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WTNH, channel 8, is the ABC affiliate for the state of Connecticut, licensed to New Haven and owned by LIN Television Corporation. The station's transmitter is located in Hamden, Connecticut, and it serves the Hartford/New Haven television market. The station is also available over the air and on cable in some portions of Long Island. WTNH is the sister station to WCTX (channel 59), currently the Hartford/New Haven UPN affiliate.
History
WTNH debuted on June 15, 1948 as WNHC-TV on channel six. The station was founded by the New Haven Register along with WNHC-AM (1340 kHz., now WYBC) and WNHC-FM (99.1 MHz., now WPLR). It is Connecticut's oldest television station, and the second-oldest in New England (WBZ-TV in Boston signed on a few weeks earlier). It was originally an affiliate of the DuMont Television Network, adding NBC and CBS in 1949. ABC programming followed in 1950.
In 1954, the Federal Communications Commission collapsed Hartford and New Haven into a single market. WNHC-TV then moved to channel 8 in the combined market. It shared NBC programming with New Britain's WKNB-TV (channel 30, now WVIT) until 1956. WKNB's signal was not strong enough to cover New Haven at the time. In 1955, the New Haven Register and WNHC-AM-FM-TV were bought by Triangle Publications of Philadelphia. That same year, WNHC-TV lost its CBS affiliation when the network bought Hartford's WGTH-TV (now WUVN). After NBC's contract with WNHC-TV ran out, the station became a sole ABC affiliate, though it shared ABC programming with Waterbury-based WATR-TV (channel 53 and later channel 20, now WTXX) until 1966.
As part of a sale of Triangle's broadcasting interests in 1971, WNHC-AM-FM-TV was sold to Capital Cities Communications along with sister stations WFIL-AM-FM-TV in Philadelphia and KFRE-AM-FM-TV in Fresno, California. Since the FCC required Capital Cities to sell the radio stations, WNHC-TV became WTNH soon after Capital Cities took control. WTNH later adopted the Action News format made famous at its Philadelphia sister station, WPVI-TV (the former WFIL-TV).
Capital Cities bought ABC in 1986. The deal stunned the broadcast industry since ABC was some ten times bigger than Capital Cities at the time. The transaction would have resulted in three ABC stations in adjacent Northeastern markets sharing common ownership. The signals of both WTNH and WPVI surround ABC flagship WABC-TV in New York City. The overlap was greater between WABC-TV and WTNH since WTNH's signal reached Long Island. As a result, the FCC would not allow the merged company to keep WTNH. Capital Cities then sold WTNH to a minority-controlled firm called Cook Inlet Communications.
Cook Inlet sold WTNH to LIN in 1994, The station dropped the Action News format in the mid-1990s to become "NewsChannel 8". When a new UHF independent station in New Haven, WTVU (later WBNE and now WCTX) signed-on in 1995, WTNH began operating the station under a local marketing agreement. In 2001, LIN bought WCTX outright. Since the start of the LMA, WTNH has produced a 10 p.m. nightly and 7 a.m weekday newscast for WCTX.
Despite heavy treatment for cancer, Mel Goldstein remains WTNH's chief meteorologist.
Meterologist Geoff Fox has been with WTNH since 1984 and has the longest running association with a Hartford-New Haven television news outlet. Fox's humorous and familiar demeanor have turned him into a favorite Connecticut celebrity.
News Personalities
- Ann Nyberg - anchor
- Dr. Mel Goldstein - chief meteorologist
- Sonia Baghdady - anchor
- Geoff Fox - meteorologist
- Ted Koppy - anchor
- Keith Kountz - anchor
- Darren Kramer - anchor