| Revision as of 22:05, 4 September 2013 editDougbertel (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users760 edits I corrected the history of the sale of Channel 3 from the Travelers Insurance Company to Post-Newsweek Stations. I also clarified the date of changing the call letters from the original WTIC-TV to the current WFSB.Tags: nowiki added Visual edit← Previous edit | Revision as of 22:22, 4 September 2013 edit undoWcquidditch (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers132,010 editsm fix formattingNext edit → | ||
| Line 37: | Line 37: | ||
| The switch to WTIC-TV for CBS had repercussions in ], as it forced WHYN-TV (channel 40, now ]) to drop its original CBS affiliation, which it replaced with ] (previously, some ABC programs had been seen on ]). Over the years, WTIC-TV repeatedly blocked WHYN's attempts to switch back to CBS. | The switch to WTIC-TV for CBS had repercussions in ], as it forced WHYN-TV (channel 40, now ]) to drop its original CBS affiliation, which it replaced with ] (previously, some ABC programs had been seen on ]). 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 ] development in downtown Hartford. A decade later, in late 1972, Travelers Insurance decided to exit broadcasting. The announcement was made to the staff at an employee meeting held in Studio A on January 15, 1973. While WTIC (AM) and WTIC-FM were spun-off to a company formed by station management called 1080 Corporation, WTIC-TV was sold to ]. The sale of all three stations was closed on March 8, 1974 and the Post's broadcasting division, ], changed Channel 3's call letters on that date to the current '''WFSB''' in honor of broadcasting division president <u>F</u>rederick <u>S</u>. <u>B</u>eebe. To get the WFSB call letters, the Post had to convince ] in ] to give up those call letters, which were used on the college's low-power FM radio station, whose call letters were changed to ] as a result of the switch. 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 ] on ]. |
In 1962, the WTIC stations moved to Broadcast House, a state-of-the-art facility in the ] development in downtown Hartford. A decade later, in late 1972, Travelers Insurance decided to exit broadcasting. The announcement was made to the staff at an employee meeting held in Studio A on January 15, 1973. While WTIC (AM) and WTIC-FM were spun-off to a company formed by station management called 1080 Corporation, WTIC-TV was sold to ]. The sale of all three stations was closed on March 8, 1974 and the Post's broadcasting division, ], changed Channel 3's call letters on that date to the current '''WFSB''' in honor of broadcasting division president <u>F</u>rederick <u>S</u>. <u>B</u>eebe. To get the WFSB call letters, the Post had to convince ] in ] to give up those call letters, which were used on the college's low-power FM radio station, whose call letters were changed to ] as a result of the switch. 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 ] on ].<ref name="Re: WTIC/WFSB></ref> | ||
| In the late-1980s, Post-Newsweek moved its corporate offices from ] to space located alongside Broadcast House making the station the company's ]. 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 ]) in ].<ref>, '']'' (via ]), June 2, 1997.</ref> 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, ] in ]. | In the late-1980s, Post-Newsweek moved its corporate offices from ] to space located alongside Broadcast House making the station the company's ]. 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 ]) in ].<ref>, '']'' (via ]), June 2, 1997.</ref> 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, ] in ]. | ||
Revision as of 22:22, 4 September 2013
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "WFSB" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
{{Infobox broadcast}} may refer to:
- Template:Infobox broadcasting network
- Template:Infobox television channel
- Template:Infobox television station
Topics referred to by the same term
This is an unused template to list other templates associated with a similar title or shortcut.If an internal transclusion led you here, you may wish to change it to point directly to the intended page.
{{Template disambiguation}} should never be transcluded in the main namespace.
WFSB, virtual channel 3 (UHF digital channel 33), is a CBS-affiliated television station located in Hartford, Connecticut, United States. The station is owned by the Meredith Corporation. WFSB's studios and offices are located in Rocky Hill, and its transmitter is located on Talcott Mountain in Avon, Connecticut.
Most of WFSB's programs are seen in Springfield, Massachusetts over a low-power semi-satellite station, WSHM-LD (channel 3). That station has its own studios in the Monarch Tower in downtown Springfield, although master control and some internal operations are based at WFSB's facilities.
History
WFSB signed on the air 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). As Connecticut's second VHF station, 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 the southern sections of Vermont and New Hampshire. During 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, now WUVN) in Hartford and WNBC (channel 30, now WVIT) in New Britain, respectively. With no network affiliation, WTIC-TV devoted much of its airtime to movies, syndicated programs, and three daily newscasts (including one at 10 p.m.).
In 1958, CBS was looking to sell WHCT-TV. 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) 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 radio had been with NBC Radio for over thirty years.
The switch to WTIC-TV for CBS had repercussions in Springfield, Massachusetts, as it forced WHYN-TV (channel 40, 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. The announcement was made to the staff at an employee meeting held in Studio A on January 15, 1973. While WTIC (AM) and WTIC-FM were spun-off to a company formed by station management called 1080 Corporation, WTIC-TV was sold to The Washington Post Company. The sale of all three stations was closed on March 8, 1974 and the Post's broadcasting division, Post-Newsweek Stations, changed Channel 3's call letters on that date to the current WFSB in honor of broadcasting division president Frederick S. Beebe. To get the WFSB call letters, the Post had to convince Framingham State College in Framingham, Massachusetts to give up those call letters, which were used on the college's low-power FM radio station, whose call letters were changed to WDJM-FM as a result of the switch. 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.
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. 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.
Digital television
Digital channels
WFSB-DT
WFSB-DT2 was a standard definition digital feed of sister station WSHM, removed in Autumn, 2012. 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". To comply with the E/I requirements, Eyewitness News NOW airs three hours of Gina D's Kids Club every Saturday morning starting at 9am ET, the same time as Cookie Jar TV on the main channel.
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 WFSB except for some alternate infomercials not simulcast on the main WFSB subchannel.
WFSB's digital signal is multiplexed:
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WFSB | Main WFSB programming / CBS |
| 3.3 | 480i | 4:3 | WFSB-3 | "Eyewitness News NOW" |
| 3.4 | WFSB-4 | "WFSB Fairfield County" |
WSHM-LD
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.
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 | 1080i | 16:9 | WSHM-HD | WSHM-LD "CBS 3 Springfield" |
| 3.6 | 480i | 4:3 | WSHM-D2 | "CBS 3 NOW" |
Analog-to-digital conversion
WFSB shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 3, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 33. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 3. WFSB was the only Connecticut station that participated in the "analog nightlight" program, with the analog signal remaining in operation until June 26.
Programming
Weeknights, WFSB airs a repeat of the evening's Entertainment Tonight after the Late Show with David Letterman, placing The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on a 30-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 its weekday morning newscast. The change was made after CBS began requiring all affiliates to carry The Early Show in its entirety.
News operation
WFSB presently broadcasts 33 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with five hours on weekdays and four hours each on Saturdays and Sundays). 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 by 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.
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 to Your World" music package. WFSB is the most-watched among the local newscast market's stations according to the Nielsen ratings, second only to the WTIC-TV's current 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 at 3 p.m. In 2009, Better Connecticut began airing in 16:9 widescreen enhanced definition.
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.
On January 13, 2012, WFSB began simulcasting its weekday noon and 6 p.m. newscasts on radio stations WLIS (1420 AM) in Old Saybrook and WMRD (1150 AM) in Middletown. On February 28, 2012, WFSB entered into a partnership with the The Bulletin in which the two media properties share news footage and stories, along with WFSB providing local forecasts for the Norwich-based newspaper.
News team
- Anchors
- Denise D'Ascenzo - weeknights at 5:00, 5:30 & 6:00 p.m.
- Hena Daniels - weeknights at 11:00 p.m.; also reporter
- Kevin Hogan - Saturdays at 6:00, Sundays at 6:30 & weekends at 11:00 p.m.; also New London bureau chief reporter
- Dennis House - weeknights at 5:00, 5:30, 6:00 & 11:00 p.m.
- Tina Martin - weekend mornings (6:00-9:00 a.m.); also "Tina Around Town" segment producer
- Irene O'Connor - weekday mornings (4:30-7:00 a.m.)
- Eric Parker - weekday mornings (4:30-7:00 a.m.); also "I-Team" investigative reporter
- Kara Sundlun - weekdays at noon; also Better Connecticut co-host and fill-in anchor
- Channel 3 Early Warning Weather
- Bruce DePrest (member, AMS) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00 p.m.
- Scot Haney - weekday mornings (4:30-7:00 a.m.) & Better Connecticut co-host
- Mark Dixon (member, AMS) - weekdays at noon & weeknights at 5:30 p.m.; also fill-in
- Mike Cameron (member, AMS) - weekend mornings (6:00-9:00 a.m.); weekend evenings (6:00 & 11:00 p.m.), & weekday fill-in
- Eyewitness Sports
- Joe Zone - sports director; weeknights at 6:00 and 11:00 p.m.
- John Holt - fill-in sports anchor; also segment reporter
- John Brickley - sports anchor; Saturdays at 6:00, Sundays at 6:30 & weekends at 11:00 p.m.
- Reporters
- Len Besthoff - Hartford bureau chief & "I-Team" investigative reporter
- Matthew Campbell - "I-Team" investigative reporter
- Robert Goulston - New Haven bureau chief
- Jill Konopka - "I-Team" investigative reporter; also fill-in anchor
- Karen Lee - general assignment reporter
- Kim Lucey - general assignment reporter; also fill-in anchor
- Matt McFarland - general assignment reporter
- Susan Raff - "I-Team" investigative reporter
- Bill Rapp - associate producer for Channel 3 Eyewitness News This Morning
- Kate Rayner - general assignment reporter
- Olessa Stepanova - weekday morning traffic(4:30-7:00 a.m.); also Better Connecticut Buddy and fill-in anchor
- Courtney Zieller - general assignment reporter
Notable former on-air staff
- Mika Brzezinski (best-selling author and host of Morning Joe)
- Bertha Coombs (now with CNBC)
- Gayle King (now co-anchor of CBS This Morning and an editor-at-large for O, The Oprah Magazine)
- Marc Howard - reporter/weekend anchor (later with WPVI and KYW in Philadelphia; now retired)
- Mike Randall - reporter (now at WKBW-TV in Buffalo)
References
- "WTIC to Air News, Sports, and Weather". The Billboard. August 19, 1957. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
- Meredith Corporation to acquire Hartford Conn., television station, Business Wire (via HighBeam Research), June 2, 1997.
- RabbitEars TV Query for WFSB
- RabbitEars TV Query for WSHM
- "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.
- http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
- http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101305937&formid=387&fac_num=53115 CDBS Print
- "UPDATED List of Participants in the Analog Nightlight Program" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. June 12, 2009. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
- WFSB Simulcasting News On Radio Stations, TVNewsCheck, January 13, 2012.
- Bulletin, Channel 3 teaming up, Norwich Bulletin, February 28, 2012.
- "A look back at Mika Brzezinski's WFSB career". WFSB-TV. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
- "Bertha Coombs Profile". CNBC. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- "Mike Randall". WKBW-TV. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
External links
| Broadcast television in the Pioneer Valley region of western Massachusetts | |
|---|---|
| |
| Full power | |
| Low power | |
| ATSC 3.0 digital | |
| Cable stations |
|
| Defunct stations |
|
| |
| CBS network affiliates serving New England | |
|---|---|
| Connecticut | |
| Maine | |
| Massachusetts |
|
| New Hampshire |
|
| Rhode Island | |
| Vermont |
|
| |
- Television stations in Hartford, Connecticut
- CBS network affiliates
- Television channels and stations established in 1957
- Channel 33 digital TV stations in the United States
- Channel 3 virtual TV stations in the United States
- Media in Hartford County, Connecticut
- Media in New Haven County, Connecticut
- Meredith Corporation television stations