WMUR-TV
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WMUR-TV | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Manchester, New Hampshire | |
| Branding | WMUR 9 WMUR News 9 |
| Slogan | No One Covers New Hampshire Like We Do |
| Channels | Analog: 9 (VHF) |
| Translators | W27BL Berlin WMUR-LP 29 Littleton W38CB Littleton |
| Affiliations | ABC ABC News Now (on DT2) |
| Owner | Hearst-Argyle Television (Hearst-Argyle Properties, Inc.) |
| First air date | March of 1954 |
| Call letters’ meaning | Gov. Francis P. MURphy (founder) |
| Sister station(s) | WPTZ WNNE WCVB-TV |
| Transmitter Power | 6500 watts (digital) |
| Height | 314 m (analog) 305 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 73292 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | wmur.com |
WMUR-TV, channel 9, is the ABC-affiliated television station serving the entire state of New Hampshire, licensed to Manchester. Its transmitter is located on Mount Uncanoonuc in Goffstown. Owned by Hearst-Argyle Television, the station has studios on South Commercial Street in downtown Manchester.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Several parts of WMUR's programming lineup are similar to that of sister station WCVB-TV, Boston's ABC affiliate, as both stations share some syndicated programs. WMUR airs a localized version of Chronicle, WCVB's longtime signature program. Along with WMUR and WCVB, Hearst-Argyle also owns NBC affiliate WNNE. That station is based in White River Junction, Vermont and serves as a semi-satellite of WPTZ (another NBC affiliate owned by Hearst-Argyle). During election seasons, WMUR is well-known for organizing and producing candidate debates for ABC News, as well as CNN, before the first United States presidential primary.
[edit] Digital television
The station's digital signal is multiplexed. In 2009, WMUR will move its digital signal from channel 59 to its analog channel position at channel 9.
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 9.1 | main WMUR programming / ABC HD |
| 9.2 | ABC News Now |
[edit] Repeaters
Since 1994, WMUR has operated three repeaters in the northern part of New Hampshire. Until 2001, two of the stations aired programming from FOX and simulcasted WMUR's newscasts (the third one simulcasted WMUR itself). The two FOX stations started simulcasting WMUR when WMTW-TV, the ABC affiliate for Portland, moved its transmitter off of Mount Washington.
| Callsign | Channel | Licensed to / Transmitter location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| W27BL | 27 | Berlin | *part of the Portland market *first on-air in 1994 |
| WMUR-LP | 29 | Littleton / Cannon Mountain | *is a low-powered station *tower shared with W38CB *formerly W16BC and (briefly) W29CM |
| W38CB | 38 | Littleton / Cannon Mountain | *tower shared with WMUR-LP *always aired ABC programming |
[edit] History
WMUR-TV was established by former New Hampshire governor Francis P. Murphy on March 1, 1954. It was the first television station in the state and broadcasted daily newscasts, local game shows, and movies. The station was sold to Richard Eaton's United Broadcasting in 1959 following Murphy's death a year earlier. In the 1970s, one of its local programs was the children's weekday strip known as The Uncle Gus Show. Unlike Boston's astronaut "Major Mudd" or the widely franchised "Bozo", host "Uncle Gus" wore no costume except an angler's hat.
In July of 1981 (following Richard Eaton's death) WMUR was sold to Birney Imes Jr., a Columbus, Mississippi businessman who also owned that city's WCBI-TV as well as WBOY-TV in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Under the ownership of Imes, he made WMUR a major influence in New Hampshire by upgrading its facilities and news department. In September of 1987, the station moved from its original studios on Elm Street in Manchester to 50 Phillippe Cote Street in the historic Millyard area of the city. Then, in 1995, WMUR purchased land and a building at their current location of 100 South Commercial Street. This building was rebuilt as a state-of-the-art broadcast center with 80,000 square feet available. The station went on the air from this new location in January of 1996.
In November of 1998, WMUR's digital signal began broadcasting on UHF channel 59. In December of 2000, Imes Communications sold the station to Emmis Communications. Three months later, Emmis traded WMUR to Hearst-Argyle Television for that company's three radio stations in Phoenix, Arizona: KTAR-AM, KMVP, and KKLT.
In 2004, the station celebrated 50 years of broadcasting. On September 23, 2005, WMUR became available on satellite via DirecTV in the North Country region of New Hampshire (Coos, Carroll, Grafton, and Sullivan Counties). In the final season of The West Wing, congressmen Matt Santos running in the Democratic Presidential Primary, went to the studio of WMUR to run a live ad for his campaign.
[edit] New Hampshire network affiliates
Manchester is about 45 miles north from Boston while Concord is about 60 miles. Boston's VHF stations have grade A signals in Manchester and Grade B signals in Concord while the UHF stations have grade B signals in Manchester but spotty signals in Concord. It was once thought that Southern New Hampshire could break away from Boston and become its own market. If the sub-market were to break away from Boston, it would rank in the top 100 of all U.S. television markets. However, CBS' ownership of WBZ-TV makes this unlikely as it could dilute that station's ad revenue.
At the start of 1988, the sub-market had WMUR and PBS affiliate WENH. On February 1, 1988, an independent station based in Concord, WNHT, became Southern New Hampshire's first CBS affiliate and began to produce local newscasts. WNHT lost the affiliation and stopped broadcasting on March 31, 1989 as a result of low viewership and ratings. There has not been a CBS affiliate based in the state since then. In the early-1990s, WBZ-TV (which is now the CBS affiliate for parts of Southern New Hampshire within the Boston market) operated a news bureau in Manchester which was re-established on Elm Street in November of 2006. When WNHT signed off, WMUR & WENH remained the only network affiliated stations in the state until the creation of MyNetworkTV back on September 5. On that date, another independent station, WZMY-TV (formerly WNDS) based in Derry, became the Southern New Hampshire and Boston affiliate for MyNetworkTV.
There has never been an NBC affiliate based in the state. However, WNNE has, since 1978, broadcast NBC programming into parts of western New Hampshire from just across the state line in Vermont. Much of this area is considered part of the Burlington / Plattsburgh market although WMUR is still available. The rest of the state receives the NBC feed from that network's affiliates in either Boston or Portland. There were no The WB and UPN affiliates when those networks were active. The CW network does not presently have any affiliates in New Hampshire either. WMUR has always promoted the fact that it is the only major network affiliate and consistent local news source in the state. The station's current slogan reflects this.
[edit] News operation
WMUR broadcasts around 85 hours of local news each week. In addition to their main studios, the station operates two news bureaus in the state. The Lakes Region Bureau is located at The Inn at Bay Point in Meredith. The Seacoast Bureau is located at Harbor Place in Portsmouth. WMUR's nightly 6 o'clock news is simulcasted on two area radio stations, WTPL-FM 107.7 and WTSN-AM 1270. WMUR broadcasts national news from a Washington D.C. Bureau operated by Hearst-Argyle. The bureau employs several reporters who give live reports to the various Hearst-Argyle affiliates. Although WMUR does not own or operate a weather radar of its own, the station uses live, NOAA National Weather Service radar data from several regional sites. During weather segments, this data is presented in a forecasting system called "Storm Watch 9 Storm Tracker". A live feed of this system is offered on WMUR's website.
[edit] News team
Anchors
- Erin Fehlau - weekday mornings and Noon
- Sean McDonald - weekday mornings
- reporter
- Jean Mackin - weeknights at 5 and 5:30
- reporter
- Jennifer Vaughn - weeknights at 6
- medical reporter
- Tom Griffith - weeknights at 6 and 11
- New Hampshire Chronicle co-host
- Tiffany Eddy - weeknights at 11
- New Hampshire Chronicle co-host
- Amy Coveno - weekend mornings
- reporter
- Kria Sakakeeny - weekend evenings
- reporter
Storm Watch 9 Meteorologists
- Mike Haddad - Chief seen on weeknights
- heard on WMLL-FM 96.5
- Kevin Skarupa (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist) - weekday mornings and Noon
- heard on WMLL-FM 96.5
- Josh Judge (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist) - weekends
- Bill Gile - fill-in
- Chris Thomas Jarzynka - occasional fill-in
Sports
- Jamie Staton - Director seen on weeknights at 6 and 11
- Jason King - weekend evenings
- sports reporter
- Naoko Funayama - sports reporter
- sports producer
- "Hometown Hero" segment producer
Reporters
- Andy Hershberger - crime
- Sally Kidd - national correspondent
- Laurie Kinney - national correspondent
- Ray Brewer
- Josh Davis
- Heather Hamel
- Kimberly Bookman
- Adam Sexton
- Aaron Kellogg
[edit] Logos
 The station's previous logo. |
 Logos of WMUR and the repeaters in 2000. |
 WMUR's current logo. |
[edit] External links
- WMUR-TV/DT
- WMUR wireless
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WMUR-TV
- Query the FCC's TV station database for W27BL
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WMUR-LP
- Query the FCC's TV station database for W38CB
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
