- For the television station in Hartford
known as 'WTIC-TV from 1957 to
1974, see WFSB
.
WTIC-TV, channel 61, is a
television station in Hartford,
Connecticut
. Owned by the
Tribune Company, WTIC-TV is a
charter affiliate of the
Fox Broadcasting Company.
The
station broadcasts from a studio/office facility in downtown
Hartford, and its transmitter is located on Rattlesnake
Mountain
in Farmington, Connecticut
.
WTIC-TV is
one of three media properties in Connecticut owned by Tribune; the
others are CW Television
Network affiliate WTXX
(channel
20), and the Hartford
Courant. This television station was once co-owned
with Hartford's WTIC
radio
and WTIC-FM, which are now
properties of CBS Radio.
History
WTIC's previous logo.
A group led by Arnold Chase won a construction permit for channel
61 in September 1983. Chase originally planned to call his new
station
WETG-TV, in memory of
Ella T. Grasso
(the first woman in Connecticut to be elected governor) who died in
1981.
However, those calls were requested by an
independent station on channel
66 in Erie,
Pennsylvania
(now WFXP
) which would
not take to the air until 1986. The Erie station's owners
refused to give up the calls. Grasso's son was part of Chase's
group (which was financed by Chase's father, Hartford developer
David Chase, then listed on the
Forbes
400). Accusations were later made that Grasso was included
solely due to the assistance his mother's name might provide in
gaining government approvals and he eventually left the station
under somewhat strained circumstances.
With only a short time
before the scheduled sign-on date, Chase obtained permission from
his father's Arch Broadcasting, owner of WTIC radio (1080 AM and 96.5 FM) to use the historic
WTIC-TV calls in Spring 1984. This callsign had last
been used by what is now WFSB from 1957 to
1974.
The
FCC had
relaxed regulations governing the use of call letters on
non-commonly owned stations early in 1984. In memory of Grasso,
WTIC showed clips of Grasso at work at sign off while church bells
played the
Star Spangled
Banner. A graphic at the end mentioned that the station was
dedicated in Grasso's memory. WTIC finally began operation on
September 17, 1984.
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
, drama shows and sports in competition with
WTXX. Arch eventually bought a controlling interest in WTIC
station. In 1985-1986, the station invested in stronger programming
and managed to become a charter FOX affiliate on October 6, 1986.
However, by 1987, Arch and Chase encountered financial problems and
WTIC nearly filed for bankruptcy. Many syndicators 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.
Soon, however, the studios who owned the programming realized that
cable was eroding their ability to sell programming to independent
stations and that suing such stations was now inimical to their own
interests. The cases soon settled on terms favorable to Chase and
WTIC. Chase Broadcasting (owned by Arnold Chase's father's
organization, Chase Enterprises) acquired WTIC in 1988. 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. Chase sold all its stations to Renaissance
Broadcasting, who owned WTXX, in 1992. To follow prevailing FCC
regulations, Renaissance sold WTXX in March 1993 to a
Roman Catholic non-profit group, Counterpoint
Communications. Renaissance tried to negotiate a
local marketing agreement (LMA)
with WTXX's new owners in which it would buy its entire broadcast
day. 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. Counterpoint wanted only a part-time arrangement while
Renaissance wanted the entire broadcast day except for overnights
and an hour during the day in which WTXX was to run Catholic shows.
That
July, after being unable to come to an agreement, WTXX entered into
a part-time LMA with WVIT
.
Renaissance began moving WTXX' shows to WTIC which created a strong
lineup for channel 61.
Some programming (such as older sitcoms),
however, were returned to their syndicators and wound up first on
WTWS (now WHPX
) and then
WTVU (now WCTX
). The
cartoons that did not move to WTIC were sold to WVIT and thus were
moved back to WTXX where they aired daily from 6 to 9 in the
morning (until 10 A.M. Saturdays and Sundays) and weekdays from 3
to 7 P.M. Ironically, the WTXX LMA with WVIT expanded to 18 hours a
day three years later in 1996. WTIC was sold to the
Tribune Company in 1997 as part of a group
deal. One year later, it replaced WVIT as the LMA partner for WTXX
(then a
UPN affiliate, later
WB, currently a
The CW station). 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 the network entered sports programming in 1994, WTIC has had
to deal with issues regarding
Major League Baseball and
National Football League 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 is often a source of
frustration during baseball season. FOX picks both the
New York Yankees and
Boston Red Sox for its baseball broadcast
windows from time-to-time. MLB limits FOX to a single game and does
not allow other channels to broadcast baseball in that window (from
3:30 to 7 P.M.). This creates serious anger among Connecticut
baseball fans when WTIC must broadcast either the Yankees or the
Red Sox as the usual cable channels (
YES
and
NESN) are blacked out for the team not
broadcast by FOX. WTIC generally shows each team as many times as
possible.
This also
had an effect on the Springfield
/ Holyoke, Massachusetts
television market because the station had served as
the area's default affiliate since that area did not have an
affiliate of its own. This changed on March 31, 2008 when ABC affiliate WGGB-TV
added FOX on its second
digital
subchannel. Beginning with the 2008 season to alleviate
coverage issues, game broadcasts of the Yankees from WWOR-TV
and the New York Mets
from sister station WPIX
will
alternate between WTIC and WTXX. In Fall 2009, the two
stations will move to the
Hartford Courant facilities on
Broad Street in downtown Hartford. Fox 61 will begin broadcasting
from the new studios as
Fox Connecticut HD on December 12,
2009
News operation
The station's news open.
In 1989,
WTIC debuted its 10 o'clock newscast which was the second in the
market after a short-lived attempt on WHCT-TV (now WUVN
) in
1969. Notably, news anchor Pat Sheehan had been the anchor
on that station. In 1998, when WTIC replaced WVIT as WTXX's LMA
partner, the WVIT-produced 10 P.M. news was replaced with a
simulcast of the first half-hour of channel 61's news program. On
April 24, 2006, WTXX began to simulcast the full hour. That station
does not have a separate news opening for the evening broadcast.
Whenever FOX programming or sports delays the news on WTIC, it is
still shown on WTXX but under the name of
News at Ten.
There is also a "News at Ten" logo in place of "FOX 61 News".
During the February 2007 sweeps period, WTIC beat 11 P.M. leader
WFSB with 100,000 viewers to that station's 98,000. It achieved
this by showing reruns of
Everybody Loves Raymond and
Seinfeld while the
big three stations broadcast
their 11 o'clock local news. As of the February 2008 ratings
period, WTIC's evening newscast is the most watched 10 or 11 P.M.
broadcast in the market. The station launched a weekday morning
newscast on March 3.
The 7
o'clock hour competes with WCTX's morning
news, which is produced by sister station WTNH and airs for
one hour. Since launching the morning news, WTIC has
entered into a weather department partnership with WTIC-AM 1080. The weather center now features
meteorologists from the radio and television stations. Weather
reports can also be heard on: WTIC-AM 1080,
WTIC-FM 96.5,
WRCH-FM 100.5,
WZMX-FM 93.7, and
WZBG-FM
97.3. On August 4, the weekday morning newscast was expanded and
began airing from 4:30 to 9 in the morning. During the 8 o'clock
hour, the format of the program includes several talk show segments
focusing on entertainment, lifestyle, and health. Initially, this
production was not simulcasted on WTXX but was added later.
Starting on September 8, a weeknight 11 o'clock newscast was added.
After constructing
high
definition studios at the facilities of the
Hartford
Courant in Summer 2009, WTIC will begin producing newscasts
from that location in the Fall. It will be the second station in
the market to air local news in HD. On September 21, 2009, the
station launched a weekday 11am newscast. An early evening newscast
at 6PM was planned, but one was not launched on that date. Along
with
FOX News, it is also a
CNN affiliate. The station broadcasts the
FOX 61
Sports Ticket at 10:45 on Saturday and Sunday nights (this
does not air on WTXX). WTIC also produces a weekly public affairs
show,
The Real Story, which airs Sunday mornings at 8:30
with a repeat on WTXX at 11.
In July 2009, WTIC-TV news reporter Shelly Sindland filed both
state and federal complaints alleging age and sex discrimination in
the station's newsroom. Media sites also raised questions about the
way the case was covered by the Hartford Courant, which operated
under the same management team as WTIC-TV. .
Personalities
Current On-Air Talent
Current Anchors
- Erika Arias - weeknights at 10 and 11PM
- Logan Byrnes - weekday mornings (5-9AM)
- Sarah French -
weekday mornings (6-9AM) and 11AM
- Brent Hardin - weeknights at 10PM
- Rachel Lutzker - weekday
mornings (8-9AM) (also weekday morning traffic and weeknight
entertainment reporter, host of Acoustic AfterDark on
WHCN-FM 105.9, and traffic reporter for
WWYZ-FM 92.5, WKSS-FM 95.7,
WURH-FM 104.1, and WPOP-AM
1410)
- Joy Lim Nakrin - weekday mornings (4:30-6AM)
(also 6-9AM reporter and producer)
- Rebecca Stewart - weekends at 10 and Sundays
at 11PM (also reporter)
Reporters
- Jim Altman - general assignment reporter
- John Charlton - general assignment
reporter
- Narmeen Choudhury - general assignment
reporter
- Sarah Cody - "Daytrippers" feature
reporter
- Rachel Frank - Meteorologist/Reporter
- Rick Hancock - "Rick's RSS" segment
reporter
- Nicole Jacobs - morning reporter
- Jennifer Lahmers - morning reporter
- Tom Lewis - general assignment reporter
- Laurie Perez - host of The Real
Story
- Shelly Sindland - senior reporter/political
reporter
- Jeff Valin - morning reporter
WTIC Weather Center Team
- Garett Argianas (AMS Seal of Approval) -
Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 10 and 11PM
- Joe Furey - Meteorologist;
weekday mornings and 11AM) (also director of New England
Weather Service)
- Rachel Frank (AMS/NWA Member) - Meteorologist;
weekends at 10, and Sundays at 11PM (also reporter)
- Sam Samperi - Meteorologist; fill-in (also
weekday morning producer)
- Steve Chapron - weather producer
Sports Team (both seen on
FOX 61 Sports
Ticket)
- Rich Coppola - Sports Director; Sunday-Fridays
at 10PM and 11PM
- Bob Rumbold - Sports Anchor; Saturdays at 10PM
(also sports reporter)
Former On-Air Talent
News/Station Presentation
Newscast Titles
- WTIC News at 10 (1989-1994)
- FOX61 News (1994-present)
Station Slogans
- Connecticut's Prime News (2005-2007)
- Right Team. All the Time. (2007-present)
References
-
http://www.fox61.com/pages/landing_news/?Tribune-To-Merge-TV-And-Newspaper-Operat=1&blockID=252966&feedID=341
-
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/190904-Tribune_Merging_Hartford_TV_and_Paper_Operations.php
-
http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/media_matters/veteran_reporter_files_agedisc.php
-
http://www.ctemploymentlawblog.com/2009/07/articles/decisions-and-rulings/fox-61-reporter-discrimination-case-faq-analysis-and-whats-next-part-i/
-
http://thelaurelct.com/2009/07/09/hartford-media-managers-judgment-called-into-question/
External links
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