WTAP-TV
 
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Parkersburg, West Virginia–Marietta, Ohio United States |
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| Branding | WTAP (general) WTAP News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | The NewsCenter |
| Channels |
Digital: 49 (UHF) Virtual: 15 () |
| Subchannels | 15.1 NBC 15.4 Doppler weather radar |
| Owner |
Gray Television (Gray Television Licensee, LLC) |
| First air date | November 11, 1953 |
| Sister station(s) | WOVA-LD, WIYE-LD & WSAZ-TV |
| Former channel number(s) | 15 (UHF analog, 1953–2009) |
| Former affiliations |
CBS/ABC (1953–1970) both secondary |
| Transmitter power | 47.4 kW |
| Height | 196 m |
| Class | DT |
| Facility ID | 4685 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 39°20′59″N 81°33′56″W / 39.34972°N 81.56556°W |
| Website | www |
WTAP-TV is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Mid–Ohio Valley that is licensed to Parkersburg, West Virginia. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 49 (or virtual channel 15.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter in Independence Township, Ohio. The station can also be seen on Suddenlink channel 4 and CAS Cable channel 3. There's a high definition feed offered on Suddenlink digital channel 104 and CAS Cable digital channel 384. Owned by Gray Television, WTAP is sister to low-powered Fox affiliate WOVA-LD and low-powered CBS outlet WIYE-LD. The three television stations share studios on Market Street (official address is One Television Plaza) in downtown Parkersburg.
The station signed-on Veterans Day 1953. WTAP aired an analog signal on UHF channel 15 and, early in its life, aired programming from all three major networks of the time—NBC, ABC and CBS—but, then as now, was a primary NBC affiliate. WJPB-TV in Fairmont (channel 35, now WDTV on channel 5) launched four months later and took on exactly the same affiliation. Original plans called for WTAP to join WJPB and turn the Parkersburg and Clarksburg areas into one giant television market. However, the area is a very rugged dissected plateau and neither station's signal was strong enough to carry across the terrain. Additionally, Parkersburg and Fairmont are 70 miles apart, and UHF stations don't carry very well across long distances in any event.
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