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WTNH
New Haven - Hartford, Connecticut
Branding	NewsChannel 8
Slogan	Coverage You Can Count On
Channels	Analog: 8 (VHF) Digital: 10 (VHF)
Affiliations	ABC (primary since 1955)
Owner	LIN Television Corporation (WTNH Broadcasting, Inc.)
Founded	June 15, 1948
Call letters meaning	W Television New Haven or Welcome To New Haven
Sister station(s)	WCTX
Former callsigns	WNHC-TV (1948-1971)
Former channel number(s)	6 (1948-1953)
Former affiliations	DuMont (1948-1956) NBC (secondary, 1949-1953) CBS (1949-1955)
Transmitter Power	174 kW (analog) 20.5 kW (digital)
Height	364 m (analog) 342 m (digital)
Facility ID	74109
Transmitter Coordinates	41°25′22.7″N, 72°57′4.1″W
Website	www.wtnh.com

WTNH, channel 8, is the ABC affiliate for the state of Connecticut, licensed to New Haven and serving the Hartford/New Haven television market. WTNH is owned by LIN Television Corporation, and is the sister station to WCTX (channel 59), the Hartford/New Haven market's MyNetworkTV affiliate. The two stations share a studio facility in New Haven, and WTNH's transmitter is located in Hamden, Connecticut.

On May 18, 2007, LIN TV announced that it was exploring strategic alternatives that could result in the sale of the company.[1]

Contents 1 History 2 Trivia 3 Current Personalities 4 Former personalities 5 External Links

WTNH debuted on June 15, 1948 as WNHC-TV on channel 6. The station 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 affiliate of that short-lived network.[2] It added NBC and CBS in 1949, with ABC following in 1950.

In late 1953, WNHC-TV changed frequencies and moved to channel 8. The next year, the Federal Communications Commission collapsed Hartford and New Haven into a single market. WNHC-TV shared some NBC programming with New Britain's WKNB-TV (now WVIT) until 1955, as WKNB's signal was not strong enough to cover New Haven at the time. In 1955, the New Haven Register and the WNHC stations were bought by Triangle Publications of Philadelphia. Also in that same year, WNHC-TV lost its CBS affiliation when that network purchased Hartford's WGTH-TV (later WHCT and now WUVN). The station became a sole ABC affiliate, though it shared ABC programming with Waterbury-based WATR-TV (now WTXX) until 1966. It has been a primary ABC affiliate longer than any station in New England except WMTW-TV in Portland, Maine--ironically, also located on channel 8.

As part of a sale of Triangle's broadcasting interests in 1971, the WNHC stations were sold 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 of radio stations allowed at the time. As a result, WNHC-TV changed its call letters to 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.) 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 in a deal stunned the broadcast industry since ABC was some ten times bigger than Capital Cities at the time. 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. WTNH's signal decently covers Fairfield County (which is part of the New York City market) as well as most of Long Island. At the time, the FCC normally did not allow common ownership of two stations with overlapping coverage areas. As a result, channel 8 was spun off to a minority-controlled firm called Cook Inlet Communications.

Cook Inlet sold WTNH to LIN in 1994. In the mid-1990s, the station dropped the Action News title in favor of the current "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.

For many years, WTNH has been the second-highest rated station in Connecticut, behind WFSB. However, in recent years it has had to fend off a spirited challenge from a resurgent WVIT. There is a heavy regional tilt to WTNH's ratings for news and local programming, as it traditionally does far better in Nielsen's "Metro B" area (New Haven County) than "Metro A" (Hartford County). This trend does not hold for network programming. It is the one Hartford/New Haven TV station with a large Fairfield County audience as well.

WTNH was the first station in the country to use videotape for local programming, and one of the first to broadcast in color.

Along with ABC News, WTNH is also a CNN affiliate.

• The station's weather radar is called "Sky Max Doppler" and is located in Hamden along with the transmitters of WTNH and WCTX. The station also uses live regional weather data from several radar sites.
• WTNH operates a newsroom in New London at the headquarters of The New London Day.
• The station operates a "Hartford Bureau" on Columbus Blvd. in that city.
• The station broadcasts a 24-hour local weather channel on its DT2 digital subchannel. The channel features a live feed of the Sky Max Doppler, current conditions, and updated forecasts by WTNH meteorologists. It is also offered on Cox digital cable channel 125.
• The station also broadcasts a 24-hour Sports Wire on its DT3 digital subchannel. The channel features live sports score updates.
• Fake promos for "Supercalifragilisticexpialidoppler" as an April Fools joke were leaked onto the internet in 2005 and have become a big hit. [3]

Anchors

• Darren Kramer - weekday mornings and Noon
• Sonia Baghdady - weekday mornings and Noon
• Keith Kountz - weeknights 5, 5:30, 10 PM (on WCTX)
• Jocelyn Maminta - weeknights at 5 and 5:30 PM
  • health reporter
• Ted Koppy - weeknights at 6 and 11 PM
• Ann Nyberg - weeknights at 6, 10 (on WCTX), and 11 PM
• Chris Velardi - weekend mornings
  • reporter
• Sara Welch - weekend evenings
  • reporter

Storm Team 8 Meteorologists

• Dr. Mel Goldstein (AMS Seal of Approval) - Chief seen weekday mornings and Noon
• Geoff Fox - weeknights at 5, 5:30, 6, and 11 PM
• Gil Simmons (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - weeknights at 10 on WCTX
  • weekend evenings
• Matt Scott (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - weekend mornings
• Sid Starks - fill-in

Sports Team 8

• Noah Finz - Director seen weeknights at 6, 10 (on WCTX), and 11 PM
• John Pierson - weekend evenings
• Marc Robbins - sports reporter

Reporters

• Dennis Protsko - "Chopper 8" airborne reporter and aerial camera operator
  • also with WPRI-TV / WNAC-TV
• Daniel Peterman - "Chopper 8" pilot
• Alan Cohn - investigative
• Tina Detelj - "New London Bureau"
• Mark Davis - Chief Political Correspondent based at the "Hartford Bureau"
• Darren Duarte - weeknights
• Veronica Douglas - "Wednesday's Child" segment producer
  • WTNH / WCTX Director of Special Projects
• Erin Cox
• Crystal Haynes
• Jamie Muro
• Kent Pierce
• Tricia Taskey
• Jodi Latina
• Annie Rourke
• Kent Pierce
• Bob Wilson

• Sue Simmons, now with WNBC in New York
• Leon Collins (former reporter) now with WFSB
• Al Terzi,( former reporter and news anchor), now with WFSB
• Jannet Peckingpaugh (former news anchor) to WFSB, then to WVIT, now retired
• Nancy Aborn (weather anchor/reporter 1985-1996) to WFSB (1996-1999) now Media/Marketing Director
• Paul Adrian (reporter 1997-1999) now works for news organization in Texas
• Kristina Boisoneau (former anchor and reporter 1999-2002) left to spend more time with family
• Wendy Cicchetti (former reporter) now evening news anchor for WLNE
• Brian Burnell (former reporter/anchor) now at the Connecticut NECN bureau
• Dennis Buckman (former sports anchor)
• Ned Berkowitz (reporter 1997-1999)
• Sarah Bradley (former reporter July-September 1999)
• Jon Crane (former reporter and anchor) now runs his own media consulting business
• Verna Collins (anchor/reporter) now morning anchor at WNCN
• Ibby Carothers (former weather reporter 2000-2003)
• Persefone Contos (former sports anchor) now at WVIT
• Judy Chong
• Kristen Cusato (former anchor/reporter) now works for an independent station in California
• Jill Dunay (former traffic reporter)
• Kendra Farn, now anchor at WNBC
• Jim Hoffer, now investigative reporter for WABC
• Susan Hiland (1998-1999) now anchor for KDAF
• Christina Hager (1996-1999) now anchor and reporter for WBZ
• Marci Izard - weekday morning, 5, and 5:30 PM traffic reporter (now at WGGB-TV)
• Tom Lewis (former reporter 1998-2002) now at WVIT
• Andrea Stassou (former anchor 1999-2002)
• SallyAnn Mosey (former weather reporter 1993-1998) went to WPVI, now at WNBC
• Jayne Saffer
• Bob Picozzi (former sports anchor now ESPN)
• Jocelyn Sigue (former reporter and morning anchor 1995-2001), now producer in N.Y.C. for "Teen Kids News"
• Peter Standring (former reporter) now at the National Geographic Channel
• Alexandra Steele (former weather reporter 1996-1998) now anchor of Evening Edition on The Weather Channel
• Diane Smith (1982-1999) now with WTIC 1080 Radio
• Dan Thoene
• Theresa Varga (1999)
• Carla Wohl (ABC National News Reporter)

• WTNH "NewsChannel 8"
• WCTX "My TV 9"
• WTNH / WCTX Wireless
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WTNH

v • d • e Broadcast television in the Hartford / New Haven market  (Nielsen DMA #29)
WFSB 3 (CBS) (WSHM-LP on DT2) -  WTNH 8 (ABC)  -  WRDM 13 (TEL / RAI)  -  W17CD 17 (Ind)1  -  WUVN 18 (UNI)  -  WTXX 20 (The CW)  -  WEDH 24 / WEDN 53 / WEDY 65 (PBS / CPTV)  -  WHPX 26 (ION)  -  WVIT 30 (NBC) (WX+ on DT2) -  WHCT 38 (AZA) -  WSAH 43 (Gems TV)1  -  WUTH 47 (TFU) - WNHX 51 (Ind)  -  WCTX 59 (MNTV)  -  WTIC 61 (FOX)   1These two channels, located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, are technically part of the New York City DMA. Cable television channels CN8 - NESN - CSN New England - YES - NECN - Citizens TV (Hamden) - UCTV
See also Broadcast television in the Springfield, Providence and New York City markets

v • d • e LIN TV Corporation
Corporate Staff: Gary R. Chapman (President & CEO) · Vincent L. Sadusky · Greg Schmidt · Scott Blumenthal · Edward L. Munson, Jr. · William S. Banowsky · Peter S. Brodsky · Royal W. Carson, III · Dr. William H. Cunningham · Randall S. Fojtasek · Wilma H. Jordan · Michael A. Pausic ABC Network Affiliates: WOTV · WTNH CBS Network Affiliates: KRQE / KBIM / KREZ · WANE · WISH · WIVB · WLFI · WPRI · WTHI Fox Network Affiliates: KASA · WALA · WLUK · WNAC3 · WUPW · WVBT NBC Network Affiliates: KNSD1 · KXAN · KXAS1 · WAVY · WDTN · WOOD · WWLP The CW Network Affiliates: KNIN2 · KNVA3 · WBPG · WNLO · WWHO My Network TV Affiliates: KNVA3 · WCTX · WNAC3 · WNDY · WXSP Other stations: KBOP (Independent)1a · KBVO (TeleFutura) · WFXQ-CA4 · WIIH (Univision) 1Co-owned with NBC Universal in a joint venture (76% owned by NBC, 24% owned by LIN). KNSD also includes a repeater used for rebroadcast of Entravision's KBNT-CA. 1aOwned by Commercial Broadcasting Corp., and operated by the NBC / LIN joint ventutre (see note 1) 2Co-owned with Banks Broadcasting in a joint venture (50/50); however, LIN does not control the station. 3LIN operates these stations under a local marketing agreement. 4Is currently a repeater for NBC affiliate WWLP. Future is uncertain at this time.
Annual Revenue: $443.5 million USD · Employees: 2,414 (full time) · Stock Symbol: NYSE: TVL · Website: www.lintv.com