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|---|---|
| City | Naples, Florida |
| Channels | |
| Branding | ABC 7 (cable channel) |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner | Montclair Communications, Inc. |
| Operator | Hearst Television via LMA[1] |
| WBBH-TV | |
| History | |
First air date | August 21, 1974 |
Former call signs | WEVU (1974–1995) |
Former channel number(s) |
|
Call sign meaning | sounds like "seven" (cable channel number position) |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 19183 |
| ERP | 1,000 kW |
| HAAT | 454.5 m (1,491 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 26°49′22.4″N 81°45′53.6″W / 26.822889°N 81.764889°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
WZVN-TV (channel 26) is a television station licensed to Naples, Florida, United States, serving Southwest Florida as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by Montclair Communications, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Hearst Television, owner of Fort Myers–licensed NBC affiliate WBBH-TV (channel 20), for the provision of certain services. The two stations share studios on Central Avenue in Fort Myers; WZVN-TV's transmitter is located along SR 31 in unincorporated southeastern Charlotte County. WZVN-TV is branded as "ABC 7", in reference to its channel location on most cable systems in the market.
Channel 26 went on the air in Naples on August 21, 1974, as WEVU, the first ABC affiliate in Southwest Florida. It operated from studios in Naples and suffered from turnover in ownership as well as poor local ratings. This continued even though the station moved its transmitter further north from its original location in the late 1980s in order to improve its signal in Fort Myers. In 1994, then-owner Ellis Communications entered into an LMA with then-WBBH owner Waterman Broadcasting by which WBBH began to provide the station's news programming. The station itself was then sold in 1996 to Montclair Communications, whose principal has family and business ties with the Waterman family. Though news ratings have remained low, the Waterman LMA gave the station access to additional resources and a path to profitability. The two stations have separate newscasts with separate anchors, though they share reporters and news resources.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
wbbhtohearstwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Facility Technical Data for WZVN-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.