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 WFSB's studio facility in Rocky Hill off Capital Boulevard, located directly west ofHenkel's North American headquarters. The road into the station's parking lot was re-dedicated asDenise D'Ascenzo Way in the spring of 2020. | |
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| City | Hartford, Connecticut |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WGGB-TV,WSHM-LD, WWAX-LD | |
| History | |
First air date | September 23, 1957 (68 years ago) (1957-09-23) |
Former call signs | WTIC-TV (1957–1974) |
Former channel numbers |
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| Independent (1957–1958) | |
Call sign meaning | Frederick Sessions Beebe (former president of former ownerPost-Newsweek Stations) |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 53115 |
| ERP | 1,000kW |
| HAAT | 289 m (948 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 41°46′30″N72°48′18.3″W / 41.77500°N 72.805083°W /41.77500; -72.805083 |
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Public license information | |
| Website | www |
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| Channels | |
| Branding | theWAX |
| Programming | |
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| Ownership | |
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| History | |
First air date | March 11, 2013; 12 years ago (2013-03-11) (inWestmoreland, NH) |
Former call signs |
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Former channel number |
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Call sign meaning | The wordwax |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 186687 |
| Class | LD |
| ERP | 15kW |
| HAAT | 273.7 m (898 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 41°46′30″N72°48′18.3″W / 41.77500°N 72.805083°W /41.77500; -72.805083 |
| Links | |
Public license information | LMS |
| Website | www |
WFSB (channel 3) is atelevision station licensed toHartford, Connecticut, United States, serving the Hartford–New Havenmarket as an affiliate ofCBS. Owned byGray Media, the station maintains studios on Denise D'Ascenzo Way inRocky Hill and a transmitter onTalcott Mountain inAvon, Connecticut.
Most of WFSB's programs are seen inSpringfield, Massachusetts, over alow-powersemi-satellite station,WSHM-LD (channel 33). That station is based at the facilities ofsister stationWGGB-TV (channel 40) in Springfield, although somemaster control and other internal operations are hubbed through WFSB.
WFSB also maintains a second sister station,WWAX-LD (channel 27), also licensed to Hartford. Known on-air astheWax, WWAX-LD mainly features simulcasts and repeats of WFSB's news programming, along with second runs of its syndicated shows and other Gray-produced programming. Its own third subchannel features a full-time automated feed of WFSB news briefs, headlines, current weather conditions, and other miscellanea known asEyewitness News Now, which simulcasts on the station's website and mobile app.
WFSB signed on the air on September 23, 1957, as WTIC-TV, owned by the Hartford-basedTravelers Insurance Company, along with WTIC radio (1080 AM and96.5 FM).[3] As Connecticut's secondVHF station, WTIC-TV was one of the most powerful stations inNew England, not only covering the entire state but a large chunk of western Massachusetts and easternLong Island in New York. It provided secondary coverage to much of the southern sections ofVermont andNew Hampshire. During its first year on the air, Channel 3 was anindependent station, asABC was affiliated with the state's other VHF outlet, WNHC-TV (channel 8, nowWTNH) in New Haven; while CBS andNBC hadowned-and-operated stations on theUHF band in the market, WHCT-TV (channel 18, nowUnivision affiliateWUVN) in Hartford and WNBC (channel 30, nowWVIT) inNew Britain, respectively. With no network affiliation, WTIC-TV devoted much of its airtime tomovies,syndicated programs that were mostly on film, and three daily newscasts (including one at 10 pm).[4][5]
In 1958, CBS was looking to sell WHCT-TV. The network's ratings had been alarmingly low in the market because television manufacturers were not required to have UHF tuners at the time. Many viewers northeast of Hartford got a better signal for CBS programming fromWNAC-TV (nowWHDH) inBoston, or WPRO-TV (nowWPRI-TV) inProvidence, Rhode Island; while those southwest of Hartford with an outdoor antenna were able to watch the network via New York Cityflagship stationWCBS-TV. Network headWilliam S. Paley decided that it was better to have CBS air its programming on a VHF station, even if it was only an affiliate. WTIC-TV was the obvious choice due to its massive coverage area. Paley quickly negotiated an affiliation deal, and channel 3 became the network's new affiliate on November 16, 1958. WTIC radio had been withNBC Radio for over thirty years.[6] Soon after the affiliation switch, channel 3 surged to the top of the ratings, and has remained there more or less ever since.
The switch to WTIC-TV for CBS had repercussions in Springfield. Although Springfield already had a CBS affiliate in WHYN-TV (channel 40, now sister station WGGB-TV), that station's owners, the Hampden-Hampshire Corporation, knew they would find the going difficult competing against WTIC-TV's stronger VHF signal. WHYN-TV sought to move to the VHF band as well, to no avail. In response, WHYN-TV switched its affiliation to ABC (previously, some ABC programs had been seen onWWLP). Over the years, WTIC-TV repeatedly blocked WHYN/WGGB's attempts to switch back to CBS.
The station also played a role in a nadir for theNew York Giants in the 1970s, as the station is outside of the NFL's 75-mile (121 km)blackout radius and the team was entering a long period of futility and a nomadic existence after losingYankee Stadium when it was renovated exclusively into a baseball venue, as the team waited forGiants Stadium to be built and open in 1976. This included games being played at New Haven'sYale Bowl, a 71,000 seat venue which was impossible to sell out. Despite this, the team had a decades-long fanbase, well before theNew England Patriots could begin to compete equally in the market. This meant that fans of the team in the New York area who refused to support the team with their attendance, would then drive into the Hartford–New Haven area to watch Giants home games, either by patronizing area bars or checking into a motel room while the game was on channel 3.[7]
In 1962, the WTIC stations moved to Broadcast House, a state-of-the-art facility in theConstitution Plaza development inDowntown Hartford. A decade later, in late 1972, Travelers Insurance decided to exit broadcasting. The announcement was made to the staff at an employee meeting held in Studio A on January 15, 1973. While the WTIC radio stations were spun off to a company formed by station management called 1080 Corporation, WTIC-TV was sold toThe Washington Post Company. The sale of all three stations was closed on March 8, 1974, and the Post's broadcasting division,Post-Newsweek Stations, changed Channel 3's call letters on that date to the current WFSB in honor of broadcasting division presidentFrederick Sessions Beebe, who had died a few months earlier. At the time, the FCC did not allow television and radio stations in the same market to share the same call letters if they had different owners.[8] To get the WFSB call letters, the Post had to convinceFramingham State College inFramingham, Massachusetts, to give up those call letters, which were used on the college's low-power FM radio station, whose call letters were changed toWDJM-FM as a result of the switch. The WTIC call letters returned to Connecticut television in 1984 when Arch Communications, owned by the son of the then-owner of WTIC radio, launched a new independent station onchannel 61.[9]
In the late 1980s, Post-Newsweek moved its corporate offices from Washington, D.C., to space located alongside Broadcast House making the station the company's flagship. This was part of a strategy move by the Post to give its various subsidiaries their own independent identities, which worked well at first. By the mid-1990s, however, WFSB found itself in a shrinking market without any significant growth opportunities. In June 1997, Post-Newsweek traded WFSB to theMeredith Corporation in exchange for WCPX-TV (nowWKMG-TV) inOrlando, Florida.[10] The sale closed that September although the Post-Newsweek group maintained its base in Hartford until 2000, when the company relocated to its then-largest station,WDIV-TV in Detroit.
By this point, with the transfer of theAFC contract from NBC toCBS in 1998, WFSB became a direct beneficiary of what would become theBrady–Belichick era for the Patriots. Though Hartford would be disappointed when the team decided to builda new stadium inFoxborough, Massachusetts, rather than coming to Connecticut, the team's later success and a shift away from the market's longtime enthusiasm for the Giants meant that WFSB would attain successful ratings growth after four years without any NFL games. The success of the Patriots would inspire Meredith to launch a station specifically for the Springfield market to the north to allow it to benefit from the revenue of two separate stations. It also wanted to avoid preempting Patriots games in Springfield, as Connecticut straddles the traditional dividing line between the home territories for Boston and New York teams. Meredith purchased aTrinity Broadcasting Network translator in Springfield and converted it to a locally focused CBS affiliate,WSHM-LP in 2003. WSHM brands as "CBS 3" to continue to trade on WFSB's continued success and familiarity; until Gray split it off to its own channel 33 in February 2023, it shared itsvirtual channel number with WFSB.
In 2005, WFSB announced plans for a new, modern studio at an office park in suburban Rocky Hill, with a glass façade and lobby. It was originally intended to be built in downtown Hartford at Main and Trumbull streets, adjacent to the station's longtime home on Constitution Plaza. However, WFSB opted for a suburban location after finding that the downtown site was too small.[11] The new studio opened in 2007.
Meredith announced on March 20, 2015, a multi-station affiliation agreement for three ofKatz Broadcasting's networks, with WFSB putting Escape (nowIon Mystery) on DT2 andLaff on DT3.[12]
On May 3, 2021,Gray Television announced its intent to purchase the Meredith Local Media division for $2.7 billion. The sale was completed on December 1.[13] As a result, WFSB (along with WGGB and WSHM-LD) became Gray's first stations in southern New England.
On April 3, 2023, WWAX rebranded toThe Wax. The Wax airs additional newscasts and sports programming not available on WFSB.[14]
Since 2023, WFSB and WWAX have an agreement with theUniversity of Connecticut. WFSB airs onecollege football game per season featuring UConn, while WWAX airs live soccer and volleyball.[15][16] In2025, WWAX reached an agreement with theBoston Red Sox to air fourspring training games.[17]
WFSB also aired five of the sixUConn Huskies men's basketball team's NCAA championship victories in1999,2004,2011,2014, and2023.
WFSB presently broadcasts41+1⁄2 hours of news per week (with6+1⁄2 hours each weekday and4+1⁄2 hours each on Saturdays and Sundays). WFSB has been far and away the ratings leader in the Hartford–New Haven television market for as long as it has been a CBS affiliate,[18] with WTNH and WVIT regularly switching between a distant second and third place.[19] In addition to its local newscasts, the station has a Sunday morning news program calledCT '25 with Eric Parker at 8:30 a.m. During the May 2011 sweeps, the program (then known asFace the State) had ratings above that of the national Sunday shows, including NBC'sMeet the Press and ABC'sThis Week.[20]
On February 28, 2012, WFSB entered into a partnership withThe Bulletin in which the two media properties share news footage and stories, along with WFSB providing local forecasts for theNorwich, Connecticut–based newspaper.[21]
Currently, WFSB simulcasts its weekday morning newscast on WWAX-LD and produces four exclusive weekday newscasts for the low-power station: 7–8 a.m., 12:30–1, 7:30–8 and 10–10:30 p.m.[22]
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WFSB | CBS |
| 3.2 | 480i | MYSTERY | Ion Mystery | |
| 3.3 | LAFF | Laff | ||
| 3.4 | 1080i | theWAX | WWAX-LD (Independent) | |
| 20.2 | 480i | 16:9 | Grit | Grit (WCCT-TV) |
| 20.3 | Comet | Comet (WCCT-TV) |
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WWAXHD | Main WWAX-LD programming |
| 27.2 | 480i | ROAR | Roar | |
| 27.3 | EWNNOW |
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| 27.4 | 4:3 | Fido | Bark TV | |
| 27.5 | DEFY | Defy | ||
| 27.6 | 16:9 | WWAX365 | 365BLK | |
| 27.7 | WWAXOUT | Outlaw |
With localPBS memberCPTV as partner on December 1, 2008, WFSB launched Connecticut Sports Network, which covered 41 high school championships and 20 small colleges.[26]
WIthFairfield County being part of the New York City market where CBS flagship WCBS-TV is based, WFSB formerly served viewers in that county through "WFSB Fairfield County" on WFSB-DT4 and the digital tier ofOptimum systems in that market, which was a semi-simulcast in standard definition of channel 3.1. The feed's main purpose outside of providing state-specific newscasts to southwestern Connecticut cable subscribers was to air alternate syndicated programming that replaced those shows on the WFSB schedule whose rights were claimed by New York stations within the county; WFSB could not offer those same shows due tosyndication exclusivity rules. It also carried advertising specific to Fairfield County to provide additional revenue to the station. The last two shows requiring such accommodation moved off WFSB's schedule in 2022:Dr. Oz in January when it was ended by the syndicator whenMehmet Ozran for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, and thenLive in September, when that show moved to WTNH, and Gray discontinued the channel at that time.
WFSB ended regular programming on its analog signal, over VHF channel 3, on June 12, 2009, as part of thefederally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[27] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transitionUHF channel 33, using virtual channel 3.[28] WFSB was the only Connecticut station that participated in the "analog nightlight" program, with the analog signal remaining in operation until June 26.[29] The sign-off included a clip of the first sign-on of WFSB when they were WTIC and it repeated itself before the actual switch occurred.
Broadcast television stations by affiliation inNew England | ||
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| The CW | ||
| MyNetworkTV | ||
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| ATSC 3.0 | ||
