WVIT

About WVIT

WVIT is a television station licensed to New Britain, Connecticut, broadcasting on channel 30 and owned and operated by the NBC television network through its NBC Owned Television Stations division. Branded as NBC Connecticut, with the slogan "We Are Connecticut," the station serves the Hartford-New Haven market, the state's only NBC owned-and-operated outlet. It signed on February 13, 1953, as WKNB-TV, Connecticut's second-oldest television station and the first on the UHF band, and has been an NBC affiliate for nearly all of its history. The station shares studios on New Britain Avenue in West Hartford with Telemundo outlet WRDM-CD, with transmitter facilities on Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington.

WKNB-TV: signing on in 1953

WVIT signed on February 13, 1953, as WKNB-TV, owned by the New Britain Broadcasting Company along with WKNB radio. The calls stood for Kensington-New Britain. It is Connecticut's second-oldest television station and the first on the UHF band. During its first two and a half years, it carried CBS programming as well as NBC, since Hartford and New Haven were then separate television markets.

In 1954, Hartford and New Haven were combined into a single market, but channel 30's signal was not strong enough to cover southern Connecticut, a problem that would hamper the station for nearly a quarter-century. In 1955, WKNB dropped CBS and became a primary NBC affiliate.

NBC ownership

In January 1955, NBC announced it would purchase the WKNB stations for just over $600,000. As one of the first UHF stations to be owned by a major network, the FCC encouraged the networks to expand their owned-and-operated holdings into the new band to ensure its viability. The FCC approved the sale in December 1956, and the network renamed channel 30 WNBC, for New Britain, Connecticut, in January 1957.

In its first stint as an NBC-owned station, channel 30 struggled in the ratings, largely because television manufacturers were not required to include UHF tuning until 1964, and viewers needed expensive converters for a barely viewable picture. NBC eventually sold the station, which operated as WHNB-TV from 1960 to 1978.

Return to NBC ownership

The station took the WVIT call letters in 1978, with the calls referring to former owner Viacom International Television. NBC reacquired the station, and it has operated as an NBC owned-and-operated station ever since, branded as NBC Connecticut.

As an O&O, the station benefits from the network's resources while maintaining a distinctly Connecticut identity, with the slogan "We Are Connecticut" reflecting its statewide mission.

NBC Connecticut News

Branded as NBC Connecticut News, with the news slogan "Connecticut's News Leader," WVIT operates a full news department covering the Hartford-New Haven market and the state. The station's newscasts cover Connecticut's distinctive news environment, from the insurance and finance industries to the submarine base at Groton and the state's pivotal role in presidential politics.

The station was the first in Connecticut to deliver high-definition newscasts, launching HD news in July 2009 from its West Hartford facility.

The West Hartford facility

WVIT's studios on New Britain Avenue in West Hartford represent one of the most advanced broadcast facilities in New England, with the 2009 move bringing server-based workflows and high-definition production. The facility houses the station's newsroom, studios, and technical operations alongside Telemundo outlet WRDM-CD.

The station's transmitter on Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington serves the Hartford-New Haven market with a digital signal on UHF channel 31, displayed as virtual channel 30.

Digital subchannels

WVIT's digital subchannels have included Cozi TV, the NBCUniversal diginet offering classic television series. The station was the last NBC-owned station to carry NBC Plus, the successor to NBC Weather Plus, replacing it with Cozi TV in December 2012.

The subchannels complement the main channel's NBC programming and local news with additional entertainment options.

Technical operations

WVIT broadcasts on digital UHF channel 31, shared with WRDM-CD, displayed as virtual channel 30, with an effective radiated power of 374 kW from its Rattlesnake Mountain transmitter. The station ended analog programming on UHF channel 30 in 2009 as part of the digital television transition.

On cable, the station is carried primarily on channel 4 throughout the Hartford-New Haven market.

Digital presence

WVIT's digital home is nbcconnecticut.com, offering live streaming, on-demand video, and comprehensive coverage of Connecticut news, weather, and sports. The station maintains mobile apps and active social media accounts under the NBC Connecticut brand.

As an NBC owned-and-operated station, its digital operations are integrated with NBCUniversal's digital platforms. Its official website is https://www.nbcconnecticut.com.

The Plains Television sale

WVIT began as WKNB-TV, signing on February 13, 1953, in an NBC owned-and-operated UHF experiment, with a secondary CBS affiliation from 1953 to 1955. Its call letters changed to WNBC from 1957 to 1960, then to WHNB-TV for Hartford-New Britain in May 1960, when NBC reclaimed the WNBC calls for its flagship radio and television combination in New York City. In September 1957, the Hartford-based Travelers Insurance Company signed on independent station WTIC-TV, channel 3, now WFSB, the state's second and last VHF station. Within a year of its debut, WTIC-TV became Connecticut's CBS affiliate, replacing NBC's owned-and-operated WHCT-TV channel 18. NBC then realized its UHF experiment was a lost cause, and in June 1959 sold WNBC and WKNB radio for $750,000 to Plains Television Inc., a joint venture of Transcontinental Properties and H & E Balaban Corporation. As part of the deal, Springfield Television, the owner of fellow NBC affiliate WWLP in Springfield, Massachusetts, was to have held a one-third share in channel 30, but it abandoned this stake before the deal's completion after concerns arose over WWLP and WNBC's overlapping coverage areas.

The Viacom years

In 1966, WHNB-TV became, once again, one of two NBC affiliates in Connecticut; the network signed with Waterbury-licensed WATR-TV channel 20 to get its programming into New Haven on a strong signal. By this time, television manufacturers were required to include all-channel tuning. Channel 30 itself made up for the shortfall in its market coverage by operating low-power translators starting in 1971: W79AI channel 79 in Torrington and W59AA channel 59 in New Haven, plus W79AH in Waterbury in the 1960s. The original Viacom bought WHNB-TV in 1978 and changed its call letters to WVIT, standing for W-Viacom International Television. Two years later, after WVIT more than doubled its transmission power to cover New Haven, WATR-TV's NBC affiliation was regarded as duplicative, and channel 20 was sold in 1981. Viacom purchased Paramount Pictures in 1994, placing its five-station group under common ownership with the Paramount Stations Group; the two groups were formally consolidated in December 1995. The merged company decided to divest all of its major network affiliates to focus on stations carrying the upstart UPN. WVIT, the first television outlet Viacom purchased, was the last station to be sold: Viacom agreed to trade channel 30 to former owner NBC in return for future purchase rights to WWHO in Chillicothe, Ohio, and WLWC in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The sale closed on December 8, 1997, making WVIT an NBC owned-and-operated station for the second time in its history.

The Telemundo duopoly

In 1993, WVIT and WTXX entered into a part-time local marketing agreement after talks with Fox affiliate WTIC-TV channel 61 failed; the sale to NBC in 1997 ended the LMA, and the deal was transferred to WTIC-TV. On December 4, 2017, NBCUniversal announced that it would buy Telemundo affiliate WRDM-CD and its Springfield satellite station WDMR-LP from ZGS Communications; as with several other NBC owned-and-operated stations, WRDM became a sister station to WVIT, creating the third duopoly in the Hartford-New Haven market, following the duopolies of Nexstar's WTNH/WCTX and Tegna's WTIC-TV/WCCT-TV. ZGS had sold WRDM's spectrum in the FCC's incentive auction for $10,574,516 and indicated the station would enter into a post-auction channel sharing agreement, which occurred with WVIT at the start of the year. The sale was officially completed on February 1, 2018. WVIT's offices and main studios are located on New Britain Avenue in West Hartford, and its transmitter is on Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington. On cable, the station is available on channel 4 across Comcast, Frontier, Cox, Optimum, Atlantic Broadband, and Charter systems. Its digital home is nbcconnecticut.com, with subchannel 30.2 carrying Cozi TV.