WBOY is the West Virginia Media station in Clarksburg, West Virginia affiliated with NBC. It identifies itself as "WBOY, Clarksburg-Morgantown-Fairmont". It operates on channel 12, and its digital channel is channel 52.
The station was launched in 1957. It was the second television station in its small market. It was originally intended to be the ABC affiliate for all of north-central West Virginia. However, the market's intended NBC affiliate, Parkersburg's WTAP-TV, did not have a signal strong enough to reach Clarksburg and Weston. After it became clear that Parkersburg and Clarksburg were going to be separate markets, WBOY joined NBC and remains there to this day. However, it retained a secondary ABC affiliation for many years.
In 2001, Hearst-Argyle Television acquired WBOY, along with WMUR-TV in Manchester, New Hampshire, from Birney Imes, Jr., a Columbus, Mississippi businessman who also owned that city's WCBI-TV (which was sold to Morris Network). Hearst-Argyle's acquisition of WBOY was finalized on April 30, 2001. Hearst-Argyle kept WMUR, but opted to sell WBOY to West Virginia Media Holdings in September of that year, with the sale closing on December 13.
The station received a major influx of cash to upgrade its news operation and built a second studio in Morgantown. A major emphasis was placed on news from that town, in the hopes of increasing ratings and thus getting the town reassigned to the Clarksburg-Fairmont market. The station also produces a large amount of West Virginia University content which is distributed to the other member stations.
WBOY-TV Website: wboy.com