WMUR-TV

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WMUR-TV
Manchester, New Hampshire
Branding	WMUR 9 (normal) News 9 (newscasts)
Slogan	No One Covers New Hampshire Like We Do
Channels	9 (VHF) analog, 59 (UHF) digital
Translators	29 WMUR-LP Littleton 27 W27BL Berlin 38 W38CB Littleton
Affiliations	ABC
Owner	Hearst-Argyle Television
Founded	March 1, 1954
Call letters meaning	Gov. Francis P. MURphy, founder
Former affiliations	FOX (WMUR-LP and W27BL only, 1990s-late 2001)
Website	wmur.com

WMUR-TV is the ABC network television affiliate for New Hampshire which also is considered part of the Boston, Massachusetts television market in the southern part of the state. Licensed to Manchester, the station is owned by Hearst-Argyle Television. WMUR broadcasts an analog signal on VHF channel 9 and a digital signal on UHF channel 59 from a transmitter located on Mount Uncanoonuc in Goffstown, New Hampshire.

The station is known on air as "WMUR 9" although it has used the "ABC 9" branding on rare occasions including its website. The station's studios, known as the "WMUR-TV Broadcast Center", are located on South Commercial Street in Downtown Manchester. Several parts of its programming lineup are similar to that of sister station WCVB-TV channel 5, Boston's ABC affiliate, as both stations share some syndicated programs and WMUR airs a localized version of Chronicle, WCVB's longtime signature program.

Along with WMUR and WCVB, Hearst-Argyle also owns nearby WNNE channel 31, an NBC affiliate. WNNE is based in White River Junction, Vermont and is a semi-satellite of WPTZ, another NBC affiliate owned by Hearst-Argyle. WPTZ, which is based in Plattsburgh, New York, is the NBC affiliate for the Burlington, Vermont - Plattsburgh television market. As a result of WNNE sharing its coverage area in New Hampshire with WMUR, WNNE's website features WMUR news stories and video.

Durning election seasons, WMUR is well-known for organizing and producing some of the higher profile candidate debates for ABC News, as well as CNN, before the first United States presidential primary. On March 9, 2005, as a result of its coverage of political events, the station won the "USC Annenberg Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism" for the third consecutive time.

Contents 1 History 2 New Hampshire Network Affiliates 3 Outlying Transmitters 4 Newscasts 5 News Team 6 Logos 7 References 8 External Links

[edit] History

WMUR was established by former New Hampshire governor Francis P. Murphy on March 1, 1954. It was the first television station in the state and broadcasted daily newscasts, local game shows, and movies. The station was sold to Richard Eaton's United Broadcasting in 1959, following Murphy's death a year earlier. In the 1970s, one of its local programs was the children's weekday strip known as The Uncle Gus Show. Unlike Boston's astronaut "Major Mudd" or the widely franchised "Bozo", host "Uncle Gus" wore no costume except an angler's hat.

In July of 1981, following Richard Eaton's death, WMUR was sold to Birney Imes Jr., a Columbus, Mississippi businessman who also owned that city's WCBI-TV, as well as WBOY-TV in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Under the ownership of Imes, he made WMUR a major influence in New Hampshire, upgrading its facilities and news department. In September of 1987, as a result of the expansion, it moved from its original studios on Elm Street in Manchester to 50 Phillippe Cote Street, in the historic Millyard area of the city. Then, in 1995, WMUR purchased land and a building at their current location of 100 South Commercial Street. This building was rebuilt as a state-of-the-art Broadcast Center. They went on the air from this new location in January, 1996, subleasing their old building to CNN for their coverage of the New Hampshire Primary. In November of 1998, WMUR's digital signal signed on at UHF Channel 59. In December of 2000, Imes Communications sold the station to Hearst-Argyle Television. In 2004, the station celebrated 50 years of broadcasting. On September 23, 2005, WMUR became available on sattelite via DirecTV in the North Country region of New Hampshire (Coos, Carroll, Grafton, and Sullivan Counties).

[edit] New Hampshire Network Affiliates

Manchester is about 45 miles north from Boston, while Concord is about 60 miles. Boston's VHF stations have grade A signals in Manchester and Grade B signals in Concord, while the UHF stations have grade B signals in Manchester but spotty signals in Concord. It was thought that Southern New Hampshire could break away from Boston and become its own market. If the sub-market were to break away from Boston, it would rank in the top 100 of all U.S. television markets.

At the start of 1988, the sub-market had WMUR and PBS affiliate WENH. On February 1, 1988, an independent station based in Concord, WNHT channel 21, became Southern New Hampshire's first CBS affiliate and also began to produce local newscasts. WNHT lost the affiliation and stopped broadcasting on March 31, 1989 as a result of low viewership and ratings. There has not been a CBS affiliate based in the state since then. In the early 1990s, Boston's CBS affiliate WBZ operated a news bureau in Manchester until it closed. However, another one was established on Elm Street in November of 2006. When WNHT signed off, WMUR and WENH remined the only network affiliated stations again until the creation of MyNetworkTV in September of 2006. At that point, another independent station, WZMY channel 50 (formerly WNDS) based in Derry, became the Southern New Hampshire and Boston affiliate for MyNetworkTV.

There has never been an NBC affiliate based in the state. While The WB and UPN were broadcasting, there were no affiliates either. With the new CW network, that did not change. WMUR has always promoted the fact that it is the only major network affiliate and local news source in the state. The station's current slogan confirms that.

[edit] Outlying Transmitters

WMUR operates three outlying transmitters in the northern parts of New Hampshire, and has done so since the early 1990s. This distinguishes WMUR as being the only commercial television station in the country to completely cover an entire state. Until 2001, two of the stations aired programming from the FOX network and simulcasted WMUR's newscasts. The other one simulcasted WMUR itself since the beginning. The two FOX stations switched to simulcasting WMUR when WMTW-TV, the ABC affiliate for Portland, Maine, moved its transmitter off of Mount Washington. [1]

Call Letters	Channel	Location	Notes
WMUR-LP	29	Littleton	formerly W16BC and (briefly) W29CM
W27BL	27	Berlin	part of the Portland market
W38CB	38	Littleton	always aired ABC programming

[edit] Newscasts

WMUR broadcasts over 85 hours of local news each week. The station operates two news bureaus in the state: a "Lakes Region Bureau" located at The Inn at Bay Point in Meredith and a "Seacoast Bureau" in Portsmouth. WMUR's daily newscast at 6 PM is simulcasted on two area radio stations: WTPL-FM 107.7 "The Pulse" and WTSN-AM 1270. WMUR broadcasts national news from a Washington D.C. bureau operated by Hearst-Argyle. The bureau employs several reporters who give live reports to the various Hearst-Argyle affiliates. Although WMUR does not own or operate a weather radar of its own, the station uses live NOAA NWS data from several regional sites presented in a forecasting system onscreen in newscasts called "Live Doppler 9".

Weekdays

• News 9 Daybreak (5 to 7 AM)
• News 9 Midday (12 to 12:30 PM)
• News 9 at 5 (5 to 5:30 PM)
• News 9 at 5 Continues (5:30 to 6 PM)
• News 9 at 6 (6 to 6:30 PM)
• New Hampshire Chronicle (7:30 to 8 PM)
• News 9 Tonight (11 to 11:35 PM)

Weekends

• News 9 This Morning (7 to 9 AM)
• Close Up New Hampshire (10 to 10:30 AM Sundays)
• News 9 at 6 (6 to 6:30 PM)
• News 9 Tonight (11 to 11:35 PM)

[edit] News Team

Anchors

• Erin Fehlau - weekday mornings and Noon
• Scott Spradling - weekdays at 5 PM and 5:30 PM, political reporter, and host of "Close Up New Hampshire"
• Jean Mackin - weekdays at 5 PM and 5:30 PM and 11 PM, also weekday reporter
• Tom Griffith - weekdays at 6 and 11 PM, also "New Hampshire Chronicle"
• Jennifer Vaughn - weekdays at 6 PM and medical reporter
• Tiffany Eddy - weekdays at 11 PM and "New Hampshire Chronicle"
• Paige Kornblue - weekend mornings and weekday reporter
• Kria Sakakeeny - weekend evenings and weekday evening reporter
• Sean McDonald - weekend evenings and weekday evening reporter

Storm Watch 9 Meteorologists

• Mike Haddad - chief seen weekdays at 5 PM, 5:30 PM, 6 PM, and 11 PM
• Kevin Skarupa - weekday mornings and Noon
• Josh Judge - weekends and weekday fill in
• Jason Nappi - fill in and assistant
• Bill Gile - fill in and assistant
• Chris Thomas - occasional fill in

Sports

• Jamie Staton - Director seen weekdays at 5 PM, 5:30 PM, 6 PM, and 11 PM
• Jason King - weekend anchor and weekday reporter
• Naoko Funayama - fill in anchor, reporter, and producer

Reporters

• Ray Brewer
• Frank Mallicoat (former Sports Director at WMUR, in his second stint at WMUR since returning from WLVI)
• Josh Davis
• Kevin Flynn
• Heather Hamel
• Andy Hershberger - Crime Reporter
• Sally Kidd - National Correspondent
• Laurie Kinney - National Correspondent
• Sean McDonald
• Traci Mitchell - National Correspondent
• Kris Neilsen - based at the "Lakes Region Bureau"

[edit] Logos

WMUR's previous logo.

Logos of WMUR and the outlying transmitters in 2000.

WMUR's current logo.

[edit] References

• WMUR-TV Station Info

[edit] External Links

• Station Website
• WMUR Wireless
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WMUR
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WMUR-LP
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W27BL
• Query the FCC's TV station database for W38CB