WWCW

WWCW

Lynchburg–Roanoke, Virginia United States
City	Lynchburg, Virginia
Channels	Digital: 21 (UHF) Virtual: 21
Branding	The CW Virginia
Programming
Affiliations	21.1: The CW 21.2: Fox for others, see § Subchannels
Ownership
Owner	Nexstar Media Group (Nexstar Media Inc.)
Sister stations	WFXR
History
First air date	March 23, 1986 (38 years ago) (1986-03-23)
Former call signs	WJPR (1986–2006)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 21 (UHF, 1986–2009) Digital: 20 (UHF, 2002–2019)
Former affiliations	Independent (March–October 1986) Fox (1986–2009) The WB (secondary, 1999–2001 and 2002–2006)[a]
Call sign meaning	Went with brand of CW cable channel as "WCW5"
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	24812
ERP	938 kW
HAAT	503.1 m (1,651 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	37°19′15″N 79°37′57″W / 37.32083°N 79.63250°W / 37.32083; -79.63250
Repeater(s)	WFXR 27.2 Roanoke
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS

WWCW (channel 21) is a television station licensed to Lynchburg, Virginia, United States, serving as the CW outlet for the Roanoke–Lynchburg market. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside Roanoke-licensed Fox affiliate WFXR (channel 27). The two stations share studios at the Valleypointe office park on Valleypointe Parkway in northeastern Roanoke County; WWCW operates an advertising sales office on Airport Road, along Lynchburg's southwestern border with Campbell County. The station's transmitter is located on Thaxton Mountain in unincorporated central Bedford County. WFXR broadcasts WWCW's CW programming from its transmitter on Poor Mountain in Roanoke County as one of its subchannels and vice versa.

The construction permit for channel 21 in Lynchburg was awarded to communications consultant James E. Price in 1982, but Price sold the station to several different investor groups before Lynchburg–Roanoke Television Partners, led by Thomas F. Carney, built the station. WJPR began broadcasting on March 23, 1986, as an independent station, adding affiliation with Fox in October 1986. The market proved unable to bear both WJPR and Roanoke's WVFT (channel 27), which had gone on the air later that year, due to insufficient advertising revenue and signal issues; in November 1988, WJPR filed for bankruptcy protection. In 1990, Henry A. Ash of Tampa, Florida, acquired both stations out of bankruptcy, receiving a federal waiver to own the combination. On August 20, 1990, they began simulcasting as "Fox 21/27", the Fox affiliate for the market; WJPR had been airing Fox programming since October 1986.

WVFT and WJPR were acquired in 1993 by Grant Communications, and WVFT changed its call sign to WFXR-TV. Under Grant, the stations began airing a local newscast produced by WSLS-TV and also acquired The WB and later The CW affiliation in the market, which was initially aired in overnight hours and then on a local cable channel. With the conversion to digital broadcasting, the Fox and CW services were broadcast as subchannels in both Roanoke and Lynchburg, with channel 21 recognized as the originating station for The CW. Nexstar acquired WFXR and WWCW in 2013 and moved them into new, larger studios two years later, allowing them to begin producing their own news programming.

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