WDTV

U.S. local/regional, center

Background

WDTV traces its origins to March 17, 1954, when it signed on as WJPB-TV, making it one of the earliest television stations in West Virginia. The station initially operated as an NBC primary affiliate with secondary ties to ABC and CBS, then shifted to ABC-only programming when it moved to VHF channel 5 in Weston around 1960. In 1965 the call letters were changed to WDTV, and in 1967 the station switched its primary affiliation to CBS, which it has held ever since. For much of its modern history the station was owned by Withers Broadcasting Company, a regional broadcaster based in the Midwest. Gray Television (now Gray Media) acquired WDTV and co-owned Fox/CW affiliate WVFX from Withers in 2016 for $26.5 million in cash. Gray Media has since grown into the nation's largest owner of local TV stations, with a portfolio spanning more than 100 markets and revenue driven by advertising and retransmission fees. Gray's CEO Hilton Howell has publicly praised Republican figures including Donald Trump, and company executives have welcomed expected deregulation under the second Trump term, though the company's news operations — including the Gray DC Bureau — have been rated by outside analysts as producing factual, minimally biased reporting.

Sources

1. WDTV – Wikipedia
2. Gray To Acquire WDTV And WVFX In Clarksburg, WV – PR Newswire
3. Gray Buying WDTV-WVFX Clarksburg, WV – TV NewsCheck
4. Gray DC Bureau – Bias and Credibility – Media Bias/Fact Check
5. Gray executives see deregulation coming to broadcasting under Trump – AJC
6. Gray Media sees lower revenue, but higher ad income, during Q4 – The Desk
7. WDTV 5 News – Station Index

Profile compiled 2026-07-26; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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