WFSB

{{Infobox broadcast}} may refer to:

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WFSB, channel 3, is an affiliate of the CBS television network serving most of the state of Connecticut. The station is owned by the Meredith Corporation. Licensed to the state capital of Hartford, WFSB's signal reaches as far away as southwest New Hampshire. WFSB's studios are located in the town of Rocky Hill, just south of Hartford, with transmitter on Avon Mountain.

WFSB broadcasts a digital signal of sister station WSHM-LP, the CBS affiliate in Springfield, Massachusetts, on its second digital subchannel (3.2).

History

Connecticut's second VHF station debuted September 21, 1957 as WTIC-TV, 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). CBS' ratings had been low in Hartford because television manufacturers were not required to have UHF tuners at the time. CBS decided that it was better to have its programming on a VHF station, even if the station was an affiliate (as opposed to an owned-and-operated station). CBS selected the new WTIC-TV as its Connecticut affiliate, in part due to WTIC-TV being one of the most powerful stations in New England.

WTIC-TV 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 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 that station the company's flagship. This was part of a move by the Post to give its various subcorporations their own independent identities. Although this strategy worked well at first, by the mid 1990s, 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 a new building for WFSB to the suburb of Rocky Hill, moving from its longtime home on 3 Constitution Plaza in downtown Hartford. On June 27th, 2007, master control was switched to the new facility after the noon news at 12:30 PM. 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 is ready. [1]

Also 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 and is currently operated by Internet Broadcasting.

On May 25, 2007, WFSB's Downtown Hartford studios were 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 of sister station WSHM-LP was also affected. There were some points during the weekend that WSHM-LP's "CBS 3 Springfield" IDs were being seen on WFSB, and WFSB's IDs were seen on WSHM-LP. [2] [3]

Currently WFSB airs an additional hour of local morning news in lieu of the first hour of CBS's The Early Show.

WSHM-LP

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 has repeatedly blocked attempts by Springfield's original CBS affiliate WGGB-TV (now an ABC affiliate) to switch back to CBS.

To increase its presence in Western Massachusetts, WFSB began operating a low-power station in the Springfield - Holyoke market, 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, does not broadcast a digital signal of its own. However, the station can be seen on WFSB's second digital subchannel. WSHM has plans to build a digital transmitter and sign-on a digital signal in the near future.

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.

Digital Programming

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Ch	Programming
3.1	main WFSB programming (CBS)
3.2	WSHM-LP (Springfield CBS affiliate)
3.3	"Channel 3 Eyewitness News Now" (24-hour local weather channel)

News operation

WFSB has used the Eyewitness News title and format for its newscasts since the middle 1970s. The station's newscasts have been rated number-one in nearly all time slots for the past thirty years.

In addition to their main studios, WFSB operates news bureaus in New London and New Haven. In 2008, WFSB will open a bureau at the new Connecticut Science Center that is currently under construction in downtown Hartford.

During the week, WFSB airs an additional hour of local morning news in lieu of the first hour of CBS's The Early Show.

Along with CBS News, WFSB is also a CNN affiliate.

Eyewitness News Now

On February 5, 2007, WFSB signed on "Channel 3 Eyewitness News Now", a local weather channel on its third digital subchannel (3.3). It offers weather forecasts, local news updates, and live traffic cams. There is also a live stream of WFSB's Doppler radar. On digital cable, WFSB-DT3 can be seen on Charter channel 750 and Cox channel 801.

Current personalities

File:Wfsb newscast.JPG

WFSB's newscast opening.

File:Wfsb dt3.jpg

Logo for "Channel 3 Eyewitness News Now".

Anchors

• Erika Arias - weekend evenings
• Denise D'Ascenzo - weeknights 5:00, 5:30, 6:00, and 11:00 p.m.
• Kevin Hogan - weekend evenings (also New London bureau chief)
• Dennis House - weeknights 6:00 and 11:00 p.m.(also host of Face The State)
• Mike Hydeck - weekday mornings
• Irene O'Connor - weekday mornings
• Jessica Schneider - weekend mornings
• Kara Sundlun - weekdays, Better Connecticut co-host and Noon co-anchor(also investigative reporter)
• Al Terzi - weekdays Noon, 5:00, and 5:30 p.m.

Weather

• Melissa Cole - substitute meteorologist
• Bruce DePrest - chief meteorologist/weeknights
• Mark Dixon - weekday afternoons
• Scot Haney - weekday mornings, Better Connecticut co-host (also feature reporter)
• Darren Sweeney - weekends

Sports

• John Holt - weekend evenings
• Joe Zone - sports director/weeknights; also host of Eyewitness News Sports Sunday

Reporters

• Heather Hegedus
• Aleesha Chaney
• Erika Arias
• Len Besthoff - investigative reporter
• Leon Collins (New Haven bureau; also investigative reporter)
• Hena Daniels
• Ray Daudani
• Dan Kain
• Teresa LaBarbera (current Traffic Reporter)
• Eric Parker
• Susan Raff
• Katy Zachry

Notable alumni

• Jamie Roth, former investigative reporter, now general asighnment reporter at WABC-TV[[4]]
• Nancy Aborn
• Jon Morroney
• Mike Adams
• Barbara Allen
• Ron Allen
• Phil Andrews
• Sarah Barr
• Charley Bagley
• Adrianne Baughns
• Polly Bell
• Dick Bertel
• Julie Bidwell (Banderas)
• Nina Bradley
• Mika Brzezinski
• Gerry Brooks
• Jill Brown
• Newton (N.J.) Burkett
• Ann Butler
• Heather Cabot
• Lucille Caliendo
• Jon Camp[5]
• Pei Sze Cheng[6]
• Mary Civiello ([7])
• Eric Clemons

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• Bertha Coombs
• Bob Cox
• Lou Martinez
• John Daly
• Brad Davis
• George Ehrlich
• Kim Fettig ([8])
• Jim Forbes ([9])
• Joe Furey
• Chris Gordon
• Dee Griffin
• Andria Hall
• Jim Hanley
• Dawn Hasbrouck[10]
• Andre Hepkins
• Rich Hoffman
• Ellie Pai Hong ([11])
• Tasha Jamerson
• Hilton Kaderli
• Brendan Keefe
• Deborah Kent
• Gayle King
• Ted Leitner
• John Metaxas

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• Miles Muzio ([12])
• Christine Negroni
• David Nelson ([13])
• Dave Nemeth
• Belkys Nerey
• Bob Neumeier
• Mary Ollie Newman
• Bill O'Reilly
• Bill Patrick
• Glen Pearson
• Janet Peckinpaugh
• Andrew Pergam
• Randall Pinkston
• Barbara Pinto
• Mike Randall
• Annie Rourke
• R.D. Sahl
• Marlene Schneider
• Pat Sheehan
• Bob Steele (D)
• Joe Tessitore
• Howard Thompson
• David Ushery
• Diana Rocco ([14])
• Rachel Lutzker - former morning traffic reporter,now at Fox 61 WTIC as morning traffic reporter/ general asighnment reporter

External links

• WFSB Website
• WFSB Tower & Transmitters
• A film clip of WTIC-TV's (WFSB) inaugural broadcast, courtesy of YouTube ([15])
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