WAHU-CD

WVIR-CD
Location	Charlottesville, VA
Branding	NBC 29
Slogan	Count on Us!
Channel Number	29
Subchannels	29.1: WVIR-CD 29.2: WeatherNation TV 29.3: The CW Plus 29.4: Ion Plus 29.5: Qubo 29.6: Infomercails 29.7: HSN 29.8: QVC
Affiliation	NBC
First Air Date	August 31, 1998
Call Letter Meaning(s)	pronounced "wahoo" (unofficial nickname for UVA Cavaliers)
Former Affiliation	Analog/CD1: Pax/i/Ion (1998–2005(primary); 2005-2018 (secondary; Moved To WCAV 19.4) Fox (2005–2019) CD2: MyNetworkTV (2006–2018) MeTV (2018–2019) CD3: AccuWeather (until 2019)
Former Channel Number(s)	Analog: 55 (UHF, 1998–2005) 27 (UHF, 2005–2009)
Former Call Letters	WADA-LP (1998–2005) WAHU-CA (2005–2009) WAHU-LD (2009–2011) WAHU-CD (2011-2019)
Sister station(s)	WCAV, WVAW-LD, WHSV, WSVF-CD
Owner	Gray Television

WVIR-CD is a low-powered, Class A NBC television station licensed to Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 35 (or virtual channel 27 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Carters Mountain south of Charlottesville. Owned by Gray Television, WAHU is a sister station to dual CBS/Fox affiliate WCAV (channel 19) and low-powered ABC affiliate WVAW-LD (channel 16). WAHU-CD is currently silent; until April 5, 2019, it served as the Fox affiliate for the Charlottesville market. Fox programming has moved full-time to WCAV's third digital subchannel (on virtual and UHF channel 19.3) from the same transmitter site.

History

The station began its life as charter Pax TV affiliate WADA-LP on August 31, 1998. It first aired an analog signal on UHF channel 55 and later moved to UHF channel 27. In late-March 2005, owner Tiger Eye Broadcasting sold the station to Gray Television who proceeded to change the call letters to WAHU-CA. The station became a Fox affiliate and was integrated with WCAV and WVAW. Prior to WAHU's affiliation switch, Fox was available on cable from WTTG in Washington, D.C. That station was considered the default affiliate for the market and is still seen on cable due to "significantly viewed" status from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Since 2006, the three stations have been the flagship of University of Virginia sports.

On December 28, 2006, WAHU launched its digital signal on UHF channel 40. While providing an over-the-air standard definition Fox feed on its first digital subchannel, the station began airing a dedicated MyNetworkTV channel on a new second one. Following this addition, the station shifted several programs to the digital subchannel. Prior to the addition of WAHU-DT2, the network was added on September 5, 2006 as a secondary affiliation on the main channel. As part of the launch, Comcast swapped WAHU's first cable location with WTTG. This moved WAHU to channel 9 in what is widely considered a preferential location.

On March 14, 2008, the station changed its call letters to WAHU-LD with "LD" meaning low-power digital. Also on the date, along with other television stations in Virginia, WAHU-LD2 aired the Virginia High School League championship basketball tournament for the first time. On February 18, 2009, it began broadcasting in high definition over-the-air. On March 13 and 14, WAHU-LD2 (and other stations in the state) aired the Virginia High School League basketball championships for a second time. On September 7, 2009, This TV started airing on WAHU-LD2. On January 3, 2011, the station changed its calls again to WAHU-CD with "CD" meaning Class A low-power digital.

In late 2018, WAHU-CD2 ended its affiliation with MyNetworkTV to take MeTV full-time.

Gray took WAHU-CD silent on April 5 to begin moving its equipment out of the shared Newsplex facility. The Fox, MeTV, and AccuWeather affiliations were included in the sale to Lockwood and moved to WCAV and WVAW-LD.

Gallery

TV stations in Charlottesville area
WVAW-LD 16 (ABC) WCAV 19 (CBS) WAHU-CD 27 (Silent) WVIR 29 (NBC) WHTJ 41 (PBS) WVPY 51 (PBS)