WHNT-TV
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Transmitter coordinates | 34°44′19″N 86°31′56″W / 34.73861°N 86.53222°W |
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Public license information | |
Website | whnt |
WHNT-TV (channel 19) is a
History
Early history
WHNT began operations on
, to his portfolio.WHNT-TV first used 16 mm film for most of its commercial and news gathering. In 1979, it switched to the 3⁄4-inch
New York Times ownership
In 1980, Grisham sold WHNT to
WHNT is the only major station in Huntsville to operate from a facility actually constructed specifically for broadcasting purposes.
Local TV and Tribune ownership
In September 2006, The New York Times Company announced that it would put its nine television stations, including WHNT, up for sale.
In October 2010, the station stopped using videotape. All cameras now record on digital memory cards and video playback for all newscasts comes off a digital server. WHNT's archives, the most extensive in Huntsville television, go back to 1973 and include a mix of film and videotape. The film library had been stored at the
Aborted sale to Sinclair; sale to Nexstar
Sinclair Broadcast Group entered into an agreement to acquire Tribune Media on May 8, 2017, for $3.9 billion, plus the assumption of $2.7 billion in Tribune debt.[9][10] The deal received significant scrutiny over Sinclair's forthrightness in its applications to sell certain conflict properties, prompting the FCC to designate it for hearing and leading Tribune to terminate the deal and sue Sinclair for breach of contract.[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]
Following the Sinclair deal's collapse, Nexstar Media Group of Irving, Texas, announced its purchase of Tribune Media on December 3, 2018, for $6.4 billion in cash and debt.[23] As Nexstar already owned Fox affiliate WZDX and CW affiliate WHDF (channel 15), the company agreed on March 20, 2019, to divest WZDX to Tegna Inc. as part of a series of transactions with multiple companies that totaled $1.32 billion.[24][25] (As WHDF does not rank among the top four in total-day viewership and therefore is not in conflict with existing FCC in-market ownership rules, it was retained by Nexstar, thus creating a new duopoly with WHNT.) The sale was completed on September 19, 2019.[26]
News operation
WHNT has been noted for live coverage of breaking news such as the shooting death of a Huntsville police officer, the
On August 18, 2008, WHNT became the first television station in Huntsville to begin broadcasting all of its news programs in digital
On August 18, 2010, during the 10 p.m. newscast, WHNT became the first station in Huntsville to begin airing news segments in full high definition. The first segment was a sunset scene in Huntsville's Big Spring Park.[29]
On February 2, 2011, WHNT upgraded its newscast productions to full high-definition. During the two-month transition to HD, the station's newscast originated from another part of the building while the studio was completely renovated for the first time since 1987. WHNT's newscasts are in high definition from both the studio and field like many of WHNT's Local TV stablemates. This made WHNT the first station in Huntsville to be fully HD. Also, all of the station's file video since October 2010 is in high definition.[30]
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
19.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
CBS-HD | CBS |
19.2 | 720p | CW-HD | The CW (WHDF)[32][33] | |
19.3 | 480i | 4:3 |
Antenna | Antenna TV |
Until November 25, 2008, at 5 p.m., the station programmed a 24-hour local weather channel on its second digital subchannel. It then switched to RTV, which was later replaced by a similar network, Antenna TV, in January 2011.
WHNT-TV became a charter affiliate of Antenna TV upon its launch on January 1, 2011; it is carried on digital subchannel 19.3 (as of April 25, 2016).
Analog-to-digital conversion
In May 2002, WHNT became the first station in the Huntsville market to broadcast a digital signal and begin broadcasting in high definition on UHF channel 59.
WHNT-TV shut down its analog signal, over
References
- ^ Nelson, Bob (October 18, 2008). "Call Letter Origins". The Broadcast Archive. Retrieved October 31, 2008.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WHNT-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ a b NY Times CO. Sell TV Group to Equity Firm for $530M; Second equity group to buy a media business in two weeks, [NewsInc.], January 8, 2007.
- ^ "New York Times Company : Investors : Press Release". Phx.corporate-ir.net. Retrieved March 24, 2011.
- ^ "The New York Times Company Reports April Revenues" (Press release). Business Wire. May 7, 2007. Archived from the original (The New York Times Company Financial Report) on July 22, 2012. Retrieved August 23, 2008.
- ^ Channick, Robert (July 1, 2013). "Acquisition to make Tribune Co. largest U.S. TV station operator". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
- ^ Company Completes Final Steps of Transaction Announced in July Archived December 28, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Tribune Company, December 27, 2013.
- ^ Tribune Closes Local TV Holdings Purchase, TVNewsCheck, December 27, 2013.
- ^ Battaglio, Stephen (May 8, 2017). "Sinclair Broadcast Group to buy Tribune Media for $3.9 billion plus debt". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
- ^ Littleton, Cynthia (May 8, 2017). "Sinclair Broadcast Group Sets $3.9 Billion Deal to Acquire Tribune Media". Variety. Archived from the original on June 5, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.
- ^ Shields, Todd (July 16, 2018). "Sinclair and Tribune Fall as FCC Slams TV Station Sale Plan". Bloomberg News. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
- ^ Neidig, Harper (July 16, 2018). "FCC chair rejects Sinclair-Tribune merger". The Hill. Capitol Hill Publishing Corp. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
- ^ Feder, Robert (July 16, 2018). "FCC throws Sinclair/Tribune deal in doubt". RobertFeder.com. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
- ^ Hart, Benjamin (July 16, 2018). "FCC Throws Wrench into Sinclair Media Megadeal". New York. New York Media, LLC. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
- ^ Lee, Edmund (July 18, 2018). "Sinclair Tries to Appease F.C.C., but Its Tribune Bid Is Challenged". The New York Times. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
- Baltimore Sun. Tronc. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
- News Corp.August 9, 2018.
- ^ Miller, Mark K. (August 9, 2018). "Tribune Kills Sinclair Merger, Files Suit". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media.
- Tronc.
- ^ Lee, Edmund; Tsang, Amie (August 9, 2018). "Tribune Ends Deal With Sinclair, Dashing Plan for Conservative TV Behemoth". The New York Times.
- ^ Lafayette, Jon (August 9, 2018). "Tribune Ends Deal with Sinclair, Files Breach of Contract Suit". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media.
- ^ Fung, Brian; Romm, Tony (August 9, 2018). "Tribune withdraws from Sinclair merger, saying it will sue for 'breach of contract'". The Washington Post. Nash Holdings LLC.
- ^ Lafayette, Jon (December 3, 2018). "Nexstar Announces Deal to Buy Tribune for $6.4B". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on April 5, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
- ^ "Nexstar Selling 19 TVs In 15 Markets For $1.32B". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheckMedia. March 20, 2019. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
- Bloomberg, L.P.
- ^ Miller, Mark K. (September 19, 2019). "Nexstar Closes On Tribune Merger". TVNewsCheck. Archived from the original on September 20, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
- ^ [1] Archived November 30, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Huntsville Alabama Entertainment News". al.com. November 1, 2011. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
- ^ [2] Archived September 5, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [3] Archived January 31, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WHNT
- ^ "Huntsville, AL - HDTV".
- ^ "TV Listings- Find Local TV Listings and Watch Full Episodes". September 2017.
- ^ List of Digital Full-Power Stations