whsv tv3

Channel3 signed on October 6, 1953 as WSVA-TV (for We Serve Virginia Agriculture). It was owned by Frederick L. Allman and his Shenandoah Valley Broadcasting Corporation along with WSVA radio (AM 550 and FM 100.7, now WQPO). The station was a primary NBC affiliate, with secondary CBS and ABC affiliations.
Although it was owned by one of Virginia's leading broadcasters, WSVA-TV operated on a shoestring budget. Station engineers switched to and from the signals of the three network affiliates inWashington, D.C. because it was unable to afford direct network feeds.[1] It didn't air local programs (except for news) until 1956. It dropped CBS in 1963.

In 1965, the WSVA stations were sold to James Gilmore, Jr., a Michigan businessman. The station began phasing out NBC in 1968, continuing to air some NBC shows until 1975. It picked up The Today Show from 1968 to 1975 (when Good Morning America debuted), but only aired the second hour of the show since the station didn't sign on until 8 a.m. (a practice that continued well into the 1970s). On occasion, engineers forgot to switch over for local breaks, resulting in channel 3 airing the local breaks from WMAL-TV (now WJLA-TV) in Washington, which provided the ABC feed over the network lines to WSVA.

In 1975, theFederal Communications Commission ruled that if a market had only one FM radio station, one AM radio station and one television station, they could not be owned by the same person. Gilmore sold WSVA-TV to Benedek Broadcasting in 1976, and the station assumed its current calls, WHSV. Under Benedek, the station was finally able to buy a network feed.

In the early 1990s, the station started its weekday newscast at noon.

Until 1999, WHSV’s main studio was located along U.S. Route 33, west of Harrisonburg. Construction of a new broadcast facility in downtown Harrisonburg began in 1998. WHSV relocated to its new home in the spring of 1999.

Most of Benedek's stations, including WHSV, were bought by Gray Television in 2002. A 5pm weekday newscast was also added in that same year. At that time, a new set was constructed in the station's Augusta County Newsroom in Staunton. The streetside set featured a window overlooking Downtown Staunton along West Frederick Street. The 5pm weekday newscast became WHSV’s first newscast to originate from the Augusta County Newsroom. In October 2003, WHSV began originating its 5pm newscast from both Harrisonburg and Staunton. WHSV's 6pm weekday newscast also originated from both Staunton and Harrisonburg for a brief period in the spring of 2004. During that time, WHSV’s 6pm weekday newscast featured 3 anchors. The 3 anchor, dual-city format was abandoned after a few months.

WHSV purchased its first microwave live truck in 2004. Prior to that, the station relied on rented equipment for remote broadcasts. Since 2004, WHSV has purchased additional microwave equipment for use by its news department.

Also in 2004, WHSV’s parent company, Gray Communications, launched WCAV in Charlottesville. WHSV management played a major role in the launch of WCAV, providing managerial, sales, and human resources support. Several members of WHSV’s news and production staff transferred to WCAV following its launch in August 2004.

2006 was a year of significant change at WHSV. On February 27, 2006, WHSV’s weekday morning Daybreak newscast began airing at 5am instead of the previous 5:30. This coincided with the debut of new weather technology purchased from WSI Corporation.

WHSV’s Harrisonburg and Augusta County news studios underwent a dramatic overhaul in April 2006 with the addition of new sets and studio camera equipment. WHSV newscasts were broadcast from a temporary studio in the Harrisonburg newsroom during the two week construction period. New sets debuted at 5am on April 24, 2006. At that time, portions of WHSV’s previous set, which was used from 1999 until 2006, were donated to nearby Turner Ashby High School.

News Director Van Hackett announced his retirement from the station in 2006. Hackett served as WHSV’s news director from December 2003 until August 2006. Hackett was succeeded by former TV-3 reporter Ed Reams, who left a job at WDSU in New Orleans, LA to return to the Shenandoah Valley. On July 21, 2006, popular weather anchor Jay Webb left after six years with the station. Webb accepted a job with WDBJ in Roanoke, VA. Webb enjoyed a week long send-off from his on-air colleagues before his final WHSV broadcast on July 21.

During the late summer and early fall of 2006, WHSV underwent major technical upgrades to make way for the station’s new digital subchannels. A large tower was built behind the station’s Harrisonburg studios to accommodate the additional satellite receivers needed for WHSV’sFOX and MyNetworkTV ventures. WHSV’s main analog transmitter was replaced during the week of August 31, 2006. Broadcasts were only available to viewers with cable while the transmitter was being replaced.

On October 30, 2006, WHSV dropped longtime 5:30 pm program "The Andy Griffith Show" in favor of a 5:30 pm newscast anchored by recently promoted Melanie Lofton. This coincided with the debut of a new logo for the station and updated newscast graphics. While the logo itself was new, elements of a previous graphics package were retained. WHSV also began branding itself as "WHSV News 3" during newscasts. On November 27, 2006, WHSV dropped Gari Communications' "Making a Difference" in favor of 615 Music's "News One (V.1, V.2, Mini)" as its news open music.

Over the Thanksgiving 2006 weekend, the WHSV.com and the TV3Winchester.com websites received a huge makeover. Most of the Gray Communications stations have adopted this new website layout.

UntilWVIR-TV signed on from Charlottesville in 1973, channel 3 was the only commercial television station between Richmond and Roanoke. It opened a translator on channel 64 in Charlottesville in 1979. However, WHSV rarely (if ever) covered events in the Charlottesville area. In 2004, the Charlottesville translator became a separate station, WVAW-LP on channel 16.

On December 31, 2007, WHSV revamped their website, whsv.com.

On Wednesday, January 16th, 2008, WHSV announced that their three major networks, WHSV, The Valley's FOX, and My Valley, would be available on the Direct TV lineup.

On Monday, April 7th, 2008, the WHSV 5pm and 5:30pm newscasts consisted of a 3 anchor lineup with Melanie Lofton, Bob Corso, and Meteorologist Tracy Turner. This new format came along with a new arrangement of the newscast.

On Tuesday, June 10th, 2008, WHSV announced that they expected their newscasts to be in HD by the end of the year 2008. This hasn't happened for whatever reason. No updated date for HD newscasts has been given.