WTKR

About WTKR

WTKR is a television station in Norfolk, Virginia, broadcasting on channel 3 and affiliated with CBS. Branded as WTKR News 3, the station is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside CW affiliate WGNT. It first signed on April 2, 1950, as WTAR-TV, the first television station in the Norfolk area, owned by the parent company of the Norfolk Ledger-Star and The Virginian-Pilot newspapers. The call letters stand for Tidewater and former owner Knight-Ridder, with a nod to the heritage WTAR calls. The station took the WTKR calls in 1981 when Knight-Ridder acquired it from Landmark Communications.

WTAR-TV: Hampton Roads' first station

In 1950, WTAR signed on WTAR-TV on channel 4, the first television station in the Norfolk area. Because WTAR radio was an NBC affiliate, the TV station primarily carried NBC programs, while also running shows from CBS, ABC, and DuMont as the market's only station. Within a year, both the TV and radio facilities moved into a new broadcasting center at 720 Boush Street in Norfolk.

The station moved to channel 3 in the mid-1950s, establishing its permanent channel home.

Newspaper ownership

The Virginian-Pilot's parent company owned WTAR-AM-TV when it launched the television station in 1950. In 1967, the newspaper sold the stations to Landmark Communications. When the FCC tightened rules barring common ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations in the same market, Landmark tried to get grandfathered protection in the 1970s but failed, and sold WTAR-TV to Knight-Ridder, which changed the call letters to WTKR in 1981.

The newspaper-broadcast combination had given the station deep roots in Hampton Roads journalism.

Becoming a CBS affiliate

WTKR began as primarily an NBC affiliate, carrying CBS, ABC, and DuMont secondarily in the market's early years. As new stations signed on, channel 3 settled into its long-term role as the Hampton Roads CBS affiliate, carrying the network's news, sports, and entertainment programming.

The CBS affiliation has made channel 3 the home of the network's major sports properties and its dominant primetime lineup in one of Virginia's largest markets.

News 3

Branded as WTKR News 3, with the general slogan "Taking Action, Getting Results" and the weather slogan "VIPIR Means Accuracy," the station's news operation covers the Hampton Roads region, from Norfolk and Virginia Beach to Newport News and the surrounding areas. The station began producing its local newscasts in high definition in January 2009.

The newsroom covers the region's distinctive stories, from the world's largest naval base to tourism, shipbuilding, and the area's vulnerability to hurricanes and sea-level rise.

Scripps ownership

WTKR is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside WGNT, channel 27, the market's CW affiliate. Scripps's ownership has brought the station into one of the country's largest local broadcast groups, with the company's emphasis on investigative journalism and community service.

The duopoly gives Scripps two full-power outlets in Hampton Roads, with channel 3 carrying CBS programming and WGNT offering CW and independent programming.

Technical operations

WTKR broadcasts on digital UHF channel 16, displayed as virtual channel 3, with an effective radiated power of 610 kW. The station began digital broadcasts in 2002 and ended analog programming on VHF channel 3 in 2009 as part of the digital television transition.

The station's subchannels carry additional programming services, extending its multicast offerings.

Military community coverage

Hampton Roads' identity as a military community, home to Naval Station Norfolk, the world's largest naval base, shapes WTKR's news coverage. The station's reporting on military families, defense issues, and veterans reflects the region's deep connection to the armed forces.

The station's community service has included support for military families and coverage of homecomings, deployments, and base issues.

Digital presence

WTKR's digital home is wtkr.com, offering live streaming, on-demand video, and comprehensive coverage of Hampton Roads news, weather, and sports. The station maintains mobile apps and active social media accounts under the WTKR News 3 brand.

As part of Scripps, the station's digital operations are integrated with the company's digital media platforms. Its official website is https://wtkr.com.

The license challenge

The station was founded as WTAR-TV by radio station WTAR and began broadcasting on April 2, 1950; it aired on channel 4 until it moved to channel 3 in 1954. It was the only television station in Hampton Roads for its first three years, having been one of the last new station permits awarded before a years-long freeze on station grants by the FCC, and it dominated local news ratings for more than 30 years. The station's ownership, which also included The Virginian-Pilot and Ledger-Star newspapers, reorganized as Landmark Communications in 1967. In 1969, a group of Norfolk lawyers challenged the broadcast license of WTAR-TV in a decade-long dispute that involved several issues, including business dealings of the co-owned Norfolk newspapers and cross-ownership of newspapers and TV stations. The dispute ended in 1979 with a commitment by Landmark to sell the television station within two years. The call letters' meaning is dual: Tidewater Knight Ridder, for a later owner, and a tribute nod to WTAR's rhyming scheme.

Knight-Ridder, Narragansett, and The New York Times

In 1981, Knight-Ridder acquired the station and changed the call sign to WTKR. During Knight-Ridder's ownership, the station's news ratings declined; though they recovered for some time under Narragansett Television in the late 1980s and early 1990s, they fell again during the 12-year ownership tenure of The New York Times Company. Narragansett Television of Providence bought WTKR and its sister station WPRI in 1989 for $150 million from Knight-Ridder, which had purchased WTKR eight years earlier from Landmark after federal regulators moved to tighten restrictions on companies owning both TV stations and newspapers in the same market. In December 1994, Narragansett said it was considering purchase offers for WTKR, Hampton Roads' top-rated television station, and industry analysts said it could go for more than $100 million. On March 2, 1995, The New York Times Company announced it would purchase Channel 3 from Narragansett Television for around $100 million; Lance R. Primis, president of the Times broadcast group, said the company saw WTKR as fitting perfectly into the expansion of its television group, emphasizing local news and advertising. Among the country's TV markets, Hampton Roads ranked 40th at the time.

NewsChannel 3 and Scripps

WTKR is branded NewsChannel 3, with the general slogan "Taking Action, Getting Results" and the weather slogan "VIPIR Means Accuracy." It is licensed to Norfolk and broadcasts digitally on UHF channel 40 with virtual channel 3, at a transmitter power of 950 kW from Suffolk, Virginia; its subchannels carry Court TV, Bounce TV, HSN, and QVC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Portsmouth-licensed WGNT channel 27, an independent station, with the two stations sharing studios on Boush Street near downtown Norfolk. The station's digital home is wtkr.com. WTKR's early affiliations were primary NBC from 1950 to 1953, with secondary CBS until 1953, secondary DuMont from 1950 to 1955, and secondary ABC from 1950 to 1957.

The station formerly operated news bureaus in the Town Center area of Virginia Beach and in the City Center at Oyster Point section of Newport News, extending its coverage across Hampton Roads.

WTKR broadcasts on digital channel 40 with virtual channel 3, serving Norfolk and the Hampton Roads region of Virginia.