WVIT
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| WVIT | |
|---|---|
| New Britain - Hartford - New Haven, Connecticut |
|
| Branding | NBC 30 |
| Slogan | Connecticut's News Leader |
| Channels | Analog: 30 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | NBC |
| Owner | NBC Universal (sale pending) (NBC Telemundo License Company) |
| Founded | February 13, 1953 |
| Call letters’ meaning | Viacom International Television (reference to former owner Viacom) |
| Former callsigns | WKNB-TV (1953-1957) WNBC-TV (1957-1960) WHNB-TV (1960-1978) |
| Transmitter Power | 3090 kW (analog) 250 kW (digital) |
| Height | 451 m (analog) 434 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 74170 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | www.nbc30.com |
WVIT, channel 30, is an owned-and-operated station of the NBC Television Network, licensed to New Britain, Connecticut, and serving the Hartford/New Haven television market. WVIT has its offices and studios located in West Hartford, and transmitter based in Farmington, Connecticut.
On March 19, 2008, NBC Universal announced they have placed WVIT, along with sister station WTVJ in Miami, for sale. As of this revision, no potential buyers have been announced. [1] [2] [3]
Contents |
[edit] History
WVIT signed-on for the first time on February 15, 1953 as WKNB-TV, a sister station to WKNB radio (840 kHz., now WRYM). The calls stood for Kensington-New Britain. It is Connecticut's second-oldest television station, and the first on the UHF band. It is also the only station in Connecticut to have never changed its original affiliation.
In 1954, only a year after channel 30 signed on, Hartford and New Haven were collapsed into a single television market. However, WKNB's signal was not strong enough to cover southern Connecticut at the time--a problem that would hamper channel 30 for almost a quarter-century.
NBC itself purchased the station in 1957 and renamed it WNBC-TV (for New Britain, Connecticut). It planned to boost the station's signal to cover all of the market, but these plans never materialized. In its first stint as an NBC-owned station, channel 30 failed to gain much headway in the ratings, largely because television manufacturers were not required to include UHF tuning capability until 1964. Viewers had to buy an expensive converter to watch WNBC-TV, and even with one the picture was barely viewable. Nonetheless, NBC bought channel 30 as part of an experiment to determine whether UHF could be competitive with VHF.
In September 1957, the Travelers Insurance Company signed on independent WTIC-TV (channel 3, now WFSB), Hartford's first and only VHF station. Within a year of its debut (and despite its sister station WTIC radio having been an NBC radio affiliate for over thirty years) WTIC-TV became Connecticut's CBS affiliate, replacing its owned-and-operated station, WHCT-TV (channel 18, now WUVN). NBC then realized its UHF experiment would end up as a lost cause and sold WNBC-TV to Transcontinental Properties in 1959. In 1960, the calls changed again -- this time to WHNB-TV (for Hartford-New Britain); NBC reclaimed the previous calls for its flagship radio and television combination in New York City.
In 1966 WHNB became, once again, one of two NBC affiliates in Connecticut: the network signed with WATR-TV (channel 20) in Waterbury in order to get its programming into New Haven. Channel 30 itself made up for the shortfall in its market coverage by operating two low-power translators (starting in 1971) in Torrington on channel 79 [1], and later in the 1980s, on channel 59 in New Haven.
WHNB was sold to Viacom in 1978, and changed its call letters to WVIT (for "Viacom International Television") to reflect its new ownership. Viacom immediately announced plans to boost WVIT's signal. In 1980, channel 30 signed on with a new transmitter that more than doubled its coverage area, giving it a clear signal to New Haven for the first time. Viacom also beefed up WVIT's news operation, which had long been an also-ran behind WFSB and ABC affiliate WTNH-TV (channel 8) due to its weak signal in New Haven. After the signal boost, however, it became a factor in the ratings for the first time. WVIT became the market's exclusive provider of NBC programming in March 1982, when WATR-TV's affiliation contract with NBC ended and the station became independent WTXX. The Torrington translator was turned off in 1987, and the New Haven repeater was shut down in the middle 1990s to allow full-powered WTVU (now WCTX) to begin operations.
Viacom purchased Paramount Pictures in 1994. Within the next year, following the launch of the United Paramount Network venture it co-owned with Chris-Craft Industries, Paramount/Viacom began to sell off its non-UPN affiliated stations. WVIT, which was Viacom's first station purchase in 1978, ended up being the last non-UPN outlet sold in 1997. As part of a three-way deal, which closed on December 8 of that year, WVIT was sold to former owner NBC, while Paramount/Viacom ended up with WLWC in Providence, Rhode Island and WWHO in Columbus, Ohio, two stations owned by Fant Broadcasting which NBC operated by way of local marketing agreements. With NBC's second acquisition of the station came a greater investment into and expansion of the news department, and by the start of the new millennium WVIT was regularly trading the number-two position in the market with WTNH.
In August of 2007, the station finalized plans to begin the construction of a new studio facility to replace its current facility. The new building will be erected in the lot that is now the parking lot for the station. Ground was broken in October of 2007. Currently, the plan is that the new studios will be finished in early 2009.
[edit] Digital television
Digital channels
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 30.1 / 35.1 | main WVIT/NBC programming |
[edit] Post-analog shutdown
After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009[4], WVIT will remain on its current pre-transition channel number, 35. [5] However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display WVIT's virtual channel as 30.
[edit] Current personalities
- Anchors
- Brad Drazen - morning and 11:00 a.m. co-anchor
- Yvonne Nava - morning and 11:00 a.m. co-anchor
- Keisha Grant - weeknights 5:00 and 11:00 p.m. (also 6:00 while Carberg is on maternity leave)
- Lisa Carberg - weeknights 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. (maternity leave)
- Gerry Brooks - weeknights 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. (also 5:00 while Carberg is on maternity leave)
- Anjuli Porter - weekend mornings (also reporter)
- Lauren Petty- weekend evenings (also reporter)
- Weather
- Brad Field - chief/weeknight meteorologist
- Ryan Hanrahan - weekend evenings (also reporter)
- Bob Maxon - morning meteorologist
- Sports
- Joe D'Ambrosio - sports reporter/substitute anchor
- Kevin Nathan - sports director/weeknight anchor
- Mike Ratte - weekend anchor
- Reporters
- Monica Buchanan
- Debra Bogstie (general assignment/investigative)
- Susan Goodman (morning reporter)
- Doug Greene (weekday reporter)
- Alex Loeb
- Lauren Petty (weeknight reporter, weekend anchor)
- Marla Matthews
- Tom Monahan (chief political correspondent)
- Amy Parmenter
- Andrew Pergam (New Haven bureau)
- Sean Phillips
- Amanda Raus
[edit] Notable alumni
- Tom Lewis- former morning live shot reporter, now reporter @ WTIC-TV Fox Hartford
- Garett Argianas
- Barry Barents
- Chris Berman
- Lew Brown
- Logan Byrnes
- Tom Condon
- Mike Crispino
- Brian Dow
- Anthony Everett
- Van Hackett
- Bill Hansen
- Bill Hennessey
- Karen Hepp
- Cavell Jobert Nappi
- Brian Kilmeade
- Kal Kolby
- Polly Kreisman
- Kevin Lemanowicz
- Rob Marciano
- Dr. David Marks
- Duby McDowell
- Natalie Morales
- Rob Morrison
- Joanne Nesti
- Janet Peckinpaugh
- Mindi Ramsey
- Beasley Reece
- Jay Richard
- Samantha Ryan
- John Sablon
- R.D. Sahl
- Steve Savard
- Brian Shactman
- Derek Slap
- Phil Steele
- Erika Tarantal
- Tony Terzi
- Jim Vicevich
- Chris Wragge
- Bob Wilson
[edit] Administration
- David Doebler - President/GM
- Mary Anderson - Director of HR
- Emma Asante - Community Services Manager
- Ronni Attenello - Programming Director
- Keith Barbaria - Director of Technology & Engineering
- Lowell Briggs - Director of Creative Services
- Pat DeRico - VP of Sales
- Phil Speliopolous - Production Manager
- Mike St.Peter - VP of News
- Karen Webb - Finance Manager
[edit] References
- ^ NBC Puts Two Stations on Block - 3/19/2008 3:43:00 PM - Broadcasting & Cable
- ^ http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/tvstations/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003727786
- ^ Insert footnote text here
- ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
- ^ CDBS Print
[edit] External links
- WVIT website
- WVIT Wireless
- WVIT Tower
- UHF Morgue: W79AI, former WVIT translator
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WVIT
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