| WUHF | |
|---|---|
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| Rochester, New York | |
| Branding | Fox Rochester |
| Channel | Digital: 28 (UHF, PSIP 31) |
| Subchannels | 31.1 Fox |
| Owner | Sinclair Broadcast Group (operated through LSA by Nexstar Broadcasting Group) (WUHF Licensee, LLC) |
| First air date | January 1980 |
| Callsign meaning | Ultra High Frequency |
| Sister station(s) | WROC-TV |
| Former channels | 31 (UHF analog, 1980-2009) |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1980-1986) NetSpan (1985-1986) |
| Effective power | 320 kW |
| Height | 161 m |
| Facility ID | 413 |
| Antenna coordinates | 43°8′5″N 77°35′7″W / 43.13472°N 77.58528°W |
| Website | rochesterhomepage.net |
WUHF is the Fox-affiliated television station for Rochester, New York. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 28 (hence the call letters) from a transmitter on Pinnacle Hill at the border between the city and Brighton. Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, WUHF is operated through a shared services agreement (a.k.a. SSA) by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group as sister station to CBS affiliate WROC-TV. The two share studios on Humboldt Street in Rochester. Syndicated programming on WUHF includes: Seinfeld, Two and a Half Men, Freinds, and Judge Judy.
Contents |
History
They began operations in January 1980 as a general entertainment independent station running cartoons, sitcoms (classic and recent), movies, drama shows, and religious shows. The station was owned by Malrite and the General Manager was Jerry Carr, former "The Weather Outside" Rochester television personality. In 1983, former underground cartoonist Brian Bram produced and hosted All Night Live a program aired live from Midnight to 7 in the morning Fridays and Saturdays. Bram's show was a showcase for regional bands including Personal Effects, Cousin Al and the Relatives, and The Degrads.
On October 6, 1986, WUHF became a charter affiliate of Fox for Rochester and was then known on-air as "Fox 31". Most of the religious shows were gone by then. In 1989, Act III Broadcasting would buy the station. In a group deal, Abry would become their in 1994. By 1996, it was controlled by Sinclair and eventually sold to them. In the 1990s, classic sitcoms, movies, and drama shows made way for talk, reality, and court shows. Cartoons ended their weekday airings at the end of 2001 when Fox closed its weekday kids block nationwide. In 2000, the station became known on-air as "Fox Rochester" although it adopted a "Fox 31" logo in 2003.
Its digital signal signed on-the-air in 2004 under a special temporary authority from the FCC. In 2006, WUHF added The Tube digital music video channel on a new second digital subchannel. This continued until The Tube went out of business in 2007. In August 2005, the Sinclair Broadcast Group entered into a shared services agreement with Nexstar. Sinclair agreed to be the subordinate entity allowing Nexstar to control programming for WUHF. The station then moved from their studios on East Avenue in Rochester to WROC's facilities. [1] Sinclair and Fox recently finalized a six-year affiliation contract extension for Sinclair's nineteen Fox affiliates including WUHF. This station's affiliation contract now expires in March 2012. On February 17, 2009 like most Sinclair stations, the station's analog programming left channel 31 and was replaced by a "nightlight" loop that ran until March 3. WUHF continues to operate its digital signal on channel 28.
Cable carriage
In 1994, several cable systems in Canada started carrying WUHF via the Cancom communications satellite in out-of-market areas where Fox was not otherwise available. However, it had been carried on cable in Belleville, Ontario and other communities on the north shore of Lake Ontario since the 1980s. They are carried by both Eastlink cable and Aliant TV in the province of Nova Scotia. Until recently, the station was also carried in the Thousand Islands region of the North Country in the town of Hammond (via Citizens Cable TV), in the provinces of Manitoba, and Newfoundland and Labrador. WUHF has been carried on satellite systems since 2001 and it is currently the only Rochester-based television station seen in Canada on the Shaw Direct satellite provider. CF Cable in Western Montreal suburbs used to carry the station in 1995 but replaced it with sister station WUTV from Buffalo the following year (WUTV was carried on Vidéotron for cable systems outside the West Island). It was also the first Fox station carried on Montreal cable. However, the northern suburbs of that city (particularly St. Jerome) still carry the station even though in Mont Tremblant, WFFF-TV along with other Burlington, Vermont / Plattsburgh, New York stations are seen there instead.
Newscasts
They had produced their own prime time broadcast known as The Ten O'Clock News and Sunday night sports highlight show since 1997. In 2003, this was converted to Sinclair's controversial News Central format which consisted of national and international news as well as weather and sports segments produced at News Central's headquarters in Hunt Valley, Maryland. The local news operation at WUHF was significantly sized down as a result. After becoming operated by Nexstar, the News Central format was abandoned and news broadcasts on WUHF ceased. Two anchors, a producer, and a photographer were added to WROC's news staff. The remainder of WUHF's personnel were laid off in this move. On September 1, 2005, a nightly half hour prime time show produced by WROC began airing on this station. It airs from a secondary set from WROC's facilities. Eventually, this expanded to 45 minutes followed by a fifteen minute sports highlight program.
Fox First at 10 (10 to 10:45 P.M.)
Weeknights
- Anchor:
- Kevin Doran
- Weather:
- Scott Hetsko
Weekends
- Anchor:
- TBD
- Weather:
- Bob Metcalfe
Sports Extra (10:45 to 11 P.M.)
- Weeknights:
- John Kucko
- Weekends:
- Thad Brown
- Cory Hepola - reporter
Past personalities
- Jennifer Gladstone - national news
- now weekday morning anchor at WBFF
- Morris Jones - national news
- now Sinclair Chief National Correspondent
- Vytas Reid - Chief Meteorologist seen weeknights
- now Chief Meteorologist at WBFF
- Chuck Bell - meteorologist
- Megan Glaros - meteorologist
- Elizabeth Hart - meteorologist
- Scott Padgett - meteorologist
- Jonas Schwartz - Sports Director seen weeknights
- Mark Armstrong - weekend sports
- Mark Hyman - "The Point" segment producer
- Donna Dedee
- Sherman Burdette
- Michael Goldruck
- Jess Torpey
- Lance Barry
References
External links
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