WTKR
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Hampton Roads, Virginia United States |
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| City | Norfolk, Virginia |
| Branding | News 3 |
| Channels |
Digital: 40 (UHF) Virtual: 3 () |
| Subchannels | 3.1 CBS 3.2 This TV |
| Affiliations | CBS (secondary until 1953) |
| Owner | Dreamcatcher Broadcasting, LLC (Local TV Virginia Licensee, LLC) |
| Operator | Tribune Broadcasting |
| First air date | April 2, 1950 |
| Call letters' meaning | Dual meaning: * Tidewater; Knight Ridder (former owners) * tribute nod to WTAR (rhyming scheme) |
| Sister station(s) | WGNT |
| Former callsigns | WTAR-TV (1950–1981) |
| Former channel number(s) |
Analog: 4 (VHF, 1950–1952) 3 (VHF, 1952–2009) |
| Former affiliations |
Primary: NBC (1950–1953) Secondary: DuMont (1950–1955) ABC (1950–1957) |
| Transmitter power | 950 kW |
| Height | 377 m |
| Facility ID | 47401 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 36°48′31″N 76°30′13″W / 36.80861°N 76.50361°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
| Website | www |
WTKR, channel 3, is a television station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Hampton Roads area of Virginia (comprising the cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, Hampton, Virginia Beach and environs), and the Outer Banks region of North Carolina. WTKR is owned by Dreamcatcher Broadcasting, LLC, and is part of a duopoly with CW affiliate WGNT (channel 27); Tribune Broadcasting operates WTKR and WGNT under a shared services agreement.
WTKR and WGNT share a studio/office facility on Boush Street in downtown Norfolk. WTKR's transmission tower is located in northwest part of Suffolk, Virginia.
The station began operation on channel 4 on April 2, 1950 as WTAR-TV, Virginia's second television station. It carried programming from all four networks of the time – NBC, CBS, ABC, and DuMont – but was a primary NBC affiliate. In its first year of operation, when only 600 TV sets existed in the area, it had 19 locally originated programs in addition to network shows. Within a year of the station's debut, it moved into a new radio-TV center at 720 Boush Street.
It was owned by Norfolk Newspapers, publisher of The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star, along with WTAR radio (AM 790, now on AM 850), Virginia's first radio station, and WTAR-FM. It moved to channel 3 in 1952 in order to avoid interference with WNBW (now WRC-TV) in Washington, D.C.. When WVEC-TV signed on a year later as an NBC affiliate, WTAR-TV became a primary CBS affiliate, retaining its secondary ABC and DuMont affiliations.
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Wikipedia