WTRF-TV

The station signed on for the first time on October 24, 1953. It was co-owned with WTRF radio (1290 AM, now WLIE, and 100.5 FM, now WBGI-FM) which had signed on across the Ohio River in Bellaire, Ohio, in 1947. The call letters stood for Two Radio Frequencies, a nod to FM 100.5 being used to continue programming when AM 1290 signed off at sunset. The radio stations were sold off in the 1970s to help finance the television station.

WTRF was originally an NBC affiliate but also carried some programming from ABC, splitting that network's programming with then-CBS affiliate WSTV-TV (channel 9, now WTOV-TV). In 1979, WTRF became the area's first station to use videotape rather than film.

For its first quarter-century on the air, WTRF-TV was the undisputed leader in the Wheeling–Steubenville market despite being well within reach of the much larger Pittsburgh market. As of 2017, the Wheeling–Steubenville market remains separate from Pittsburgh despite the very close proximity between the two markets as well as significantly overlapping signals between the two markets.

On January 7, 1980, WTRF swapped network affiliations with WTOV and became a CBS affiliate. NBC had struggled in the ratings for a number of years at the time and WTRF wanted a stronger affiliation. It also dropped the remaining ABC programs from its schedule. This was not as serious a problem as it appeared, since Pittsburgh's WTAE-TV (channel 4) and Youngstown's WYTV (channel 33) were available in the area on cable, with channel 4's over-the-air signal covering most portions of the Wheeling–Steubenville market. However, the switch backfired disastrously. While as an NBC affiliate, channel 7 had to contend with Pittsburgh's WIIC-TV (channel 11, now WPXI), one of NBC's weakest affiliates, for network viewers, it now had to contend with KDKA-TV (channel 2), one of CBS' strongest affiliates, as it was (and remains today) widely viewable in the area both over-the-air and available on cable. This, combined with NBC's resurgence in the 1980s while CBS faltered at the same time, saw WTRF become a very distant second to WTOV in the local ratings. While CBS rebounded in the 1990s, WTRF has never really recovered, with some viewers even watching now-CBS O&O KDKA-TV for CBS programming over WTRF.

Another factor in channel 7's struggles was ownership instability. From the early 1980s through the mid 1990s, it went through three different owners. Adams Communications bought the station from Wesray Corporation in 1987 but ran into financial trouble and sold most of its stations, including WTRF, to Brisette Broadcasting in 1991. Brisette himself was nearly brought down by financial issues and merged his group with Benedek Broadcasting in 1996. West Virginia Media Holdings bought the station when Benedek declared bankruptcy in 2002.

WTRF 7.2's former Fox affiliate logo.

In 2007, WTRF launched its second digital subchannel as a Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV affiliate. Previously, the Wheeling–Steubenville market was served by WPGH-TV in Pittsburgh as the de facto Fox affiliate.

Along with sister station WBOY-TV in Clarksburg, WTRF launched its third digital subchannel as an ABC affiliate on August 1, 2008, bringing ABC programming back to the Wheeling–Steubenville market.[2] Previously, both the Wheeling–Steubenville and Clarksburg–Weston–Fairmont markets were served by WTAE as the de facto ABC affiliate; WYTV served as the default ABC affiliate for the western portion of the Wheeling–Steubenville market.

WTRF has been digital-only since February 17, 2009.

On September 1, 2014, WTRF lost the Fox affiliation on 7.2 to WTOV.[3] The subchannel's secondary affiliation with MyNetworkTV then became its primary, rebranding as "My Ohio Valley".[4]

On November 17, 2015, Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced that it would purchase the West Virginia Media Holdings stations, including WTRF-TV, for $130 million.[5] Under the terms of the deal, Nexstar assumed control of the stations through a time brokerage agreement in December 2015, with the sale of the license assets completed on January 31, 2017.[6]

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Despite its coverage issues mentioned above, WTRF has coverage outside the market on cable. In the northeastern part of West Virginia, it is carried in Buckhannon in Upshur County, Beverley and Elkins in Randolph County and Flemington in Taylor County.

As of June 3, 2010, WTRF and its two digital subchannels are available on Dish Network.[8] WTRF, including its MNTV and ABC subchannels, and WTOV are available on DirecTV as of November 23, 2010.[9] Before then, Wheeling–Steubenville had been one of the few markets that did not get local stations on satellite. Residents living in the West Virginia side of the market, as well as Jefferson, Harrison and Tuscarawas counties in Ohio, got Pittsburgh stations on those systems.

While Belmont and Monroe counties in Ohio qualified to get the New York City and Los Angeles stations, West Virginia Media Holdings had long balked at signing waivers allowing viewers in those two counties to receive WCBS-TV and KCBS-TV from their respective markets. This rankled viewers in those areas because satellite service is all but essential for acceptable television in this area. Belmont and Monroe counties are located in a very rugged dissected plateau. Over-the-air signals are practically unviewable in this area, and cable service is inconsistent outside the larger cities.

• Channel 7 digital TV stations in the United States
• Channel 7 virtual TV stations in the United States

• Official website
• WTRF-DT3 website
• WTRF-TV in the FCC's TV station database
• WVTX-CD in the FCC's TV station database