WNNE

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WNNE, channel 31, is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Connecticut River Valley of eastern Vermont and western New Hampshire (a.k.a. the Upper Valley) as well as southern Vermont. It is licensed to Hartford, Vermont and has a transmitter located on Mount Ascutney. Owned by Hearst-Argyle Television, the station has studios on Dewitt Drive in White River Junction. It operates a repeater in Lebanon, New Hampshire: W65AM channel 65.

Overview

WNNE is sister station and semi-satellite of WPTZ, the NBC affiliate for Burlington and Plattsburgh, New York. Its master control is located at WPTZ's studios on Television Drive in Plattsburgh. WNNE does not have its own web address because it is located in a separate section of WPTZ's website. While WNNE clears all of WPTZ's programming, it maintains a separate identity in terms of station identifications and local advertisements. In western New Hampshire, the station's coverage area includes: Cheshire, Sullivan, and Grafton Counties.

Although technically part of the Burlington / Plattsburgh market, most of WNNE's viewership comes from the southern New Hampshire sub-market. This sub-market is part of the Greater Boston television market. Due to WNNE sharing its coverage area in New Hampshire with nearby sister station and ABC affiliate WMUR-TV, WPTZ and WMUR occasionally share news video.

Ironically, WNNE's coverage area is within reach of a WMTW-TV repeater in Colebrook, New Hampshire. In 2005, that station activated this translator to make up for lost coverage when it signed off from Mount Washington in 2002. FCC regulations do not allow that two or more stations from two or more different markets have coverage in the same location (in this case, White River Junction). This rule, however, does not apply to repeaters.

History

Channel 31 signed on for the first time on July 26, 1966 with the call letters WRLH-TV. The station was a low-powered NBC affiliate operating out of Lebanon, New Hampshire. [1] [2] A construction permit had been issued as early as 1954. However, the station never made much headway in the ratings and went dark in 1976. Taft Broadcasting Inc. bought the dormant channel 31 license, moved it across the border to White River Junction and returned it to the air on July 20, 1978 [3]with the current call letters WNNE.

From WNNE's second startup in 1978 until 1991, it was its own self-supporting station. It ran its own syndicated lineup as well as network programming from NBC. In 1991, Heritage Media (then-owner of WPTZ) bought WNNE and turned it into a semi-satellite of that station. Most programming still originated out of WNNE but certain programs were relayed from Plattsburgh.

In 2000, WPTZ moved WNNE's master control to its studios in Plattsburgh. In July of 2001, WNNE's website was integrated into a separate section of WPTZ's website. [4] On July 20, 2005, WNNE began broadcasting its digital signal on UHF channel 25. Unlike WPTZ, WNNE does not offer NBC Weather Plus on its second digital subchannel. It is, however, seen via digital cable. This includes: Comcast channel 169, Time Warner channel 854, and Telecom channel 305.

News operation

As a separate station

File:Wnne news 31.gif
WNNE's News 31 logo.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, WNNE had its own news department. It was heavily staffed for a station of its size. The station's news programming was known as News 31. Weekday morning, Noon, 6 and 11 P.M. newscasts were all broadcasted out of their studios in the basement of the Pines Motel. On weekdays mornings from 7 to 9 A.M., WNNE aired local news and weather updates at :25 and :55 past the hour during The Today Show. Throughout the evenings, there were local weather updates provided. The station did not air any newscasts on the weekends. [5]

In the mid-1980s, NBC decided they wanted satellite truck coverage in the northeast. WNNE's location was a perfect fit and a new satellite truck partially funded by NBC was stationed at the station. WNNE had their own satellite news trucks as well to assist in news gathering in the Upper Valley. [6] In 1989, the station began the process of downsizing its staff. In the mid-1990s, WNNE's satellite trucks were acquired by WPTZ. This included the NBC satellite truck which has remained in service (with a WPTZ logo) as of 2003. In June of 2001, WNNE's newscasts were canceled and changed to a separate news update that aired on weeknights. Otherwise, WNNE simulcasted WPTZ's news.

A microwave link between WPTZ & WNNE's White River Junction studios was established in order for live news coverage from WNNE to air on WPTZ. It also allowed WPTZ's news reports from Montpelier and New York State to be seen on WNNE. One year later, Hearst-Argyle shut down the WNNE news department entirely. At this point, the WNNE news updates stopped airing and the station's studios became an Upper Valley Bureau for WPTZ. After this change, there was only the separate newscast opening that remained to indicate that WNNE was ever a separate station. Eventually, the news opening was dropped as well.

As a semi-satellite

File:Wnne news 2007.png
WNNE's NewsChannel 31 logo.

Today, WPTZ and WNNE use the NewsChannel branding. During WPTZ newscasts, WNNE is referred to as the Upper Valley Bureau and features two full-time reporters based at the station's White River Junction studios. In addition to the Upper Valley and a Colchester Bureau, WPTZ also broadcasts national news from a Washington D.C. Bureau that is operated by Hearst-Argyle. The bureau employs several reporters who give live reports to the various Hearst-Argyle affiliates. Although the two stations do not own or operate weather radars of their own, they use live NOAA National Weather Service radar data from several regional sites. It is presented onscreen in a forecasting system known as "Storm Tracker 5000".

The main signal comes from the radar located at the NWS Local Forecast Office at Burlington International Airport. Unlike most other NBC affiliates, WPTZ does not air a weekday Noon newscast. The station had aired news at that time until 2005, but it was dropped in favor of one during the week at 5:30 P.M. With the departure of Thom Hallock of November 23, 2007, the station was left with an all woman anchor team. That changed with the arrival of Gus Rosendale. He left WPTZ in 2005 to report at sister station WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh. Rosendale made his debut back at WPTZ in mid-December. See the WPTZ article for a complete listing of current news personalities.

WNNE news team

File:Wnne tv weather.png
Chief meteorologist Tom Messner gives the "Upper Valley Weather Plus Evening Drive Forecast".
File:Wnne tv reporter.png
WNNE reporter Brittany Oat.

These news personnel were employed by WNNE when it produced its own newscasts. [7] [8] [9]

Anchors

  • Tom Melville
  • Bruce Lyndes - News Director, Now in PR
  • Diana Jones - News Director
  • Brett Davidson, [1]Now at WHEC
  • Beth Sheldon
  • Alan LaGarde News Director, 80's
  • Mindy Todd
  • Ross Joel
  • Kate Amara - weekday morning update anchor
    • reporter
  • Caroline Cornish - weekday morning update anchor
  • Steve Roulier - weekday morning update anchor
  • Heather Hamel - now at WMUR
  • Rachael Ruble
  • George Brooks
  • Karen Meyers
  • Aixa Diaz
  • Julie Beaty
  • Maureen Hayes
  • Aixa Diaz


Meteorologists

  • Tom Hoyt
  • Bob Burnett-Kurie
  • Bob Shaw

Sports

  • Mike McCune - Director seen on weeknights
  • Dominick Aielli - Director seen on weeknights
  • J.J. Cioffi - now at WCAX-TV
  • Mark Sudol - now at NECN
  • Tom Caron - now at NESN
  • Paul Johnson
  • Mark Asciola


Reporters


  • Tina Detelj - now at WTNH
  • Paul McGonagle
  • Mark Sudol
  • Craig Shibley
  • Malka Dohrety
  • Mike Kmack
  • Katherine Duffy - now at WCAX-TV
  • Nicole Bell
  • Brenda Devlin
  • Elissa Burnell - now at WFFF-TV

Logos

References

  1. ^ World of Quotes - Today in History for July 26
  2. ^ TV Guide: New Hampshire Edition
  3. ^ Call Sign History http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=73344&Callsign=WNNE
  4. ^ TheChamplainChannel.com - WNNE
  5. ^ WNNE TV 31 - Hanover/Hartford
  6. ^ Tv Hat: Wnne (Nbc)
  7. ^ WNNE TV 31 - Hanover/Hartford
  8. ^ WNNE Talent / News 31 Team
  9. ^ TheChamplainChannel.com - WNNE
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