WNNV-FTV

WNNV

Hampton Roads, Virgina United States
City of license	Newport News, Virginia
Branding	WNNV 10(general) 10 News (newscasts)
Slogan	On Your Side
Channels	Digital: 10 (VHF/PSIP)
Subchannels	10.1 Fox 10.2 HRNCD 43
Affiliations	Fox
Owner	NoSirGifts Fantasy Television Stations (New Avon Communications of Virginia)
First air date	July 1, 1947 (1947-07-01)
Call letters' meaning	We're in Newport News Virginia
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 10 (VHF, 1947–2009) Digital: 50 (UHF, 1998-2009)
Former affiliations	Primary: NBC (1947–1953) ABC (1953–1961) CBS (1961–1996) Secondary: DuMont (1949–1953) ABC (1953-1961)
Transmitter power	60 kW
Height	373 m

WNNV, VHF digital channel 10, is a Fox-affiliated fantasy television station located in Newport News, Virginia, United States, serving as 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. WNNV is owned by NoSirGifts Fantasy Television Stations, and is part of a duopoly with independent station WZVA (channel 43, known as "HRNCD 43"). WNNV maintains studio and transmitter facilities located atop Hog Island, just off Seaside Road, in Marionville (located to the immediate south of the studios of NBC affiliate WVNB, channel 13).

History

As an exclusive CBS affiliate

On March 1, 1961, WNNV-FTV signed an agreement with CBS to become a full-time affiliate of the network. This was very common for a market with only two commercial stations; usually, one or both stations carried ABC as a secondary affiliation, since that network would not be on anything resembling an equal footing with CBS and NBC until the 1970s. This also marked a significant turnaround for channel 10's relationship with the network, as during the later 1950s, the amount of CBS programming on WNNV had been dramatically reduced from about 50% of its schedule to only a very limited selection of shows, seemingly headed toward an exclusive ABC affiliation by 1960; even still, WNNV retained some of ABC's higher-rated soap operas on its daytime schedule until about 1968, when those programs moved to either channel 13 or channel 2.

CBS had very many full-time affiliates south of Washington, D.C. at the time, but now it had the full benefit of one of the South's strongest signals, best antenna locations and largest coverage areas. WNNV-TV's signal provided at least secondary coverage as far north as Sailsbury, Marlyland and extending south to near Greenville, and from near Richmond in the west to the Atlantic Ocean in the east. The station became exclusively affiliated with CBS on September 7, 1961; on that date, channel 13 (by then known as ) assumed rights to ABC and NBC programming, although WNNV continued to occasionally carry certain ABC shows that channel 13 chose not to carry through 1965.

Like many network affiliates, WNNV-TV would preempt CBS programming occasionally or regularly, in some cases. For example, according to local legends, the station initially turned down All in the Family, not because it was concerned about _______, but because it concerned a mixed marriage (between a witch and a mortal); there were fears that All in the Family would encourage what some segregationists referred to as "cross-breeding"; channel 10 would not clear All in the Family until 1973 (although, according to the March 25, 1973 issue of ??, All in the Family was shown airing at its in-pattern time of Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. (Eastern) on WNNV). Channel 10 continued these practices for most of its years with CBS. It also pre-empted the CBS Morning News (the forerunner to CBS This Morning) from the program's debut in 1982 until January 7, 1982, as well as daytime network programs at aired during the 10:00 a.m. hour. However, CBS largely brushed off the pre-emption issue, since WNNV's status as Hampton Roads' dominant station.

In 1982, WNNV began receiving CBS network and syndicated programming, and news footage via satellite. In 1984, the station became one of the first television stations in the region to adopt a 24-hour-a-day programming schedule. After it suffered significant structural damage due to an ice storm that affected the Southeastern U.S. in the winter of 1985, the station's original transmitter tower was replaced in 1986, with a new tower on Hog Island. These moves, though, did not immediately affect WNNV's high standing in the ratings or its reputation in the community.