WTVZ-TV

WTVZ-TV, channel 33, is a television station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, USA, serving as the MyNetworkTV affiliate for the Hampton Roads area of Virginia (comprising the cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, Hampton, Virginia Beach and environs), and the Outer Banks region of North Carolina. WTVZ is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, and has its studios and offices located on Granby Street in downtown Norfolk. The station's transmitter is based in Suffolk, Virginia.

History

In the late 1970s, the Hampton Roads area was unique in that it was one of the smallest media markets to have four commercial television stations: NBC affiliate WAVY-TV, CBS station WTAR-TV (now WTKR), ABC affiliate WVEC-TV, and independent station WYAH-TV (now WGNT)–the latter of which was owned by the Virginia Beach-based Christian Broadcasting Network. WYAH-TV ran a fairly conservative program schedule–about three-quarters split between secular, general-entertainment fare (off-network reruns, movies, children's programming, etc.) and religious programming, such as CBN's own The 700 Club. Still, Norfolk businessman Tim McDonald felt that there was a need for a second independent station in that market, though a few markets far larger than Hampton Roads still didn't have independent stations (San Antonio, Texas and Birmingham, Alabama for example). In 1976, McDonald formed TVX Broadcast Group and secured a construction permit for Norfolk's vacant channel 33.