WTVO

==1953–1962==
WTVO signed on May 3, 1953, as the market's first television outlet and is the oldest continuously operating UHF station in the northern portion of Illinois. It originally aired an analog signal on UHF channel 39 but moved to channel 17 in 1967. Sister station WQRF-TV has operated from channel 39 since first signed on in November 1978. WTVO was originally a primary NBC affiliate and shared secondary ABC status with WREX-TV (channel 13).
When WCEE-TV (channel 23, now WIFR) signed on in 1965, it took the CBS affiliation, sending ABC to WREX and leaving WTVO with just NBC. The station was owned by Winnebago Television (the station's call sign stands for "Winnebago Television Organization"), which was partially owned by the H & E Balaban Corporation (which later became Balaban Stations), until 1988 when Young Broadcasting of New York State purchased it.
Vintage-tv-news-ad 1959-WTVO.jpg|
==1962–1965==
==1965–1967==
Wtvo3965.jpg|
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==1967-1998==
===1967–1993===
WTVO 17 1979 Testcard.png
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WTVO1980.png|
wtvolocalad.JPG|WTVO local sponsor
WTVO_1987.jpg| 
WTVO 17 NBC 1988.png
WTVO 17 NBC 1990.png
WTVO Whole New NBC 1993 ID.jpg
===1993–1998===
After a 42-year run as the local NBC station, it swapped network affiliations with WREX, taking the ABC affiliation on August 14, 1995. According to Variety, ABC pulled its programming from WREX not long after Quincy Newspapers bought the station. ABC was perturbed at Quincy's decision to switch the affiliation of its South Bend station WSJV from ABC to Fox earlier that year. The replacement ABC affiliate for South Bend, W58BT (now WBND-LD), began broadcasting on October 18, two months after WTVO affiliated with ABC. The deal may also have been facilitated by the fact that ABC had bought a minority stake in Young the year before.
==1998–2013==
Wtvo 2011.png|2011–2013 
Eyewitness-News-logoFOR-WEB.gif|Eyewitness News logo (2012-2016)
Nexstar EWN logo.svg|Eyewitness News 2D logo (2012–present)
Wtvo-dt 16-1 rockford.003.jpg|WTVO-DT2 (2003–2006)
Wtvo dt2 2014.png|WTVO-DT2 (2006–2015)
Another ownership change came on November 22, 2004, when Mission Broadcasting (a de facto subsidiary of Irving, Texas–based Nexstar Broadcasting) bought WTVO from Young for $21 million. This made the station a sister to Nexstar-owned WQRF.
==2013–present==
The "17" logo looks similar to the one used by WNED-TV from 1966-1997.
WTVO 2013.jpg|Variant with 2007 ABC logo
WTVO 2013 1.svg|Flat gradient version
WTVO 2013 B&W.svg|Monochrome logo
WTVO ABC 17 Rockford.png|With the 2021 ABC logo
EYEWITNESS NEWS2015-copy.jpg|Eyewitness News logo (2016–present)
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Rockford's My Network TV logo 2015.png|WTVO-DT2 (2015–present)
==External links==
Category:Television stations in the United States
Category:ABC network affiliates
Category:Mission Broadcasting
Category:Nexstar Media Group
Category:Rockford, Illinois
Category:Illinois
Category:1953
Category:Former Young Broadcasting stations
Category:Former NBC network affiliates
Category:Television stations involved in the 1994–1996 United States broadcast TV realignment