History
WHP-TV first signed on the air on July 4, 1953. It was owned by Commonwealth Communications, alongside WHP radio (580 AM and 97.3 FM, now WRVV). The station originally operated from studios located on Locust Street in Harrisburg. It has always been a primary CBS affiliate, though it also carried programming from the DuMont Television Network. The station lost DuMont when that network folded in 1956.
WHP-TV moved from channel 55 to UHF channel 21 on July 1, 1961. In 1963, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) collapsed south central Pennsylvania, previously split between the Harrisburg–York and Lancaster markets, into a single market. Soon afterward, WHP-TV began to share CBS programming with WLYH-TV (channel 15, now WXBU) in Lebanon and WSBA-TV (channel 43) in York as part of the Keystone Network. This arrangement was necessary in the days before cable television, since the newly created market was not only one of the largest east of the Mississippi, but was very mountainous. UHF signals have never traveled very far across large areas or in rugged terrain. Between them, the three stations had about 55 percent signal overlap. WHP-TV began airing separate local programming during off-network hours, while WLYH and WSBA-TV simulcast for virtually the entire broadcast day (though they aired separate newscasts). WLYH and WSBA-TV ran about three-quarters of the CBS schedule, compared to separately programmed and owned WHP. All three stations preempted moderate amounts of CBS programming, but any shows preempted by WLYH and WSBA-TV ran on WHP while shows preempted by WHP would run on WLYH and WSBA-TV. This allowed the market to view the entire CBS schedule in one form or another. In 1975, the station relocated from its original studio facility on Locust Street to its current location on North 6th Street.
In 1983, Susquehanna Radio Corporation sold WSBA-TV to Mohawk Broadcasting, who broke channel 43 off from the Keystone Network and relaunched it as independent station WPMT (now a Fox affiliate). WHP-TV and WLYH continued as CBS affiliates, now with approximately 75 percent signal overlap. Both stations maintained their longstanding arrangement in which one station ran whatever CBS shows the other declined to air, though they continued to duplicate most network shows, and continued to have separate newscasts and syndicated programs.
The unusual situation of one market having two separately-owned and programmed CBS affiliates airing most of the same network programming existed because South Central Pennsylvania was just barely large enough to support what would have essentially been two independent stations (WPMT, like most early Fox stations, was still mostly programmed as an independent). WLYH's owner, Gateway Communications, feared for WLYH's viability as an independent, and was reluctant to spend money on an additional 18 hours of programming. In the fall of 1995, Commonwealth sold channel 21 to Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia), which subsequently entered into a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Gateway.[5] WLYH and WHP-TV merged their operations under this agreement, with WHP-TV as the senior partner. On December 16, 1995, WHP-TV became the sole CBS affiliate for South Central Pennsylvania with WLYH converting into a UPN affiliate.[6]
Newport Television and Sinclair ownership
On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television station group to Providence Equity Partners' Newport Television.[7] On July 19, 2012, Newport Television sold WHP-TV and five other stations to the Sinclair Broadcast Group as part of a group deal to sell 22 of its 27 stations to Sinclair, Nexstar Broadcasting Group and Cox Media Group. The LMA with WLYH-TV was included in the Newport–Sinclair deal despite Nexstar owning the license to the latter station.[8] The group deal with Sinclair was completed on December 3, 2012. WHP-TV thus became the first Sinclair-owned station, and one of a handful in the United States, to use a historic three-letter call sign.
On July 29, 2013, Allbritton Communications announced that it would sell its seven television stations, including WHTM-TV, to Sinclair.[9]
