WTIC-TV

WTIC-TV
Hartford–New Haven, Connecticut
United States
City Hartford, Connecticut
Branding Fox 61 (general)
Fox 61 News (newscasts)
Slogan Expect More
Channels Digital: 31 (UHF)
(to move to 34 (UHF))
Virtual: 61 (PSIP)
Affiliations
Owner Tribune Broadcasting
(Tribune Broadcasting Hartford, LLC)
First air date September 17, 1984 (1984-09-17)
Call letters' meaning We're the Travelers Insurance Company
(original owner of WTIC radio)
Sister station(s) WCCT-TV
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:
  • 61 (UHF, 1984–2009)
Former affiliations Independent (1984–1986)
Transmitter power 495 kW
526 kW (CP)
Height 506 m (1,660 ft)
507 m (1,663 ft) (CP)
Facility ID 147
Transmitter coordinates 41°42′13″N 72°49′55″W / 41.70361°N 72.83194°W / 41.70361; -72.83194Coordinates: 41°42′13″N 72°49′55″W / 41.70361°N 72.83194°W / 41.70361; -72.83194
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS
Website fox61.com

WTIC-TV, virtual channel 61 (UHF digital channel 31), is a Fox-affiliated television station licensed to Hartford, Connecticut, United States and serving the Hartford–New Haven television market. The station is owned by the Tribune Broadcasting subsidiary of the Tribune Media Company, as part of a duopoly with Waterbury-licensed CW affiliate WCCT-TV (channel 20). The two stations share facilities with the formerly co-owned Hartford Courant newspaper in Downtown Hartford; WTIC's transmitter is located on Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington, Connecticut. On cable, the station is carried primarily on channel 6 throughout the Hartford–New Haven television market.

History

Early history (1983–1986)

A group led by Arnold Chase and his company, Arch Communications, won a construction permit for channel 61 in September 1983. Chase originally planned to call his new station WETG, in memory of Ella T. Grasso, the first woman to serve as governor of Connecticut, who died in 1981;[1] these call letters were assigned on February 3, 1984.[2] Grasso's son was a minority partner in Chase's group.

However, changes in Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations during this time allowed separately-owned stations in the same market to obtain consent to share a call sign.[1] Chase then asked his father, owner of WTIC radio (1080 AM and 96.5 FM) to allow Arch to use the historic WTIC-TV call letters. After securing consent, Arch applied for a waiver to use the call sign in June 1984;[3] the call change took effect on August 4[2] (the WETG call letters were subsequently used by a station in Erie, Pennsylvania, now fellow Fox affiliate WFXP). The WTIC-TV call sign had last been used by what is now WFSB (channel 3) from 1957 to 1974. In memory of Grasso, WTIC showed clips during their nightly sign-off of Grasso at work while church bells played "The Star-Spangled Banner". A graphic at the end of the sequence mentioned that the station was dedicated in Grasso's memory.

WTIC-TV began operation on September 17, 1984, with a special live broadcast of a gala event hosted by TV star Eddie Albert and longtime WTIC radio personality Bob Steele. On this date, the station became the first station in New England to broadcast a stereo audio signal. Former President Jimmy Carter was in attendance.[4] Originally, it was a general entertainment independent station running cartoons, sitcoms, old movies, CBS shows pre-empted by WFSB, ABC shows pre-empted by WTNH (channel 8), NBC shows pre-empted by WVIT (channel 30), drama series, and sports in competition with the established independent station in the market, WTXX (channel 20, now sister station WCCT). During 1985 and 1986, the station invested in stronger programming.

As a Fox affiliate (1986–present)

WTIC later became a charter Fox affiliate when the network launched on October 6, 1986. However, by 1987, Arch encountered financial problems and WTIC nearly filed for bankruptcy. Many syndication distributors went unpaid and responded by pulling their programming from channel 61. Extensive litigation followed as the contracts that were standard in the industry at that time stated that if a single payment was missed, no more programs would be provided, but the station was still required to pay the full amount due under the contract. As the litigation progressed, the shows were replaced by low-budget barter programming. Central to the litigation were allegations of illegal "tie-in" sales by program syndicators that artificially drove up the cost of programming to WTIC. The cases soon settled on terms favorable to Chase and WTIC.

Chase Broadcasting (owned by Arnold Chase's father's organization) acquired WTIC on October 2, 1987. Although the barter programming continued, the station began to realize some sustained success in part due to the early success of the Fox network and shows like 21 Jump Street and Married...With Children. A milestone was reached in 1992, when WTIC began to regularly beat WTXX in the ratings. That year, Chase agreed to sell its four television stations—WTIC-TV, WATL in Atlanta, KDVR in Denver, and WXIN in Indianapolis—to Renaissance Broadcasting, owner of WTXX.[5] The sale did not include the WTIC radio stations,[5] which Chase retained until 1996. To comply with prevailing FCC regulations, Renaissance sold WTXX to a Roman Catholic non-profit group, Counterpoint Communications; both deals were completed in March 1993.[6] Renaissance tried to negotiate a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Counterpoint in which it would buy WTXX's entire broadcast day, except for overnights and an hour during the day in which WTXX was to run Catholic programming. During negotiations, which lasted from the time the sale became final until July 1993, Renaissance agreed to have WTXX run The Disney Afternoon from 3 to 5 p.m. and some off network sitcoms from 5 to 7 p.m. weekdays free of charge, as well as first run syndicated shows on weekends in this slot. However, Counterpoint wanted only a part-time arrangement, and negotiations ultimately fell through. Eventually, WTXX entered into a part-time LMA with WVIT (channel 30).

WTIC-TV used this logo from 2006 to 2008.

After talks with Counterpoint fell through, Renaissance moved most of WTXX's stronger programming to WTIC, creating a stronger lineup for channel 61. Some programming (such as older sitcoms), however, was returned to their syndication distributors and wound up first on WTWS (channel 26, now Ion Television owned-and-operated station WHPX-TV) and then WTVU (channel 59, now MyNetworkTV affiliate WCTX). The cartoons that did not move to WTIC were sold to WVIT, which ultimately moved them back to WTXX.

This WTIC-TV logo, introduced in 2008, is based on the logos used by stations owned by Fox Television Stations. This version was phased out after the move to the Courant facilities in 2009, though a "Fox CT News" version remained in use during newscasts for some time thereafter.

Renaissance merged with Tribune Broadcasting in 1996.[7] Two years later, WTIC-TV replaced WVIT as the LMA partner for WTXX (then a UPN affiliate, later with The WB, currently a CW affiliate). In 2001, Tribune bought WTXX outright. Both stations became sister properties of the Hartford Courant after Times Mirror merged with Tribune in 2000.

As time went on, WTIC began dropping cartoons, movies, and older sitcoms in favor of more talk and reality shows. The weekday cartoons ended at the end of 2001 when Fox ended its weekday kids' block.

Since Fox began airing sports programming in 1994, WTIC has had to deal with issues regarding Major League Baseball and NFL coverage. Connecticut is split between the traditional home territories for Boston and New York City teams. The football issue is not typically as stark because the New York Giants and New England Patriots play in separate conferences, each with their own network television deals, so there is little overlap. However, it used to be a source of frustration during baseball season. On occasion, Fox will pick both the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox for its baseball broadcast windows. Usually, MLB limits Fox to a single game and does not allow any other station to broadcast baseball in that window (from 3:30 to 7 p.m., and since 2012, alternately from 7 to 10:30 p.m.), including the cable channels that usually air Yankees and Red Sox games: YES and NESN. This historically resulted in numerous complaints among Connecticut baseball fans when WTIC would only be able to broadcast either the Yankees or the Red Sox. The network has since relented, and now allows WCCT to broadcast the other game in the case of a Yankees/Red Sox conflict, as well as in the case of a Red Sox/Mets conflict.

This also had an effect on the Springfield–Holyoke, Massachusetts television market as well; WTIC-TV had long been the default Fox affiliate for western Massachusetts since that area was one of the few in the Eastern Time Zone without an affiliate of its own. This changed on March 31, 2008 when ABC affiliate WGGB-TV added Fox programming on its second digital subchannel. Beginning with the 2008 season to alleviate coverage issues, game broadcasts of the New York Mets from sister station WPIX have alternated between WTIC and WCCT.

Former WTIC-TV logo, used from 2010 to 2015, under the Fox CT brand.

On July 10, 2013, Tribune announced plans to spin off its publishing division into a separate company. Once the split was finalized in 2014, WTIC-TV and WCCT-TV remained with the Tribune Company (which retained all non-publishing assets, including the broadcasting, digital media and Media Services units), while its newspapers (including the Hartford Courant) became part of the similarly named Tribune Publishing Company.[8][9]

On October 19, 2015, the station announced that it would drop the "Fox CT" name and return to its previous "Fox 61" designation (which had been phased out in 2010).[10] The decision came after viewers were asked which title they preferred and to share their feelings in a special social media campaign.[11] Responses were overwhelmingly in favor of a return to the original branding, with many citing the nostalgia of the broadcast's original analog signal appearing on channel 61.[12]

Aborted sale to Sinclair Broadcast Group

On May 8, 2017, Hunt Valley, Maryland-based Sinclair Broadcast Group announced that it would acquire Tribune Media for $3.9 billion, plus the assumption of $2.7 billion in debt held by Tribune.[13][14][15][16][17] Three weeks after the FCC's July 18 vote to have the deal reviewed by an administrative law judge amid "serious concerns" about Sinclair's forthrightness in its applications to sell certain conflict properties, on August 9, 2018, Tribune announced it would terminate the Sinclair deal, intending to seek other M&A opportunities. Tribune also filed a breach of contract lawsuit in the Delaware Chancery Court, alleging that Sinclair engaged in protracted negotiations with the FCC and the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division over regulatory issues, refused to sell stations in markets where it already had properties, and proposed divestitures to parties with ties to Sinclair executive chair David D. Smith that were rejected or highly subject to rejection to maintain control over stations it was required to sell. The termination of the Sinclair sale agreement places uncertainty for the future of Fox's purchases of WTIC and the other six Tribune stations included in that deal, which were predicated on the closure of the Sinclair–Tribune merger.[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[30]
61.1720p16:9WTIC-DTMain WTIC-TV programming / Fox
61.2480i4:3Ant TVAntenna TV
61.316:9TBDTBD
61.4Justice Network

Analog-to-digital conversion

WTIC-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 61, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[31] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 31, using PSIP to display WTIC-TV's virtual channel as 61 on digital television receivers, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition,

News operation

WTIC-TV presently broadcasts 56½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 9½ hours on weekdays and 4½ hours on the weekends); in regards to the number of hours devoted to news programming, it is the highest local newscast output of any television station in the Hartford-New Haven market.

The station broadcasts the Xfinity Sports Desk at 10:45 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday nights. WTIC also produces a weekly public affairs show, The Real Story, which airs Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. Along with obtaining world and national news footage from Fox News, WTIC also receives news footage from CNN Newsource and the Associated Press.

In 1989, WTIC launched its news department with the debut of a nightly half-hour 10 p.m. newscast, which was the second in the market after a short-lived attempt on WHCT-TV (channel 18, now Univision affiliate WUVN) in 1969; original WTIC news anchor Pat Sheehan had previously served as the anchor for WHCT's program. The 10 p.m. newscast was joined in June 1995 by an in-depth news program at 10:30 similar in style to the original format of Nightline called Tonight in Connecticut;[32] after two months of low ratings, Tonight in Connecticut was dropped in August 1995 in favor of a half-hour extension of the existing 10 p.m. newscast.[33] In 1998, when WTIC replaced WVIT as WTXX's LMA partner, the WVIT-produced 10 p.m. broadcast was replaced with a simulcast of the first half-hour of channel 61's primetime newscast. On April 24, 2006, WTXX began to simulcast the entire hour of the program. That station did not have a separate news open for the nightly broadcasts; whenever Fox programming or sports delayed the news on WTIC, it was still aired on WTXX but under the name of News at Ten. There was also a News at Ten logo bug in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen in place of the Fox 61 News bug. WTXX discontinued its simulcast of the 10 p.m. newscast in June 2010, shortly before changing its callsign to WCCT-TV; that station continues to show the newscast when it is preempted on WTIC.

The station launched a weekday morning newscast on March 3, 2008. The 7 a.m. hour competes with WCTX's morning show (which is produced by sister station WTNH), and airs for one hour. On August 4, 2009, the weekday morning newscast was expanded to 4½ hours and began airing from 4:30-9 a.m. During the 8 a.m. hour, the format of the program includes several interview segments focusing on entertainment, lifestyle and health. This hour is simulcast on WCCT; the station's simulcasts of portions of the morning newscast have been intermittent throughout the newscast's existence. Since launching the morning broadcast, WTIC-TV has entered into a weather department partnership with WTIC radio (1080 AM). The weather center now features meteorologists from the radio and television stations. Weather reports can also be heard on WTIC, WTIC-FM (96.5 FM), WRCH (100.5 FM), WZMX (93.7 FM), and WZBG (97.3 FM).

On September 8, 2008, WTIC debuted a weeknight 11 p.m. newscast. On September 21, the station launched a weekday midday newscast at 11 a.m.[34] A weeknight 6 p.m. newscast was planned, but did not debut on that date. On August 23, 2010, WTIC launched an hour-long late afternoon newscast at 4 p.m. on weekdays.[35]

In July 2009, news reporter Shelly Sindland filed both state and federal complaints alleging age and sex discrimination in the station's newsroom.[36][37] Media websites also raised questions about the way the case was covered by the Hartford Courant, which operates under the same management as WTIC.[38]

On December 12, 2009, WTIC, WCCT (then WTXX) and the Hartford Courant moved into their new combined newsroom facilities in downtown Hartford, and WTIC rebranded from "Fox 61" to "Fox CT" (a transition that was completed in July 2010).[39] In addition, WTIC became the second station in the market to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition, with WCCT's newscasts also making the transition. On January 22, 2011, WTIC launched weekend morning newscasts, airing for two hours from 7-9 a.m.; it is the third Tribune-owned station with a weekend morning newscast (now-independent station and Tribune flagship WGN-TV in Chicago and Fox affiliate WXIN in Indianapolis debuted weekend morning newscasts before WTIC, CW affiliate KTLA in Los Angeles launched a weekend morning newscast a few months later in April 2011).[40] On September 26, 2011, WTIC expanded its weekday morning newscast to 5½ hours from 4:30-10 a.m.; with the expansion, the 11 a.m. newscast was dropped from the schedule.[41] On January 28, 2013, WTIC launched an hour-long 5:00 p.m. newscast.[42] On September 9, 2013, WTIC expanded its weekday morning newscast to six hours with the addition of a half-hour, now starting at 4:00 a.m.[43] At some point afterwards, the weekend morning news was also expanded, this time by an hour and it now airs from 6:00-9:00 a.m.

References

  1. 1 2 Weiss, Tara (April 10, 1999). "Channel 61's `News At 10' Turns 10". Hartford Courant. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Call Sign History". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  3. ↑ Luton, Edward (December 20, 1991). "Initial Decision of Administrative Law Judge Edward Luton". Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved October 21, 2015. …in June of 1984, Channel 61 requested a waiver of the FCC's rules to permit the use of the common call letters WTIC-TV.
  4. ↑ https://fox61.com/contact/wtic-a-look-back-in-time/
  5. 1 2 Williams, Stephen M.; Lender, Jon (September 5, 1992). "Chase Agrees To Sell WTIC-TV To Rival". Hartford Courant. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  6. ↑ Lender, Jon (March 19, 1993). "Sale of TV Stations Completed". Hartford Courant. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  7. ↑ Tribune Co. Looks to Boost Role in TV with Offer for Six Stations, Los Angeles Daily News, July 2, 1996. Retrieved July 20, 2013 from HighBeam Research.
  8. ↑ "Tribune Co. to Split in Two". New York Times. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Courant, CT Fox affiliate part of Tribune split". Hartford Business Journal. July 10, 2013. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  10. ↑ "FOX 61 on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2015-10-19.
  11. ↑ "FOX CT or FOX 61? YOU decide with #bringbackfox61". FOX 61. Retrieved 2015-10-19.
  12. ↑ "FOX 61 - Do you want us to #bringbackfox61? Tell us why... | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2015-10-19.
  13. ↑ Stephen Battaglio (May 8, 2017). "Sinclair Broadcast Group to buy Tribune Media for $3.9 billion plus debt". Los Angeles Times. Tronc. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  14. ↑ Cynthia Littleton (May 8, 2017). "Sinclair Broadcast Group Sets $3.9 Billion Deal to Acquire Tribune Media". Variety. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  15. ↑ Todd Frankel (May 8, 2017). "Sinclair Broadcast to buy Tribune Media for $3.9 billion, giving it control over 215 local TV stations". The Washington Post. Nash Holdings, LLC. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  16. ↑ Liana Baker; Jessica Toonkel (May 7, 2017). "Sinclair Broadcast nears deal for Tribune Media". Reuters. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
  17. ↑ Harry A. Jessell; Mark K. Miller (May 8, 2017). "The New Sinclair: 72% Coverage + WGNA". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media.
  18. ↑ Todd Shields (July 16, 2018). "Sinclair and Tribune Fall as FCC Slams TV Station Sale Plan". Bloomberg News. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  19. ↑ Harper Neidig (July 16, 2018). "FCC chair rejects Sinclair-Tribune merger". The Hill. Capitol Hill Publishing Corp. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  20. ↑ Robert Feder (July 16, 2018). "FCC throws Sinclair/Tribune deal in doubt". RobertFeder.com. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  21. ↑ Benjamin Hart (July 16, 2018). "FCC Throws Wrench Into Sinclair Media Megadeal". New York. New York Media, LLC. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  22. ↑ Edmund Lee (July 18, 2018). "Sinclair Tries to Appease F.C.C., but Its Tribune Bid Is Challenged". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  23. ↑ Lorraine Mirabella (July 18, 2018). "FCC orders hearing even as Sinclair changes plans to sell TV stations to address concerns about Tribune deal". Baltimore Sun. Tronc. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  24. ↑ "Tribune Terminates $3.9 Billion Sinclair Merger, Sues Broadcast Rival". The Wall Street Journal. News Corp. August 9, 2018.
  25. ↑ Mark K. Miller (August 9, 2018). "Tribune Kills Sinclair Merger, Files Suit". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media.
  26. ↑ Christopher Dinsmore (August 9, 2018). "Tribune Media pulls out of Sinclair Broadcast merger". Baltimore Sun. Tronc.
  27. ↑ Edmund Lee; Amie Tsang (August 9, 2018). "Tribune Ends Deal With Sinclair, Dashing Plan for Conservative TV Behemoth". The New York Times. The New York Times Company.
  28. ↑ Jon Lafayette (August 9, 2018). "Tribune Ends Deal with Sinclair, Files Breach of Contract Suit". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media.
  29. ↑ Brian Fung; Tony Romm (August 9, 2018). "Tribune withdraws from Sinclair merger, saying it will sue for 'breach of contract'". The Washington Post. Nash Holdings LLC.
  30. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for WTIC
  31. ↑ List of Digital Full-Power Stations
  32. ↑ WTIC, Channel 61, Newscast Adding Extra Half Hour, Harford Courant, April 25, 1995.
  33. ↑ Poor Ratings Kill Channel 61's `Tonight In Connecticut' Report, Harford Courant, August 8, 1995.
  34. ↑ Tribune Merging Hartford TV and Paper Operations - 2009-03-30 14:44 | Broadcasting & Cable
  35. ↑ Launches New Newscast - Hartford Courant
  36. ↑ http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/media_matters/veteran_reporter_files_agedisc.php
  37. ↑ Fox 61 Reporter Discrimination Case: FAQ, Analysis and What's Next - Part I | Connecticut Employment Law Blog
  38. ↑ TV News Web Site:”Hartford Media Manager’s Judgment Called Into Question” « The Laurel
  39. ↑ News Operations To Combine, Hartford Courant, March 31, 2009.
  40. ↑ FOX CT Adds Weekend News/Personalities, Hartford Courant, January 11, 2011. Retrieved 1-12-2011.
  41. ↑ WTIC Revamps Morning News Schedule, TVNewsCheck, September 23, 2011.
  42. ↑ WTIC To Debut 5PM News Next Week, TVSpy, January 22, 2013.
  43. ↑ FOX 61 adding another half-hour of news, weekdays starting September 9th
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