WAHU-CD

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WAHU-CD
200px
100px
Charlottesville, Virginia
United States
Branding WAHU Fox 27 (general)
WAHU Fox 27 News (newscasts)
My C'Ville TV (on DT2)
Slogan Where Charlottesville
News Comes First
Channels Digital: 40 (UHF) &
WCAV-DT 19.3 (UHF)
Virtual: 27 (PSIP)
Subchannels 27.1 Fox
27.2 MyNetworkTV/Me-TV
Affiliations Fox (2005-present)
Owner Gray Television
(Gray Television Licensee, LLC)
First air date 1998 (1998)
Call letters' meaning pronounced "wahoo" (unofficial nickname for UVA Cavaliers)
Sister station(s) WCAV, WVAW, WHSV-TV, WSVF-CD
Former callsigns WADA-LP (1998-2005)
WAHU-CA (2005-2009)
WAHU-LD (2009-2011)
Former channel number(s) Analog:
55 (UHF, 1998-2005)
27 (UHF, 2005-2009)
Former affiliations Pax (1998-2005)
Transmitter power 15 kW
155 kW (WCAV-DT3)
Height 417 m
324 m (WCAV-DT3)
Facility ID 47705
363 (WCAV-DT3)
Transmitter coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS
Website newsplex.com

WAHU-CD is the low-powered Fox-affiliated television station for Charlottesville, Virginia. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 40 from a transmitter on Carters Mountain. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 9 and in high definition on digital channel 213. Owned by Gray Television, WAHU is sister to CBS affiliate WCAV and low-powered ABC affiliate WVAW-LD. All three share studios, known as the "Charlottesville Newsplex", on 2nd Street Southeast in Downtown Charlottesville.

In addition, some behind-the-scenes duties are run alongside sister station WHSV-TV in Harrisonburg (which the "Newsplex" has a resource sharing alliance with). The station can also be seen on WCAV's third digital subchannel (on UHF channel 19.3) from the same transmitter.

History

The station began its life as Pax affiliate WADA-LP in 1998. It first aired an analog signal on UHF channel 55 and later moved to UHF channel 27. In late-March 2005, owner Tiger Eye Broadcasting sold the station to Gray Television who proceeded to change the call letters to WAHU-CA. The station became a Fox affiliate and was integrated with WCAV and WVAW. Prior to WAHU's affiliation switch, Fox was available on cable from WTTG in Washington, D.C. That station was considered the default affiliate for the market and is still seen on cable due to "significantly viewed" status from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Since 2006, the three stations have been the flagship of University of Virginia sports.

On December 28, 2006, WAHU launched its digital signal on UHF channel 40. While providing an over-the-air standard definition Fox feed on its first digital subchannel, the station began airing a dedicated MyNetworkTV channel on a new second one. Following this addition, the station shifted several programs to the digital subchannel. Prior to the addition of WAHU-DT2, the network was added on September 5, 2006 as a secondary affiliation on the main channel. As part of the launch, Comcast swapped WAHU's first cable location with WTTG. This moved WAHU to channel 9 in what is widely considered a preferential location.

On March 14, 2008 along with other television stations in Virginia, WAHU-LD2 aired the Virginia High School League championships basketball tournament for the first time. It also changed call letters to WAHU-LD with "LD" meaning low-power digital.[1] On February 18, it began broadcasting in high definition over-the-air. On March 13 and 14, WAHU-LD2 (and other stations in the state) aired the Virginia High School League basketball championships for a second time. On September 7, 2009, This TV started airing on WAHU-LD2. On January 3, 2011, the station changed its calls again to WAHU-CD with "CD" meaning class-A low-power digital.[2]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[3]
27.1 720p 16:9 FOX27 Main WAHU-CD programming / Fox
27.2 480i 4:3 MYCVILL MyNetworkTV / Me-TV

Analog-to-digital conversion

WAHU shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 27, on February 16, 2009. The station "flash-cut" its digital signal into operation on UHF channel 40.[4] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 27.

Newscasts

WAHU and its sister stations employ the largest television news team dedicated exclusively to the Charlottesville market. While WVIR dedicates some staff to adjacent areas, WAHU focuses its coverage solely on the counties that comprise the Charlottesville viewing area. As the primary station in the "Charlottesville Newsplex" operation, WCAV airs the most newscasts. WAHU airs an hour-long extension of Good Morning Charlottesville weekday mornings at 7 and nightly prime time newscasts at 10 that competes with CW affiliate WVIR-DT3. All shows, except the extension of Good Morning Charlottesville on WAHU, are streamed live on the "Charlottesville Newsplex" website.

References

External links