WHDH-TV
Encyclopedia
WHDH, digital channel 42 (virtual channel 7), is an NBC
-affiliated television station
in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest NBC station not owned by the network. Owned by Sunbeam Television
, WHDH is a sister station
to CW affiliate WLVI. The two stations share studios located at Bulfinch Place (near Government Center
) in downtown Boston, and WHDH's transmitter is located in Newton, Massachusetts
.
). It was owned by General Tire
along with WNAC radio (then at 1260 AM, now occupied by WMKI
; later moved to 680 AM, now WRKO
), flagship of the Yankee Network
, a New England
regional radio network. General Tire had purchased the Yankee Network in 1943. WNAC first broadcast from studios at 21 Brookline Avenue (which had also been home to WNAC radio and the Yankee Network) before moving to its current facilities at 7 Bullfinch Place near Government Center in 1968.
In 1950, General Tire bought the West Coast regional Don Lee Broadcasting System
. Two years later, it bought the Bamberger Broadcasting Service (WOR-AM
-FM-TV
in New York City
) and merged its broadcasting interests into a new division, General Teleradio. General Tire bought RKO Radio Pictures
in 1955 after General Tire found RKO's film library would be a perfect programming source for WNAC and its other television stations. The studio was merged into General Teleradio to become RKO Teleradio; after the film studio was dissolved, the business was renamed RKO General
in 1959.
WNAC-TV was originally a CBS
affiliate. However, by 1955, ABC began to move some of its programming to secondary clearances on WNAC, which continued until (the original) WHDH-TV
signed on channel 5 in 1957. WNAC-TV also had a secondary affiliation with the Paramount Television Network
; in fact it was one of that company's strongest affiliates, carrying Paramount programs such as Time For Beany, Dixie Showboat, Hollywood Reel, and Armchair Detective.
WNAC-TV switched affiliations with WHDH in 1961 and joined ABC. It stayed with ABC until 1972, when channel 5 lost its license. The owners of the station that replaced it, WCVB-TV
, planned to air more local programming than any other station in the country, heavily preempting CBS programming in the process. CBS was not pleased at the prospect of massive preemptions on what would have been its second-largest affiliate and largest affiliate on the East Coast. It immediately moved back to WNAC, leaving WCVB to affiliate with ABC. However, a year later, WNAC adopted a version of the circle 7 logo, similar to that used by ABC's owned-and-operated stations; in 1977, ABC complained that the station was infringing on its trademark, and the logo was changed to a Times-Serif-Italic "7". In late 1981, a stylish, strip-layered "7" was introduced, which ended up being the last logo redesign under RKO General ownership.
Two legendary Boston television personalities had shows on WNAC: Louise Morgan, who hosted a talk show and was known as "New England's First Lady of Radio and Television", and Ed McDonnell, who as the costumed (as an astronaut) character "Major Mudd", hosted a popular children's show in the 1960s and early 1970s.
renewed WNAC's license in 1969, RKO General lost the license in 1981 after General Tire admitted to a stunning litany of corporate misconduct as part of a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Among other things, General Tire admitted that it had committed financial fraud over illegal political contributions and bribes. However, in the FCC hearings, RKO General had withheld evidence of General Tire's misconduct, and had also failed to disclose evidence of accounting errors on its own part. In light of RKO's dishonesty, the FCC stripped RKO of the Boston license and the licenses for WOR-TV in New York
and KHJ-TV
in Los Angeles
. The FCC had previously conditioned renewal of the latter two stations' licenses on WNAC's renewal. An appeals court partially reversed the ruling, finding that RKO's dishonesty alone merited having the WNAC license removed. However, it held that the FCC had overreached in tying the other two license renewals to WNAC's renewal, and ordered new hearings.
RKO appealed this decision, but in April 1982 the FCC denied its appeal and ordered RKO to surrender the station's license. On May 21, 1982 at Midnight, RKO signed off WNAC-TV for the final time. New England Television (NETV), a merger of two of the original rivals to the station's license controlled by Boston grocery magnate David Mugar, took over channel 7 on May 22, 1982 under a new license, signing the station back on as WNEV-TV; it also dropped the "7" logo in favor of a new SE7EN logo. This logo was changed to one of a number 7 made up of seven dots in September 1987.
Throughout the 1980s, WNEV-TV frequently partnered with WHDH radio (850 AM; frequency now occupied by WEEI
) for public events and other initiatives. This foreshadowed NETV's eventual purchase of WHDH, which occurred on August 7, 1989. In January 1990, Mugar announced that as of March 12, WNEV would change its call letters to WHDH-TV in order to correspond with its sister radio operation. This revived the call letters used on channel 5, now occupied by WCVB-TV, from 1957 until 1972. It was Mugar's plan to create, once again, a second major television/radio duopoly, primarily in news, to compete with the long-standing combo of WBZ radio
and television. Boston Mayor Ray Flynn
declared March 12, 1990 as "WHDH Day" in Boston, celebrating the joining of the radio and television stations. On that day, personalities from WHDH-TV made on-air sessions on WHDH radio.
The dual operation, which began with much fanfare and leverage, proved to be too costly for Mugar and company. NETV gradually slid into a deficit, prompting cutbacks on in-house programming as well as in the television news department; the most notable effect being the elimination of WHDH-TV's 5:00 p.m. newscast for two years beginning in 1991. With third place news ratings, minimal help from CBS (which had been in a ratings slump since the end of the 1987–88 television season) and sinking profits, Mugar was eventually prompted to sell the WHDH stations. The radio station was sold to Atlantic Ventures in 1992.
-based Sunbeam Television Corporation
— a company led by Worcester
native Edmund ("Ed") Ansin. The purchase was completed in late July. Shortly afterward, Ansin installed news director Joel Cheatwood
from his Miami station WSVN
, and began to rebuild and expand the news department into the newsplex operation that he had originated in Miami.
In the first months of Sunbeam ownership, WHDH's identity and presentation was more-or-less unchanged from how it was under NETV. Nonetheless, Ansin began to prepare viewers for the change in branding almost immediately. During the summer of 1993, the dotted-7 logo formation was eliminated from the CGI title sequence of Lottery Live, and the column that contained a series of dotted-7 logos behind the lottery machines was removed from the Lottery Live set. (These visual adjustments, along with a modified set, were only temporary for WHDH's lottery drawings, as Lottery Live moved to WCVB the following March.) By that fall, the News 7 broadcasts still featured NETV graphics and music cues, but the last NETV-era set had been removed in favor of a section of the fledgling newsplex, and Sunbeam-style graphics were featured on over-the-shoulder visuals. The last graphic traces of the David Mugar/NETV era (including the dotted-7 logo) were utilized for the final time on October 31, 1993.
November 1, 1993 saw the unveiling of the new Sunbeam news format; with its more aggressive, fast-paced style, and the dramatically changed appearance of the studio, it was a stark contrast with the newscast WHDH had produced just 24 hours earlier. With the transition complete, newscasts now aired from the finished multi-story view of the newsplex, under the 7 News heading, and a new circle 7, imported from WSVN, became the new logo for the station.
affiliate under WNAC call letters, they pre-empted Dark Shadows
for the first two years before clearing it on January 13, 1969. Terry Crawford (who played Beth Chavez) is a native of Boston
. The preempted programs often aired on WHLL (now WUNI
). From 1989 to 1990, the station delayed CBS This Morning in favor of the children's show Ready To Go (RTG had previously aired in the 6–7 a.m. slot from its debut in 1987 through 1989; after only six months at 7 a.m., the program was reduced to Saturday-morning-only broadcasts on March 24, 1990). In February 1994, CBS This Morning was dropped and picked up by WABU (now WBPX-TV). WHDH then began an expanded morning local newscast.
games six nights a week from September 1987 to March 6, 1994. Motivated to cultivate an identity to the station that would indirectly help its last-place news ratings, WNEV acquired the lottery from WBZ-TV, which had announced earlier in 1987 that it would no longer show the games. The arrival of the lottery games was promoted heavily, and went hand-in-hand with the station's on-air image change that fall; the new dotted-7 logo had a dual meaning, in that the dots were to represent lottery balls.
A contest was held by WNEV in August 1987, under a month before the games made their switch, to scout for their own lottery host (Tom Bergeron
, who hosted Lottery Live on WBZ, did not continue in the role because he remained at that station in other capacities). The auditions were held in front of an audience of 200 at Boston's Westin Hotel at Copley Place
, in which the finalists were narrowed down to 16. The winner was Lynn-Andrea Waugh, familiarly known as "Andi", a 29-year-old redhead model who had no prior on-air experience. Despite being well-received by viewers due to her effervescent personality and striking good looks, Ms. Waugh never completely overcame her noticeable nervousness after taking to the air. Waugh abandoned her hosting spot upon the expiration of her contract in August 1988. She was replaced with Dawn Hayes, who had been the runner up in the lottery host competition. Hayes, who was equally as appealing but with a polished, confident on-air presence, began her long run as host during this era.
For the majority of its time on channel 7, both drawings of the evening were played during the last two commercial breaks of Jeopardy!
. The daily Numbers Game drawing aired at 7:52 (following the conclusion of "Double Jeopardy!"), while the specialty game of the evening (e.g., Mass Ca$h) aired at 7:58. Weekend hosts for this era included Linda Ward, Linda Frantangela, and Jill Stark (who sometimes filled in for Hayes on weekdays from 1993 to 1994). After the sale to Sunbeam, the games were subsequently moved over to WCVB on March 7, 1994.
considered an affiliation deal with WHDH, but ultimately chose to acquire its existing affiliate, WFXT
, and WHDH became Boston's NBC affiliate, replacing WBZ (which had been with the network for 47 years). Since joining NBC, channel 7 has cleared the entire NBC lineup. WHDH became the primary station for the New England Patriots
at this time, as the Patriots played in the American Football Conference
of the National Football League
, which had a deal with NBC
for the network to air AFC games (thus Boston was not as important as a market for Fox in regards to getting an VHF affiliate). When the AFC package moved to CBS
in 1998, this role was reclaimed by WBZ-TV.
Between 1996 and 1997, WHDH produced a mid-morning weekday newsmagazine for the NBC network called Real Life.
In May 2006, WHDH began offering NBC Weather Plus
, which aired on digital subchannel 7.2 until NBC discontinued the channel at the end of 2008. WHDH added This TV
to the subchannel in 2009.
Tribune Broadcasting
announced on September 14, 2006 that it would sell WLVI-TV
, Boston's The CW
affiliate, to Sunbeam Television for $117.3 million, after much speculation that Sunbeam would buy WLVI. The sale was approved by the FCC in late-November giving Boston its second television duopoly
(the other one being WBZ-TV and WSBK-TV
). WLVI moved from its Dorchester studios to WHDH's facilities in downtown Boston.
On April 2, 2009, WHDH announced that it would not air NBC's new primetime talk show The Jay Leno Show
, when it debuted in September 2009, electing to replace it with a simulcast of WLVI's 10 p.m. newscast (which is produced by WHDH) in order to better compete with Fox-owned WFXT. The network quickly dismissed any move of Leno to any other timeslot other than 10pm, stating that WHDH's plan was a "flagrant" violation of the station's contract with the network and that it would consider moving NBC affiliation to another station in the market, either through an "existing broadcast license" in the market owned by NBC (to create an O&O station) or through inquiries from other stations in the market interested in acquiring the affiliation. The next day, WHDH began removing all references to the proposed 10 p.m. newscast from its website, and on April 13 the station announced that it had decided to comply and air The Jay Leno Show instead of the newscast. The fears would become well-realized, as WHDH's 11 p.m. newscast plunged to third place in the November 2009 sweeps period, down 20 percent from November 2008. Other 'first-to-third' drops among NBC affiliates at 11 p.m. forced NBC on January 10, 2010 to pull Leno from 10 p.m. starting after the 2010 Winter Olympics
and move Leno back to The Tonight Show
in a shake-up of its late night schedule.
Although the radio station had dropped the WHDH callsign in 1994, channel 7 retained the -TV suffix until July 8, 2010.
WHDH also has plans for a Mobile DTV feed of subchannel 7.1.
Digital subchannel
7.2 carried NBC Weather Plus
; most national feeds for this service ended December 2008. As of February 2, 2009, 7.2 carries This TV
. Via digital cable, channel 7.2 is offered on Comcast
channel 297 and Verizon FiOS
channel 460.
As part of the analog television shutdown and digital conversion was completed, WHDH shut down its analog transmitter on June 12, 2009, and moved its digital broadcasts back to channel 7, the frequency previously used for its analog broadcast. Because of a large number of complaints regarding inability of viewers to receive over the air programming on channel 7, WHDH requested and received temporary authority from the FCC on June 16, 2009 to simulcast its programming on channel 42 (UHF) in addition to channel 7 (VHF).
Although stations in other major markets have similar problems, WHDH is the only station in the Boston area market which changed its digital channel due to the June 2009 transition, requiring a channel map rescan to receive the station. WHDH was also one of three stations, along with WMUR-TV
and WWDP
, in the area to broadcast in VHF post-transition, requiring either a traditional rabbit ears antenna within Boston proper, or in outer areas at minimum an outdoor antenna.
On September 15, 2009, the FCC issued a Report & Order, approving WHDH's move from channel 7 to channel 42. After the station filed its minor change application for a construction permit, stating the channel move, on November 9, 2009, WHDH terminated operations on VHF channel 7 and now operate solely and permanently on channel 42. The equipment for the channel 7 digital transmitter has since been shipped down to Miami for use by sister station WSVN, which continues to be on VHF 7 with few complaints due to South Florida's less-varied terrain.
On June 1, 2010, WHDH filed an application to operate at the power level of 1 million watts. The application was approved on December 14.
called "Move Closer to Your World
". Two years later, WNAC's news director moved to WPVI-TV
in Philadelphia and took the theme music with him, where it became famous. Also during this era, a series of anchor teams led the newscasts, including Jim Hale and Howard Nielson and later Hale and Ken Thomas. The station revamped its anchor desk entirely in 1970, naming Lee Nelson and Chuck Scarborough
as the anchor team. After serving in the role from 1970–74, Scarborough moved to WNBC
in New York, where he remains today.
Despite its links with the Yankee Network's well-respected news department (which came to an end when RKO General closed the network in 1967), WNAC-TV spent most of its first 20 years on the air as a distant third in the Boston ratings. However, the station had begun to be fairly competitive in the early 1970s. For a brief period in 1974, WNAC's 6 p.m. newscast jumped from third place to first. Ted O'Brien, who had replaced Scarborough as the station's primary anchor, remained as lead anchor until being replaced by Jay Scott, a young reporter who was hired with a publicity campaign claiming that the news director, on a nationwide talent hunt, had found Scott in a hotel room in Denver, where he had watched television looking for talent. A few years later, John Henning returned to the station from WCVB-TV as Scott's replacement. Henning, who was joined by station standbys Eddie Andelman and Dr. Fred Ward, continued to maintain the credibility RKO General had built for itself in news over the past 30 years. However, WNAC's news operation wasn't able to maintain this momentum for long. The RKO fiscal and licensing fiasco that ensued in the next few years caused a sharp drop in the ratings. In 1978, the station hired its first female lead anchor, when Mary Richardson was hired to co-anchor the 11 p.m. broadcast. In 1980, Brad Holbrook was added as Henning's new co-anchor, but by then, budgets were getting extremely tight at RKO due to the company's legal and financial troubles. Henning, disgruntled by his employers, left the station in June 1981 after his four-year anchoring contract was up.
In the year leading up to RKO's sale of channel 7's assets to David Mugar in order to settle the licensing case, the station hired Susan Brady, to co-anchor with Brad Holbrook. The changes did not cease during WNAC's remaining months. After RKO's loss of the WNAC license in 1980 was upheld by the Federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Brady left for a position in Los Angeles. She was quickly replaced by young weekend anchor Susan Burke, who carried on with Holbrook both during the transition from RKO to New England Television and for the first months of the new ownership.
and Robin Young
. Ellis had previously maintained WBZ's dominance in the news market and then helped WCVB reach number one during his tenure there (1978–82). Young, on the other hand, had no hard news experience but was well-known to Boston viewers as former co-host of Evening Magazine. The new partnership, as well as the completely re-structured news department as a whole, received heavy promotion in the months leading to the official launch the finalized WNEV news product (accompanied by a launch image campaign, "There's A New Day Dawning"). The newsroom facility, built feverishly over the summer of 1982, was cited by The Boston Globe
as being the most technologically advanced out of all three network stations in the market. On Ellis and Young's debut night, September 13, 1982, WNEV beat WCVB and WBZ in the evening news ratings. The curiosity of Boston viewers only lasted a week in large numbers; the following week, channel 7 returned to ranking as a distant third.
What followed for WNEV's news were more shakeups, both in talent and identity due to ongoing sagging ratings. WNEV's inaugural station manager, Winthrop "Win" Baker, and his news director Bill Applegate were both fired in May 1983. Replacing Baker was former WBZ-TV programming head Sy Yanoff, whom Mugar had the utmost confidence in given his track record at channel 4 (both Ellis and Young had worked for Yanoff at separate times, years earlier, at WBZ; this was a major factor in him taking the job). Yanoff quickly reunited himself with his former WBZ news director Jeff Rosser, who signed a five-year contract with WNEV. Over the summer, the two fired quite a few of the 1982 "dream team" hires, in an effort to strengthen and better utilize the talents that worked. The largest issue they faced was the never-ending public perception that Robin Young was too much of a contrast with Tom Ellis. Considering Yanoff's history with Young at WBZ, he gently started offering her more avenues at WNEV to possibly alleviate the matter for the sake of ratings. That July, Young, who had previously stated that she was at the anchor desk for the long haul, made a move with Yanoff and Mugar that allowed her airtime on WNEV for primetime specials produced under her private production company, Young Visions. Young decided that leaving the news department would allow her more time to focus on these specials, as well as the availability to be an all-purpose station personality. During that summer, as Young geared up to vacate her anchor position, Yanoff and Rosser named four possible successors, including KNXT
reporter Terry Murphy
(later of Hard Copy
fame) and WNEV's own reporter Diane Willis , who had been one of the brand-new hires the previous year. Willis was selected for the position in early September, and began anchoring with Tom Ellis that same month. Young, meanwhile, would host her primetime specials and events through 1987.
In the spring of 1984, NETV moved its on-air news look away from the changes made only two years prior, taking away the anchoring desk from the newsroom and utilizing a backdrop allowing chroma keys and CGI graphics to be placed. WNEV also began a regional news bureau network known as The New England News Exchange, in which WNEV consulted with other broadcasters and print media to create a high-powered electronic news gathering organization. Despite a continued massive influx of capital and marketing (including a highly-financed promotional campaign employing the refrain "Feel Good About That"), and more positive reviews of the station's news following the appointment of Willis as lead anchor, WNEV still failed to take the competition by storm.
In the spring of 1986, Yanoff and Rosser announced that they would try a second lead anchor team for the 11 p.m. weeknight news in the fall. They planned to keep Ellis and Willis on at 6 p.m., while giving the 11 p.m. slot to weekend anchor/reporter Kate Sullivan and Dave Wright, an incoming newsman hired away from ATV
in the Canadian Maritimes. However, when Rosser had a meeting with Willis for what was supposed to be her contract renewal, he was told by Willis that instead, she would be leaving to become a professor of journalism at Northeastern University. Willis and Rosser publicly announced her resignation in July, and Willis assured the staff that her decision to leave WNEV was isolated from her soon-to-be decreased air time. Ellis, on the other hand, was unhappy about his reduction, feeling that he was no longer being considered the station's principal anchor. Yanoff and Rosser attempted to come to agreeable terms with Ellis, with two proposed plans—to either pair him with Kate Sullivan or Dave Wright, or to find him another replacement female anchor. It was purported that WNEV was even in discussions with by-then-former NBC anchor Linda Ellerbee
for a possible pair-up with Ellis. The anchor replacement and Wright/Ellis pairing ideas were ultimately nixed (by the 1980s, the idea of two men anchoring together was passe); in the end, Sullivan and Wright took over both the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts in September. Ellis was demoted to reporter, a move that ultimately led to his exit from the station altogether in early December 1986.
In September 1987, numerous changes occurred when R.D. Sahl, another existing noon and weekend anchor, joined Kate Sullivan as her new partner on weeknights (Sahl had filled in for Wright on numerous occasions in 1986-87, and heavily in the summer of 1987 when Wright was recovering from a heart attack). At the same time, WNEV became the first Boston station to launch a 5 p.m. newscast, which was anchored by Dave Wright and Diana Williams
. The Live at Five hour of the news was a cross between the informality of WBZ's competing Live on 4 and WNEV's regular newscasts, minus the lifestyle and specialty features seen on Live on 4. However, there was a unique twist. Wright, who had created the Live at Five format at ATV (where he had hosted it from 1982 to 1986), brought the concept to WNEV, which had him and Williams walking around a special newsroom set sans an anchor desk as they presented stories. Featured reporters were seated at assignment desks on the set, as they contributed to the fray and chatted with Wright and Williams. The format soared in the ratings, a true accomplishment long labored by NETV. Ultimately, the producers of the news program started feuding, and Wright, who felt caught in the middle, resigned from WNEV in May 1988. Just prior to Wright's departure, Jeff Rosser had left the station at the close of his contract, and arriving in his place was celebrated former WCVB news director Jim Thistle. By September 1988, the Live at Five format was dropped (as it remained the intellectual property of ATV), and the 5-6 p.m. block was now structured as a more conventional newscast, anchored by Williams and Lester Strong. After Williams departed for WABC-TV
in 1990 (where she remains to this day), Strong anchored with new arrival Edye Tarbox in the 5 p.m. hour.
Even with the personnel changes, channel 7 would spend the rest of its years under Mugar in the ratings basement. It also constantly changed its identity—from NEWSE7EN (1982–1984) to The New England News (1984–1988) to News 7 New England (1988–1990) to News 7 (1990–1993). However, R.D. Sahl became regarded as the strongest figure the station had going for it, and was paired at first with Kate Sullivan and then Margie Reedy, who replaced the departed Sullivan in 1990.
Besides the locally-prominent journalists who attempted to leverage WNEV's news, a few future national talents had brief stints at the station in the 1980s. Bill O'Reilly
, long before his national exposure on Inside Edition
and Fox News Channel
's The O'Reilly Factor
, co-anchored NEWSE7EN Weekend in 1982-83. Soon after, O'Reilly also became the host of the station's weekday afternoon talk/lifestyle program, New England Afternoon (which replaced the ill-fated two-hour magazine show Look, canceled after its first season). His successor on the weekend newscast was Paula Zahn, now a well-renowned newswoman of many television networks, who co-anchored with Lester Strong from 1983-85. Rehema Ellis, who joined the station in 1985 as a general assignment reporter, eventually left to become an NBC News
national correspondent in 1994. From May to November 1988, future Today host Matt Lauer
hosted WNEV's mid-morning talk show Talk of the Town. Two more WNEV/WHDH alumni would then hit the big time: reporter Miles O'Brien
, a 1987 arrival to the station, left to join CNN
in 1989. Edye Tarbox, now E.D. Hill, who was an anchor/reporter at WHDH from 1990–92, later worked at Fox News Channel from 1999 to 2008.
Tom Ellis, who had been dethroned of the male lead anchor position at the station in 1986, came full circle when Inside Edition Extra, a companion series to the syndicated stalwart Inside Edition, was picked up by WHDH for its fall 1992 daytime schedule. Ellis had been named the host of Extra, and in effect was once again seen on channel 7 exactly ten years after he had began his run there as lead anchor. Since Extra aired after its parent series as part of an hour-long IE block at 4 p.m., Ellis also appeared following his former WNEV colleague, Bill O'Reilly. The scheduling only lasted one season, as Inside Edition Extra was discontinued at the end of the 1992-93 season. (This program has no relation to the current Extra
, a Time Warner
-produced entertainment magazine that premiered in the fall of 1994 and has aired on WHDH since 1999.)
, the creator of WSVN's fast-paced news format, to Boston. Cheatwood introduced a considerably watered-down version of the WSVN format. However, it was still shocking by Boston standards. Prior to the debut of the new format and 7 News identity that November, Ansin and Cheatwood began changing anchor lineups; in mid-October 1993, Margie Reedy was moved from the main evening newscasts to the noon and 5:30 newscasts. Rehema Ellis was promoted to female lead anchor (at 6 and 11 p.m.) with R.D. Sahl. However, many of the crew's doubts about the new, impending tabloid style were realized once the format switch was off and running. Most of the station's prominent newscasters wanted nothing to do with Cheatwood (he had a reputation as a pioneer in tabloid television
) and promptly resigned.
Rehema Ellis was one of the first to leave WHDH in response to Ansin's changes. Only two months into her promotion to lead anchor, Ellis declared herself a free agent, quickly accepting an offer at NBC News as a national correspondent. She signed off WHDH shortly after Christmas and began at NBC on January 1, 1994. R.D. Sahl was then sole anchor of the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts, with fill-in anchors from other station positions joining him periodically. The station reinstated a morning newscast in January 1994, which NETV had cut a few years earlier due to the financial constraints. Sunbeam hired two new anchors, Kim Khazei
and Gerry Grant, to appear in the morning. Originally from 5 to 7 a.m., the newscast expanded by an extra two hours, to 9 a.m., when WHDH dropped the low-rated CBS This Morning in late February.
During this time, Sahl became quite vocal of his displeasure with the new tabloid format, and within time it was clear that he was looking for a way out of his contract. Cheatwood soon hired a new anchor from Des Moines, Kim Carrigan, who first appeared as female lead anchor alongside Sahl in April 1994. Sunbeam was confident that Carrigan, the 31-year-old newcomer, and the 46-year-old Sahl, by now a trusted Boston news veteran, would be the lasting lead anchor team for them; but, in late July 1994, Sahl met with his legal counsel and came to an agreement over the termination of his WHDH contract. Sahl made his final appearance on 7 News in early August. Carrigan, who was quickly gaining a following, then continued on alone for several weeks at a time for the next four months. This made her the first female newscaster in Boston to anchor alone in the key 5, 6 and 11 p.m. time periods. Occasionally, Carrigan would be joined by Gerry Grant; however, promotion for these newscasts during this time featured Carrigan as sole anchor. Margie Reedy, meanwhile, remained on the noon and 5:30 newscasts until her departure that December. Both Sahl and Reedy would join New England Cable News
(NECN) soon afterward, where (save for Sahl's short-lived stint at KCAL-TV
in Los Angeles
) they would remain for several years afterward.
When WHDH switched to NBC in January 1995, the morning newscast was scaled back to the traditional 5-7 a.m. time frame in order to accommodate Today; a few months later, it was renamed from 7 News Morning Edition to the current Today in New England. Later in January, as a result of a package deal WHDH had signed the previous fall, the station saw the arrival of husband-and-wife anchors John Marler and Cathy Marshall. Marler, a long-time anchor at WAGA-TV
, joined Kim Carrigan at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.. Marshall, who had been a CNN
anchor, was originally unclear as to what her role with 7 News would be, but ultimately became Margie Reedy's replacement at noon and 5:30 p.m., beside Lester Strong. These two anchoring teams remained in place for the next three years. Former WBZ-TV
anchor Randy Price
, who had joined WHDH in 1996, first as a freelance reporter and then as a weekday morning anchor, replaced Marler in the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. periods in August 1998.
Channel 7, which for several years had already began a tradition of scheduling news in (previously) untraditional time periods, broke further ground again with the addition of a half-hour 4 p.m. newscast in June 1996. Titled 7 News First at 4, it gave Strong and Marshall additional anchor duties. The newscast was launched upon the sudden need to cancel Deco Drive, the WSVN-produced infotainment newsmagazine which had aired in the time period for the previous six months. The 4 p.m. newscast was originally separated from the existing early evening news block by Hard Copy
, and later by Extra following Hard Copys final broadcast in September 1999; after Extra moved to 7:30 p.m. in September 2001, WHDH launched a 4:30 p.m. newscast (the second in Boston, after a WFXT newscast that launched three months earlier).
The fast-paced Sunbeam news format rejuvenated WHDH's ratings, especially after switching to NBC. For most of the last decade, WHDH has waged a spirited battle for first behind long-dominant WCVB. In 2002, WHDH was noted as having the best newscast in the U.S. in a study published by the Columbia Journalism Review. In previous studies, the station was deemed as having one of the worst newscasts.
As of August 2006, WHDH airs the Boston area's only weekday 4 and 4:30 p.m. news. Before this point, WBZ-TV had broadcast an hour-long 4 p.m. newscast since June 2004 (WFXT moved its 4:30 p.m. newscast to 5 p.m. in 2002). On February 29, 2008, it was reported that the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike caused a significant loss in viewers during the late news. WHDH-TV finished at 11 p.m., with an average of 166,100 total viewers, down from 199,900 viewers in 2007.
On July 29, 2008, WHDH began doing broadcasts in high definition
. It is the second station in Boston to broadcast in high definition, with WCVB-TV being the first. On that day, revised graphics, music, and newsplex also made their debut. During the transition, 7 News was done in front of a green screen showing the former newsplex while the renovations were being done. As of January 11, 2009, sister station WSVN is also broadcasting a high definition newscast.
On November 12, 2010, it was announced that WHDH would launch an hour-long 9 a.m. newscast later in 2011, replacing Live With Regis and Kelly
, which had been dropped by the station due to its declining ratings in the Boston market. Originally slated to premiere on September 12, 2011, the 9 a.m. newscast was moved up to a start date of August 22, 2011 by the following summer. Live, which had aired on the station since it premiered nationally in 1988, moved to WCVB on August 22, airing directly opposite the WHDH newscast.
held in Boston in 2004. With traffic reporter Marshall Hook behind the wheel of one of the station's live vehicles, WHDH became the only station in the market to produce live traffic reports from the road. It continues to launch the TrafficTracker during snowstorms, including the December 13, 2007 storm that resulted in paralyzing commutes that, in some cases, exceeded seven hours. As of December 19, 2006, WHDH has been producing WLVI's nightly 10 p.m. news under the name 7 News at 10 on CW 56.
WHDH shares its resources with WJAR
, the NBC affiliate for the state of Rhode Island
and Bristol County, Massachusetts
, for news coverage of southeastern Massachusetts
. WWLP
, the NBC affiliate for Springfield
, shares its resources with WHDH for news coverage of western areas of the state.
The station operates a Bell LongRanger 206L news helicopter entitled "Sky 7". The station's weather radar
is presented on-air as "Storm Scan Doppler" with a signal coming from the radar at the National Weather Service
local forecast office in Taunton
.
7 Weather
Sports team
Traffic
Reporters
on the Bell TV satellite provider. It is also carried via the Anik F1 satellite to several Canadian cable companies, particularly in Atlantic Canada
. Other cable systems also carry WHDH, such as Citizens Cable Television in the Thousand Islands
region of New York State and Bermuda
CableVision.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest NBC station not owned by the network. Owned by Sunbeam Television
Sunbeam Television
Sunbeam Television Corporation is a broadcasting company based in Miami, Florida, and owns three television stations in the United States.-History:...
, WHDH is a sister station
Sister station
In broadcasting, sister stations or sister channels are radio and/or television stations operated by the same ownership....
to CW affiliate WLVI. The two stations share studios located at Bulfinch Place (near Government Center
Government Center, Boston, Massachusetts
Government Center is an area in downtown Boston, bounded by Cambridge, Court, Congress, and Sudbury Streets. Formerly the site of Scollay Square, it is now the location of Boston City Hall, two Suffolk County courthouses, two state office buildings, and two federal office buildings, a major MBTA...
) in downtown Boston, and WHDH's transmitter is located in Newton, Massachusetts
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.-Villages:...
.
Origins
Channel 7 first went on the air on June 21, 1948 as WNAC-TV, the second television station in Boston (twelve days after WBZ-TVWBZ-TV
WBZ-TV, virtual channel 4, is a CBS owned-and-operated television station, located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WBZ-TV's studios and office facilities, shared with sister station WSBK-TV , are located in the Allston-Brighton section of Boston, and its transmitter is located in Needham,...
). It was owned by General Tire
General Tire
The General Tire and Rubber Company is an American manufacturer of tires for motor vehicles.General Tire was founded in 1915 in Akron, Ohio by William F. O'Neil. Products included the low-pressure "General Balloon Jumbo" and the "Dual 90" tire...
along with WNAC radio (then at 1260 AM, now occupied by WMKI
WMKI
WMKI is a children's radio station in the Boston market. It is owned by The Walt Disney Company, and runs their Radio Disney programming.- History :...
; later moved to 680 AM, now WRKO
WRKO
WRKO is a radio station based in Boston, Massachusetts, currently owned by Entercom. Its transmitter is located in Burlington, Massachusetts, next to the Burlington Mall.-1920-1940:...
), flagship of the Yankee Network
Yankee Network
For the radio network of the New York Yankees, see New York Yankees Radio Network.The Yankee Network was an American radio network. It was founded in 1930 by John Shepard III; in 1949, a controlling interest in the network was purchased by General Tire when Robert Shepard chairman of the network's...
, a New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
regional radio network. General Tire had purchased the Yankee Network in 1943. WNAC first broadcast from studios at 21 Brookline Avenue (which had also been home to WNAC radio and the Yankee Network) before moving to its current facilities at 7 Bullfinch Place near Government Center in 1968.
In 1950, General Tire bought the West Coast regional Don Lee Broadcasting System
Don Lee (broadcaster)
Donald Musgrave Lee was the exclusive west coast distributor of Cadillac automobiles in the early 20th century. In 1919 Lee purchased the Earl Automobile Works of Hollywood, California. Harley Earl, the son of the company's owner, was kept on as manager...
. Two years later, it bought the Bamberger Broadcasting Service (WOR-AM
WOR (AM)
WOR is a class A , AM radio station located in New York, New York, U.S., operating on 710 kHz. The station has a talk format and has been owned by Buckley Broadcasting since 1987, after the station was sold by RKO. The station has conservative, or right-of-center hosts.Its call letters have no...
-FM-TV
WWOR-TV
WWOR-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the flagship station of the MyNetworkTV programming service, licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey and serving the Tri-State metropolitan area. WWOR is owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, and is a sister station to Fox network flagship...
in 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...
) and merged its broadcasting interests into a new division, General Teleradio. General Tire bought RKO Radio Pictures
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
in 1955 after General Tire found RKO's film library would be a perfect programming source for WNAC and its other television stations. The studio was merged into General Teleradio to become RKO Teleradio; after the film studio was dissolved, the business was renamed RKO General
RKO General
RKO General was the main holding company through 1991 for the noncore businesses of the General Tire and Rubber Company and, after General Tire's reorganization in the 1980s, GenCorp. The business was based around the consolidation of its parent company's broadcasting interests, dating to 1943, and...
in 1959.
WNAC-TV was originally a CBS
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...
affiliate. However, by 1955, ABC began to move some of its programming to secondary clearances on WNAC, which continued until (the original) WHDH-TV
WHDH-TV (defunct)
WHDH-TV was the callsign of the first station to use channel 5 in Boston. The station ceased operations March 18, 1972, after the station lost its license. The channel, but not the license, was taken over by WCVB-TV the following morning: March 19, 1972. It is of no relation to either WCVB or...
signed on channel 5 in 1957. WNAC-TV also had a secondary affiliation with the Paramount Television Network
Paramount Television Network
The Paramount Television Network was a venture by American film corporation Paramount Pictures to organize a television network in the late 1940s...
; in fact it was one of that company's strongest affiliates, carrying Paramount programs such as Time For Beany, Dixie Showboat, Hollywood Reel, and Armchair Detective.
WNAC-TV switched affiliations with WHDH in 1961 and joined ABC. It stayed with ABC until 1972, when channel 5 lost its license. The owners of the station that replaced it, WCVB-TV
WCVB-TV
WCVB-TV, channel 5, is a television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Hearst Television and affiliated with the ABC Television Network. WCVB-TV's studios and transmitter are co-located in Needham, Massachusetts. WCVB is also one of six Boston television stations seen in Canada by...
, planned to air more local programming than any other station in the country, heavily preempting CBS programming in the process. CBS was not pleased at the prospect of massive preemptions on what would have been its second-largest affiliate and largest affiliate on the East Coast. It immediately moved back to WNAC, leaving WCVB to affiliate with ABC. However, a year later, WNAC adopted a version of the circle 7 logo, similar to that used by ABC's owned-and-operated stations; in 1977, ABC complained that the station was infringing on its trademark, and the logo was changed to a Times-Serif-Italic "7". In late 1981, a stylish, strip-layered "7" was introduced, which ended up being the last logo redesign under RKO General ownership.
Two legendary Boston television personalities had shows on WNAC: Louise Morgan, who hosted a talk show and was known as "New England's First Lady of Radio and Television", and Ed McDonnell, who as the costumed (as an astronaut) character "Major Mudd", hosted a popular children's show in the 1960s and early 1970s.
Fight for survival and transition
By 1965, RKO General faced numerous investigations into its business and financial practices. Though the Federal Communications CommissionFederal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
renewed WNAC's license in 1969, RKO General lost the license in 1981 after General Tire admitted to a stunning litany of corporate misconduct as part of a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Among other things, General Tire admitted that it had committed financial fraud over illegal political contributions and bribes. However, in the FCC hearings, RKO General had withheld evidence of General Tire's misconduct, and had also failed to disclose evidence of accounting errors on its own part. In light of RKO's dishonesty, the FCC stripped RKO of the Boston license and the licenses for WOR-TV in New York
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...
and KHJ-TV
KCAL-TV
KCAL-TV, channel 9, is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, USA, owned by the CBS Corporation. KCAL-TV shares its studio facilities with KCBS-TV inside CBS Studio Center in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson.-Digital...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. The FCC had previously conditioned renewal of the latter two stations' licenses on WNAC's renewal. An appeals court partially reversed the ruling, finding that RKO's dishonesty alone merited having the WNAC license removed. However, it held that the FCC had overreached in tying the other two license renewals to WNAC's renewal, and ordered new hearings.
RKO appealed this decision, but in April 1982 the FCC denied its appeal and ordered RKO to surrender the station's license. On May 21, 1982 at Midnight, RKO signed off WNAC-TV for the final time. New England Television (NETV), a merger of two of the original rivals to the station's license controlled by Boston grocery magnate David Mugar, took over channel 7 on May 22, 1982 under a new license, signing the station back on as WNEV-TV; it also dropped the "7" logo in favor of a new SE7EN logo. This logo was changed to one of a number 7 made up of seven dots in September 1987.
Throughout the 1980s, WNEV-TV frequently partnered with WHDH radio (850 AM; frequency now occupied by WEEI
WEEI
WEEI is a sports radio station in Boston, Massachusetts, that broadcasts on 850 kHz from a transmitter in Needham, Massachusetts, and is owned by Entercom Communications. The station is one of the top-rated sports talk radio stations in the nation. Studios are located in Brighton, Massachusetts...
) for public events and other initiatives. This foreshadowed NETV's eventual purchase of WHDH, which occurred on August 7, 1989. In January 1990, Mugar announced that as of March 12, WNEV would change its call letters to WHDH-TV in order to correspond with its sister radio operation. This revived the call letters used on channel 5, now occupied by WCVB-TV, from 1957 until 1972. It was Mugar's plan to create, once again, a second major television/radio duopoly, primarily in news, to compete with the long-standing combo of WBZ radio
WBZ (AM)
WBZ is the call sign for an AM radio station in Boston, Massachusetts owned by CBS Radio, itself owned by the CBS Corporation. Originally based in and broadcast from Springfield, Massachusetts, WBZ was the first commercial radio station in the United States...
and television. Boston Mayor Ray Flynn
Raymond Flynn
Raymond Leo Flynn , also known as Ray Flynn, served as Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts from 1984 until 1993. He was later appointed United States Ambassador to the Holy See by President Bill Clinton.-Early life:...
declared March 12, 1990 as "WHDH Day" in Boston, celebrating the joining of the radio and television stations. On that day, personalities from WHDH-TV made on-air sessions on WHDH radio.
The dual operation, which began with much fanfare and leverage, proved to be too costly for Mugar and company. NETV gradually slid into a deficit, prompting cutbacks on in-house programming as well as in the television news department; the most notable effect being the elimination of WHDH-TV's 5:00 p.m. newscast for two years beginning in 1991. With third place news ratings, minimal help from CBS (which had been in a ratings slump since the end of the 1987–88 television season) and sinking profits, Mugar was eventually prompted to sell the WHDH stations. The radio station was sold to Atlantic Ventures in 1992.
Sale to Sunbeam
On April 22, 1993, David Mugar entered into an agreement to sell WHDH-TV to MiamiMiami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
-based Sunbeam Television Corporation
Sunbeam Television
Sunbeam Television Corporation is a broadcasting company based in Miami, Florida, and owns three television stations in the United States.-History:...
— a company led by Worcester
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
native Edmund ("Ed") Ansin. The purchase was completed in late July. Shortly afterward, Ansin installed news director Joel Cheatwood
Joel Cheatwood
Joel Cheatwood is an American television executive best known for creating modern news formats which combine flashy presentation to make news more attractive for younger audiences....
from his Miami station WSVN
WSVN
WSVN, channel 7, is a television station located in Miami, Florida, USA. WSVN is owned by Sunbeam Television, and is an affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company. The station has its studio facilities located in North Bay Village and transmitter based in north Miami-Dade County.WSVN operates a Key...
, and began to rebuild and expand the news department into the newsplex operation that he had originated in Miami.
In the first months of Sunbeam ownership, WHDH's identity and presentation was more-or-less unchanged from how it was under NETV. Nonetheless, Ansin began to prepare viewers for the change in branding almost immediately. During the summer of 1993, the dotted-7 logo formation was eliminated from the CGI title sequence of Lottery Live, and the column that contained a series of dotted-7 logos behind the lottery machines was removed from the Lottery Live set. (These visual adjustments, along with a modified set, were only temporary for WHDH's lottery drawings, as Lottery Live moved to WCVB the following March.) By that fall, the News 7 broadcasts still featured NETV graphics and music cues, but the last NETV-era set had been removed in favor of a section of the fledgling newsplex, and Sunbeam-style graphics were featured on over-the-shoulder visuals. The last graphic traces of the David Mugar/NETV era (including the dotted-7 logo) were utilized for the final time on October 31, 1993.
November 1, 1993 saw the unveiling of the new Sunbeam news format; with its more aggressive, fast-paced style, and the dramatically changed appearance of the studio, it was a stark contrast with the newscast WHDH had produced just 24 hours earlier. With the transition complete, newscasts now aired from the finished multi-story view of the newsplex, under the 7 News heading, and a new circle 7, imported from WSVN, became the new logo for the station.
Preempted programming
Over the years, channel 7 as WNAC had preempted little network programming. As WNEV, the station preempted programming in moderation, in favor of more locally produced shows. When it was an American Broadcasting CompanyAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate under WNAC call letters, they pre-empted Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...
for the first two years before clearing it on January 13, 1969. Terry Crawford (who played Beth Chavez) is a native of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. The preempted programs often aired on WHLL (now WUNI
WUNI
WUNI, digital channel 29, is the Univision television affiliate for the Greater Boston market. Licensed to Worcester, Massachusetts, the station runs general Spanish entertainment programs as well as news and information programming...
). From 1989 to 1990, the station delayed CBS This Morning in favor of the children's show Ready To Go (RTG had previously aired in the 6–7 a.m. slot from its debut in 1987 through 1989; after only six months at 7 a.m., the program was reduced to Saturday-morning-only broadcasts on March 24, 1990). In February 1994, CBS This Morning was dropped and picked up by WABU (now WBPX-TV). WHDH then began an expanded morning local newscast.
Lottery
WNEV/WHDH also had exclusive rights to Lottery Live, broadcasting the Massachusetts State LotteryMassachusetts Lottery
The Massachusetts Lottery was established in 1971, following the legalization of gambling by the Massachusetts General Court, the legislature of the Commonwealth...
games six nights a week from September 1987 to March 6, 1994. Motivated to cultivate an identity to the station that would indirectly help its last-place news ratings, WNEV acquired the lottery from WBZ-TV, which had announced earlier in 1987 that it would no longer show the games. The arrival of the lottery games was promoted heavily, and went hand-in-hand with the station's on-air image change that fall; the new dotted-7 logo had a dual meaning, in that the dots were to represent lottery balls.
A contest was held by WNEV in August 1987, under a month before the games made their switch, to scout for their own lottery host (Tom Bergeron
Tom Bergeron
Tom Bergeron is an American television personality and game show host, best known as the host of the ABC reality series Dancing with the Stars and host of America's Funniest Home Videos . He was also host of Hollywood Squares and a fill-in host for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire...
, who hosted Lottery Live on WBZ, did not continue in the role because he remained at that station in other capacities). The auditions were held in front of an audience of 200 at Boston's Westin Hotel at Copley Place
Copley Place
Copley Place is an enclosed shopping mall, constructed in 1983, located in the Back Bay section of Boston, Massachusetts. It is owned by Simon Property Group, which acquired it in the 2002 breakup of the then-Dutch owned Urban Shopping Centers, Inc...
, in which the finalists were narrowed down to 16. The winner was Lynn-Andrea Waugh, familiarly known as "Andi", a 29-year-old redhead model who had no prior on-air experience. Despite being well-received by viewers due to her effervescent personality and striking good looks, Ms. Waugh never completely overcame her noticeable nervousness after taking to the air. Waugh abandoned her hosting spot upon the expiration of her contract in August 1988. She was replaced with Dawn Hayes, who had been the runner up in the lottery host competition. Hayes, who was equally as appealing but with a polished, confident on-air presence, began her long run as host during this era.
For the majority of its time on channel 7, both drawings of the evening were played during the last two commercial breaks of Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
. The daily Numbers Game drawing aired at 7:52 (following the conclusion of "Double Jeopardy!"), while the specialty game of the evening (e.g., Mass Ca$h) aired at 7:58. Weekend hosts for this era included Linda Ward, Linda Frantangela, and Jill Stark (who sometimes filled in for Hayes on weekdays from 1993 to 1994). After the sale to Sunbeam, the games were subsequently moved over to WCVB on March 7, 1994.
Switch to NBC affiliation
WHDH stayed with CBS until January 2, 1995, when WBZ-TV took over the CBS affiliation as part of a group deal between CBS and WBZ's owner, Group W. FoxFox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
considered an affiliation deal with WHDH, but ultimately chose to acquire its existing affiliate, WFXT
WFXT
WFXT is a television station owned and operated by the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Boston, Massachusetts. The station's studio and office facility is in Dedham, Massachusetts, and its transmitter is located in Needham, Massachusetts...
, and WHDH became Boston's NBC affiliate, replacing WBZ (which had been with the network for 47 years). Since joining NBC, channel 7 has cleared the entire NBC lineup. WHDH became the primary station for the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
at this time, as the Patriots played in the American Football Conference
American Football Conference
The American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the National Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL....
of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
, which had a deal with NBC
NFL on NBC
NFL on NBC is the brand given to NBC Sports coverage of National Football League games until 1998, when NBC lost the NFL American Football Conference rights to CBS...
for the network to air AFC games (thus Boston was not as important as a market for Fox in regards to getting an VHF affiliate). When the AFC package moved to CBS
NFL on CBS
The NFL on CBS is the brand name of the CBS television network's coverage of the National Football League's American Football Conference games, produced by CBS Sports.-Market coverage and television policies:...
in 1998, this role was reclaimed by WBZ-TV.
Between 1996 and 1997, WHDH produced a mid-morning weekday newsmagazine for the NBC network called Real Life.
In May 2006, WHDH began offering NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus was a 24-hour, commercially sponsored, weather-oriented broadcast/cable television network jointly owned by NBC Universal and the local affiliates of the NBC network. It debuted on November 15, 2004 and shut down on December 31, 2008...
, which aired on digital subchannel 7.2 until NBC discontinued the channel at the end of 2008. WHDH added This TV
This TV
This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....
to the subchannel in 2009.
Tribune Broadcasting
Tribune Broadcasting
The Tribune Broadcasting Company is a group of radio and television stations located throughout the United States which are owned and operated by the Tribune Company, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois and named for the flagship Chicago Tribune newspaper.- History :Tribune Broadcasting...
announced on September 14, 2006 that it would sell WLVI-TV
WLVI-TV
WLVI, digital channel 41, is a television station licensed to Cambridge, Massachusetts which serves as the CW affiliate for the Boston, Massachusetts television market. WLVI is owned by Sunbeam Television, and is a sister station to WHDH, Boston's NBC affiliate. The two stations share studios at...
, Boston's The CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
affiliate, to Sunbeam Television for $117.3 million, after much speculation that Sunbeam would buy WLVI. The sale was approved by the FCC in late-November giving Boston its second television duopoly
Duopoly (broadcasting)
In United States broadcast television and radio, duopoly is a term used to describe a single company which owns two or more stations in the same city or community....
(the other one being WBZ-TV and WSBK-TV
WSBK-TV
WSBK-TV is a MyNetworkTV television station for eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire that is licensed to Boston. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 39 from a transmitter along the Needham and Wellesley town line southwest of the MA 9 and I-95 / MA 128...
). WLVI moved from its Dorchester studios to WHDH's facilities in downtown Boston.
On April 2, 2009, WHDH announced that it would not air NBC's new primetime talk show The Jay Leno Show
The Jay Leno Show
The Jay Leno Show is an American comedy show created by and starring Jay Leno, that aired from September 14, 2009 to February 9, 2010 on NBC following the May 29, 2009 conclusion of Leno's first tenure as host of The Tonight Show...
, when it debuted in September 2009, electing to replace it with a simulcast of WLVI's 10 p.m. newscast (which is produced by WHDH) in order to better compete with Fox-owned WFXT. The network quickly dismissed any move of Leno to any other timeslot other than 10pm, stating that WHDH's plan was a "flagrant" violation of the station's contract with the network and that it would consider moving NBC affiliation to another station in the market, either through an "existing broadcast license" in the market owned by NBC (to create an O&O station) or through inquiries from other stations in the market interested in acquiring the affiliation. The next day, WHDH began removing all references to the proposed 10 p.m. newscast from its website, and on April 13 the station announced that it had decided to comply and air The Jay Leno Show instead of the newscast. The fears would become well-realized, as WHDH's 11 p.m. newscast plunged to third place in the November 2009 sweeps period, down 20 percent from November 2008. Other 'first-to-third' drops among NBC affiliates at 11 p.m. forced NBC on January 10, 2010 to pull Leno from 10 p.m. starting after the 2010 Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
and move Leno back to The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny...
in a shake-up of its late night schedule.
Although the radio station had dropped the WHDH callsign in 1994, channel 7 retained the -TV suffix until July 8, 2010.
Digital programming
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 7.1 | main WHDH programming / NBC NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago... HD |
| 7.2 | This TV This TV This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies.... |
WHDH also has plans for a Mobile DTV feed of subchannel 7.1.
Digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
7.2 carried NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus was a 24-hour, commercially sponsored, weather-oriented broadcast/cable television network jointly owned by NBC Universal and the local affiliates of the NBC network. It debuted on November 15, 2004 and shut down on December 31, 2008...
; most national feeds for this service ended December 2008. As of February 2, 2009, 7.2 carries This TV
This TV
This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....
. Via digital cable, channel 7.2 is offered on 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...
channel 297 and Verizon FiOS
Verizon FiOS
Verizon FiOS is a bundled Internet access, telephone, and television service which operates over a fiber-optic communications network. It is offered in some areas of the United States by Verizon Communications. Verizon was one of the first major U.S...
channel 460.
As part of the analog television shutdown and digital conversion was completed, WHDH shut down its analog transmitter on June 12, 2009, and moved its digital broadcasts back to channel 7, the frequency previously used for its analog broadcast. Because of a large number of complaints regarding inability of viewers to receive over the air programming on channel 7, WHDH requested and received temporary authority from the FCC on June 16, 2009 to simulcast its programming on channel 42 (UHF) in addition to channel 7 (VHF).
Although stations in other major markets have similar problems, WHDH is the only station in the Boston area market which changed its digital channel due to the June 2009 transition, requiring a channel map rescan to receive the station. WHDH was also one of three stations, along with WMUR-TV
WMUR-TV
WMUR-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the state of New Hampshire that is licensed to Manchester. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 9 from a transmitter on the south peak of Mount Uncanoonuc in Goffstown. Owned by Hearst Television, the station has studios...
and WWDP
WWDP
WWDP is a television station in the United States, serving the Boston, Massachusetts market. The station broadcasts on digital VHF channel 10. It is licensed to Norwell, Massachusetts, airs home shopping programs from ShopNBC, and is owned by ValueVision Media.-19861988: WRYT:WWDP first signed on...
, in the area to broadcast in VHF post-transition, requiring either a traditional rabbit ears antenna within Boston proper, or in outer areas at minimum an outdoor antenna.
On September 15, 2009, the FCC issued a Report & Order, approving WHDH's move from channel 7 to channel 42. After the station filed its minor change application for a construction permit, stating the channel move, on November 9, 2009, WHDH terminated operations on VHF channel 7 and now operate solely and permanently on channel 42. The equipment for the channel 7 digital transmitter has since been shipped down to Miami for use by sister station WSVN, which continues to be on VHF 7 with few complaints due to South Florida's less-varied terrain.
On June 1, 2010, WHDH filed an application to operate at the power level of 1 million watts. The application was approved on December 14.
1948–1960s
WNAC-TV's first newscasts were sponsored by Shawmut Bank and were named Shawmut Bank Newsteller. The title had a double meaning; that of an anchor who told the news, and that of the program being compared to a bank teller making a withdrawal of news and information from a "news bank", at the public's request. (This title was also used on a newscast Shawmut sponsored on WBZ-TV during this time.) This format lasted from WNAC's launch on June 21, 1948 until the early 1950s, when the branding changed to reflect RKO's Yankee Network and its personnel, which also handled news on RKO's radio side. WNAC-TV's relationship with WNAC radio was also touted more starting at this time. From then on through the mid-1960s, the newscasts were known as Yankee Network News.1965–1972
By 1965, most of WNAC's in-house productions, including news and public affairs, were upgraded to color broadcasts. Several years later, the newscasts' names were changed to New England Today (for morning and noon newscasts) and New England Tonight (for the 6 and 11 p.m.). Reporter John Henning was briefly the station's lead anchor before leaving for WHDH-TV because, as he complained, the station was more interested in money movies than in news. In 1970, the station was the first to promote its newscasts with a jingleJingle
A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
called "Move Closer to Your World
Move Closer to Your World
Move Closer to Your World is a television news music package composed by jingle writer Al Ham under his Mayoham Music label. In the 1970s it was considered an anthem for local television news, and is considered the anthem of WPVI-TV in Philadelphia for its Action News programs to the current day...
". Two years later, WNAC's news director moved to WPVI-TV
WPVI-TV
WPVI-TV, channel 6, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. WPVI has its studios located on the border between Philadelphia and Bala Cynwyd, and its transmitter is located in the...
in Philadelphia and took the theme music with him, where it became famous. Also during this era, a series of anchor teams led the newscasts, including Jim Hale and Howard Nielson and later Hale and Ken Thomas. The station revamped its anchor desk entirely in 1970, naming Lee Nelson and Chuck Scarborough
Chuck Scarborough
Charles Bishop "Chuck" Scarborough III is an American television journalist and author. Since 1974 Scarborough has been the lead male news anchor at WNBC-TV, the New York City-based flagship station of the NBC Television Network, and has also appeared on NBC News. He currently co-anchors with...
as the anchor team. After serving in the role from 1970–74, Scarborough moved to WNBC
WNBC
WNBC, virtual channel 4 , is the flagship station of the NBC television network, located in New York City. WNBC's studios are co-located with NBC corporate headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in midtown Manhattan...
in New York, where he remains today.
1972–1982
The New England Today/Tonight format lasted until mid-1972, just months after the switch from ABC to CBS. RKO General then revised the station's on-air image once again to now include the moniker "Boston 7". The Boston 7 Newsroom title ran from 1972 until 1974, when the title was shortened to Newsroom 7.Despite its links with the Yankee Network's well-respected news department (which came to an end when RKO General closed the network in 1967), WNAC-TV spent most of its first 20 years on the air as a distant third in the Boston ratings. However, the station had begun to be fairly competitive in the early 1970s. For a brief period in 1974, WNAC's 6 p.m. newscast jumped from third place to first. Ted O'Brien, who had replaced Scarborough as the station's primary anchor, remained as lead anchor until being replaced by Jay Scott, a young reporter who was hired with a publicity campaign claiming that the news director, on a nationwide talent hunt, had found Scott in a hotel room in Denver, where he had watched television looking for talent. A few years later, John Henning returned to the station from WCVB-TV as Scott's replacement. Henning, who was joined by station standbys Eddie Andelman and Dr. Fred Ward, continued to maintain the credibility RKO General had built for itself in news over the past 30 years. However, WNAC's news operation wasn't able to maintain this momentum for long. The RKO fiscal and licensing fiasco that ensued in the next few years caused a sharp drop in the ratings. In 1978, the station hired its first female lead anchor, when Mary Richardson was hired to co-anchor the 11 p.m. broadcast. In 1980, Brad Holbrook was added as Henning's new co-anchor, but by then, budgets were getting extremely tight at RKO due to the company's legal and financial troubles. Henning, disgruntled by his employers, left the station in June 1981 after his four-year anchoring contract was up.
In the year leading up to RKO's sale of channel 7's assets to David Mugar in order to settle the licensing case, the station hired Susan Brady, to co-anchor with Brad Holbrook. The changes did not cease during WNAC's remaining months. After RKO's loss of the WNAC license in 1980 was upheld by the Federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Brady left for a position in Los Angeles. She was quickly replaced by young weekend anchor Susan Burke, who carried on with Holbrook both during the transition from RKO to New England Television and for the first months of the new ownership.
1982–1993
When New England Television began operating the station under a new license, a massive attempt to bring channel 7, now WNEV-TV, out of the ratings basement was planned. David Mugar and company soon announced the infamous "dream team" of newscasters, headed by Tom EllisTom Ellis (journalist)
Tom Ellis is a Boston based journalist, he is well known throughout New England where he has served as anchor for three of Boston's network-affiliated stations. His career in television news spans more than 40 years....
and Robin Young
Robin Young
Robin Young is an American television and radio personality. She has been a Boston, Massachusetts-based radio and television host since the mid-1970s when she hosted Evening Magazine for WBZ-TV....
. Ellis had previously maintained WBZ's dominance in the news market and then helped WCVB reach number one during his tenure there (1978–82). Young, on the other hand, had no hard news experience but was well-known to Boston viewers as former co-host of Evening Magazine. The new partnership, as well as the completely re-structured news department as a whole, received heavy promotion in the months leading to the official launch the finalized WNEV news product (accompanied by a launch image campaign, "There's A New Day Dawning"). The newsroom facility, built feverishly over the summer of 1982, was cited by The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
as being the most technologically advanced out of all three network stations in the market. On Ellis and Young's debut night, September 13, 1982, WNEV beat WCVB and WBZ in the evening news ratings. The curiosity of Boston viewers only lasted a week in large numbers; the following week, channel 7 returned to ranking as a distant third.
What followed for WNEV's news were more shakeups, both in talent and identity due to ongoing sagging ratings. WNEV's inaugural station manager, Winthrop "Win" Baker, and his news director Bill Applegate were both fired in May 1983. Replacing Baker was former WBZ-TV programming head Sy Yanoff, whom Mugar had the utmost confidence in given his track record at channel 4 (both Ellis and Young had worked for Yanoff at separate times, years earlier, at WBZ; this was a major factor in him taking the job). Yanoff quickly reunited himself with his former WBZ news director Jeff Rosser, who signed a five-year contract with WNEV. Over the summer, the two fired quite a few of the 1982 "dream team" hires, in an effort to strengthen and better utilize the talents that worked. The largest issue they faced was the never-ending public perception that Robin Young was too much of a contrast with Tom Ellis. Considering Yanoff's history with Young at WBZ, he gently started offering her more avenues at WNEV to possibly alleviate the matter for the sake of ratings. That July, Young, who had previously stated that she was at the anchor desk for the long haul, made a move with Yanoff and Mugar that allowed her airtime on WNEV for primetime specials produced under her private production company, Young Visions. Young decided that leaving the news department would allow her more time to focus on these specials, as well as the availability to be an all-purpose station personality. During that summer, as Young geared up to vacate her anchor position, Yanoff and Rosser named four possible successors, including KNXT
KCBS-TV
KCBS-TV, channel 2, is an owned-and-operated television station of the CBS Television Network, located in Los Angeles, California. KCBS-TV shares its offices and studio facilities with sister station KCAL-TV inside CBS Studio Center in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, and its transmitter...
reporter Terry Murphy
Terry Murphy
Terry Murphy may refer to:* Terry Murphy , American television host and correspondent* Terry Murphy , Northern Irish snooker player*Terrence Murphy, American football player...
(later of Hard Copy
Hard Copy
Hard Copy is an American tabloid news television show that ran in syndication from 1989 to 1999. Hard Copy was aggressive in its use of questionable material on television, including gratuitous violence....
fame) and WNEV's own reporter Diane Willis , who had been one of the brand-new hires the previous year. Willis was selected for the position in early September, and began anchoring with Tom Ellis that same month. Young, meanwhile, would host her primetime specials and events through 1987.
In the spring of 1984, NETV moved its on-air news look away from the changes made only two years prior, taking away the anchoring desk from the newsroom and utilizing a backdrop allowing chroma keys and CGI graphics to be placed. WNEV also began a regional news bureau network known as The New England News Exchange, in which WNEV consulted with other broadcasters and print media to create a high-powered electronic news gathering organization. Despite a continued massive influx of capital and marketing (including a highly-financed promotional campaign employing the refrain "Feel Good About That"), and more positive reviews of the station's news following the appointment of Willis as lead anchor, WNEV still failed to take the competition by storm.
In the spring of 1986, Yanoff and Rosser announced that they would try a second lead anchor team for the 11 p.m. weeknight news in the fall. They planned to keep Ellis and Willis on at 6 p.m., while giving the 11 p.m. slot to weekend anchor/reporter Kate Sullivan and Dave Wright, an incoming newsman hired away from ATV
CTV Atlantic
CTV Atlantic is a system of four television stations in the Canadian Maritimes, owned and operated by the CTV Television Network, a division of Bell Media...
in the Canadian Maritimes. However, when Rosser had a meeting with Willis for what was supposed to be her contract renewal, he was told by Willis that instead, she would be leaving to become a professor of journalism at Northeastern University. Willis and Rosser publicly announced her resignation in July, and Willis assured the staff that her decision to leave WNEV was isolated from her soon-to-be decreased air time. Ellis, on the other hand, was unhappy about his reduction, feeling that he was no longer being considered the station's principal anchor. Yanoff and Rosser attempted to come to agreeable terms with Ellis, with two proposed plans—to either pair him with Kate Sullivan or Dave Wright, or to find him another replacement female anchor. It was purported that WNEV was even in discussions with by-then-former NBC anchor Linda Ellerbee
Linda Ellerbee
Linda Ellerbee is an American journalist who is most known for several jobs at NBC News, including Washington, DC correspondent, host of the Nickelodeon network's Nick News, and reporter and co-anchor of NBC News Overnight, which was recognized by the jurors of the duPont Columbia Awards as...
for a possible pair-up with Ellis. The anchor replacement and Wright/Ellis pairing ideas were ultimately nixed (by the 1980s, the idea of two men anchoring together was passe); in the end, Sullivan and Wright took over both the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts in September. Ellis was demoted to reporter, a move that ultimately led to his exit from the station altogether in early December 1986.
In September 1987, numerous changes occurred when R.D. Sahl, another existing noon and weekend anchor, joined Kate Sullivan as her new partner on weeknights (Sahl had filled in for Wright on numerous occasions in 1986-87, and heavily in the summer of 1987 when Wright was recovering from a heart attack). At the same time, WNEV became the first Boston station to launch a 5 p.m. newscast, which was anchored by Dave Wright and Diana Williams
Diana Williams
Diana Williams is a news anchor at WABC-TV in New York City, where she currently co-anchors the 5 p.m. Eyewitness News broadcast with Sade Baderinwa and hosts the Sunday morning public affairs program Eyewitness News Up Close with Diana Williams, which airs on Sunday mornings at 11am...
. The Live at Five hour of the news was a cross between the informality of WBZ's competing Live on 4 and WNEV's regular newscasts, minus the lifestyle and specialty features seen on Live on 4. However, there was a unique twist. Wright, who had created the Live at Five format at ATV (where he had hosted it from 1982 to 1986), brought the concept to WNEV, which had him and Williams walking around a special newsroom set sans an anchor desk as they presented stories. Featured reporters were seated at assignment desks on the set, as they contributed to the fray and chatted with Wright and Williams. The format soared in the ratings, a true accomplishment long labored by NETV. Ultimately, the producers of the news program started feuding, and Wright, who felt caught in the middle, resigned from WNEV in May 1988. Just prior to Wright's departure, Jeff Rosser had left the station at the close of his contract, and arriving in his place was celebrated former WCVB news director Jim Thistle. By September 1988, the Live at Five format was dropped (as it remained the intellectual property of ATV), and the 5-6 p.m. block was now structured as a more conventional newscast, anchored by Williams and Lester Strong. After Williams departed for WABC-TV
WABC-TV
WABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company located in New York City. The station's studios and offices are located on the Upper West Side section of Manhattan, adjacent to ABC's corporate headquarters, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State...
in 1990 (where she remains to this day), Strong anchored with new arrival Edye Tarbox in the 5 p.m. hour.
Even with the personnel changes, channel 7 would spend the rest of its years under Mugar in the ratings basement. It also constantly changed its identity—from NEWSE7EN (1982–1984) to The New England News (1984–1988) to News 7 New England (1988–1990) to News 7 (1990–1993). However, R.D. Sahl became regarded as the strongest figure the station had going for it, and was paired at first with Kate Sullivan and then Margie Reedy, who replaced the departed Sullivan in 1990.
Besides the locally-prominent journalists who attempted to leverage WNEV's news, a few future national talents had brief stints at the station in the 1980s. Bill O'Reilly
Bill O'Reilly (commentator)
William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television...
, long before his national exposure on 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 Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
's The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor, originally titled The O'Reilly Report from 1996 to 1998 and often called The Factor, is an American talk show on the Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill O'Reilly, who often discusses current controversial political issues with guests.The program was the most watched...
, co-anchored NEWSE7EN Weekend in 1982-83. Soon after, O'Reilly also became the host of the station's weekday afternoon talk/lifestyle program, New England Afternoon (which replaced the ill-fated two-hour magazine show Look, canceled after its first season). His successor on the weekend newscast was Paula Zahn, now a well-renowned newswoman of many television networks, who co-anchored with Lester Strong from 1983-85. Rehema Ellis, who joined the station in 1985 as a general assignment reporter, eventually left to become an NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
national correspondent in 1994. From May to November 1988, future Today host Matt Lauer
Matt Lauer
Matthew Todd "Matt" Lauer . is an American television journalist best known as the host of NBC's The Today Show since 1997. He was previously a news anchor in New York and a local talk-show host in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Richmond...
hosted WNEV's mid-morning talk show Talk of the Town. Two more WNEV/WHDH alumni would then hit the big time: reporter Miles O'Brien
Miles O'Brien (journalist)
Miles O'Brien is a broadcast news journalist specializing in aviation, space and technology.-Early life:...
, a 1987 arrival to the station, left to join CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
in 1989. Edye Tarbox, now E.D. Hill, who was an anchor/reporter at WHDH from 1990–92, later worked at Fox News Channel from 1999 to 2008.
Tom Ellis, who had been dethroned of the male lead anchor position at the station in 1986, came full circle when Inside Edition Extra, a companion series to the syndicated stalwart Inside Edition, was picked up by WHDH for its fall 1992 daytime schedule. Ellis had been named the host of Extra, and in effect was once again seen on channel 7 exactly ten years after he had began his run there as lead anchor. Since Extra aired after its parent series as part of an hour-long IE block at 4 p.m., Ellis also appeared following his former WNEV colleague, Bill O'Reilly. The scheduling only lasted one season, as Inside Edition Extra was discontinued at the end of the 1992-93 season. (This program has no relation to the current Extra
Extra (TV series)
Extra is an American entertainment television news program covering events and celebrities which debuted on September 5, 1994 in syndication. It is produced at Victory Studios in Glendale, California by Telepictures Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television Distribution...
, a Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
-produced entertainment magazine that premiered in the fall of 1994 and has aired on WHDH since 1999.)
1993–present
There were abrupt changes when Sunbeam bought the station in 1993. New station owner Ed Ansin brought Joel CheatwoodJoel Cheatwood
Joel Cheatwood is an American television executive best known for creating modern news formats which combine flashy presentation to make news more attractive for younger audiences....
, the creator of WSVN's fast-paced news format, to Boston. Cheatwood introduced a considerably watered-down version of the WSVN format. However, it was still shocking by Boston standards. Prior to the debut of the new format and 7 News identity that November, Ansin and Cheatwood began changing anchor lineups; in mid-October 1993, Margie Reedy was moved from the main evening newscasts to the noon and 5:30 newscasts. Rehema Ellis was promoted to female lead anchor (at 6 and 11 p.m.) with R.D. Sahl. However, many of the crew's doubts about the new, impending tabloid style were realized once the format switch was off and running. Most of the station's prominent newscasters wanted nothing to do with Cheatwood (he had a reputation as a pioneer in tabloid television
Tabloid television
Tabloid television, also known as Teletabloid, is a form of tabloid journalism. Tabloid television newscasts usually incorporate flashy graphics and sensationalized stories.Often, there is a heavy emphasis on crime, stories with good video, and celebrity news...
) and promptly resigned.
Rehema Ellis was one of the first to leave WHDH in response to Ansin's changes. Only two months into her promotion to lead anchor, Ellis declared herself a free agent, quickly accepting an offer at NBC News as a national correspondent. She signed off WHDH shortly after Christmas and began at NBC on January 1, 1994. R.D. Sahl was then sole anchor of the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts, with fill-in anchors from other station positions joining him periodically. The station reinstated a morning newscast in January 1994, which NETV had cut a few years earlier due to the financial constraints. Sunbeam hired two new anchors, Kim Khazei
Kim Khazei
Kim Khazei is a news anchor woman for 7News Boston WHDH-TV and its sister station WLVI-TV .- Career :Kim Khazei began her TV career at KOMU-TV in Columbia, Missouri, then worked for four years at KQTV in Missouri as an evening anchor and reporter....
and Gerry Grant, to appear in the morning. Originally from 5 to 7 a.m., the newscast expanded by an extra two hours, to 9 a.m., when WHDH dropped the low-rated CBS This Morning in late February.
During this time, Sahl became quite vocal of his displeasure with the new tabloid format, and within time it was clear that he was looking for a way out of his contract. Cheatwood soon hired a new anchor from Des Moines, Kim Carrigan, who first appeared as female lead anchor alongside Sahl in April 1994. Sunbeam was confident that Carrigan, the 31-year-old newcomer, and the 46-year-old Sahl, by now a trusted Boston news veteran, would be the lasting lead anchor team for them; but, in late July 1994, Sahl met with his legal counsel and came to an agreement over the termination of his WHDH contract. Sahl made his final appearance on 7 News in early August. Carrigan, who was quickly gaining a following, then continued on alone for several weeks at a time for the next four months. This made her the first female newscaster in Boston to anchor alone in the key 5, 6 and 11 p.m. time periods. Occasionally, Carrigan would be joined by Gerry Grant; however, promotion for these newscasts during this time featured Carrigan as sole anchor. Margie Reedy, meanwhile, remained on the noon and 5:30 newscasts until her departure that December. Both Sahl and Reedy would join New England Cable News
New England Cable News
New England Cable News is a regional 24-hour cable news television network owned and operated by NBCUniversal serving the New England region of the United States. It is very similar to CNN in structure and style, but focuses more on regional news. The channel is also similar to Northwest Cable...
(NECN) soon afterward, where (save for Sahl's short-lived stint at KCAL-TV
KCAL-TV
KCAL-TV, channel 9, is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, USA, owned by the CBS Corporation. KCAL-TV shares its studio facilities with KCBS-TV inside CBS Studio Center in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson.-Digital...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
) they would remain for several years afterward.
When WHDH switched to NBC in January 1995, the morning newscast was scaled back to the traditional 5-7 a.m. time frame in order to accommodate Today; a few months later, it was renamed from 7 News Morning Edition to the current Today in New England. Later in January, as a result of a package deal WHDH had signed the previous fall, the station saw the arrival of husband-and-wife anchors John Marler and Cathy Marshall. Marler, a long-time anchor at WAGA-TV
WAGA-TV
WAGA-TV, virtual channel 5.1 is an owned-and-operated television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Television Network and based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States...
, joined Kim Carrigan at 5, 6 and 11 p.m.. Marshall, who had been a CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
anchor, was originally unclear as to what her role with 7 News would be, but ultimately became Margie Reedy's replacement at noon and 5:30 p.m., beside Lester Strong. These two anchoring teams remained in place for the next three years. Former WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV, virtual channel 4, is a CBS owned-and-operated television station, located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WBZ-TV's studios and office facilities, shared with sister station WSBK-TV , are located in the Allston-Brighton section of Boston, and its transmitter is located in Needham,...
anchor Randy Price
Randy Price
Randy Price is a television newscaster with WCVB-TV in Boston, Massachusetts, after being the lead anchor at WHDH-TV from 1998 to 2009. He is considered the U.S.'s first openly gay newscaster....
, who had joined WHDH in 1996, first as a freelance reporter and then as a weekday morning anchor, replaced Marler in the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. periods in August 1998.
Channel 7, which for several years had already began a tradition of scheduling news in (previously) untraditional time periods, broke further ground again with the addition of a half-hour 4 p.m. newscast in June 1996. Titled 7 News First at 4, it gave Strong and Marshall additional anchor duties. The newscast was launched upon the sudden need to cancel Deco Drive, the WSVN-produced infotainment newsmagazine which had aired in the time period for the previous six months. The 4 p.m. newscast was originally separated from the existing early evening news block by Hard Copy
Hard Copy
Hard Copy is an American tabloid news television show that ran in syndication from 1989 to 1999. Hard Copy was aggressive in its use of questionable material on television, including gratuitous violence....
, and later by Extra following Hard Copys final broadcast in September 1999; after Extra moved to 7:30 p.m. in September 2001, WHDH launched a 4:30 p.m. newscast (the second in Boston, after a WFXT newscast that launched three months earlier).
The fast-paced Sunbeam news format rejuvenated WHDH's ratings, especially after switching to NBC. For most of the last decade, WHDH has waged a spirited battle for first behind long-dominant WCVB. In 2002, WHDH was noted as having the best newscast in the U.S. in a study published by the Columbia Journalism Review. In previous studies, the station was deemed as having one of the worst newscasts.
As of August 2006, WHDH airs the Boston area's only weekday 4 and 4:30 p.m. news. Before this point, WBZ-TV had broadcast an hour-long 4 p.m. newscast since June 2004 (WFXT moved its 4:30 p.m. newscast to 5 p.m. in 2002). On February 29, 2008, it was reported that the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike caused a significant loss in viewers during the late news. WHDH-TV finished at 11 p.m., with an average of 166,100 total viewers, down from 199,900 viewers in 2007.
On July 29, 2008, WHDH began doing broadcasts in high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
. It is the second station in Boston to broadcast in high definition, with WCVB-TV being the first. On that day, revised graphics, music, and newsplex also made their debut. During the transition, 7 News was done in front of a green screen showing the former newsplex while the renovations were being done. As of January 11, 2009, sister station WSVN is also broadcasting a high definition newscast.
On November 12, 2010, it was announced that WHDH would launch an hour-long 9 a.m. newscast later in 2011, replacing 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...
, which had been dropped by the station due to its declining ratings in the Boston market. Originally slated to premiere on September 12, 2011, the 9 a.m. newscast was moved up to a start date of August 22, 2011 by the following summer. Live, which had aired on the station since it premiered nationally in 1988, moved to WCVB on August 22, airing directly opposite the WHDH newscast.
Media partnerships
The station, in partnership with MetroNetworks, launched the TrafficTracker truck during the Democratic National ConventionDemocratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
held in Boston in 2004. With traffic reporter Marshall Hook behind the wheel of one of the station's live vehicles, WHDH became the only station in the market to produce live traffic reports from the road. It continues to launch the TrafficTracker during snowstorms, including the December 13, 2007 storm that resulted in paralyzing commutes that, in some cases, exceeded seven hours. As of December 19, 2006, WHDH has been producing WLVI's nightly 10 p.m. news under the name 7 News at 10 on CW 56.
WHDH shares its resources with WJAR
WJAR
WJAR is the NBC-affiliated television station for the state of Rhode Island and Bristol County, Massachusetts licensed to Providence. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 51 from a transmitter in Rehoboth, Massachusetts...
, the NBC affiliate for the state of Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
and Bristol County, Massachusetts
Bristol County, Massachusetts
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 534,678 people, 205,411 households, and 140,706 families residing in the county. The population density was 962 people per square mile . There were 216,918 housing units at an average density of 390 per square mile...
, for news coverage of southeastern Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. WWLP
WWLP
WWLP is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts that is licensed to Springfield. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter on Provin Mountain in the Feeding Hills section of Agawam. The station can also be seen...
, the NBC affiliate for Springfield
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...
, shares its resources with WHDH for news coverage of western areas of the state.
The station operates a Bell LongRanger 206L news helicopter entitled "Sky 7". The station's weather radar
Weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type . Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the...
is presented on-air as "Storm Scan Doppler" with a signal coming from the radar at the National Weather Service
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
local forecast office in Taunton
Taunton, Massachusetts
Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the seat of Bristol County and the hub of the Greater Taunton Area. The city is located south of Boston, east of Providence, north of Fall River and west of Plymouth. The City of Taunton is situated on the Taunton River...
.
Newscast titles
- Shawmut Bank Newsteller (1948–1953)
- Yankee News Service (1953–1959)
- Television 7 News/TV-7 News (1959–1964)
- The Boston 7 Report (1964–1970)
- New England Today/New England Tonight (1970–1972)
- Boston 7 Newsroom (1972–1974)
- Newsroom 7 (1974–1982)
- NEWSE7EN (1982–1984)
- The New England News (1984–1988)
- News 7 New England (1988–1990)
- News 7 (1990–1993)
- 7 News (1993–present)
Station slogans
- "There's A New Day Dawning" (1982–1984)
- "Feel Good About That" (1985–1987)
- "We're All On the Same Team" (New England News slogan, 1987–1988)
- "Get Ready For Channel 7" (1989–1991, local version of CBS ad campaign)
- "The One To Watch" (1991–1993)
- "The News Station" (1993–present; news slogan)
- "Your Newscast" (2009-2010; news slogan)
- "You Know... It's 7" (2011–present; general slogan)
Current on-air staff
Anchors- Anne Allred - weekday mornings Today in New England and noon
- Sorboni Banerjee - weekend morning anchor, weekday mornings "Today in New England" reporter
- Christa Delcamp - weekdays at 4, 4:30 and 5:30 p.m., also reporter
- Sarah French- weekend evenings at 6,10 and 11pm.
- Amanda Grace - weekdays at 4, 4:30 and 5:30 p.m.; also reporter
- Dan Hausle - weekend morning anchor; also weeknight reporter
- Kim KhazeiKim KhazeiKim Khazei is a news anchor woman for 7News Boston WHDH-TV and its sister station WLVI-TV .- Career :Kim Khazei began her TV career at KOMU-TV in Columbia, Missouri, then worked for four years at KQTV in Missouri as an evening anchor and reporter....
- weeknights at 5, 6, 10 and 11 p.m. - Reid Lamberty - weeknights at 5, 6, 10 and 11 p.m.
- Ryan Schulteis-weekend evenings at 6, 10 and 11pm
- Adam Williams - weekday mornings "Today in New England" and noon
7 Weather
- Pete Bouchard (AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
Seal of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 4, 4:30, 5, 5:30, 6, 10 and 11 p.m. - Dylan Dreyer (AMS Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekday mornings "Today in New England" and noon
- Chris Lambert - meteorologist; weekend mornings,fill in
- Jeremy Reiner (AMS Certified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...
Seal of Approval) - meteorologist; weekends at 6, 10, and 11 p.m.,fill in
Sports team
- Joe AmorosinoJoe Amorosino-Early life:Amorosino was born in Quincy, Massachusetts and grew up in the neighboring town of Braintree. He is a 1988 graduate of Don Bosco High School in Boston and a 1992 graduate of Boston University.-Broadcasting career:...
- sports director; Sunday-Thursdays at 6, 10 and 11 p.m.; also host of Honda Sports Xtra - Larry Ridley - sports anchor; Friday-Saturdays at 6, 10 and 11 p.m.
- Rhett Lewis - sports anchor; fill-in and sports reporter
Traffic
- Rich Kirkland-weekday mornings
- John Saucier-weekday afternoons
Reporters
- Byron Barnett - also host of Urban Update (Sundays 11:30 a.m.-12 p.m.)
- Victoria Block
- Tim Caputo
- Steve Cooper
- Linda Ergas
- Jonathan Hall
- Andy Hiller - political reporter ("The Hiller Instinct")
- Nicole Oliverio
- Diana Rocco
- Hank Phillippi Ryan - investigative reporter ("Hank Investigates" & "Help Me Hank")
- Susan Tran
- Victoria Warren
- Janet Wu
Notable former on-air staff
- Eddie AndelmanEddie AndelmanEddie Andelman is an American sports radio talk show host. He has worked over 40 years in sports talk radio in Boston and has appeared on over 100 sports stations all over the country.- Career :...
- sports critic at large (1974–1979) - Caterina BandiniCaterina BandiniCaterina Bandini was a news anchor for WHDH Channel 7 News in Boston, Massachusetts. She would typically co-host with Randy Price. Caterina's last day at WHDH was August 3, 2006...
- anchor (1995–2006) - Dave BriggsDave Briggs (journalist)Dave Briggs is a co-host of the Fox News Channel weekend morning show Fox & Friends Weekend along with Alisyn Camerota and Clayton Morris...
- sports reporter (2004–2008; now at Fox News ChannelFox News ChannelFox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
) - David BrudnoyDavid BrudnoyDavid Brudnoy was an American talk radio host in Boston from 1976 to 2004. His radio talk show aired on WBZ radio. He was known for espousing his libertarian views on a wide range of political issues, in a manner that was courteous. Thanks to WBZ's wide signal reach, he gained a following from...
- commentator (1973–1983; deceased) - Liz CallawayLiz CallawayLiz Callaway is an American actress and singer, famous for providing the singing voices of many female characters in films, such as Anya in Anastasia, Odette in The Swan Princess, and Kiara in The Lion King II:Simba's Pride....
- co-host of RTG: Ready To Go - Liz ClamanLiz ClamanElizabeth Kate "Liz" Claman is the anchor of the Fox Business Network show Countdown to the Closing Bell at 3pm ET and co-anchor at 2pm ET and 4pm ET of Fox Business on the Fox Business Network alongside co-anchor David Asman. She was previously the co-anchor of the CNBC morning television...
- weekend anchor/reporter (1994–2000; now at Fox Business NetworkFox Business NetworkFox Business Network is an American cable news and satellite news television channel that began broadcasting on October 15, 2007. It is owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation...
) - John DennisJohn Dennis (talk show host)John Dennis is an American radio talk show host for WEEI, known for the Dennis and Callahan show.-Biography:...
- longtime sports anchor (1977–1997, now at WEEI-AMWEEIWEEI is a sports radio station in Boston, Massachusetts, that broadcasts on 850 kHz from a transmitter in Needham, Massachusetts, and is owned by Entercom Communications. The station is one of the top-rated sports talk radio stations in the nation. Studios are located in Brighton, Massachusetts...
) - Julie DonaldsonJulie DonaldsonJulie Anne Donaldson is a beauty queen from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida who has competed in the Miss USA pageant. She has also worked as a sportscaster on the New York City based network SportsNet New York, Boston, Massachusetts television station WHDH-TV 7 and as an anchor for Comcast SportsNet’s...
- sports reporter (2008; resigned) - Jack EdwardsJack Edwards (sportscaster)Jack Edwards is the play-by-play announcer for the Boston Bruins on NESN. He occasionally does play-by-play for NHL on Versus coverage as well.- Early career :...
- sports reporter/anchor (1988–1991; now at NESNNew England Sports NetworkThe New England Sports Network, or NESN [NESS-en], is a regional cable television network that covers the six New England states except Fairfield County, Connecticut and Southbury, Connecticut, a town in New Haven County, Connecticut which is covered by New York City sports networks...
) - Sara EdwardsSara Edwards (American television presenter)Sara Edwards is a freelance reporter, producer, film critic and media consultant who owns Sara Edwards Media, currently based in San Marino, California. She was previously based in Boston, Massachusetts where she was an entertainment and features reporter and film critic from 1981-2009.Edwards...
- arts & entertainment reporter (1991–2003; formerly at CN8) - Tom EllisTom Ellis (journalist)Tom Ellis is a Boston based journalist, he is well known throughout New England where he has served as anchor for three of Boston's network-affiliated stations. His career in television news spans more than 40 years....
- anchor (1982–1986) - Bob GamereBob GamereBob Gamere is an American Sportscaster.-Career:A sports anchor on WNAC and announcer of Holy Cross football games, Gamere made his television play-by-play debut in 1970, succeeding Jerry Coleman as a broadcaster for the New York Yankees on WPIX...
- sports anchor and host of Candlepins for Cash (1975–1982) - Bob GallagherBob Gallagher (sportscaster)Bob Gallagher is an American sportscaster and radio host who announced Boston Patriots games from 1960–1965 and Miami Dolphins games from 1967-1969....
- sports anchor - Todd GrossTodd GrossTodd Gross is a meteorologist. Todd currently is back in Massachusetts doing voice overs and video on the web. Todd's also doing the weather for snow contractors and providing updates on his website www.toddgross.com He was an active on-air television and radio meteorologist at KTVX ABC4 in Salt...
- chief meteorologist (1984–2005; now at KTVX-TV in Salt Lake City) - Stephen GuptillStephen GuptillStephen Guptill is a former American journalist and elderly advocate who resigned as Massachusetts Secretary of Elder Affairs after less then one week on the job when it was revealed that he falsely claimed to have had graduated from two foreign colleges....
- elderly affairs reporter, The Elder American host (1975–1978; later served as Massachusetts Secretary of Elder Affairs) - John Henning - anchor (1964–1968, 1977–1981; deceased)
- Josh JudgeJosh JudgeJosh Judge is a meteorologist at WMUR-TV in Manchester, New Hampshire. His forecasts reach over 670,500 people in New Hampshire and surrounding states....
- part-time meteorologist (2001–2003; moved to WMUR-TVWMUR-TVWMUR-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the state of New Hampshire that is licensed to Manchester. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 9 from a transmitter on the south peak of Mount Uncanoonuc in Goffstown. Owned by Hearst Television, the station has studios...
) - Janet LanghartJanet LanghartJanet Langhart Cohen is an American model, television journalist and author. She serves as President and CEO of Langhart Communications and is the spouse of former Defense Secretary William Cohen...
- special features reporter ("Janet Langhart's Special People" on NEWSE7EN, 1982–1983) - Matt LauerMatt LauerMatthew Todd "Matt" Lauer . is an American television journalist best known as the host of NBC's The Today Show since 1997. He was previously a news anchor in New York and a local talk-show host in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Richmond...
- Talk of the Town host (1988; now the co-host of Today on NBC) - Gene LavanchyGene LavanchyGene P. Lavanchy , is an American radio and television personality and journalist, and a co-host of WFXT's Fox 25 Morning News in Boston.- Education and career :...
- sports anchor (1993–2003, now at WFXTWFXTWFXT is a television station owned and operated by the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in Boston, Massachusetts. The station's studio and office facility is in Dedham, Massachusetts, and its transmitter is located in Needham, Massachusetts...
) - Harvey LeonardHarvey LeonardHarvey Leonard is the chief meteorologist on WCVB-TV Channel 5 in Boston, Massachusetts. For 25 years, Leonard was previously best known as a meteorologist at WHDH-TV in the same city, a role that brought him much prominence....
- longtime chief meteorologist (1977–2002, now at WCVBWCVB-TVWCVB-TV, channel 5, is a television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Hearst Television and affiliated with the ABC Television Network. WCVB-TV's studios and transmitter are co-located in Needham, Massachusetts. WCVB is also one of six Boston television stations seen in Canada by...
) - Mish MichaelsMish MichaelsMish Michaels is an Emmy Award winning broadcast meteorologist and environmental reporter. She joined the WBZ-TV Weather Team in September 2001, and left in July 2009. She was born in Kolkata, India...
- meteorologist (1992–1999; now at WBZ-TVWBZ-TVWBZ-TV, virtual channel 4, is a CBS owned-and-operated television station, located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WBZ-TV's studios and office facilities, shared with sister station WSBK-TV , are located in the Allston-Brighton section of Boston, and its transmitter is located in Needham,...
) - Wendi NixWendi Nix-Professional:Wendi primarily handles coverage for NFL and College Football games featuring teams from the New England area. Prior to working for ESPN, Nix was a weekend sports anchor at WHDH in Boston and previously reported for Fox Sports Net, NESN and WPDE in South Carolina...
- weekend sports anchor (2002–2006; now at ESPNESPNEntertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
, occasional guest on Sports Extra) - Miles O'BrienMiles O'Brien (journalist)Miles O'Brien is a broadcast news journalist specializing in aviation, space and technology.-Early life:...
- reporter (1987–1989; now at CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
) - Bill O'ReillyBill O'Reilly (commentator)William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television...
- weekend anchor (1982–1983), host of New England Afternoon (1983–1984); now at Fox News ChannelFox News ChannelFox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation... - Ryan Owens - reporter (2001–2006; now with ABC News, former co-host of World News NowWorld News NowWorld News Now is an American overnight news program broadcast on American Broadcasting Company's television network. Its tone is often lighthearted, irreverent and humorous...
, currently a network correspondent) - Randy PriceRandy PriceRandy Price is a television newscaster with WCVB-TV in Boston, Massachusetts, after being the lead anchor at WHDH-TV from 1998 to 2009. He is considered the U.S.'s first openly gay newscaster....
- anchor (1996–2009; now at WCVB-TVWCVB-TVWCVB-TV, channel 5, is a television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, owned by Hearst Television and affiliated with the ABC Television Network. WCVB-TV's studios and transmitter are co-located in Needham, Massachusetts. WCVB is also one of six Boston television stations seen in Canada by...
) - Frances RiveraFrances RiveraFrances Rivera is a Filipino-American journalist and television news anchor. For ten years, until August 2011, she had been a television reporter and anchor for Boston's NBC affiliate WHDH. As of August 2011, she is a Morning News anchor for WPIX in New York City.- Early life and career :Rivera...
- anchor/reporter and "The Dish" reporter (2001–2011; moved to WPIXWPIXWPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network...
in New York City) - Chuck ScarboroughChuck ScarboroughCharles Bishop "Chuck" Scarborough III is an American television journalist and author. Since 1974 Scarborough has been the lead male news anchor at WNBC-TV, the New York City-based flagship station of the NBC Television Network, and has also appeared on NBC News. He currently co-anchors with...
- anchor (1972–1974; now at WNBCWNBCWNBC, virtual channel 4 , is the flagship station of the NBC television network, located in New York City. WNBC's studios are co-located with NBC corporate headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in midtown Manhattan...
in New York) - Mike TaibbiMike TaibbiMike Taibbi is an Emmy-award winning television journalist working at NBC. Taibbi is also a four-time winner of the Edward R. Murrow Award.-Biography:...
- investigative reporter (1977–1983; now at NBC NewsNBC NewsNBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
) - Edye Tarbox - anchor/reporter (1990–1992; worked at Fox News ChannelFox News ChannelFox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
from 1999-2008.) - Diana WilliamsDiana WilliamsDiana Williams is a news anchor at WABC-TV in New York City, where she currently co-anchors the 5 p.m. Eyewitness News broadcast with Sade Baderinwa and hosts the Sunday morning public affairs program Eyewitness News Up Close with Diana Williams, which airs on Sunday mornings at 11am...
- anchor (1987–1990; now at WABC-TVWABC-TVWABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company located in New York City. The station's studios and offices are located on the Upper West Side section of Manhattan, adjacent to ABC's corporate headquarters, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State...
in New York) - Dave Wright - anchor (1986–1988; later at CTV AtlanticCTV AtlanticCTV Atlantic is a system of four television stations in the Canadian Maritimes, owned and operated by the CTV Television Network, a division of Bell Media...
in Atlantic Canada, deceased) - Robin YoungRobin YoungRobin Young is an American television and radio personality. She has been a Boston, Massachusetts-based radio and television host since the mid-1970s when she hosted Evening Magazine for WBZ-TV....
- anchor (1982–1983), host of specials and public affairs (1983–1987); now at WBUR-FMWBURWBUR refers to two radio stations in Massachusetts, WBUR AM and FM, both owned by Boston University. WBUR is the largest of three NPR member stations in Boston, Massachusetts, along with WGBH and WUMB-FM, and the only one to focus exclusively on news and talk... - Paula Zahn - anchor/reporter (1983–1985)
Out-of-market coverage
WHDH is one of six local Boston television stations seen in CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
on the Bell TV satellite provider. It is also carried via the Anik F1 satellite to several Canadian cable companies, particularly in Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador...
. Other cable systems also carry WHDH, such as Citizens Cable Television in the Thousand Islands
Thousand Islands
The Thousand Islands is the name of an archipelago of islands that straddle the Canada-U.S. border in the Saint Lawrence River as it emerges from the northeast corner of Lake Ontario. They stretch for about downstream from Kingston, Ontario. The Canadian islands are in the province of Ontario, the...
region of New York State and Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
CableVision.