WFSB
Encyclopedia
'WFSB, channel 3, is a CBS
-affiliated television station located in Hartford, Connecticut
, USA
, owned by the Meredith Corporation
. WFSB's studios and offices are located in Rocky Hill, Connecticut
, and its broadcast transmitter is based on Talcott Mountain
in Avon, Connecticut
. Syndicated programming on WFSB includes: Entertainment Tonight
, The Dr. Oz Show
, Inside Edition
, and Live with Regis and Kelly
.
Most of WFSB's programs are seen in Springfield, Massachusetts
over a low-power semi-satellite station, WSHM-LD. This station has its own studios in the Monarch Tower in downtown Springfield, master control and some internal operations are based at WFSB's facilities.
) in Orlando, Florida
. The sale closed that October although the Post-Newsweek group maintained its base in Hartford until 2000 when the company relocated to its then-largest station, WDIV in Detroit.
On June 12, 2009, WFSB ended its analog broadcasts on VHF channel 3 as part of the completion of the coversion to digital, moving its operations to digital channel 33. WFSB is the only Connecticut station that participated in the "analog nightlight
" program and did so through June 26. Weeknights, WFSB airs a repeat of the evening's Entertainment Tonight
after Late Show with David Letterman, placing The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
on a thirty-minute tape delay.
digital channel 243, Comcast
digital channel 247, and Cox
digital channel 801 is a 24-hour local news and weather channel known as "Eyewitness News NOW".
Even though Fairfield County
is part of the New York City
market
where CBS flagship WCBS-TV
is based, WFSB targets viewers in the area through WFSB-DT4 "WFSB Fairfield County"; it is essentially a simulcast of "Eyewitness News NOW" except for a news crawl containing Fairfield County-specific headlines and weather graphics.
WSHM's digital signal uses 3.5 for its broadcast feed and 3.6 for its own 24-hour local weather channel that is mirrored after "Eyewitness News NOW". These subchannels are available only in areas covered by WSHM's digital signal, which broadcasts at a low power.
[This section needs to be updated with WFSB's current news operation, please help with this.]
In 2009, Better Connecticut began broadcasting in 16:9
widescreen
enhanced definition. In February 2011; it was announced on anchor Dennis House's blog, The Hartfordite, that WFSB is making upgrades to their current facilities to broadcast in high definition. On May 31, 2011; WFSB began broadcasting newscasts in high definition, becoming the fourth station in the market to do so. Better Connecticut remains in 16:9 widescreen enhanced definition. In September 2011, Face the State began broadcasting in 16:9 widescreen enhanced definition.
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
-affiliated television station located in Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, owned by the Meredith Corporation
Meredith Corporation
The Meredith Corporation is a media conglomerate based in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The company has two divisions, National Media and Local Media.-History:...
. WFSB's studios and offices are located in Rocky Hill, Connecticut
Rocky Hill, Connecticut
Rocky Hill is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 17,966 at the 2000 census. Rocky Hill was part of Wethersfield, the neighboring town to the north, until it was independently incorporated in 1849....
, and its broadcast transmitter is based on Talcott Mountain
Talcott Mountain
Talcott Montain of central Connecticut, with a high point of , is a long trap rock mountain ridge located west of the city of Hartford. The ridge, a prominent landscape feature, forms a continuous line of exposed western cliffs visible across the Farmington River valley from Farmington to Simsbury...
in Avon, Connecticut
Avon, Connecticut
Avon is a town in the Farmington Valley region of Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. , the town had a population of 18,098.Avon is a suburb of Hartford. Avon Old Farms School, a prestigious boarding school, is located there. In 2005, Avon was named the third-safest town in America by...
. Syndicated programming on WFSB includes: Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
, The Dr. Oz Show
The Dr. Oz Show
The Dr. Oz Show is an American syndicated television talk show, hosted by Dr. Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon and teaching professor at Columbia University who became famous for his appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show from 2004 until 2009....
, Inside Edition
Inside Edition
Inside Edition is a thirty-minute American television syndicated news program, first aired on CBS on October 9, 1988. It was originally similar to the programs Hard Copy and A Current Affair, but now more closely resembles a condensed version of breakfast television, exclusively with pre-recorded...
, and Live with Regis and Kelly
Live with Regis and Kelly
Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...
.
Most of WFSB's programs are seen in Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
over a low-power semi-satellite station, WSHM-LD. This station has its own studios in the Monarch Tower in downtown Springfield, master control and some internal operations are based at WFSB's facilities.
History
In the late-1980s, Post-Newsweek moved its corporate offices from Washington D.C. to space located alongside Broadcast House making the station the company's flagship. This was part of a strategy move by the Post to give its various sub-corporations their own independent identities which worked well at first. By the mid-1990s, however, WFSB found itself in a shrinking market without any significant growth opportunities. In June 1997, Post-Newsweek sold the station to the Meredith Corporation in exchange for WCPX-TV (now WKMG-TVWKMG-TV
WKMG-TV channel 6 is the CBS network affiliate for Central Florida . WKMG is licensed to Orlando and is owned and operated by Post-Newsweek Stations, Inc., a subsidiary of the Washington Post Company. The station refers to itself as "Local6". WKMG's transmitter is located in Bithlo, Florida...
) in Orlando, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
. The sale closed that October although the Post-Newsweek group maintained its base in Hartford until 2000 when the company relocated to its then-largest station, WDIV in Detroit.
On June 12, 2009, WFSB ended its analog broadcasts on VHF channel 3 as part of the completion of the coversion to digital, moving its operations to digital channel 33. WFSB is the only Connecticut station that participated in the "analog nightlight
Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act
The Short-term Analog Flash and Emergency Readiness Act, or SAFER Act, is a U.S. law to require the Federal Communications Commission to allow the continuation of full-power analog TV transmissions in 2009 for 30 more days, for the purpose of broadcasting public service announcements regarding the...
" program and did so through June 26. Weeknights, WFSB airs a repeat of the evening's Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
after Late Show with David Letterman, placing The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is a Peabody Award-winning American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish American comedian Craig Ferguson. Ferguson, the third regular host of the Late Late Show franchise, follows Late Show with David Letterman in the CBS late-night lineup...
on a thirty-minute tape delay.
Digital programming
On WFSB-DT2 is a standard definition digital feed of sister station WSHM. On WFSB-DT3, CharterCharter Communications
Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...
digital channel 243, Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
digital channel 247, and Cox
Cox Communications
Cox Communications is a privately owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises providing digital cable television, telecommunications and wireless services in the United States...
digital channel 801 is a 24-hour local news and weather channel known as "Eyewitness News NOW".
Even though Fairfield County
Fairfield County, Connecticut
Fairfield County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The county population is 916,829 according to the 2010 Census. There are currently 1,465 people per square mile in the county. It is the most populous county in the State of Connecticut and contains...
is part of the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
where CBS flagship WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV
WCBS-TV, channel 2, is the flagship station of the CBS television network, located in New York City. The station's studios are located within the CBS Broadcast Center and its transmitter is atop the Empire State Building, both in Midtown Manhattan....
is based, WFSB targets viewers in the area through WFSB-DT4 "WFSB Fairfield County"; it is essentially a simulcast of "Eyewitness News NOW" except for a news crawl containing Fairfield County-specific headlines and weather graphics.
| Channel | Video | Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 1080i 1080i 1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
main WFSB programming/CBS |
| 3.2 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | WSHM-LD "CBS 3 Springfield" |
| 3.3 | "Eyewitness News NOW" | ||
| 3.4 | "WFSB Fairfield County" | ||
WSHM's digital signal uses 3.5 for its broadcast feed and 3.6 for its own 24-hour local weather channel that is mirrored after "Eyewitness News NOW". These subchannels are available only in areas covered by WSHM's digital signal, which broadcasts at a low power.
| Channel | Video | Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WSHM-LD "CBS 3 Springfield" |
| 3.2 | 480i | 4:3 | "CBS 3 Weather NOW" |
News operation
In 2009, Better Connecticut began broadcasting in 16:9
16:9
16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ...
widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
enhanced definition. In February 2011; it was announced on anchor Dennis House's blog, The Hartfordite, that WFSB is making upgrades to their current facilities to broadcast in high definition. On May 31, 2011; WFSB began broadcasting newscasts in high definition, becoming the fourth station in the market to do so. Better Connecticut remains in 16:9 widescreen enhanced definition. In September 2011, Face the State began broadcasting in 16:9 widescreen enhanced definition.