verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . june 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message wric tv petersburg richmond virginia united states city petersburg virginia branding wric tv 8 general 8 news newscasts slogan news where you live channels digital 22 uhf virtual 8 psip subchannels 8.1 abc 8.2 ion tv 8.3 gettv affiliations abc owner media general sale to nexstar broadcasting group pending young broadcasting of richmond inc. first air date august 15 1955 ; 61 years ago 1955 08 15 call letters meaning w richmond former callsigns wxex tv 1955 1990 former channel number s analog 8 vhf 1955 2009 former affiliations nbc 1955 1965 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 37.51250 ; 77.60139 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website wric.com wric tv channel 8 is an abc affiliated television station located in richmond virginia usa . it is owned by richmond based media general as one of two flagship stations . 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 . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 4 notable former on air staff 5 references 6 external links history edit 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 . the station s owner young broadcasting went into chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009 . the station was part of a bankruptcy auction scheduled for july 14 2009 but cancelled at the last minute . 1 on july 22 a bankruptcy judge approved a plan in which young s secured lenders would take over the company . on september 28 2011 wric tv became the third commercial station behind wwbt and wtvr in richmond to broadcast local news in high definition . on november 1 2011 wric tv ceased to carry the country network on the station s 8.2 sub channel after young terminated their deal with tcn and dropped the channel on all of its stations that carried it . after young made a deal to carry abc s live well network it launched on june 1 2012 on wric s 8.2 virtual sub channel . on june 6 2013 young broadcasting announced that it would merge with richmond based media general . upon consummation the merger made wric tv one of two flagships of media general wfla tv in tampa serves as the home base of media general s broadcast division . it was the first legal opportunity for media general in years to own a station in its hometown . its predecessor richmond newspapers lost out in the bidding for wwbt s forerunner wrva tv in 1956 due to the fcc s preference for a non newspaper owner . media general merged with wtvr s then parent company park communications but had to immediately put wtvr on the market due to cross ownership restrictions involving the flagship richmond times dispatch which was sold with media general s newspaper business in 2012 to bh media . the merger would also make wric a sister station to roanoke s nbc affiliate wsls tv . 2 the merger was approved by the fcc on november 8 after media general shareholders approved the merger a day earlier ; 3 it was completed on november 12 . 4 on january 27 2016 it was announced that the nexstar broadcasting group would buy media general for 4.6 billion . wric will become part of nexstar media group . 5 on may 30 2015 at 4 00am wric tv along with all other former young broadcasting stations who were carrying it ceased to carry live well network on the station s 8.2 sub channel . on november 1 2015 wric tv began carrying ion tv on its 8.2 sub channel . on february 3 2016 wric tv began carrying gettv on its 8.3 sub channel . digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital channel is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 6 8.1 720p 16 9 wric tv main wric tv programming abc 8.2 480i 4 3 ion ion television 8.3 gettv gettv analog to digital conversion edit wric tv shut down its analog signal over vhf channel 8 on june 12 2009 the official date in which full power television stations in the united states transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate . the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition uhf channel 22 . 7 through the use of psip digital television receivers continues to display the station s virtual channel as its former vhf analog channel 8.1 . as part of the safer act 8 wric tv kept its analog signal on the air until june 26 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the national association of broadcasters . programming edit syndicated programming on wric includes wheel of fortune jeopardy dr. phil who wants to be a millionaire and the dr. oz show among others . notable former on air staff edit ed hughes anchor and news director during the mid 1960s ; later anchor at wtkr in norfolk va from 1967 until his death in 2004 9 matt lauer host of pm magazine 1980s ; now with nbc news and host of today mara macdonald reporter wilma smith news anchor and wilma smith show host 1970s ; later at wews tv then at wjw in cleveland ; retired from broadcasting on march 2013 10 gretchen carlson began her career as a political reporter with wric former fox news channel anchor references edit a vulture s eye view of young media general young broadcasting to merge tvnewscheck june 6 2013 . fcc approves media general young merger broadcasting & cable retrieved 8 november 2013 media general young now officially one . tvnewscheck . november 12 2013 . retrieved november 12 2013 . http www.mediageneral.com press 2016 jan27 2016nexs.html rabbitears tv query for wric dtv tentative channel designations for the first and the second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . updated list of participants in the analog nightlight program pdf . federal communications commission . june 12 2009 . retrieved june 4 2012 . http www.americanradiohistory.com archive bc bc 1966 1966 12 26 bc.pdf http www.cleveland.com tv blog index.ssf 2013 03 wilma smith announces she is retiring ending her 35 year cleveland broadcast career.html external links edit official website query the fcc s tv station database for wric tv query tv fool s coverage map for wric biafn s media web database information on wric tv v t e broadcast television in central virginia including richmond and petersburg reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television local stations wtvr 6.1 cbs 6.2 antenna tv 6.3 cbs6 xtra wric 8.1 abc 8.2 ion 8.3 gettv wwbt 12.1 nbc 12.2 metv 12.3 escape wrlh tv 35.1 fox 35.2 mntv this tv 35.3 comet wwbk lp 39.1 laff wupv 65.1 the cw 65.2 bounce tv 65.3 grittv public television stations wcve 23.1 pbs 23.2 create 23.3 mhz worldview wcvw 57.1 pbs spanish language stations wztd ld 45.1 tel religious stations wxob lp 17 religious ind. wrid ld 48.1 daystar cable channels the comcast network comcast sportsnet mid atlantic masn defunct stations wflv lp 15 unknown w18cq unknown weri lp 39 unknown wsvl lp 48 unknown wfma lp 52 unknown w59dq unknown wvrn 63 ind virginia broadcast television areas by city bristol bluefield charlottesville harrisonburg norfolk richmond roanoke washington dc v t e abc network affiliates in the commonwealth of virginia whsv 3 harrisonburg tv3 winchester 3 whsv dt3 winchester harrisonburg wric 8 petersburg wset 13 lynchburg wvec 13 hampton wvaw ld 16 charlottesville see also abc cbs cw fox ion mynetworktv nbc pbs other stations in virginia v t e ion network affiliates in the commonwealth of virginia wric tv 8.2 petersburg wpxr tv 38 roanoke wpxv tv 49 norfolk wpxw tv 66 manassas see also abc cbs cw fox ion mynetworktv nbc pbs other stations in virginia v t e media general inc. corporate directors j. stewart bryan iii cob marshall n. morton o. reid ashe jr. john a. schauss diana f. cantor charles a. davis thompson l. rankin rodney a. smolla walter e. williams coleman wortham iii h. graham woodlief jr. james a. zimmerman kirk read stephen y. dickinson george l. mahoney lou anne j. nabhan john a. schauss james f. woodward abc network affiliates ktka tv 1 wate tv wbay tv 2 whtm tv wjbf wjhl dt2 wlaj 1 wkrn tv wotv wric tv wten wcdc tv wtnh wytv 1 cbs network affiliates kelo tv kclo tv kdlo tv kplo tv kimt 2 klfy tv koin krqe kbim tv krez tv wane tv wbtw whlt wiat wivb tv wjhl tv wjtv wkbn tv wkrg tv wlfi tv 2 wlns tv wncn wnct tv wpri tv wrbl wspa tv wthi tv 2 cw network affiliates khon tv knva 1 ktka tv 1 kwbq krwb tv 1 kxtu ld wbdt 1 wcbd dt2 wfna whlt wish tv wjtv wlaj dt2 1 wnct dt2 wnlo wwlp dt2 wfxq cd wycw fox network affiliates kasa tv khon tv khaw tv kaii tv ktmj cd kxrm tv wnac tv 1 wthi dt2 wvbt wxxa tv 1 wyfx ld mynetworktv affiliates kasy tv 1 kbvo kelo tv kdlo tv kplo tv kimt kron tv wbtw wctx wnac dt2 1 wndy tv wsav dt2 wthi dt2 2 wtta wxsp cd wytv dt2 1 nbc network affiliates ksnt ksnw ksnc ksng ksnk ksnl ld kwqc tv 2 kxan tv wavy tv wcbd tv wcmh tv wdtn wfla tv wood tv wsav tv wsls tv 2 wwlp wfxq cd acquisitions lin media new vision television park communications spartan communications young broadcasting other assets professional communications systems lin digital sale of company pending to nexstar broadcasting group . 1 media general operates this station through an ssa . 2 station in the process of being resold to another company due to nexstar ownership conflicts . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title