 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Media |
| Founded | 2001 (2001) |
| Founder | Bray Cary |
| Defunct | January 31, 2017 (2017-01-31) |
| Fate | Acquired byNexstar |
| Successor | Nexstar Media Group |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | West Virginia |
Key people | Bray Cary (President & CEO) |
| Products | Broadcast television |
West Virginia Media Holdings was a media company inWest Virginia. It ownedtelevision stations in each of the four mainmedia markets in the state, as well as a weekly newspaper.
The group ownedWOWK-TV inHuntington,WVNS-TV inLewisburg, andWTRF-TV inWheeling, West Virginia, which were all affiliated with theCBS network; andWBOY-TV inClarksburg which was affiliated withNBC. WVNS and WTRF also carriedFox on theirdigital subchannels, while both subchannels carriedMyNetworkTV in addition to Fox as a secondary affiliate. It also owned a weekly newspaper,The State Journal, which mainly covers state commerce and political news.
The group was founded in 2001. The largest private investor in the company wasBray Cary, who served as president and CEO. Cary was formerly an executive withNASCAR, and was responsible for its television contracts before they switched to a bulk network model, along withcollege basketball syndication.
In August 2008, both WTRF and WBOY began carryingABC programming on theirdigital subchannel. Previously, longtime ABC affiliateWTAE-TV inPittsburgh served both markets as thede facto ABC affiliate and remains on cable in both markets (Fox Ohio Valley replacedWPGH on Comcast systems as the only Fox affiliate on the Comcast channel lineup).
On November 17, 2015, WVMH announced that it would sell its stations toNexstar Broadcasting Group for $130 million. The company would take over the stations' non-license assets under a time brokerage agreement in December 2015 until the formal completion of the deal, expected in late-2016.[1] The two companies viewed the acquisition as being a complement to Nexstar'sWHAG-TV, whose coverage area includes theEastern Panhandle region. Nexstar CEOPerry A. Sook is an alumnus of WOWK.[2] The sale was completed on January 31, 2017.[3]
The State Journal was separately acquired by NCWV Media in December 2016.[4]
Stations are arranged alphabetically by state and bycity of license.
| City of license /Market | Station | Channel | Years owned | Current status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clarksburg–Fairmont–Morgantown, WV | WBOY-TV | 12 | 2001–2017 | NBC affiliate owned byNexstar Media Group |
| Huntington–Charleston, WV | WOWK-TV | 13 | 2002–2017 | CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Lewisburg–Bluefield–Beckley, WV | WVNS-TV | 59 | 2003–2017 | CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| Wheeling, WV–Steubenville, OH | WTRF-TV | 7 | 2002–2017 | CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group |
| ABC | .svg){kind=logo} | |
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| The CW |
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** Owned by third parties but operated by Nexstar through various agreements. | ||