Black Dog has died. The scruffy black canine with dreadlocks on his chest roamed tony West End neighborhoods for many years. He had nearly 700 friends on Facebook, but untold more followed his travels. Black Dog was found dead Thursday morning near the intersection of Cary Street and Maxwell Road, apparently struck by a vehicle.

WTVR: (804) 254-3600
  WWBT/WUPV: (804) 230-1212
  WRIC: (804) 330-8888
  WRLH: (804) 358-3535
On its Web site, WWBT suggests that if re-scanning, calling the station and other tips from the station fail, a home visit may be necessary. Call (888) CALL-FCC or go to http://www.dtv.gov.

The four Richmond TV stations switching to digital today plan to have their offices staffed through the weekend to assist viewers. WUPV, the local CW affiliate, is pooling resources and personnel with WWBT and sharing the WWBT phone number. Local Fox affiliate WRLH already made the change in February but will have someone available during regular business hours to address digital-transition questions.

The oldest television station in the South now officially belongs to one of the newest media companies in the country. Local TV Holdings closed on the deal with Raycom yesterday, acquiring the CBS affiliate WTVR from Raycom in exchange for the Birmingham, Ala., Fox affiliate WBRC. Because the Birmingham station is in a larger market than the Richmond station, Raycom is also paying a sum of cash, reported by TVNewsday.com to be $85 million.

A memorial service for Dayle Taliaferro Dunn, community affairs director and director of cause-related marketing at WTVR, will be held March 21 at 1 p.m. at First Baptist Church of South Richmond, 1501 Decatur St. Mrs. Dunn, 61, who had struggled with cancer for the past three years, died Sunday at her Richmond home. Peter Maroney, general manager at WTVR, recalled that when he went to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast with Mrs. Dunn for the first time, “everybody who came through the door rushed over and hugged Dayle.“ He said that, standing next to her, he met thenVirginia Gov. Mark R. Warner, local School Board members, the police chief and “probably half the congressional delegation in about 30 minutes.“

A three-block section of West Broad Street in Richmond is closed for eastbound traffic this morning because of ice that has fallen on the road from an adjacent television tower. Broad Street’s eastbound lanes are closed from the 3100 to 3400 blocks, from Thompson to Summit streets. Police closed the lanes because of ice that fell from the tower operated by WTVR-Channel 6 on Broad Street.

WTVR is finally changing hands. Raycom Media Inc. will swap the Richmond CBS affiliate with Local TV LLC, which will give Raycom the Birmingham, Ala., Fox affiliate, WBRC.