Branding "My Ohio Valley" Call letters' meaning see WTRF | Founded 2007 | |
Channels Digital: WTRF-DT 7.2 (VHF) Affiliations MyNetworkTV (secondary from 2007–2014) Owner Nexstar Media Group
(Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.) | ||
WTRF-DT2 is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia and the Allegheny Plateau of Eastern Ohio, branded as My Ohio Valley. It is a second digital subchannel of CBS affiliate WTRF-TV which is owned by Nexstar Media Group. Over-the-air, the station broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on VHF channel 7.2 from a transmitter in Bridgeport, Ohio. On cable, WTRF-DT2 is carried on Comcast channel 12. WTRF-DT2's parent station has studios on 16th Street in Downtown Wheeling. Syndicated programming on the subchannel includes Everybody Loves Raymond, Two and a Half Men, Family Guy, and Maury.
Contents
History
WTRF-DT2 signed-on in 2007 as a Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV affiliate. Previously, WPGH-TV out of nearby Pittsburgh served the market as the de facto affiliate. However, it is still widely available over-the-air and on cable in the area. The following year, the subchannel was joined by WTRF-DT3 as an ABC affiliate, thus providing the tiny Wheeling/Steubenville market with affiliates of all four major networks.
WTRF-DT2 lost the Fox affiliation to a subchannel of NBC affiliate WTOV-TV on September 1, 2014; in a statement, Fox said that it switched stations because WTOV has a stronger over-the-air signal than WTRF. WTRF-DT2's secondary affiliation with MyNetworkTV then became its primary affiliation. "My Ohio Valley" is broadcast in 480i 4:3 standard-definition via WTRF-DT2 but is simulcast in 720p 16:9 high definition over WVTX-CD1 in Bridgeport, Ohio.
Newscasts
WTRF-DT2 airs an hour-long newscast at 10 p.m. that competes with a similar newscast seen on WTOV-DT2. During its time as a Fox affiliate, WTRF-DT2's newscast was known as Fox Ohio Valley News; when WTRF-DT2 lost the Fox affiliation to WTOV-DT2, the newscasts were rebranded to 7 News at 10. WTRF-DT2 also rebroadcasts the second hour of its parent station's morning newscast at 7 a.m.