| New Haven/Hartford, Connecticut | |
|---|---|
| Branding | News 8 (general and newscasts) |
| Slogan | Oh, STOP! |
| Channels | Digital: 10 (VHF) Virtual: 8 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 8.1 ABC 8.2 Bounce TV |
| Affiliations | ABC |
| Owner | LIN TV Corporation (WTNH Broadcasting, Inc.) |
| First air date | June 15, 1948 |
| Call letters' meaning | Television for New Haven |
| Sister station(s) | WCTX |
| Former callsigns | WNHC-TV (1948-1971) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 6 (VHF, 1948-1953) 8 (VHF, 1953-2009) |
| Former affiliations | Primary: DuMont (1948-1949) CBS (1949-1955) Secondary: NBC (1949-1955) DuMont (1949-1956) |
| Transmitter power | 20.5 kW |
| Height | 342 m |
| Facility ID | 74109 |
| Website | www.wtnh.com/ |
WTNH is the ABC-affiliated television station for the state of Connecticut that is licensed to New Haven. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 10 from a transmitter in Hamden. Owned by the LIN TV Corporation, the station is sister to MyNetworkTV affiliate WCTX and the two share studios on Elm Street in Downtown New Haven. However, master control and some internal operations originate from hub facilities at NBC affiliate WWLP in Chicopee, Massachusetts.
Syndicated programming on WTNH includes: Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, Rachael Ray, and Dr. Phil. Although technically part of the Hartford/New Haven market, it is one of two Connecticut stations along with WCTX that has a large Fairfield County audience as well. This area is part of the New York City DMA which is where ABC flagship WABC-TV is based.
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The station debuted on June 15, 1948 as WNHC-TV, broadcasting an analog signal on VHF channel 6. It was founded by the New Haven Register along with 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.[1] It switched its primary affiliation to CBS in 1949, at the same time taking on a secondary NBC affiliation. A secondary affiliation with ABC followed a year later. In late-1953, WNHC-TV changed frequencies and moved to analog VHF channel 8.
The next year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) combineed Hartford and New Haven into a single market. It shared some NBC 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 1955, the New Haven Register and 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. It has been a primary ABC affiliate longer than any station in New England except WMTW in Portland, Maine; which was also located on analog VHF channel 8.
Until WTIC-TV (channel 3, now WFSB) switched to CBS in 1958, WNHC-TV was the only network affiliate 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 WFIL-AM-FM-TV in Philadelphia and KFRE-AM-FM-TV in Fresno, California. However, Capital Cities could not keep the radio stations because it already owned the maximum number allowed at the time. As a result, WNHC-TV changed its call letters to the current WTNH-TV soon after Capital Cities 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. Like the other major Connecticut stations, WTNH provides city-grade coverage of Fairfield County, which is part of the New York City market. It also provides at least Grade B coverage to most of Long Island, and has been carried on several Long Island cable systems for many years alongside WABC. 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, syndicated talk show Sally originated from studios in New Haven until the show moved to New York City.
Cook Inlet sold WTNH to current owner LIN TV. When a new UHF Independent in New Haven, WTVU (later WBNE and 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.[2] 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 left channel 8 and moved to channel 10 when the analog to digital conversion was completed.[3]
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 simulcasted 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.
Anchors
Storm Team 8 Meteorologists'
Sports
Reporters
Notable former staff
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