Editor's note: WDRL broadcasts on Cox channel 22. This online version has been updated to fix the error.

WDRL-TV is off the air in Roanoke and Salem while the station faces ongoing copyright and financial disputes with a Missouri cable company.

The television station, which has offices in Roanoke and broadcasts in the Roanoke and Lynchburg area, has been in a court battle since 2004 over copyright claims and money that Charter Communications says WDRL owes.

WDRL -- which broadcast over the air on channel 24, on Cox channel 22 and on Comcast channel 14 -- has programming that includes Christian gospel shows, syndicated reruns and talk shows.

A ruling this month in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia placed WDRL in receivership, according to station owner Mel Eleazer. Charter, appointed as receiver, recently shut down the station's over-the-air transmitter on Smith Mountain, Eleazer said.

A media contact number for Charter was not immediately available.

The station is appealing the court's decision, Eleazer said. WDRL is still broadcasting in the New River Valley, Wytheville and localities north of Lynchburg, he said.

It was unclear when or if the broadcasts would continue. Representatives for Cox Communications and Comcast said their companies would keep the channel positions open should WDRL begin transmitting again.

-- Jordan Fifer