WFSB

WFSB, channel 3, is a CBS-affiliated television station located in Hartford, Connecticut, USA, owned by the Meredith Corporation. WFSB's studios and offices are located in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and its broadcast transmitter is based on Talcott Mountain in Avon, Connecticut. Syndicated programming on WFSB includes: Entertainment Tonight, The Dr. Oz Show, Inside Edition, and Live with Regis and Kelly.

Most of WFSB's programs are seen in Springfield, Massachusetts over a low-power semi-satellite station, WSHM-LD. This station has its own studios in the Monarch Tower in downtown Springfield, master control and some internal operations are based at WFSB's facilities.

History

Connecticut's second analog VHF station debuted on September 21, 1957 as WTIC-TV, owned by the Hartford-based Travelers Insurance Company along with WTIC radio (1080 AM and 96.5 FM). WTIC-TV was one of the most powerful stations in New England, not only covering the entire state but a large chunk of western Massachusetts and providing secondary coverage to much of southern sections of Vermont and New Hampshire. For its first year on the air, Channel 3 was an independent station, as ABC was affiliated with the state's other VHF outlet, WNHC-TV (channel 8, now WTNH) in New Haven; while CBS and NBC had owned-and-operated stations on the UHF band in the market, WHCT-TV (channel 18) in Hartford and WNBC (channel 30, now WVIT) in New Britain, respectively.

In 1958, CBS was looking to sell WHCT-TV (now WUVN). The network's ratings had been alarmingly low in the market because television manufacturers were not required to have UHF tuners at the time. Many viewers northeast of Hartford got a better signal for CBS programming from WNAC-TV (now WHDH-TV) in Boston, while those southwest of Hartford with an outdoor antenna were able to watch the network via New York City flagship station WCBS-TV. Network head William S. Paley decided that it was better to have CBS air its programming on a VHF station, and channel 3 became the network's new affiliate in the fall of 1958, in part due to the station's strong signal. Ironically, WTIC-AM had been with NBC Radio for over thirty years.^[1]

The switch to WTIC-TV for CBS had repercussions in Springfield, Massachusetts, as it forced WHYN-TV (now WGGB-TV) to drop its original CBS affiliation, which it replaced with ABC (previously, some ABC programs had been seen on WWLP). Over the years, WTIC-TV repeatedly blocked WHYN's attempts to switch back to CBS.

In 1962, the WTIC stations moved to Broadcast House, a state-of-the-art facility in the Constitution Plaza development in downtown Hartford. A decade later, in late 1972, Travelers Insurance decided to exit broadcasting, with WTIC-TV going to the Washington Post Company in March 1973. On August 1, 1973, the Post's broadcasting division, Post-Newsweek Stations, changed channel 3's call letters to the current WFSB in honor of broadcasting division president Frederick S. Beebe. To get those call letters, the Post had to convince Framingham State College in Massachusetts to give up those call letters, which were used on the college's low-power FM radio station. The WTIC call letters returned to Connecticut television in 1984 when Arch Communications, then-owners of WTIC radio, signed on as part-owners of a new independent station on channel 61.^[2]

In the late-1980s, Post-Newsweek moved its corporate offices from Washington D.C. to space located alongside Broadcast House making the station the company's flagship. This was part of a strategy move by the Post to give its various sub-corporations their own independent identities which worked well at first. By the mid-1990s, however, WFSB found itself in a shrinking market without any significant growth opportunities. In June 1997, Post-Newsweek sold the station to the Meredith Corporation in exchange for WCPX-TV (now WKMG-TV) in Orlando, Florida.^[3] The sale closed that October although the Post-Newsweek group maintained its base in Hartford until 2000 when the company relocated to its then-largest station, WDIV in Detroit.

On June 12, 2009, WFSB ended its analog broadcasts on VHF channel 3 as part of the completion of the coversion to digital, moving its operations to digital channel 33.^[4][5] WFSB is the only Connecticut station that participated in the "analog nightlight" program and did so through June 26.^[6]

Weeknights, WFSB airs a repeat of the evening's Entertainment Tonight after Late Show with David Letterman, placing The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on a thirty-minute tape delay. Additionally, until January 2008, the station pre-empted the first hour of The Early Show in favor of a third hour of local morning news. The change was made after CBS began requiring all affiliates to carry The Early Show in its entirety.

Digital Television

On WFSB-DT2 is a standard definition digital feed of sister station WSHM. On WFSB-DT3, Charter digital channel 243, Comcast digital channel 247, and Cox digital channel 801 is a 24-hour local news and weather channel known as "Eyewitness News NOW".

Even though Fairfield County is part of the New York City market where CBS flagship WCBS-TV is based, WFSB targets viewers in the area through WFSB-DT4 "WFSB Fairfield County"; it is essentially a simulcast of "Eyewitness News NOW" except for a news crawl containing Fairfield County-specific headlines and weather graphics.

WSHM's digital signal uses 3.5 for its broadcast feed and 3.6 for its own 24-hour local weather channel that is mirrored after "Eyewitness News NOW". These subchannels are available only in areas covered by WSHM's digital signal, which broadcasts at a low power.

News operation

After Post-Newsweek took control of the station in 1974, WFSB adopted the Eyewitness News title and format pioneered at KYW-TV in Philadelphia. Ironically, rival WTNH-TV used the Action News format made famous at then-Philadelphia sister station WPVI-TV and even used the same "Move Closer" music package. This station is the most watched and highest ranked among Nielsen ratings second only to the current WTIC-TV weeknight newscasts.

For many years, WTNH had been a distant runner-up in the market to WFSB. However, in recent times, it has fended 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). This is because of all the news operations in Connecticut, WTNH provides the most coverage of Fairfield County and the Long Island Sound shoreline. On February 5, 2007, WFSB began operating a 24-hour local news and weather channel known as "Eywitness News NOW" on a new third digital subchannel.

In addition to its main studios, WFSB operates three news bureaus in the state. This includes a base of operation in New London, on Chapel Street in Downtown New Haven, and at the new Connecticut Science Center on Columbus Boulevard in Downtown Hartford. The latter is also home to WFSB's lifestyle and entertainment magazine program Better Connecticut that airs weekday afternoons from 3 until 4. In 2009, Better Connecticut began airing in 16:9 widescreen enhanced definition.

The station operates its own weather radar known as "Early Warning Pinpoint Doppler". Located above one of the passenger terminals at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, this is also used on sister station WSHM (branded similarly as "Pinpoint Doppler"). The Springfield station will often share resources with WFSB and this station doing the same for coverage from Connecticut. On May 31, 2011; WFSB began broadcasting newscasts in high definition, becoming the fourth station in the market to do so. Face the State and Better Connecticut have also made the transition. However, WSHM continues to broadcast their newscasts in 4:3 standard-definition.

References

External links

• WFSB channel 3
• WFSB mobile
• WSHM-LD "CBS 3 Springfield"
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WFSB