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WRLH-TV

For the former television station in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, see WRLH (New Hampshire).

WRLH-TV (channel 35), branded on-air as Fox Richmond, is a television station in Richmond, Virginia, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, it has studios on Westmoreland Street in the North Side area of Richmond, and its transmitter is located at Bon Air near the studios of PBS member stations WCVE-TV and WCVW.

WRLH-TV
Channels
BrandingFox Richmond; MyTV Richmond (DT2)
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
FoundedOctober 20, 1980 (1980-10-20)
First air date
February 20, 1982
(42 years ago) (1982-02-20)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 35 (UHF, 1982–2009)
  • Digital: 26 (UHF, 2004–2019)
Call sign meaning
Richmond, Loving and Hudson[1]
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID412
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT327.7 m (1,075.1 ft)
Transmitter coordinates37°30′45.6″N 77°36′4.8″W / 37.512667°N 77.601333°W / 37.512667; -77.601333
Links
Public license information
Website

WRLH-TV was the third station owned by the TVX Broadcast Group when it went on the air in 1982. It was the first independent station in the Richmond market; TVX sold it in 1985, marking the first of five changes of ownership in four years. During that time, the station became Richmond's Fox affiliate when the network launched in 1986. In 1988, Act III Broadcasting acquired WRLH-TV and simultaneously purchased the programming inventory of its only competitor, WVRN-TV, which then shut down for good. Sinclair has owned WRLH-TV since 1998. NBC affiliate WWBT produces 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. newscasts for air on WRLH-TV.

History

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Early history

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At the start of 1978, two groups applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to build a television station on channel 35. One was Neighborhood Communications Corporation, a subsidiary of Richmond movie theater operator Neighborhood Theaters, and the other was Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) of Portsmouth. Whichever group won out would get to build channel 35 on a new tower being built by WCVE–WCVW.[3] Both proposed to build something lacking in Richmond at that time—an independent station.[4]

CBN amended its application to specify channel 63 in early 1980, which cleared the way for the FCC to award channel 35 to Neighborhood Communications in May 1980.[5] Months later, after Neighborhood decided to concentrate on the movie theater business, the company assigned the permit to Television Corporation of Richmond (the parent of which was the Television Corporation Stations or TVX). Among the owners were former Richmonder Gene Loving; longtime Richmond radio man Harvey Hudson (also an executive with Neighborhood); and Tim McDonald, president and general manager of WTVZ in Norfolk.[6] (Another notable owner of TVX was Dick Davis.[7]) The call letters were changed from WRHP-TV to WRLH-TV (Richmond, Loving and Hudson), and construction got underway in mid-1981.[8]

After a series of delays owing to bad weather,[1][9] WRLH-TV began broadcasting on February 20, 1982.[10] This made it the third TVX station, after WTVZ and WJTM-TV in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Like most independents, it initially offered a format consisting of cartoons, sitcoms, movies, sports, and some religious programs.[11] It was the most successful of TVX's first three stations. Unlike in Norfolk, where Christian Broadcasting Network owned WYAH-TV, WRLH-TV was the only independent in Richmond. A year after starting up, it already accounted for eight percent of the total TV audience in Richmond.[12] Meanwhile, CBN's channel 63 station permit was sold to National Capital Christian Broadcasting in 1982,[13] and the station began broadcasting as WTLL in November 1984, though it devoted half of its broadcast day to religious programs.[14][15]

Three sales in three years

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In January 1985, TVX agreed to sell WRLH-TV to the A. S. Abell Company of Baltimore (publisher of that city's Sun) in 1985 for $14.4 million, making it TVX's first ever divestiture.[16] The sale allowed TVX to clear all of its bank debts.[17] Abell sent along some equipment from its only other television station, Baltimore's WMAR-TV, and aimed to improve channel 35's on-air look.[18]

Abell soon exited the broadcasting and publishing businesses. In 1986, the Times Mirror Company agreed to acquire the Sun, WMAR-TV, and WRLH-TV for $600 million.[19] Times Mirror could not keep both the Sun and the Baltimore television station, a grandfathered combination no longer permissible under newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rules. In selling WMAR-TV, it also sold WRLH-TV to the Gillett Group of Nashville, Tennessee.[20]

Two key developments also marked 1986 for channel 35. The first occurred with channel 63 being sold by National Capital Christian Broadcasting to Sudbrink Broadcasting, which relaunched it as a full-time secular station, WVRN-TV.[21][22] WRLH-TV also affiliated with the then-new Fox network in October.[23]

In 1987, Gillett conducted a buyout of Storer Communications. It now had 14 stations, more than the limit of 12 then in place. Five of the smaller Gillett stations, including WRLH-TV, were spun off to a new company, Busse Broadcasting Corporation, which was run by and named for the former general manager of WEAU-TV in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, one of the stations included in the transaction.[24] Busse Broadcasting was originally announced to be owned by Lawrence A. Busse and a trust set up for George N. Gillett Jr.'s children; the FCC rejected complaints from members of Congress after Gillett himself bought non-voting stock in the company.[25] By February 1988, WVRN-TV had four percent of total viewership in the market, while WRLH-TV had five percent.[26]

Act III ownership and consolidation with WVRN-TV

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Act III Broadcasting, an Atlanta-based company and subsidiary of Norman Lear–owned Act III Communications, acquired WRLH-TV from Busse Broadcasting in 1988—its fifth sale in four years. Unlike Busse, Act III specialized in the ownership of independent stations.[27] Close on the sale of WRLH-TV to Act III being announced, rumors began to circulate that the company was talking with Sudbrink Broadcasting about buying out the programming of WVRN-TV.[28] The rumors were categorically denied by WVRN-TV's general manager, who pointed out that while there had been discussions, the station had just bought new programs for the fall 1988 television season.[29]

On September 15, 1988, Act III completed its purchase of WRLH-TV. That afternoon, it also closed on a purchase of WVRN-TV's programming, some of its cameras and other equipment, and channel 63 left the air for good at 2 p.m. Act III president Bert Ellis credited WVRN-TV with making better programming decisions than WRLH-TV, despite the latter generating more revenue and ratings. Its programs were combined into WRLH-TV's lineup, and its license was surrendered to the FCC.[30][31] Under Act III, WRLH continued to show ratings growth, bolstered by an expanding and more popular program offering from the Fox network.[32] It also served as the secondary affiliate of UPN in Richmond from 1995 to 1997, when then-WB affiliate WAWB changed to UPN as WUPV.[33][34]

Sullivan and Sinclair ownership

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In October 1995, Sullivan Broadcasting was formed by ABRY Partners and former Clear Channel Television president Dan Sullivan to run the Act III stations, which ABRY had purchased earlier that year for $500 million.[35] Three years later, Sinclair Broadcast Group acquired Sullivan Broadcasting, including WRLH-TV.[36][37]

WRLH-TV started a subchannel, "MyTV Richmond", in 2006 to serve as Richmond's MyNetworkTV affiliate.[38]

Sinclair twice attempted to acquire WTVR-TV (channel 6), Richmond's CBS affiliate, which would have required a divestiture of WRLH-TV. The first time was in 2008, when Raycom Media put it up for sale in order to acquire Lincoln Financial Media and NBC affiliate WWBT; Sinclair would have sold WRLH-TV to Carma Broadcasting while continuing to provide it sales and non-programming services. However, the United States Department of Justice, as part of a consent decree in the Lincoln Financial Media transaction, denied Raycom permission to sell WTVR to Sinclair and ordered it to find another buyer.[39] Sinclair's second attempt to acquire WTVR-TV came as part of its $3.9 billion to purchase Tribune Media in 2017.[40] Sinclair intended to keep WTVR-TV and designated WRLH-TV and eight other stations to be sold to Standard Media Group.[41] However, the transaction was designated in July 2018 for hearing by an FCC administrative law judge, and Tribune moved to terminate the deal in August 2018.[42]

Newscasts

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Further information: WWBT § News operation

On September 19, 1994, NBC affiliate WWBT (then owned by the Jefferson-Pilot Corporation) began producing a nightly prime time newscast for WRLH-TV, the Fox 35 News at 10, from its Richmond studios. This was the first locally produced 10 p.m. newscast in Richmond.[43][44] It was the second partnership between Jefferson-Pilot and Act III, as Act III's Fox affiliate in Charleston, South Carolina, already aired a newscast from the Jefferson-Pilot station there.[45] On January 8, 2001, the weeknight broadcast was expanded to an hour.[46] The newscast briefly had competition from WUPV, which aired a 10 p.m. newscast produced by WTVR-TV between 2007 and 2008.[47]

On January 16, 2012, WRLH launched an hour-long extension of WWBT's weekday morning news from 7 to 8 a.m., Fox Richmond Morning News, airing opposite national morning shows.[48]

Technical information

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Two large towers, one (right) of which is a candelabra with a goalpost-esque appearance 
WRLH is broadcast from the tower at left at the VPM facilities in Richmond.[49]

Subchannels

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The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WRLH-TV[50]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
35.1 720p 16:9 FOX Main WRLH-TV programming / Fox
35.2 480i MyTV MyNetworkTV/TBD
35.3 Comet Comet
35.4 Charge! Charge!
35.5 Dabl Dabl
65.3 480i 16:9 Grit Grit (WUPV-DT3)
  Broadcast on behalf of another station

On April 11, 2022, WRLH-TV began hosting WUPV's 65.3 subchannel, as a result of WUPV converting to ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV); in turn, WUPV simulcasts WRLH-TV in the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard.[51]

Analog-to-digital conversion

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WRLH-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 35, on February 17, 2009, the original target date on which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). This made it the only station in the market to switch early.[52] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 26, using virtual channel 35.[53] WRLH relocated its signal from channel 26 to channel 24 on September 6, 2019, as a result of the 2016 United States wireless spectrum auction.[54][55]

References

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  1. ^ a b Durden, Douglas (February 7, 1982). "Channel 35 due Feb. 13". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. pp. K-1, K-4. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WRLH-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^ "Channel 35 Use Is Asked By 2 Groups". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. February 8, 1978. p. B-9. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Durden, Douglas (March 9, 1978). "Viewing TV". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. p. B-9. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Durden, Douglas (May 16, 1980). "Local Firm Gets Permit For Independent Station". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. p. A-1. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "New TV Station Possible Here Next Year". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. September 24, 1980. p. C-7. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Eisman, Dale (July 10, 1982). "Davises' net worth roe by 40% to approximately $2.5 million". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. B-1, B-2. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Durden, Douglas (June 14, 1981). "Independent TV Seen in Picture Here This Fall". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. p. J-1, J-9. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Durden, Douglas (February 19, 1982). "WRLH hopes for sun". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. p. C-7. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "WRLH-TV starts broadcasting". Richmond Times-Dispatch. February 21, 1982. p. 8. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Durden, Douglas (January 1, 1982). "New station planned to be on air Feb. 1". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. p. C-9. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Riding herd on TV's final frontier". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. March 6, 1983. pp. J-1, J-3. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Richmond may get Christian station". Richmond Times-Dispatch. May 13, 1982. p. E-7. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Durden, Douglas (February 24, 1984). "WTLL to make its debut April 22 as city's 2nd independent station". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. C-5. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "New station had start in the '70s". Richmond Times-Dispatch. November 24, 1984. p. B-6. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "In Brief" (PDF). Broadcasting. February 4, 1985. ProQuest 1014718433. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 18, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  17. ^ Durden, Douglas (January 31, 1985). "WRLH-TV to be sold to Baltimore firm". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. p. C-12. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Durden, Douglas (October 4, 1985). "WRLH hopes to improve look". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. p. C-12. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Sun papers being sold; so is WRLH". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. May 29, 1986. p. B-6. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Company to sell WRLH, 2nd station". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. Associated Press. July 9, 1986. p. C-4. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Durden, Douglas (January 15, 1986). "WTLL being sold; Channel 65 planned". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. p. C-5. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Durden, Douglas (April 20, 1986). "Sitcom reruns to dominate new station's prime time". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. J-6. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Durden, Douglas (August 1, 1986). "'Off Center': Beyond MTV". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. C-8. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ Stetzer, Rod (June 26, 1987). "WEAU-TV being sold to Busse Broadcasting Corp". Leader-Telegram. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. p. 12A. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ Howard, Janet (November 5, 1987). "FCC rejects congressional complaint about transfer of Gillett TV stations". The Lincoln Star. Lincoln, Nebraska. Medill News Service. pp. 1, 12. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ Durden, Douglas (March 17, 1988). "Winter Olympics helps WXEX". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. B-15. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ Durden, Douglas (July 19, 1988). "Channel 35 being sold once again". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. p. B-7. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "Closed Circuit" (PDF). Broadcasting. July 25, 1988. p. 8. ProQuest 1016918562. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
  29. ^ "Rumors persist that 2 stations here will merge". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. August 19, 1988. p. E-10. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ Durden, Douglas (September 16, 1988). "Demise of WVRN strengthens programming lineup of WRLH". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. pp. C-1, C-5. Archived from the original on January 6, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ Phillips, Katherine (September 16, 1988). "Act III pulls plug on Channel 63 as part of deal". Richmond News Leader. p. 19.
  32. ^ Durden, Douglas (April 12, 1992). "No longer the 'new kid,' Channel 35 focuses on future". Richmond Times-Dispatch. pp. K-1, K-5. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ Durden, Douglas (January 7, 1995). "New networks and old mistakes bringing fresh shows to the tube". Richmond Times-Dispatch. pp. F4, F32. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ Durden, Douglas (August 23, 1997). "'Moesha,' 'Star Trek: Voyager' to have a new home—Channel 65". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. F4. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ Flint, Joe (October 2, 1995). "ABRY choice is clear; Sullivan to top Act III". Variety. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  36. ^ Ribbing, Mark (February 24, 1998). "Sinclair to purchase Sullivan: Deal could be worth $1 billion, gives firm 14 new TV stations; Most are Fox affiliates; Company continues to gain outlets in mid-size markets". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on November 27, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  37. ^ Morgan, Richard (February 25, 1998). "Sinclair closes Sullivan buyout". Variety. Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
  38. ^ Durden, Douglas (July 14, 2006). "WRLH taps into new network idea". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. D2. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  39. ^ Ruggieri, Melissa; Reid Blackwell, John (August 29, 2008). "U.S. seeks sale of WTVR: Antitrust suit says Raycom has 30 days to divest CBS affiliate". Richmond Times-Dispatch. pp. B9, B11. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  40. ^ Battaglio, Stephen (May 8, 2017). "Sinclair Broadcast Group to buy Tribune Media for $3.9 billion plus debt". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  41. ^ Harry A. Jessell (April 24, 2018). "Sinclair Spins Off 23 TVs To Grease Trib Deal". TVNewsCheck. Archived from the original on April 25, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  42. ^ Flint, Joe (August 9, 2018). "Tribune Terminates $3.9 Billion Sinclair Merger, Sues Broadcast Rival". The Wall Street Journal. News Corp. Archived from the original on April 5, 2019. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  43. ^ Durden, Douglas (September 20, 1994). "New news show isn't too new; it's recycled". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. D3. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  44. ^ Phillips, Katherine (September 20, 1994). "It's 10 o'clock...do you know where your anchors are?". Richmond Times-Dispatch. pp. D1, D3. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  45. ^ Phillips, Katherine (May 24, 1994). "Ch. 35 will add 10 p.m. newscast". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. D1. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  46. ^ Durden, Douglas (November 18, 2000). "Two local TV stations make changes: WRLH to expand its 10 p.m. news". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. B5. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  47. ^ Ruggieri, Melissa (November 11, 2008). "'CW News @ 10' a thing of the past". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. B-10.
  48. ^ FOX Richmond [@FoxRichmond] (January 5, 2012). "FOX Richmond Morning News is coming January 16th @ 7am. Get LOCAL news, weather and traffic coverage while the..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  49. ^ Fybush, Scott (January 21, 2022). "Site of the Week 1/21/2022: VPM, Richmond VA". Fybush.com. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  50. ^ "Digital TV Market Listing for WRLH-TV". RabbitEars. Archived from the original on December 16, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
  51. ^ "Modification of a License for DTV Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. Archived from the original on April 11, 2022. Retrieved April 11, 2022.
  52. ^ "List of TV stations ending analog broadcasts". NBC News. Associated Press. February 17, 2009. Archived from the original on January 6, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  53. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. May 23, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
  54. ^ "FCC TV Spectrum Phase Assignment Table" (CSV). Federal Communications Commission. April 13, 2017. Archived from the original on April 17, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  55. ^ Reid Blackwell, John (March 2, 2020). "Area TV viewers with antennas must rescan sets by March 13". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. p. D2. Retrieved March 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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