Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 09:44, 5 August 2012

{{Infobox broadcast}} may refer to:

• Template:Infobox broadcasting network
• Template:Infobox television channel
• Template:Infobox television station

{{Template disambiguation}} should never be transcluded in the main namespace.

WTNH, channel 8, is an ABC-affiliated television station in New Haven, Connecticut, USA. WTNH is owned by LIN Media, and is a sister station to MyNetworkTV affiliate WCTX (channel 59). The two stations share studios on Elm Street in downtown New Haven, and WTNH broadcasts from a transmitter in Hamden, Connecticut.

History

What today is WTNH first went on the air on June 15, 1948, as WNHC-TV, originally broadcasting on channel 6. The station was founded by the Elm City Broadcasting Corporation, the owners of WNHC radio (1340 AM, now WYBC; and 99.1 FM, now WPLR). It is Connecticut's oldest television station and the second-oldest in New England; WBZ-TV in Boston signed-on less than a week earlier. It was originally an affiliate of the DuMont Television Network, and claims to have been the first full-time station of that short-lived network. The station broadcast from WNHC radio's building on Chapel Street in downtown New Haven, but with no studio facilities of its own. Without means to produce local programming WNHC-TV simply rebroadcast the signal of DuMont's New York City flagship, WABD (now WNYW). In October 1948 the station became an affiliate of CBS, and additional secondary affiliations with NBC and ABC followed a year later.

When the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s Sixth Report and Order ended the four-year freeze on television license awards in 1952, it also reorganized station allocations to alleviate interference issues. As a result, WNHC-TV changed frequencies and moved to channel 8 in late 1953. The next year, the FCC combined Hartford and New Haven into a single market. WNHC-TV shared some CBS programming with New Britain's WKNB-TV (now WVIT) until 1955, since WKNB's signal was not strong enough to cover New Haven at the time.

In 1956, the WNHC stations were bought by Triangle Publications of Philadelphia. Also in that same year, WNHC-TV lost its CBS affiliation when that network purchased WGTH-TV in Hartford (later WHCT and now WUVN). This left channel 8 as a sole ABC affiliate, although it shared network programming with WATR-TV (now WCCT-TV) in nearby Waterbury until 1966.

Until WTIC-TV (channel 3, now WFSB) signed on in September 1957, WNHC-TV was the only station on the VHF dial in Connecticut. Many viewers northeast of Hartford used outdoor antennas to get spotty reception of CBS and NBC programs from Boston, and those southwest of Hartford with outdoor TV antennas got equally spotty reception from their respective New York flagship stations. By contrast, most of Connecticut got a clear picture and pitch-perfect sound from channel 8.

Triangle was forced to sell its television stations in 1971 after then-Pennsylvania Governor Milton J. Shapp complained the company had used its Pennsylvania stations in a smear campaign against him. The WNHC stations were among the first batch to be sold, going to Capital Cities Communications along with sister stations in Philadelphia and Fresno, California. However, Capital Cities could not keep the radio stations because of the FCC's then-restrictions on ownership, resulting in WNHC-AM-FM being spun-off to separate third parties. WNHC-TV changed its call letters to the current WTNH-TV in April 1971, not long after Capital Cities officially took over. (The station dropped the -TV suffix from its calls in 1985 but continued to call itself "WTNH-TV" on-air well into the 1990s.)

Capital Cities bought ABC in 1986 in a deal that stunned the broadcast industry. However, the FCC would not allow the merged company to keep WTNH due to a significant signal overlap with ABC's flagship station, WABC-TV in New York City. At the time, the FCC normally did not allow common ownership of two stations with overlapping coverage areas and would not even consider granting a waiver when the overlap involved two city-grade signals. As a result, WTNH was spun off to a minority-controlled firm called Cook Inlet Communications. During the mid-1980s, the syndicated Sally Jessy Raphael talk show originated from the WTNH studios in New Haven until the show moved to New York City.

Cook Inlet sold WTNH to current owner LIN Television in 1994. When a new UHF Independent in New Haven, WTVU (channel 59, now WCTX) signed-on in 1995, WTNH began operating the station through a local marketing agreement (LMA). In 2001, LIN TV bought WCTX outright. On May 18, 2007, the company announced that it was exploring strategic alternatives that could have resulted in the sale of the company. It was the first station in the country to use videotape for local programming and one of the first to broadcast in color. On June 12, 2009, WTNH signed off analog channel 8 and remained digital on channel 10 when the "analog to digital" conversion was completed.

News operation

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

For over a quarter century, the station used the Action News format made famous at former Philadelphia sister station WFIL-TV (now WPVI-TV), even using the same "Move Closer" music and graphics packages as WPVI. It re-branded to the NewsChannel title in 1996.

For most of the last half-century, WTNH has been a distant runner-up in the market to dominant WFSB. However, in recent times, it has had to fend off a spirited challenge from WVIT. The two stations have spent the last decade trading the runner-up spot.

Historically, WTNH's ratings for news and local programming are far higher in Nielson's "Metro B" area (New Haven County) than "Metro A" (Hartford County). However, this trend does not hold true for network programming. Of all the stations in Connecticut with news operations, WTNH provides the most coverage of Fairfield County and the Long Island Sound shoreline. On weekdays, there is also a focus on traffic reports on I-95/Connecticut Turnpike and CT 15/Merrit Parkway to serve commuters heading towards New York City.

Since 2000, WTNH has been producing a nightly prime time newscast at 10 on WBNE/WCTX. It has competed right from the start with WTIC-TV's 10 o'clock broadcast, which established itself as a viewer favorite since going on-the-air in 1989. As of the February 2008 ratings period, WCTX's weeknight newscast is actually the most watched 10 or 11 p.m. broadcast in the market even gathering more viewership that the big three stations in Connecticut. In 2005, WCTX began simulcasting the second hour of WTNH's weekday morning show (at 6) followed by a third hour from 7 until 8 seen exclusively on WCTX except for simulcast Good Morning America cut-ins on WTNH. The second hour was eventually dropped for an unknown reason. The 7 a.m. hour received competition on March 3, 2008 when WTIC made its initial weekday morning show launch.

Its weekday noon newscast was originally an hour long, but was reduced to thirty minutes on February 23, 2009 when a new lifestyle/entertainment magazine show known as Connecticut Style was added at 12:30. On April 26, 2010; WTNH re-branded from News Channel 8 to News 8. In addition, WTNH began broadcasting newscasts in 16:9 widescreen enhanced definition, with WCTX's newscasts and Connecticut Style being included in the upgrade. On October 4, 2010; WTNH began broadcasting newscasts in high definition, becoming the third station in the market to do so. WCTX's newscasts also made the transition, and Connecticut Style made the transition in 2011.

In addition to its main studios, WTNH operates a New London Bureau in The New London Day newsroom on Eugene O'Neill Drive and a Hartford Bureau on Columbus Boulevard. Along with regional NOAA National Weather Service radar data, the station operates its own weather radar near its transmitter site in Hamden. Together, these two sources are called "SkyMax Doppler Network". This can be seen via live video with audio from the National Weather Service on WTNH's website.

Cable and satellite availability

During the 1970s and 1980s through CATV, WTNH once had carriage in portions of northeastern New Jersey in Bergen County and much of Long Island east of New York City.

Newscast titles

• Your Esso Reporter (1948–1957)
• World News Today (1950`s)
• Television 8 News (1957–1960)
• Channel 8 News (1960–1972)
• Action News (1972–1996)
• NewsChannel 8 (1996–2010)
• News 8 (2010–present)

Station slogans

• "We`re With You on Channel 8" (1984–1985; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• "You'll Love It on Channel 8" (1985–1986; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• "Together on Channel 8" (1986–1987; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• "Something`s Happening on Channel 8" (1987–1990; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• "Connecticut`s Watching WTNH" (1990–1992; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• "Connecticut's News Leader" (1992–1996)
• "Working For You" (1996–2003)
• "TV is Good, on NewsChannel 8" (1997–1998; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• "We Love TV, on NewsChannel 8" (1998–1999; localized version of ABC ad campaign)
• "Coverage You Can Count On" (2003–2010)
• "Count on 8" (2009–2010)
• "Who's Got Your Back? News 8" (2010–present)

News team

Current anchors

• Ann Nyberg - weeknights at 6 and 10
• Anne Craig - weekday mornings
• Chris Velardi - weekday mornings
• Darren Kramer - weeknights at 5, 5:30, 10, and 11
• Don Lark - weekend evenings
• Keith Kountz - weekdays at noon & 6PM
• Sonia Baghdady - weeknights at 5, 5:30, and 11
• Jeff Valin - weekend mornings & general assignment reporter

Storm Team 8

• Gil Simmons (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist) - weekday mornings & News8 at Noon
• Steve MacLaughlin - weeknights
• Erika Martin - weekend mornings & fill-in
• Erica Grow - weekend evenings & fill-in
• Sam Kantrow - weekday morning weather producer/web meteorologist

• Reporters

• Ali Reed
• Annie Rourke
• Bob Wilson
• Erin Cox - investigative reporter
• Erin Logan
• Jamie Muro
• Jocelyn Maminta - health and medical correspondent
• Kent Pierce
• Stephanie Simoni
• Mark Davis - Chief Political Correspondent in Hartford Bureau
• Teresa LaBarbera - weekday morning traffic & Connecticut Style host
• Tina Detelj - New London Bureau Chief and reporter
• Steve Parker - Connecticut Style co-host
• Jay Trelease - weekday afternoon traffic

• Sports Team 8

• Noah Finz - Sports Director seen weeknights at 6, 10, and 11 p.m.
• John Pierson - weekends & fill-in

References

1. "WNHC-TV programs to start this week." Broadcasting - Telecasting, June 14, 1948, pg. 58.
2. DuMont TV historical website, Chapter 3: Stations, C. Ingram
3. "TV finds a haven." Broadcasting - Telecasting, September 20, 1948, pp. 42-47.
4. "WNHC-TV is new CBS-TV affiliate." Broadcasting - Telecasting, October 11, 1948, pg. 22.
5. "WNHC-TV takes NBC." Broadcasting - Telecasting, February 14, 1949, pg. 32.
6. "WNHC-TV adds ABC." Broadcasting - Telecasting, May 23, 1949, pg. 46.
7. "Triangle makes 4th purchase in year, buys WNHC-AM-FM-TV for $5.4 million." Broadcasting - Telecasting, May 28, 1956, pg. 82.
8. "Capcities buys 9 Triangle outlets." Broadcasting, February 16, 1970, pg. 9.
9. "Last minute clearance for Capcities." Broadcasting, March 1, 1971, pp. 19-20.
10. "WNHC-AM-FM sold." Broadcasting, April 6, 1970, pp. 9-10.
11. "Capcities + ABC." Broadcasting, March 25, 1985, pp. 31-32.
12. "FCC approval of CapCities/ABC deal likely." Broadcasting, March 25, 1985, pp. 33-34.
13. "ABC/CCC sells four TV's for $485 million; Detroit, Tampa to Scripps Howard." Broadcasting, July 29, 1985, pg. 30.
14. LIN TV Corp. Exploring Strategic Alternatives, LIN TV, May 18, 2007
15. http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
16. http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/coals7/forms/search/cableSearchNf.cfm

External links

• WTNH "News 8"
• WTNH mobile
• WCTX "My TV 9"
• Template:TVQ

Template:LIN TV

• American Broadcasting Company affiliates
• Television stations in Connecticut
• Television stations in New Haven, Connecticut
• ABC network affiliates
• Channel 10 digital TV stations in the United States
• Channel 8 virtual TV stations in the United States
• Television channels and stations established in 1948