w 36.8560056 n 76.3026028 w 36.8560056 ; 76.3026028 wvec hampton roads virginia united states city hampton virginia branding abc 13 general 13 news now newscasts metv hampton roads on dt3 slogan telling the stories of now channels digital 13 vhf virtual 13 psip subchannels 13.1 abc 13.2 justice network 13.3 metv affiliations abc secondary 1953 1957 ; primary 1959 present owner tegna media wvec television inc. first air date september 19 1953 ; 63 years ago 1953 09 19 call letters meaning we value every customer derived from former sister station wvec radio now wxtg former channel number s analog 15 uhf 1953 1959 13 vhf 1959 2009 digital 41 uhf 1997 2009 former affiliations nbc 1953 1959 transmitter power 35 kw height 363 m facility id 74167 transmitter coordinates 36 48 59 n 76 28 6 w 36.81639 n 76.46833 w 36.81639 ; 76.46833 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.13newsnow.com wvec channel 13 is a television station licensed to hampton virginia usa serving as the abc affiliate for the hampton roads area comprising the cities of hampton norfolk portsmouth virginia beach and newport news and portions of the outer banks region of north carolina . wvec is owned by tegna inc. the former broadcast division of the gannett company and has its studios located in norfolk and transmitter based in the driver neighborhood of suffolk virginia . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 eastern shore translators 4 branding and image 4.1 spirit of hampton roads 5 news staff 5.1 notable former on air staff 6 programs produced by wvec 7 see also 8 references 9 external links history edit the station began operations on september 19 1953 on uhf channel 15 as an nbc affiliate . 1 it was co owned originally by hampton businessman thomas p. chisman and several other stockholders along with wvec radio 1490 am now wxtg ; and 101.3 fm now wwde fm . the station switched affiliations to abc in 1959 when wavy tv channel 10 took the nbc affiliation two years after signing on . during the late 1950s wvec tv was also briefly affiliated with the nta film network . 2 in those days uhf stations were not as successful as vhf stations and the federal communications commission fcc did not yet make requirements for television sets to have uhf tuners . so on november 13 1959 3 wvec tv moved to its current location on vhf channel 13 . two years later the channel 15 position would be occupied by current pbs affiliate whro tv . in 1980 chisman sold the station to corinthian broadcasting 4 a unit of dun & bradstreet . at the time of the sale it was the last locally owned and operated big three station in hampton roads . four years later dun sold corinthian to belo which owned the dallas morning news and wfaa tv in its home city . in 1997 wvec along with the virginian pilot and cox communications launched lnc4 later lnc5 a 24 hour local cable news television channel featuring repeats of wvec newscasts and a live 10 00 pm newscast . it was carried by cox communications on channel 5 within hampton roads . pilot 13 news at 10 ceased production on january 30 2009 however the partnership with the virginian pilot is expected to continue on a lesser level . lnc5 was closed on december 31 2010 . on january 12 2008 wvec started producing local newscasts in digital widescreen 16x9 . though not truly high definition the digital widescreen broadcasts were rescanned and up converted from standard definition to 1080i before transmission to match the ratio of hd television screens . 5 it remained the only major station in the hampton roads market to continue to air its newscasts in enhanced definition widescreen rather than true high definition until it upgraded to full hd in 2013 . on june 13 2013 the gannett company announced that it would acquire belo . 6 the sale was completed on december 23 . 7 later on in august 2014 gannett announced it would split its broadcast and digital holdings into a new company tegna ; the split became official on june 29 2015 . wvec was retained by the latter company . digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital channel is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 8 13.1 1080i 16 9 wvec hd main wvec programming abc 13.2 480i wvec jn justice network 13.3 4 3 me tv metv 9 on november 8 2010 wvec added abc s live well network on channel 13.2 . on january 23 2013 wvec added metv to a new subchannel 13.3 . on january 20 2015 wvec removed live well network and replaced it with the new justice network . analog to digital conversion edit wvec discontinued regular programming on its analog signal over vhf channel 13 on june 12 2009 as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television . 10 the station s digital signal relocated from its pre transition uhf channel 41 to vhf channel 13 . eastern shore translators edit there is one low powered translator of wvec that is located in the eastern shore of virginia and is municipally owned by accomack county rather than gannett . 11 wvec and tegna media does not own and operate any translators in the greater hampton roads area . w18eg d channel 18.2 onancock branding and image edit spirit of hampton roads edit the spirit of hampton roads 1987 in the late 1980s wvec tv introduced its most well known promotional campaign the spirit of hampton roads a campaign which has been customized and used by several other belo corporation stations most notably the originator wfaa tv s spirit of texas campaign . the campaign was revamped in september 1992 with a new logo and song composed by nashville based 615 music . wvec originally dropped it in 1996 and replaced it with another slogan working for you . the spirit of hampton roads would finally return in 2003 on new year s eve . wvec phased out the spirit image for the second time in 2008 . news staff edit in 1978 upon the resignation of news anchor tony burden wvec tv hired abc news correspondent jim kincaid as its main news anchor . 12 kincaid s signature became his jim s notes short commentaries which ended the station s nightly newscasts . compilations of these essays were published in several books authored by kincaid including notes from elam referring to the small town in prince edward county virginia where his farm was located . during the vietnam war kincaid was a war correspondent for abc . he returned to vietnam in 1994 and reported from the same locations he had covered in the 1960s producing an award winning documentary and series of news stories . kincaid retired from channel 13 in 1997 ; he died in july 2011 . 13 another well known news anchor for wvec tv was terry zahn who was hired from wavy tv in 1994 . 14 zahn was very active with the american cancer society and helped establish the relay for life in the area . he produced two videos about relay for life which were distributed nationally and served as chairman of the local relay which at the time was the largest in the u.s. zahn was diagnosed with bone cancer in 1997 but remained with channel 13 until his death in january 2000 . 14 each year the american cancer society presents the terry zahn award to a supporter of the relay for life . he was inducted into the national relay hall of fame in 1999 . hampton roads tv news veteran barbara ciara began her career in the market at wvec tv before joining wavy tv in 1983 . ciara rejoined channel 13 in 1989 and anchored evening newscasts for the station until defecting to rival cbs affiliate wtkr channel 3 in 2000 . on march 7 2003 former investigative reporter craig civale and former general assignment reporter michelle louie were engaged during a live segment of joe s job on 13news daybreak . michelle was filling in for fellow reporter joe flanagan where she was to visit a jewelry shop . during a live shot out pops craig civale with ring in hand where he proposes to michelle . they both at the time had been dating for 5 years . they were married in september 2004 . 15 in 2008 wvec began broadcasing their newscast in digital widescreen but because it was not completely high definition this lead rival wavy tv wvbt and wtkr to broadcast their news in high definition as oppose to wvec s digital widescreen . it wouldn t be until august 17 2013 when wvec began broadcasting their news in high definition starting with the 6pm newscast . wvec began using gannett s graphics and this is home package on july 24 2014 . ironically the conversion happened during storms and debuted in storm mode . 16 notable former on air staff edit sharyn alfonsi reporter from 1995 97 ; currently with cbs news and 60 minutes sports barbara ciara worked there for two stints first in the early 1980s until leaving for wavy in 1983 ; returned in january 1989 17 and stayed until 2000 now at wtkr . 18 was president of the national association of black journalists from 2007 2009 . elected interim president of unity journalists of color in 2009 . 19 simeon coxe reporter specializing in off beat stories in the 1970s and 1980s . lead singer for the 1960s and 1990s silver apples . jim kincaid hired from abc news in 1978 served as anchor from 1978 96 20 retired in 1997 . deceased john miller news anchor and news director in the 1970s and 1980s morning and noon anchor in the 1990s . elected virginia state senator in november 2007 21 until his death in april 2016 22 hank plante emmy & peabody award winning broadcaster now retired in palm springs california robyne robinson former military affairs reporter . later with kmsp tv in minneapolis until 2010 . retired from broadcasting to become democratic farmer labor party lieutenant gubernatorial candidate in the 2010 minnesota dfl gubernatorial primary . stan verrett now an anchor at espn and espnews also worked for rival wavy . terry zahn hired from wavy in 1994 served as anchor until death from bone cancer in january 2000 . programs produced by wvec edit dialogue 30 minute public affairs program hosted by wvec news anchor lasalle blanks . airs sunday at 12 00 pm . see also edit lnc 5 a defunct local news channel . references edit history of wvec wvec.com news for hampton roads virginia require prime evening time for nta films boxoffice 13 november 10 1956 archived from the original on june 14 2009 history of wvec wvec.com news for hampton roads virginia history of wvec wvec.com news for hampton roads virginia 13news takes a wider look at life top stories wvec.com news for hampton roads virginia gannett agrees to buy wvec owner for 1.5 b . the virginian pilot . associated press . june 13 2013 . retrieved june 13 2013 . gannett completes its acquisition of belo tvnewscheck retrieved 23 december 2013 rabbitears tv query for wvec http metvnetwork.com wherewatch.php marketid 245 list of digital full power stations permanent dead link http www.rabbitears.info market.php request station search & callsign w18eg d station history of wvec wvec.com news for hampton roads virginia http hamptonroads.com 2011 07 beloved former wvectv anchor remembered a b history of wvec wvec.com news for hampton roads virginia vartv.com news archives march & april 2003 https www.youtube.com watch v wrooe cg3p0 http articles.dailypress.com 1989 12 30 news 8912280055 1 adult contemporary station fm format wtkr newschannel