WZTV

WZTV, virtual channel 17 (UHF digital channel 15), is a Fox-affiliated television station located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The station is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, and is sister to MyNetworkTV affiliate WUXP-TV (channel 30, wholly owned by Sinclair) and CW affiliate WNAB (channel 58, owned by Tennessee Broadcasting but operated by Sinclair through an outsourcing agreement).

All three share studios on Mainstream Drive along the Cumberland River, WZTV's transmitter is located on Knob Road north of downtown along I-24.

History

First independent station in Nashville

The station originally began broadcasting on August 5, 1968 as WMCV from a small studio in West Nashville. It was the area's first UHF station, as well as the state's first independent station. Not surprisingly with three well-established network affiliates in the market, WMCV did not attract many advertisers and relied mainly on old movies, cartoons, religious programs, and syndicated fare. Additionally, the Nashville market is a fairly large market geographically; UHF stations usually do not carry very well over long distances. Many area households probably did not have sets capable of receiving the station's signal anyway. This was very typical of UHF start-ups in the late-1960s and early-1970s. WMCV went off the air on March 10, 1971. After a false start ended hopes for a 1974 return, new owner Reel Broadcasting brought the station back as WZTV on March 6, 1976 initially branding it as "Z TV" and later "Z 17".