WGNT
WGNT is a television station licensed to Portsmouth, Virginia, serving the Hampton Roads market and affiliated with The CW.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
WGNT is television station WGNT, channel 27, licensed to Portsmouth, Virginia, and serving the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The station is associated with a long succession of formats, owners, call signs, and network affiliations. It is currently operated alongside Norfolk-licensed CBS affiliate WTKR by the E. W. Scripps Company. The stations share studios on Boush Street in downtown Norfolk, while WGNT’s transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia. The channel’s history began before the current WGNT identity. An earlier station on channel 27, WTOV-TV, operated in two periods during the 1950s. The first operation began in December 1953 under Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation, with ABC as its principal network affiliation and DuMont programming also available. It left the air in October 1954 after difficulty establishing a sustainable position in the market and after WVEC-TV moved into the former facilities. WTOV-TV returned in May 1955 under ownership associated with Temus Brite, this time as an independent station. Its owners later pursued a move to a VHF channel, but the effort became part of a contested allocation and licensing process. WTOV-TV ultimately ceased broadcasting in 1959 when WVEC-TV moved to channel 13. The channel returned on October 1, 1961, as WYAH-TV under the ownership of Christian Broadcasting Network, founded by Portsmouth minister M. G. “Pat” Robertson. The station initially operated only limited hours and concentrated on Christian teaching, local church productions, and syndicated religious programs. Its viewer-supported model was reinforced through recurring fundraising telethons, from which The 700 Club eventually developed into a nationally distributed program. WYAH also carried the children's program Come On Over, later known as Jim and Tammy, hosted by Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. The program achieved broader syndication and became an early example of the station’s ability to turn local religious television into a national media property. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, WYAH expanded its technical reach and its programming schedule. It began color broadcasting in 1967, activated a more powerful transmitter in 1970, and gradually added secular films, travel programs, talk shows, and syndicated entertainment. By 1973 it was operating for approximately 20 hours a day and functioning increasingly as a general-market independent station, although its programming remained conservative and subject to religious content standards. CBN used WYAH as the flagship of a wider group of television stations that included outlets in Atlanta, Dallas, and Boston. The station’s religious-era identity weakened as CBN’s broadcasting assets became difficult to hold within the ministry’s nonprofit structure and as the organization faced financial pressure amid wider televangelism controversies. After an earlier proposed sale failed, a locally based investor group operating as Centennial Communications acquired WYAH in 1989. The new ownership changed the call sign to WGNT, interpreted as “Great New Television,” and ended the station’s longstanding practice of removing mild profanity from syndicated entertainment. Religious programming was reduced over time, and The 700 Club eventually disappeared from the regular schedule. WGNT became a charter affiliate of the United Paramount Network on January 16, 1995, and adopted the “UPN 27” identity. Paramount Stations Group purchased the station in 1997, making it a UPN-owned-and-operated outlet. Following corporate changes involving Paramount, Viacom, and CBS, WGNT later passed through broadcast-station transactions associated with Local TV and Dreamcatcher Broadcasting. The station ultimately became affiliated with The CW and is now part of Scripps’ Hampton Roads television operation. Its present role is that of a network-affiliated local broadcast station combining national network programming with market-specific promotion and station branding.
History
WGNT’s channel history is unusually complex because the present station succeeded several earlier operations on channel 27. WTOV-TV first broadcast from December 1953 to October 1954 under Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation. It carried ABC programming and some DuMont content, but its UHF operation struggled to gain sufficient support. After going off the air, its facilities were used in connection with WVEC-TV. A second WTOV-TV operation began in May 1955 under ownership associated with Temus Brite. It operated as an independent station while its owners pursued the possibility of moving to a VHF allocation. The proposed channel changes generated competing applications and hearings involving WVEC-TV, WTOV-TV, Virginian Television, and other market interests. A settlement in 1958 contemplated WVEC-TV’s move to channel 13 and minority interests for competing applicants, but the proceedings continued after objections from WAVY-TV. WTOV-TV left the air in August 1959, and WVEC-TV moved from channel 15 to channel 13 later that year. Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network revived channel 27 in 1961. CBN acquired the deteriorated former plant and applied for new construction authority. The initially proposed call letters, WTFC-TV, were unavailable, so the station adopted WYAH-TV, a name derived from the first letters of Yahweh. Its first schedule was limited and almost entirely religious. Financial survival depended heavily on viewer contributions and repeated fundraising appeals. The station’s early output included Robertson’s teaching programs, productions supplied by local churches, and programs from nationally known evangelists. WYAH became an important development in American Christian television. In 1966, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker produced a children’s program for the station that later circulated beyond the local market. The station also carried religious figures including Oral Roberts, Kathryn Kuhlman, Jerry Falwell, and Billy Graham. By the late 1960s, WYAH had become more financially stable, introduced color broadcasts, and added a limited amount of secular programming. Technical improvements, especially the 1970 transmitter upgrade, gave it coverage comparable to major commercial stations in the region. The station progressively moved toward a general independent format during the 1970s. It expanded its daily hours and filled more of the schedule with syndicated entertainment, while retaining substantial religious programming and a conservative editorial approach. It commonly edited or rejected programs containing language or themes considered inconsistent with CBN’s religious standards. At the same time, WYAH served as the flagship of CBN’s Continental Broadcasting Network, which expanded into several other U.S. markets. CBN’s expanding commercial broadcast operation eventually created organizational and regulatory tensions with its nonprofit ministry structure. Financial difficulties and the broader controversies affecting televangelism increased pressure to sell the stations. A proposed transaction with Family Group Broadcasting did not close, and another proposed deal with Draper Communications also failed. In 1989, Centennial Communications acquired WYAH. The transaction changed the call sign to WGNT and brought a more secular programming policy. The station ended its censorship of mild profanity in syndicated shows and gradually removed remaining CBN-era programming, including The 700 Club. WGNT joined UPN as a charter affiliate in 1995. Paramount Stations Group bought the station in 1997, placing it within the network’s owned-and-operated portfolio. Subsequent corporate restructuring involving Paramount, Viacom, and CBS affected the station’s ownership and affiliation relationships. WGNT later passed through ownership connected with Local TV and Dreamcatcher Broadcasting before becoming part of the E. W. Scripps Company’s Hampton Roads group. Today it operates as a CW affiliate serving the Portsmouth, Norfolk, and wider Hampton Roads television market.
- 1997
Paramount ownership begins
[1]Paramount Stations Group purchases WGNT and makes it a UPN owned-and-operated station.
- 1995
UPN affiliation begins
[1]WGNT becomes a charter affiliate of the United Paramount Network.
- 1989
WGNT call sign adopted
[1]Centennial Communications takes control and changes the station’s identity from WYAH-TV to WGNT.
- 1970
Transmitter upgrade expands coverage
[1]A higher-power transmitter materially broadens the station’s signal footprint.
- 1967
WYAH-TV begins color broadcasting
[1]The station introduces color transmission and begins adding limited secular programming.
- 1961
WYAH-TV launches
[1]Christian Broadcasting Network returns channel 27 to service with a religious television schedule.
- 1959
Second WTOV-TV operation ends
[1]WTOV-TV leaves the air as WVEC-TV moves to VHF channel 13.
- 1955
WTOV-TV returns as an independent
[1]A second ownership group restores channel 27, this time without a network affiliation.
- 1954
WTOV-TV leaves the air
[1]The original channel 27 operation shuts down after failing to secure adequate market support.
- 1953
First WTOV-TV operation begins
[1]The first station to use channel 27 in the market begins commercial broadcasting under Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation, with ABC and DuMont programming.
Products and positioning
Local broadcast television station serving the Hampton Roads market, with network programming, syndicated entertainment, local promotion, and commercial advertising.
Broadcast television
CW network service
WGNT’s current core offering is carriage of programming from The CW, delivered over the air to viewers in the Hampton Roads market. The station’s network service is combined with local station branding, promotional material, commercial inventory, and programming decisions tailored to the market.
Advertising · 1961
Local television advertising
As a commercial broadcast station, WGNT sells advertising and promotional placement associated with its local signal and network schedule. Its commercial reach is centered on Portsmouth, Norfolk, and the broader Hampton Roads television market.
Television programming · 1961
Religious television programming
During its WYAH-TV period, the station’s principal output consisted of Christian teaching, church-produced programs, televangelist broadcasts, and viewer-supported fundraising. This was historically central to the channel but is not its present primary positioning.
Brand decisions
1997
Paramount Stations Group acquisitionM&ABackground
WGNT’s UPN affiliation made it strategically relevant to Paramount’s station portfolio.
Action taken
Paramount Stations Group acquired WGNT, making it a UPN-owned-and-operated station.
Aftermath
WGNT became the only network-owned station in the Hampton Roads market at that time.
Reported purchase price. 42.5 million USD (1997)
1995
Adoption of UPN affiliationStrategyBackground
The launch of the United Paramount Network created a new national programming service seeking local affiliates.
Action taken
WGNT became a charter UPN affiliate and branded itself as UPN 27.
Aftermath
The station shifted from an unaffiliated independent profile to a network-affiliated one and later entered Paramount’s owned-and-operated group.
1989
Transition from CBN religious station to general-market independentStrategyBackground
After the sale of WYAH-TV by Christian Broadcasting Network to Centennial Communications, the new owners inherited a station whose schedule and identity were strongly associated with religious broadcasting.
Action taken
Centennial changed the call sign to WGNT, adopted a more conventional independent-station schedule, and ended the former policy of censoring mild profanity in syndicated entertainment.
Aftermath
The station moved progressively away from its CBN identity, reduced religious programming, and eventually removed The 700 Club from its regular schedule.
Recent events
- 1997
Paramount Stations Group purchases WGNT[1]
M&A · Leadership change
Paramount Stations Group acquired WGNT, making it a UPN-owned-and-operated station.
- 1995
WGNT becomes a charter UPN affiliate[1]
Product launch
WGNT joined the United Paramount Network at its launch and branded locally as UPN 27.
- 1989
Centennial Communications acquires WYAH-TV and changes call sign to WGNT[1]
M&A
A locally based investor group completed the acquisition of the former CBN station and adopted the WGNT call letters, marking a shift toward a conventional independent-station format.
- 1970
WYAH-TV expands transmitter power and coverage[1]
Other
A substantially more powerful transmitter increased the station’s effective coverage across Hampton Roads and into parts of the eastern Richmond market.
- 1961
WGNT returns to the air as WYAH-TV under Christian Broadcasting Network ownership[1]
Other
Christian Broadcasting Network relaunched channel 27 as WYAH-TV, initially emphasizing religious teaching, church-produced programs, and syndicated evangelistic content.
WGNT becomes part of the Scripps Hampton Roads television group[1]
M&A
WGNT is owned by The E. W. Scripps Company and operated alongside WTKR, with shared studios in downtown Norfolk.
Sources2 sources
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