TV3 Winchester
 | |
| Winchester-Front Royal-Berryville- Woodstock, Virginia (cable) Harrisonburg, Virginia (digital television) United States | |
|---|---|
| Branding |
TV3 Winchester (general) TV3 Winchester News (news) |
| Slogan | In Your Community |
| Channels |
Analog: 3 (Comcast cable) & 101 (ShenTel cable) Digital: WHSV-DT 49.3 & 42.3 (UHF) Virtual: WHSV-DT 3.3 (PSIP) |
| Affiliations |
ABC (primary) This TV (secondary) |
| Owner | Gray Television |
| First air date | March 5, 2007 |
| Call letters' meaning | Refers to cable channel allocation on Comcast |
| Sister station(s) | WHSV-TV |
| Website | www.tv3winchester.com |
TV3 Winchester was the primary ABC and secondary This TV television station in Winchester, Virginia from 2007 until it ceased operations Dec. 5, 2013. Owned by Gray Television, it was sister station to Harrisonburg ABC affiliate WHSV-TV and maintained studios on Millwood Avenue and US 50 in Winchester. The channel was available on Comcast Xfinity channel 3 in Frederick, Clarke and Warren counties and ShenTel Cable channel 101 in Shenandoah County.
Even though TV3 Winchester operated mainly as a cable-only outlet, it could also be seen through a widescreen standard definition simulcast on WHSV's second digital subchannel in order to reach the Harrisonburg market. This signal could be seen on UHF channel 49.3 (virtual channel 3.3 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Massanutten Mountain (west of Stanley). Due to WHSV serving as the ABC affiliate for Harrisonburg, the channel was not available on cable in the area.
Along with Winchester, the station served Frederick, Clarke, Warren and Shenandoah counties in Virginia in news and sports gathering and weather coverage. On December 5, 2013, the station announced that it would cease local broadcasting, including news, effective immediately.[1]
History
TV-3 Winchester was first announced at a press conference at Shenandoah University in 2005. Ground was broken for the new studios, which is located along Millwood Pike in Winchester, on March 1, 2006. The studios are shared with Shenandoah University's own Public-access television cable TV-only station, "Winchester Community Television". Construction was completed in November 2006 and the station launched on March 5, 2007.
Brad Ramsey, formerly the sports director/anchor and more recently a sales account executive at WHSV, handles general manager duties. Brad brought Tony Versley, an Emmy Award winning broadcast engineer on board as Director of Operations and Doug Stanford, formerly of WHSV, as Director of Creative Services and Promotions.
In 2010, TV3 Winchester began to be simulcasted on WHSV digital translator channel 42 from Signal Knob near Strasburg, Virginia. The new digital translator covers the Northern Shenandoah Valley, including the counties of Frederick, Clarke, Warren and Shenandoah and the cities of Winchester and Front Royal.
Newscasts
Bill DuVall was hired in September 2006 as TV-3's News Director. DuVall most recently worked at WVIR in Charlottesville, Virginia as a co-anchor of NBC29 News at Sunrise. DuVall is no stranger to the area, as he worked at former Fox affiliate WYVN (now WWPX) in Martinsburg, West Virginia from 1991 to 1994. DuVall turned the reins of TV-3 Winchester over to Denise Chandler in 2008.
The station carries local newscasts at 6, 7 and 11 p.m. on the weekdays. Morning newscasts on TV-3 Winchester started in early 2008 before ending in December 2013.
References
- ↑ "TV3 Winchester closes after six years on the air". WJLA. December 5, 2013. Retrieved December 5, 2013.