WTVR TV Tower
The WTVR TV Tower is an 843-foot-tall (257 m) free-standing lattice tower in Richmond, Virginia.[1] It broadcasts WTVR-FM and has been in operation since 1953.
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Television_Antenna_-_WTVR_%282235691874%29.jpg/220px-Television_Antenna_-_WTVR_%282235691874%29.jpg)
Upon completion in 1953, the tower became the tallest in the United States[2] and the second tallest lattice tower in the world after the Eiffel Tower and only surpassed in height by five buildings; the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, 70 Pine Street, 40 Wall Street & the GE Building.[3] It was a substantive increase from previous tallest towers of any type built in the United States, the NSS Annapolis. It remains to this day the tallest man made structure in Virginia.[4]
The tower is currently only used by WTVR-FM. Even though WTVR-TV and WTVR-FM still share the same WTVR call letters they are no longer affiliated with each other and are under different ownership. WTVR-TV no longer broadcasts from this tower. WTVR-TV shares a transmitter with PBS member stations WCVE-TV and WCVW. WTVR-TV stopped transmitting from this tower during the analog to digital conversion in 2009.[5] The tower is still called the WTVR-TV tower because of its history, despite no longer broadcasting from this tower. On November 1, 2017, iHeartMedia announced that WTVR-FM, along with all of their sister stations in Richmond and Chattanooga, would be sold to Entercom due to that company's merger with CBS Radio.[6] The sale was completed on December 19, 2017.[7] The tower is considered part of the Richmond skyline and can be seen for several miles around. WTVR-TV's West Broad studios is located directly next to the tower. The station used a graphical version of the tower in its news opens for several years in the 1980s and early 1990s. The tower is also the namesake of the Tower Building, a National Register of Historic Places-listed structure located across the street.[8]
Stations
Radio
Currently only WTVR-FM transmits from WTVR Tower.[9]
Callsign | Frequency | Format | Owner |
---|---|---|---|
WTVR-FM | 98.1 | Adult contemporary | Entercom Communications |
See also
References
- ^ "WTVR TV Tower - The Skyscraper Center". Skyscrapercenter.com.
- ^ "WTVR-TV Studio Transmitter, Richmond | 130636 | EMPORIS". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on July 2, 2020.
- ^ "The World's Tallest Buildings 1960". Tudl0867.home.xs4all.nl.
- ^ "Richmond | EMPORIS". Emporis.com. Archived from the original on July 3, 2020.
- ^ "TV Query Result : WUDW-LD, VA RICHMOND". Transition.fcc.gov. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
- ^ "Entercom Trades Boston & Seattle Spin-Offs To iHeartMedia For Richmond & Chattanooga - RadioInsight". Radioinsight.com. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- ^ "Consummation Notice". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. December 19, 2017. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
- ^ Friedberg, Dara (May 2017). "Tower Building Final Nomination" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
- ^ "TV Query Result : WTVR-FM, VA RICHMOND". Transition.fcc.gov. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
External links
- Building the WTVR CBS 6 Tower
- WTVR Tower, Richmond - SkyscraperPage.com