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| Channels | |
| Branding | WTKR News 3 |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WGNT | |
| History | |
First air date | April 2, 1950 |
Former call signs | WTAR-TV (1950–1981) |
Former channel number(s) |
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Call sign meaning | Tidewater/Knight-Ridder (owner 1981–1985)[1] |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 47401 |
| ERP | 610 kW |
| HAAT | 375 m (1,230 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 36°48′31.8″N 76°30′11.3″W / 36.808833°N 76.503139°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | wtkr |
WTKR (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Portsmouth-licensed WGNT (channel 27), an independent station. The two stations share studios on Boush Street near downtown Norfolk; WTKR's transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia.
The station was founded as WTAR-TV by radio station WTAR and began broadcasting on April 2, 1950; it aired on channel 4 until it moved to channel 3 in 1954. It was the only television station in Hampton Roads for its first three years, having been one of the last new station permits awarded before a years-long freeze on station grants by the Federal Communications Commission, and dominated local news ratings for more than 30 years. The station's ownership, which also included The Virginian-Pilot and Ledger-Star newspapers, reorganized as Landmark Communications in 1967.
In 1969, a group of Norfolk lawyers challenged the license of WTAR-TV in a decade-long dispute that involved several issues, including business dealings of the co-owned Norfolk newspapers and cross-ownership of newspapers and TV stations. The dispute ended in 1979 with a commitment by Landmark to sell the television station by 1981. Knight-Ridder acquired the station that year and changed the call letters to WTKR. During Knight-Ridder's ownership, the station's news ratings declined; though they recovered for some time under Narragansett Television in the late 1980s and early 1990s, they fell again during the 12-year ownership tenure of The New York Times Company.
Local TV LLC acquired The New York Times Company's television stations, including WTKR, in 2007. The general manager launched a push to "Take Norfolk Back"; Local TV acquired WGNT in 2010, and WTKR increased its share of market advertising revenue and its news ratings. When the Tribune Company acquired Local TV LLC in 2013, the license was transferred to another company, Dreamcatcher Broadcasting, to satisfy cross-ownership concerns; however, Tribune continued providing services to the station. Scripps purchased WTKR and WGNT in 2019 as part of divestitures from Tribune's sale to Nexstar Media Group. The WTKR newsroom produces 46 hours a week of news programs for the two stations.
- ^ Watson, Pernell; Joines, Elizabeth (May 15, 1999). "Some TV Call Letters Do Have Meaning". Daily Press. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WTKR". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.