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| Channels | |
|---|---|
| Branding | VITN Channel 8 |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WZVI | |
| History | |
First air date | November 10, 1965 (59 years ago) (1965-11-10) |
Former channel number(s) | Analog: 8 (VHF, 1965–2009) |
| ABC (1965–2015) | |
Call sign meaning | United States Virgin Islands |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 2370 |
| ERP | 1.1kW |
| HAAT | 290 m (951 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 17°45′13.7″N64°47′54.5″W / 17.753806°N 64.798472°W /17.753806; -64.798472 |
| Translator(s) | WFIG-LD 8Charlotte Amalie |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
WSVI (channel 8) is atelevision station serving theUnited States Virgin Islands that islicensed toChristiansted,Saint Croix, and affiliated withIon. It is owned by Atlas News and Information Services alongsideCharlotte Amalie–licensedindependent stationWZVI (channel 21). The two stations share studios at the Sunny Isle Shopping Center in Christiansted; WSVI's transmitter is located on Blue Mountain.
WSVI operates a digitaltranslator in Charlotte Amalie,WFIG-LD (VHF channel 5, also mapped tovirtual channel 8), with transmitter atop Flag Hill. WSVI serves as theflagship station of theVirgin Islands Television Network.
WSVI signed on as anABC affiliate on November 10, 1965. During its ABC affiliation, WSVIsigned off nightly at 2 a.m.AST (1 a.m. AST March to November), but the station now carries a 24-hour schedule. During non-network programming time, WSVI carriedpaid programming, Caribbean Lottery drawings, some local arts and events programming, and their weeknight-only local newscasts, as the U.S. Virgin Islands receives other broadcast networks andsuperstations from the mainland United States viacable andsatellite. The need for WSVI to maintain a full broadcast schedule of syndicated programming outside of network hours for island residents and tourists was thus negated, since the aforementioned stations usually contain that syndicated programming in their schedules.
The station has had multiple ownership changes. Antilles Broadcasting Corp. sold WSVI to Group III Inc. for $4 million in late 1986.[3] In April 2011, WSVI's former owner, the Figgie Family Equity Fund, agreed to sell the station to Atlas News and Information Services ofLas Vegas, Nevada, pendingFCC approval.[4][5]
On January 1, 2016, WSVI became an affiliate ofIon Television after 50 years of being an ABC affiliate; it consequently became one of the few stations to have switched their affiliation from a Big Four-affiliated network to a minor television network. WSVI told theVirgin Islands Daily News that it had declined to renew its contract with ABC at the beginning of 2016, although other local reports indicated that ABC was threatening to remove its programming due to the station's low ratings and technical issues.[6][7] ABC then entered into an agreement withLilly Broadcasting, which feedsCBS affiliateWSEE-TV inErie, Pennsylvania, to pay television vendors in the Caribbean with local weather inserts, to also provide its programming to the region, viaWENY-TV inElmira, New York. ABC also stated to theDaily News that its programming would be seen onWCVI-TV, which claimed not to have knowledge of any arrangement at the time.[6] WCVI-TV began broadcasting WENY-TV's ABC feed on its second digital subchannel in 2016, and for three years, no full-powered TV station based in the U.S. Virgin Islands had a primary affiliation with any of the "Big Four" networks until November 20, 2019, when the aforementioned WCVI-TV began carrying CBS on its .1 channel.
WSVI and WZVI's terrestrial signals have been off the air sinceHurricane Maria struck the Virgin Islands on September 20, 2017. TheTelecommunications Act of 1996 requires the stations' licenses be deleted after one year of continuous silence, although WSVI has applied for an extension through a hardship waiver granted by the FCC to Caribbean stations affected by Maria andHurricane Irma.[8]
The station's digital signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WSVI-TV | Ion Television |
| 8.2 | 720p | WSVI-D2 | Channel 8 International | |
| 8.3 | 480i | 4:3 | WSVI-D3 | VI TV |
| 8.4 | WSVI-D4 | Tracking the Tropics | ||
| 8.5 | WSVI-D5 | TheWord.TV |
WSVI shut down its analog signal, overVHF channel 8, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transitionUHF channel 20,[10] usingvirtual channel 8.