WVTX-CD was originally a satellite station for independent Pittsburgh station WBGN-LP with the W28AS call sign. The station's call sign changed to WDBW-CA on January 16, 2004, and again to WVTX-CA on February 17, 2004. Under a local marketing agreement that began in late 2004, Bruno-Goodworth Network retained ownership of WVTX-CA, the station increased power, ceased transmitting WBGN programming, and started its own newscast, produced locally by WVTX Inc., which also shared ownership with cable-only WB affiliate WBWO. WVTX-CA affiliated with UPN in December 2004 and became the only UPN affiliate serving West Virginia viewers; it produced programming such as a daily 5:30 pm newscast and coverage of local church services. WVTX-CA also enjoyed carriage on several area cable systems including Comcast, which carried the station on channel 3. When UPN and the WB merged to form The CW in September 2006, WVTX-CA lost its network affiliation; the CW affiliation went to WBWO. WVTX Inc. then returned WVTX-CA to The Bruno Goodworth Network, and the station returned to simulcasting WBGN-LP. The station soon began broadcasting digitally, and assumed its final call sign of WVTX-CD on May 2, 2013. As Wheeling's only independent television station, WVTX-CD aired a mix of local programs and first run syndicated programming. The station was no longer carried on the Comcast system, but remained available over the air. On September 26, 2013, Bruno-Goodworth Network signed a time brokerage agreement with WTRF-TV. Under the agreement, WVTX-CD's main channel began to carry the Fox and MyNetworkTV programming of WTRF's second subchannel and the ABC programming of WTRF's third subchannel. OTA Broadcasting purchased the Bruno-Goodworth Network and its eleven television stations, including WVTX, on October 10, 2013. Fox programming was dropped September 1, 2014 after WTRF lost the affiliation to WTOV-TV. Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced on November 17, 2015 that it would purchase the West Virginia Media Holdings stations, including WTRF-TV, for $130 million; it assumed control of the stations through a time brokerage agreement in December 2015 and completed the acquisition on January 31, 2017.
Spectrum reallocation
In the Federal Communications Commission 's incentive auction, WVTX-CD sold its spectrum for $6,100,391; at the time, the station indicated that it would enter into a post-auction channel sharing agreement. WVTX-CD ceased operations October 25, 2017; OTA Broadcasting surrendered its license to the FCC for cancellation on October 26, 2017. This station's purpose was gradually replaced anyway when ongoing upgrades to the multiplexer equipment being utilized over WTRF's full-power signal over the two years following the spectrum sale have allowed for the MyNetworkTV and ABC subchannels to both begin airing in 720p HD over-the-air via WTRF-TV's full-power signal for full-market over-the-air HD distribution of those two subchannels. CBS, MyNetworkTV, and ABC are now all available in HD over WTRF's full-power signal, and due to aggressive statistical multiplexing implemented in May 2019, MyNetworkTV now airs in 720p 16:9 HD over-the-air. Before WVTX-CD had ceased operations, the necessary multiplexer equipment to transmit three feeds in HD simultaneously on one channel wasn't as widely-used and it was uncommon to have any more than two HD feeds transmitting over a single channel.
