WFSB
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| WFSB | |
|---|---|
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| Hartford / New Haven, Connecticut | |
| Branding | Channel 3 (general) Channel 3 Eyewitness News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | Eyewitness News is Everywhere |
| Channels | Analog: 3 (VHF) nightlight |
| Subchannels | 3.1 CBS 3.2 WSHM-LP 3.3 & 3.4 Local News and Weather |
| Owner | Meredith Corporation |
| First air date | September 21, 1957 |
| Call letters’ meaning | Frederick S. Beebe (former president of former owner Post-Newsweek Stations) |
| Sister station(s) | WSHM-LP |
| Former callsigns | WTIC-TV (1957-1974) |
| Former channel number(s) | 3 (VHF analog, 1957-2009) |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1957-1958) |
| Transmitter Power | 100 kW (analog) 1000 kW (digital) |
| Height | 271 meters (890 ft) (analog) 288.8 metres (948 ft) (digital) |
| Facility ID | 53115 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | 41°46′30.1″N 72°48′18.7″W / 41.775028°N 72.805194°W |
| Website | wfsb.com |
WFSB, channel 3, is the CBS-affiliated television station for the state of Connecticut that is licensed to Hartford. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal from a transmitter on Avon Mountain. Owned by the Meredith Corporation, the station has studios on Capital Boulevard in Rocky Hill, Connecticut.
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[edit] Digital television
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
| Virtual Channel |
Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | main WFSB programming / CBS HD |
| 3.2 | 480i | 4:3 | WSHM-LP/LD "CBS 3 Springfield" |
| 3.3 | 480i | 4:3 | "Eyewitness News Now" (24-hour local news and weather channel) |
| 3.4 | 480i | 4:3 | "WFSB Fairfield County" ("Eyewitness News Now" with news crawl containing Fairfield County specific news) |
[edit] Analog-to-Digital Conversion
WFSB ended programming on its analog signal, on VHF channel 3, on June 12, 2009 [1] [2], as part of the DTV transition in the United States, and continued to broadcast on its pre-transition digital channel 33 [3], using PSIP to display the station's virtual channel as 3. WFSB is the only Connecticut station participating in the "Analog Nightlight" program, and will do so through June 26, 2009. [4]
[edit] History
Connecticut's second VHF station debuted September 21, 1957 as WTIC-TV and was an independent station owned by the Hartford-based Travelers Insurance Company along with WTIC radio (1080 AM) and WTIC-FM (96.5 MHz.). It was one of the most powerful stations in the Northeast covering nearly all of Connecticut, much of western Massachusetts (including Springfield) and parts of Long Island. By 1958, CBS was looking to sell its owned-and-operated station in Hartford, WHCT-TV (channel 18, now WUVN).
The network's ratings had been low in the market because television manufacturers were not required to have UHF tuners at the time and CBS decided that it was better to have its programming on a VHF station even if the station was only an affiliate as opposed to an owned-and-operated station. The new WTIC was selected as its Connecticut affiliate, in part due to the station being one of the most powerful in New England. WTIC officially became Connecticut's CBS station in early-1958. Within a short time, the combination of its strong signal and the CBS affiliation catapulted the station to the top spot in the ratings (a position it has held more or less ever since). In early-1974, Travelers Insurance sold channel 3 to the Washington Post Company. The Post's broadcasting division, Post-Newsweek Stations changed the calls to the current WFSB after broadcasting division president Frederick S. Beebe. The WTIC-TV calls would return to Connecticut in 1984 when Arch Communications, the then-owners of WTIC radio, signed on as part-owners of the new station on channel 61. In the late-1980s, Post-Newsweek moved its corporate offices from Washington, D.C. to office space located alongside WFSB making it the company's flagship.
This was part of a move by the Post to give its various subcorporations their own independent identities and this strategy 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 swapped WFSB to the Meredith Corporation 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 it relocated to the company's then-largest station, WDIV, in Detroit. Construction started in 2006 on new studios for WFSB in the southern Hartford suburb of Rocky Hill. Its longtime home had been at 3 Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford. On May 25, 2007, the Constitution Plaza facility was flooded by a water main break.
The water damaged two of the station's cameras and its telephone systems. The flooding caused the power to be turned off which in turn caused WFSB to go dark. The master control facilities of sister station WSHM-LP was also affected. On June 27, WFSB's master control was switched to the new facility, and on July 10, the remaining parts (mostly the news side) of the station's operation were moved to Rocky Hill as well. The main desk and anchors for the news would be in a second studio temporarily until the main set was ready. WFSB unveiled part of their new set in early-October 2007. The final set was unveiled in early-February 2008. In June 2006, the station's website was redesigned (along with those of four of Meredith Corporation's other stations). The old website was operated by the Local Media Network division of World Now. It is currently operated by Internet Broadcasting. On June 12, 2009, WFSB left channel 3 and moved to channel 33 when the analog to digital conversion was completed. [5]
[edit] WSHM-LP/LD "CBS 3 Springfield"
When channel 3 became a CBS affiliate in 1958 it was deemed to be the primary CBS affiliate for the nearby Springfield / Holyoke, Massachusetts television market as well. WFSB's signal reaches as far away as southwest New Hampshire. The station has repeatedly blocked attempts by Springfield's original CBS affiliate WGGB-TV (now with ABC) to switch back to CBS. To increase its presence in western Massachusetts, WFSB began operating a low-power station in Springfield, WSHM-LP, in late-2003. From its sign-on, master control of that station has been located at WFSB's studios. WSHM is a low-powered station, and as a result, did not broadcast a digital signal of its own until late-2008. This is when the station built a digital transmitter and signed-on a digital signal. It can also be seen on WFSB's second digital subchannel which has been serving as WSHM's digital signal. Though identifying as a station in its own right, WSHM is considered a semi-satellite of WFSB. It has most of its internal operations run alongside WFSB, and clears all of the station's syndicated programming although some of it airs at different times.
[edit] News operation
WFSB has used the Eyewitness News title and format for its newscasts since the mid-1970s. They have been rated number-one in nearly all time slots for the past thirty years. On February 5, 2007, the station began operating a 24-hour local news and weather channel on its third digital subchannel. Known as "Channel 3 Eyewitness News Now", it can also be viewed live on WFSB's website and on digital cable systems. On January 7, 2008, it started airing The Early Show in its entirety as CBS now requires all of its affiliates to do so. The Early Show has been reformatted and the network hopes the program can better compete against its rivals, Today and Good Morning America. Before this change, WFSB preempted the first hour of the broadcast in favor of a third hour of local news. In addition to their main studios, WFSB operates two news bureaus in the state. There is one in New London at Shaws Cove and in New Haven on Chapel Street. In 2009, WFSB will open a bureau at the new Connecticut Science Center that is currently under construction on Columbus Boulevard in Hartford. The station's weather radar is known as "Early Warning Pinpoint Doppler" and is located on top of the passenger terminal at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks.
[edit] Station slogans
- Discover the Land of the 3 (1976-1980)
- Your News is Our News (1980-1984)
- The One and Only TV 3 (1983-1997)
- Connecticut's News Station (1995-2004)
- Eyewitness News is Everywhere (2004-present)
[edit] News team
- Anchors
- Mike Hydeck - weekday mornings and reporter
- Irene O'Connor - weekday mornings and reporter
- Kara Sundlun - weekdays at Noon and Better Connecticut
- Al Terzi - weekdays at Noon, 5, and 5:30
- Denise D'Ascenzo - weeknights at 5, 5:30, and 6
- Dennis House - weeknights at 6 and 11
- host of Face The State
- Jessica Schneider - weekend mornings and reporter
- Kevin Hogan - weekend evenings and New London Bureau Chief
- Hena Daniels - weekend evenings and reporter
Channel 3 Early Warning Meteorologists
- Melissa Cole - fill-in and "It Mom" segment reporter for Better Connecticut
- Bruce DePrest (AMS Seal of Approval) - Chief seen weeknights at 5, 6, and 11
- Scot Haney - weekday mornings
- Mark Dixon (AMS Seal of Approval and NWA Member) - weekdays at Noon and 5:30
- Better Connecticut co-host and "Connecticut's Everyday Heroes" segment producer
- Curtis Grevenitz - weekends and fill-in
- Sports
- John Holt - weekend evenings and reporter
- Friday Night Football reporter
- Chris Kelley - reporter and fill-in anchor
- Joe Zone - Director seen weeknights at 6 and 11
- host of Eyewitness News Sports Sunday and Friday Night Football
- Reporters
- Len Besthoff - investigative
- Leon Collins - New Haven Bureau and investigative
- Heather Hegedus
- Robert Goulston - New Haven Bureau Chief
- Hallie Jackson
- Dan Kain
- Teresa LaBarbera - weekday morning traffic and "Better Buddy" segment reporter for Better Connecticut
- Tina Martin
- Eric Parker
- Susan Raff
- Katy Zachry
[edit] Notable alumni
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[edit] References
- ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztee7Q-jKGo
- ^ 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
- ^ http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-291375A1.pdf
- ^ FCC document: "APPENDIX B: ALL FULL-POWER TELEVISION STATIONS BY DMA, INDICATING THOSE TERMINATING ANALOG SERVICE BEFORE ON OR FEBRUARY 17, 2009."
[edit] External links
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