WROC-TV

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WROC-TV
Rochester, New York
Branding	News8 Now
Slogan	"We're your Eye on Rochester."
Channels	8 (VHF) analog, 45 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	CBS
Owner	Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Founded	June 11, 1949
Call letters meaning	ROChester
Former callsigns	WHAM-TV (1949-56)
Former affiliations	NBC (1949-89) DuMont (1949-56)[1]
Website	www.wroctv.com

WROC-TV is the CBS affiliate in Rochester, New York. It broadcasts its analog signal on VHF channel 8, and its digital signal on UHF channel 45. The station is owned and operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group. Its transmitter is located on Pinnacle Hill in Brighton, New York.

WROC was the market's first television station, signing on June 11, 1949 as WHAM-TV, an NBC affiliate, on channel 6. The station was also affiliated with the now defunct DuMont Television Network. [2] It was owned by Stromberg-Carlson, a telephone equipment manufacturer, along with WHAM radio. It moved to channel 5 on July 24, 1954 due to interference issues with CBLT, which operated on channel 6 in Toronto, about 90 miles away on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Stromberg-Carlson sold its broadcast holdings in 1956. WHAM-TV was sold to Transcontinent Broadcasting of Buffalo and changed its calls to WROC-TV. (The WHAM-TV callsign is now used on channel 13, previously WOKR-TV.) The station switched to channel 8 on September 8, 1962 as part of a channel reassignment involving stations in Rochester and Syracuse. After 40 years with NBC, WROC joined CBS in 1989, swapping affiliations with WHEC-TV.

The station has changed owners several times over the years. In 1961, Transcontinent sold the station to Veterans Broadcasting Company, which had just sold its half of what is today WHEC-TV to Gannett earlier that year. Veterans merged with Rust Craft Broadcasting in 1964. Ziff Davis bought out Rust Craft in 1979. WROC and then-sister stations WEYI-TV in Saginaw, Michigan and WTOV-TV in Steubenville, Ohio were sold to Television Station Partners LP in 1983, then to Smith Broadcasting in 1996. Nexstar bought WROC in 1999.

The station's syndicated programming includes Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, Montel and Inside Edition. Its newscasts are currently titled "News 8 Now."

For many years WROC-TV was one of 3 Rochester area stations offered on Cable in the Ottawa/Gatineau and Eastern Ontario regions. The Rochester area stations were replaced with Detroit stations when the microwave relay system that provided these signals was discontinued. However, WROC and several other Rochester stations are still on cable in several communities along the north shore of Lake Ontario, such as Belleville and Cobourg.

[edit] Newscasts

Monday-Friday

• Wake Up Rochester - 5 a.m.-7 a.m.

Melanie Barnas, John Stehlin (weather) Jonathan Myers (Reporter) Wed-Fri

• News 8 Now at Noon - 12 p.m.-12:30 p.m.

Melanie Barnas, John Stehlin (weather)

• News 8 Now at 5 - 5 p.m.-5:30 p.m.

Kevin Doran, Maureen McGuire, Scott Hetsko (weather) Elizabeth Harness (Health)

• News 8 Now at 6 - 6 p.m.-6:30 p.m.

Kevin Doran, Maureen McGuire, Scott Hetsko (weather), John Kucko (sports)

Fox First News 10 on WUHF 31 FOX Lia Lando, Scott Hetsko (weather), John Kucko (sports)

• News 8 Tonight - 11 p.m.-11:35 p.m.

Kevin Doran, Maureen McGuire, Scott Hetsko (weather), John Kucko (sports)

Weekends

• News 8 Now at 6 - 6 p.m.-6:30 p.m.

Katrina Irwin, Jonathan Myers (weather), Dave Yates (sports)

• News 8 Tonight - 11 p.m.-11:35 p.m.

Katrina Irwin, Jonathan Myers (weather), Dave Yates (sports)

• Reporters
• Jenny Chu
• Katrina Irwin
• Kevin Jolly
• Lia Lando
• Dave McKinley
• Matt Molloy
• Joylynn Whitfield
• Weather
• Scott Hetsko
• John Stehlin
• Jonathan Myers
• Sports
• John Kucko
• Dave Yates
• Thad Brown

[edit] Past personalities

• Ty Chandler former Reporter now at KCTV Kansas City
• Cathy Orosz former Reporter now at WITI Milwaukee
• Rob Haswell former Meteorologist now at WITI Milwaukee
• Rachel Barnhart former Reporter now at WHAM-TV
• Steve Levine former Reporter now at WBFF, Baltimore, MD
• Christine Crafts former Meteorologist now at SUNY Brockport
• Melissa Long former Reporter now at CNN

[edit] External links

• WROC-TV Homepage
• RNYN - WROC Television
• Nexstar Broadcasting Group: WROC Station Profile
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WROC-TV

CBS Network Affiliates in the state of New York
WCBS 2 (New York City) - WIVB 4 (Buffalo) - WTVH 5 (Syracuse) - WRGB 6 (Albany) - WWNY 7 (Watertown) - WROC 8 (Rochester) - WBNG 12 (Binghamton)
See also: ABC, CW, Fox, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS and Other stations in New York