Petersburg, while its studios are located on Arboretum Place (State Route 76) in Chesterfield County (with a Richmond mailing address). Its transmitter is located in Bon Air.
The station began operation in 1955 as WXEX-TV, an NBC affiliate. It was owned by Thomas Tinsley along with WLEE radio. Channel 8's transmitter was located in the Bermuda Hundred area of eastern Chesterfield County, while the main studios were in Petersburg. Originally, it didn't cover Richmond nearly as well as did WTVR-TV (channel 6) and WRVA-TV (channel 12, now WWBT). At first, a Richmond sales office was located at WLEE's studios on West Broad Street in Richmond; later, satellite studios were established just off Midlothian Turnpike in Bon Air, a suburb of Richmond.
The station swapped affiliations with channel 12 in 1965 and became an ABC affiliate. It has been with that network ever since. In 1968, Tinsley sold WXEX-TV and WLEE to Nationwide Communications. In 1969, a fire destroyed its original Petersburg studios. For a few weeks, the station had to broadcast from its transmitter, then set up temporary offices and studios in a vacated store in Petersburg. The station later moved in a brand new facility on Crater Road that it named Blandford Manor. In 1981, Nationwide sold off sister station WLEE.
On April 23, 1990, the station moved its studios to the current location on Arboretum Place in Chesterfield County. With the new studios came new call letters, WRIC-TV. However, it is still licensed to Petersburg; unlike the other stations in the market, it identifies as "Petersburg/Richmond." Nationwide would sell all three of its ABC-affiliated television stations, including WRIC, to Young Broadcasting in 1993.
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Wikipedia