WHP-TV

WHP-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for South Central Pennsylvania that is licensed to Harrisburg.[1] [2] It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 21 from a transmitter on a ridge north of Linglestown Road in Susquehanna Township. Owned by Newport Television, the station operates CW affiliate WLYH (owned by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group) through a local marketing agreement (LMA). The two share studios on North 6th Street in Harrisburg. Syndicated programming on WHP includes: Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, Ellen and The Doctors.

Digital programming
It operates the area's MyNetworkTV affiliate on a second digital subchannel. Known on-air as My 21.2, this can also be seen on Verizon FiOS channel 21 and Comcast digital channel 249. Syndicated programing on WHP-DT2 includes Tyler Perry's House of Payne, Christina's Court, Inside Edition, and Half and Half. Overnight, it airs Jewelry Television.

History
WHP's previous logo.WHP-TV was launched on Independence Day in 1953 on UHF channel 55 as a dual affiliate of CBS and DuMont.[citation needed] It was originally owned by Commonwealth Communications Services. The station kept the CBS affiliation after DuMont's demise in 1956 and later began to share CBS programming with WLYH-TV (now WHP's sister station) and WSBA-TV (now WPMT) as part of the Keystone Network. It moved from channel 55 to 21 in 1957.

WLYH and WSBA began simulcasting nearly their entire broadcast day in the 1960s and this would continue until 1983 when WSBA was sold and converted into independent station. WPMT later became a Fox affiliate. WLYH and WSBA ran about 3/4 of the CBS schedule compared to separately programmed and owned WHP. The three stations had about a 55 to 60% overlap in signal coverage. The WLYH and WSBA simulcast would preempt a moderate amount of CBS shows as would WHP. Any shows preempted by WLYH and WSBA ran on WHP while shows preempted by WHP-TV would run on WLYH and WSBA. Prime time shows, sports, and most daytime and weekend shows ran on all three stations.

After WSBA and WLYH broke up, WHP and WLYH continued to have primary CBS affiliations. These two stations duplicated signals by about 75%. The deal where one station ran whatever CBS shows the other one did not continued. Also, both stations continued to duplicate most CBS shows but continued to have their own local newscasts and syndicated programs. In January 1995, WLYH became a secondary UPN affiliate running that programming late nights and weekends when CBS was offering no shows.[citation needed] Clear Channel Communications acquired the station in 1995. At this time, WHP began controlling WLYH in Lancaster through a local marketing agreement. WLYH then would drop CBS shows and went with UPN. Since UPN only offered a couple hours a day of programs or less some days, WLYH was a de facto independent station.

On July 12, 2006, WHP announced that it would launch a new second digital channel that would become an affiliate of MyNetworkTV when that network launched on September 5. This also became available on Comcast digital cable while WPHL-TV (which had been serving as the area's de-facto WB affiliate) remained on the basic tier after becoming Philadelphia's MyNetworkTV affiliate.[citation needed] On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television station group to Providence Equity Partners' Newport Television.[3] Originally, WHP aired a digital signal on VHF channel 4. NBC affiliate WGAL started on that channel but moved due to interference from fellow NBC station WRC-TV.[citation needed] After the analog television shutdown on June 12, 2009, the station moved back to channel 21.[4] [5]

News operation
WHP presently broadcasts 22 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with four hours on weekdays and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays). In addition to its main studios, WHP operates a bureau in York. Unlike most CBS affiliates in the Eastern Time Zone, the station does not air a midday newscast on weekdays. The station also provides weather forecasts for local radio stations WLAN-FM (96.9), WQLV (98.9 FM), and WLAN (1390 AM).

WHP has traditionally struggled in the ratings and has remained in third place for many years and sometimes even slid to fourth. The staff has earned numerous awards, including an Emmy Award in 2010 among other recognitions for its news team. WLYH's news department was shut down after being taken over by WHP, which began producing a primetime newscast at 10 p.m. for WLYH in September 1996; it was canceled in September 2003 due to low ratings. WHP revived that newscast in January 2009, which competes with WPMT's longer-established 10 p.m. newscast.

News broadcasts on WHP remained mainly in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition until April 14, 2012, when WHP-TV became the fourth (and last) television station in the Central Pennsylvania market to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition  and the third to broadcast both in-studio segments and field reports in the format. With the conversion, the station debuted a brand new, state-of-the-art HD news set, new digital microwave and editing equipment, and a new HD weather graphics system.

News team
 Current on-air staff 

Anchors CBS 21 First Warning Weather Sports Reporters
 * Sherry Christian - weekday mornings (5:00-7:00 a.m.)
 * Tanya Foster - weeknights at 5:00, 5:30, 6:00, 10:00 (WLYH) and 11:00 p.m.; also "Living Well with a Disability" segment producer
 * Robb Hanrhan - weeknights at 5:00, 5:30, 6:00, 10:00 (WLYH) and 11:00 p.m.; also Face the State host
 * Joel D. Smith - weekday mornings (5:00-7:00 a.m.)
 * James Tully - weekends at 6:00, 10:00 (WLYH) and 11:00 p.m.
 * Tom Russell (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - chief meteorologist; weeknights at 5:00, 5:30, 6:00, 10:00 (WLYH) and 11:00 p.m.
 * Steve Knight - meteorologist; weekday mornings (5:00-7:00 a.m.), also "Cool Schools" segment producer
 * TBD - meteorologist; weekends at 6:00, 10:00 (WLYH) and 11:00 p.m.
 * Jason Bristol - sports director; weeknights at 6:00, 10:00 (WLYH) and 11:00 p.m., also host of First Score Friday
 * James Tully - sports anchor; weekends at 6:00, 10:00 (WLYH) and 11:00 p.m.; also sports reporter
 * Christina Butler - York County reporter
 * Charlie Gerow - political analyst
 * Michael Gorsegner - morning reporter
 * Donna Kirker-Morgan - general assignment reporter
 * Jesse Knutson - general assignment reporter
 * Tony May - political analyst
 * Brandie Meng - general assignment reporter
 * Chris Papst - general assignment reporter
 * Ewa Roman - general assignment reporter
 * Kyle Rogers - general assignment reporter

Newscast titles

 * The 11 O'Clock News
 * The WHP News Hour
 * 21 Newsroom
 * News 21 (?–1990, 199?–1994 & 1990s)
 * Newsight 21 (1990-199?)
 * WHP-TV News (1994–1990s)
 * Eyewitness News 21 (1990s–2002)
 * 21 Eyewitness News (2002–2004)
 * CBS 21 News (2004–present)

Station slogans

 * The Place to Be (late 1980s)
 * It's for Good
 * Making a Difference in Central Pennsylvania (late 1990s-2000)
 * CBS for Central Pennsylvania (2000-2001)
 * Where Community Comes First (2001-2004)
 * Your CBS Station in Central Pennsylvania (2004-2008)
 * Your Station for Breaking News (2008-present)