verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . november 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message wtap tv parkersburg west virginia marietta ohio united states branding wtap general wtap news newscasts slogan the newscenter channels digital 49 uhf virtual 15 psip subchannels 15.1 nbc 15.4 doppler weather radar affiliations nbc jewelry television overnights owner gray television gray television licensee llc first air date november 11 1953 ; 62 years ago 1953 11 11 sister station s wova ld wiye ld & wsaz tv former channel number s 15 uhf analog 1953 2009 former affiliations cbs abc 1953 1970 both secondary transmitter power 47.4 kw height 196 m class dt facility id 4685 transmitter coordinates 39 20 59 n 81 33 56 w 39.34972 n 81.56556 w 39.34972 ; 81.56556 website www.thenewscenter.tv wtap tv is the nbc affiliated television station for the mid ohio valley that is licensed to parkersburg west virginia . it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on uhf channel 49 or virtual channel 15.1 via psip from a transmitter in independence township ohio . the station can also be seen on suddenlink channel 4 and cas cable channel 7 . there s a high definition feed offered on suddenlink digital channel 104 and cas cable digital channel 384 . owned by gray television wtap is sister to low powered fox affiliate wova ld and low powered cbs outlet wiye ld . the three television stations share studios on market street official address is one television plaza in downtown parkersburg . contents 1 digital channels 2 history 3 programming 4 news operation 5 see also 6 references 7 external links digital channels edit channel video aspect psip short name programming 1 15.1 1080i 16 9 wtapnbc main wtap tv programming nbc 15.4 480i 4 3 wtap dt doppler weather radar history edit the station signed on veterans day 1953 . wtap aired an analog signal on uhf channel 15 and early in its life aired programming from all three major networks of the time nbc abc and cbs but then as now was a primary nbc affiliate . wjpb tv in fairmont channel 35 now wdtv on channel 5 launched four months later and took on exactly the same affiliation . original plans called for wtap to join wjpb and turn the parkersburg and clarksburg areas into one giant television market . however the area is a very rugged dissected plateau and neither station s signal was strong enough to carry across the terrain . additionally parkersburg and fairmont are 70 miles apart and uhf stations don t carry very well across long distances in any event . as a result wtap currently remains the only commercial station based in parkersburg . the only other outlets licensed to the city are outlying translators of west virginia public broadcasting and the trinity broadcasting network . by the mid 1950s it was obvious that clarksburg weston fairmont and parkersburg marietta were going to be separate markets . however wtap retained secondary affiliations with abc and cbs until 1970 when it became a sole nbc affiliate . as it is the sole commercial station in town area cable systems have long piped in stations from outlying markets . suddenlink s system in washington county ohio home to marietta supplements the area with stations from columbus as does the parkersburg marietta directv feed . cas cable and suddenlink s systems in wood and pleasants counties in west virginia supplement coverage with stations from the huntington charleston market . the station s first studios were on west 7th street in downtown parkersburg near camden clark memorial hospital . it had a number of owners in its early days including the zanesville publishing company which bailed wtap out when it almost went off the air in the mid 1950s . it held ownership for about a decade until a group of local businessmen bought the station . the station was acquired by benedek broadcasting of hoffman estates illinois in 1980 . the west 7th street facilities were also home to wtap am 1230 until the radio station was spun off and sold to a separate entity . in summer 1990 wtap tv moved to its present studios in a former industrial research building . a long time wtap on air personality glenn wilson suggested and got parkersburg s approval to rename the last block of market street television plaza . as a result the new building was given one television plaza as the official mailing address . after benedek declared bankruptcy and sold most of its stations in 2002 wtap was bought by gray television . in 2004 it was the first nbc affiliate in west virginia to offer programming from the network in high definition . 2 in late 2005 when gray purchased nbc affiliate wsaz tv in huntington making that station and wtap sisters . on april 10 2006 the station launched new second and third digital subchannel to serve as the area s fox and upn affiliates respectively . to make these services possible wtap underwent a technical transformation . it carved out two new digital high definition ready control rooms from space previously used for storage . the station also installed entirely digital production and master control rooms . after upn merged with the wb to form the cw in september 2006 wtap dt3 transitioned from upn to fox s new sister network mynetworktv . wtap has been digital only since february 17 2009 . as of may 2011 the station has received approval from parkersburg to erect a new transmitter tower adjacent to its studios . this will greatly improve its over the air signals wtap sends to and from its main transmitter site across the ohio river in independence township . the new tower is expected to be completed before the end of 2011 . in addition wtap has been given permission by the fcc to maximize its over the air television signal from its constitution oh main transmitter site . this will raise the effective radiated power erp from the current 47kw to 315kw . while this may result in some increased service area it is actually designed to improve the overall penetration of wtap s free signal within the three main service counties of wood wv pleasants wv and washington oh . this increased power may go into service in late 2011 or early 2012 . wtap is carried on multiple cable systems in roughly a fifty mile radius of parkersburg stretching as far east as west union west virginia as far south as point pleasant west virginia as far north as guernsey county ohio and as far west as athens ohio . programming edit syndicated programming on wtap includes wheel of fortune jeopardy inside edition and dr. phil among others . all of them are distributed by cbs domestic television . news operation edit wtap is one of the strongest nbc affiliates in the united states according to nielsen ratings . over the years its various owners have invested considerable resources in its news operation resulting in a very high quality product for what has always been a very small market . it airs 4.5 hours of news every weekday a considerable amount considering that parkersburg is the 193rd market . although it serves a largely rural area of only 125 000 people its newscasts have more viewers than many other television stations in medium to large markets sharing audiences with up to three other affiliates . after gray television bought wsaz there were rumors wtap would scrap its news operation and simulcast newscasts from that station . wsaz has long been available on cable in parkersburg and its local newscasts also among the highest rated in the country have always covered parkersburg . however gray itself never considered shuttering wtap s news department . there are times when this station pulls more revenue than wsaz even though huntington charleston is seven times as large as parkersburg marietta . citation needed additionally many of wtap and wsaz s stablemates are fairly close to each other while operating independently . at some point in time after adding fox wtap dt2 began offering a 30 minute prime time newscast . known as fox parkersburg news at 10 the weeknight show mirrors local news seen on the main channel except for slightly different graphics and unique features . the station became the first outlet in west virginia to upgrade newscasts to high definition on may 29 2011 . the wtap dt2 broadcast was included in the change . in addition to its main studios wtap operates a bureau in marietta . unlike most nbc affiliates in the eastern time zone the station does not air a full two hour weekday morning show half hour newscast weeknights at 5 30 or local news sunday nights at 6 00 p.m. citation needed see also edit channel 15 virtual tv stations in the united states channel 49 digital tv stations in the united states references edit http www.rabbitears.info market.php request station search & callsign wtap station wtap tv is 1st station in west virginia to broadcast in hd external links edit official website query the fcc s tv station database for wtap tv v t e broadcast television in the parkersburg west virginia marietta ohio area reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television local stations wtap tv 15.1 nbc 15.4 weather radar woub 20.1 pbs 20.2 pbs encore 20.3 mhz worldview wova ld 22.1 fox wjos ld 45 the walk tv wiye ld 47.1 cbs 47.2 mntv metv w51eg d 51.1 pbs wvpb 51.2 create 51.3 pbs wvpb in hd adjacent locals charleston huntington wsaz 3.1 nbc 3.2 mynetworktv metv wchs 8.1 abc 8.2 ant 8.3 grit tv 8.4 gettv wvah 11.1 fox 11.2 asn sports 11.3 comet wowk 13.1 cbs 13.2 escape 13.3 laff 13.4 bounce tv wqcw 30.1 the cw columbus wsyx 6.1 abc 6.2 mynetworktv this tv 6.3 ant wbns 10.1 cbs 10.2 decades clarksburg weston wdtv 5.1 cbs 5.2 accuwx wboy 12.1 nbc 12.2 abc west virginia broadcast television bluefield clarksburg weston huntington charleston parkersburg washington dc wheeling ohio broadcast television charleston huntington west virginia cincinnati cleveland akron columbus dayton ft. wayne indiana lima marietta parkersburg west virginia steubenville wheeling west virginia toledo youngstown zanesville v t e nbc network affiliates in the state of west virginia wsaz 3 huntington wvva 6 bluefield wtov 9 steubenville wheeling wboy 12 clarksburg wtap 15 parkersburg see also abc cbs cw fox ion mynetworktv nbc pbs other stations in west virginia v t e gray television abc network affiliates kcrg kgns 1 kjct knoe 1 kolo kota khsd ksfy kaby kpry kspr 2 wbko whsv wjrt wtok wtvg wvaw cbs network affiliates kalb 1 kgwn kstf kktv kmvt knoe knpl koln kgin kosa kwch kbsd kbsh kbsl kwtx kbtx kxii kxjb kylx wagm 1 wcav wctv wswg wdbj wecp wibw wifr wiye wkyt wymt wrdw wsaw wsvf 1 wtvy wvlt the cw network affiliates 1 kbtx kcwy kgwn kstf kjct knoe kscw ksfy kaby kpry kwtx kxjb kycw kylx wagt wbko wbxx wjhg wkyt wmtv wqcw wswg wtok wtvg wymt fox network affiliates kevn kiit kndx kxnd ksvt kxii 1 wagm wahu wbko 1 wluc 1 wova wsvf wzaw mynetworktv affiliates 1 kktv kosa ksnb kxii kyes wahu wctv wecp whsv wibw witn wrdw wsaw wsaz wswg wtok wtvy wiye wvlt nbc network affiliates kalb kcwy kfyr kqcd kmot kumv kgns kkco knop ksnb ktuu kvly kytv wagt weau wilx witn wjhg wluc wmtv wndu wowt wrgx wsaz wtap other stations tel kgns 1 kkco 1 uni kdcu 3 ind. k17dl d 4 acquisitions benedek broadcasting hoak media schurz communications 1 these stations except for kscw & wqcw broadcast these networks on their digital subchannels . 2 owned by schurz communications gray operates kspr through