WVII

Not to be confused with the real-life WVII-TV in Bangor, ME
WVII, channel 7, is a Central owned-and-operated station located in Treacle, TX. The station is owned by the Central Television Network, a subsidiary of The Pierre Péladeau Company, and is a sister to TCN O&O KMEG-LD (channel 6)
Notably, the station uses the W callsign west of the Mississippi. This is because WVII-AM (now KTRL-AM, broadcasting on 700 kHz) is due to the fact the policy predates the launch of the former, as Treacle was originally located east of the original "K"/"W" border distinction defined by the FCC.
==History==
===Early History===
Broadcasters of the South, Inc., owner of WVII-AM, filed for a license on October 1950, but was rejected by the FCC because of its license freeze on new applications for television stations that was enforced during that year. The company again tried in 1952, and the company obtained a construction permit and license to operate a television station on VHF channel 7. After two years of patience and buying some equipment, WVII-TV signed on the air at 7:30 PM on January 4, 1953 with a fifteen-minute ceremony inaugurating the launch of Channel 7 as its first broadcast; WVII broadcast for one hour that evening, with the remainder of its initial schedule consisting of its first locally produced program, Pet Keepers. WVII had broadcast for only four hours of programming per day. It originally operated as a primary affiliate of the DuMont Television Network and a secondary affiliate of the short-lived Paramount Television Network; under the arrangement, through an agreement between Lacy-Potter and Paramount Pictures, the station agreed to air 4.75 hours of Paramount Television's programming each week during 1953.
===Independence (1956-1967)===
When both DuMont and Paramount ceased operations in 1956, the station began broadcasting as a general independent station, one of the first in Texas. Much of its schedule consisted of local programming. Channel 7 was first television station in the market to use a videotape recorder for broadcasting purposes; the station would gradually shift much of its locally produced programming from a live to a pre-recorded format, outside of newscasts, sports and special events, and eventually became one of the first television stations in the U.S. to convert its news footage to videotape in the 1970s.
===Central affiliation (1967-present)===
A year after a new network was formed, WVII regained a network affiliation as a Central affiliate. Four years later, Broadcasters of the South, Inc. filed for bankruptcy, which eventually sold WVII-TV to the network and WVII-AM to CBS. The station changed its call letters to its present day KTRL-AM, because of the fact that FCC law at the time, which forbade TV and radio stations in the same city, but with different owners from sharing the same call letters.
Quebecor Media bought Central in 1986, which resulted it to sell off then-independent KYFF (channel 40, now a Koopa Troop Television Network O&O) because the FCC forbade duopolies until 1999.
==Digital television==
===Digital channels===
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
Channel	Video	Aspect Ratio	PSIP short name	Programming
7.1 	1080p	16:9 	WGOT 	Main WGOT programming / Central MK
7.2 	1080p	16:9 	NWLD 	NewsWorld
7.3 	1080p	4:3 	AVG 	Avant Garde Network
7.4 	1080p	4:3 	TBD 	TBD (TV network)
7.5 	1080p	4:3 	 	Bites
===Analog-to-digital conversion===
WVII signed on its high definition digital signal on April 30, 2004. WVII shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 7, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre-transition UHF channel 44. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 7.
As part of the SAFER Act, WVII kept its analog signal on the air until July 12 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters.
==Programming==
As an owned-and-operated station, WVII clears the entire Central network schedule; however, it only airs Waking Up with Central for 2 hours instead of 3 for their own morning newscast. Syndicated programming include Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien, Judge Joe Brown, Just For Laughs: Gags, among others.
==Logos==
KABC Circle 7.svg|Circle 7 used since 1979, a tweaked version is currently in use since 1996
WVII 1993 ID.png|Localized version of Central's "The One and Only" campaign from 1995
WVII news open 1994.png|News open (1992-1994)
WVII 1994 open.png|News open from 1994-1999
WVII news open 1999-2004.png|News open (1999-2004)
WVII open.png|News open since 2020
WVII-WISN-WCEN watermark.svg|Watermark used during syndicated and re-runs of Central programming, shared with WCEN, WISN and WTVY
Category:Channel 7
Category:Television channels and stations established in 1953
Category:Central Television Network
Category:Central owned and operated stations
Category:Central affiliates
Category:Treacle, Texas
Category:Texas
Category:The Pierre Péladeau Company
Category:Former independent stations
Category:NewsWorld network affiliates
Category:Avant Garde Network affiliates
Category:TBD network affiliates
Category:Bites network affiliates