Hartford-New Haven, Connecticut, has long enjoyed its location, situated roughly midway between Boston and New York. The urban bookends offer more than metropolitan proximity. As the nation crawls out of the pandemic, the Connecticut market is seeing more and more big-city people move in.

“We’re seeing a lot of New York folks coming up,” Rich Graziano, VP and general manager, WTNH-WCTX, said. “People are realizing, with their work-life balance, they don’t have to go in five days a week. There are mountains and trails, lakes and golf, and you can go to the ocean.”

The market crept to No. 32 from No. 33 between 2020 and 2021. 

Nexstar Media Group holds the ABC-MyNetworkTV pair, WTNH-WCTX. Gray Television acquired CBS affiliate WFSB late last year. NBCUniversal owns WVIT and Telemundo station WRDM. Tegna has WTIC-WCCT, a Fox-The CW duopoly. Entravision owns Univision-aligned WUVN. 

Comcast is the major cable operator in Hartford-New Haven. 

Stations are getting back to relative normal after a couple of COVID-19 affected years. WTNH has rebooted its CT Style lifestyle show, which had been shelved when an audience was not permitted in the studio. It restarts April 22. Natasha Lubczenko is the anchor and Griffin Pierson is the lifestyle reporter. 

Besides new graphics, CT Style offers a fresh mix of content. “People’s taste and interest in the marketplace is evolving,” said Graziano. 

WFSB premieres a 7 p.m. newscast May 2, running in place of canceled People (The TV Show!). WFSB had 7 p.m. news amid the pandemic and makes it a regular thing in a couple of weeks. Stephanie Simoni anchors. 

“Part of our goal, and a big part of Gray Television, is to do as much local as you can,” said Dana Neves, WFSB regional VP and general manager. She mentioned the 7 p.m. news being a “great success” when it ran last year. 

Last summer, WVIT premiered a 7 p.m. newscast. It has enjoyed offering the only local news in that slot, though that changes soon. Diane Hannes, president and general manager, WVIT-WRDM, described a non-traditional newscast with more in-depth stories. “It has found a local audience,” she said. 

Humberto Hormaza was named president and general manager of WTIC-WCCT in March, after a stint as senior VP and general manager at Entravision. He did not comment for this article. 

Based outside Hartford, WFSB is a ratings powerhouse. In March, the station won both the households and viewers 25-54 race at 6-7 a.m. WTNH was tops in 5-6 p.m. households, while WFSB narrowly beat WTNH in the 25-54 race. At 6 p.m. WTNH won a tight household race, with WFSB in the top spot in the demo. 

In late news, WFSB did a 3.15 household rating and 1.00 25-54 rating. WTNH rated a 2.63/0.40, WVIT a 2.32/0.95, and WTIC a 1.18 household score at 11 p.m., and 0.57 in 25-54. 

Neves cited “consistency in the product” as the key to WFSB’s success. “We have long-term, trustworthy folks in front of, and equally important, behind the camera,” she said. 

She also mentioned the market’s only live Doppler radar as “a huge advantage. Our job is to keep people safe.” 

Chuck Carter became WTNH news director late in 2018, after a run as executive producer of news at WTXF Philadelphia. Graziano said the Nexstar stations offer the most local news in DMA No. 32, around 63 ½ hours a week. That includes three hours of primetime news on WCTX, which began in 2020, with MyNetworkTV prime shifting to 11:30 p.m. 

Graziano mentioned a “nice group of experienced, seasoned anchors,” including Ann Nyberg and Dennis House. “We believe in longevity and trust and experience.”

Nyberg is the longest-serving, full-time female anchor/reporter in Connecticut television history, according to her bio. She anchors the 5, 6, 10 and 11 p.m. news, and hosts the lifestyle show Nyberg too. 

House co-anchors the 6 p.m. news and hosts This Week in Connecticut with Dennis House. 

Telemundo station WRDM is a partnership between NBC Connecticut and NBC’s setup in Boston, which includes NBC and Telemundo TV stations, NBC Sports Boston and New England Channel News. There are 10 WRDM employees in Hartford, and the station does two hours of local news a day, at 5, 5:30, 6 and 11 p.m. 

News may expand. “I think we’re always considering it,” said Hannes. “Nothing is off the table.”

WVIT debuted an OTT newscast called The Connection in October 2021. “We are content creators so we are following the audience,” said Hannes. “If the audience wants to see local news on these platforms, we are giving it to them.”

Hartford-New Haven offers a mix of city and country, with historical sites, culture and upscale restaurants in the urban spots, along with hiking and water recreation out in the country. Graziano said New Haven has a New York feel, with art, history and high-end food, while Hartford is “quintessential New England.”

“There are cities, small towns, the shore and mountains,” said Hannes. “And you get in your car, and you’re in New York City or Boston in no time at all.”

The market’s proximity between the big cities also means good pizza, including Sally’s Apizza in New Haven and Pepe’s franchises across the state. Graziano grew up in Boston and used to be the GM at WPIX New York. “The pizza is legitimate,” he said of the local fare. ■

WFSB Hartford is launching Masks 4 School, a community initiative designed to make sure children have masks to wear to school amid the pandemic. Hosting four events in the market, the Meredith station is giving two youth-sized masks per child on a first come, first served basis.

Since May, WFSB has given away more than 1.2 million cloth face masks throughout the community. “We know this Back to School year is like no other,” said WFSBV vice president/general manager Dana Neves. “We wanted to do what we can to help parents and grandparents prepare for the ‘new normal’.”

On Aug. 19, the CBS affiliate will be at the Police Activity League in Waterbury, Conn. Aug. 20, the station is at Toyota Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford. Aug. 26, WFSB will be at Xfinity Theatre in Hartford, and Aug. 27, the site is Torrington High School. 

Masks 4 School is a collaboration with Bob and Amy Stefanowski and The Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven.

Altice USA’s ongoing dispute with Connecticut CBS affiliate WFSB could end up benefiting the broadcast networks the most, according to a top media analyst, as the cabler offers up the network’s CBS All Access OTT service during the service disruption.

WFSB is owned by Meredith Corp. and broadcasts to a small number of Altice USA Optimum TV customers in Litchfield and New Haven counties. The channel went dark on Jan. 13 after the parties could not reach a retransmission-consent agreement.

While pricing appears to be the major roadblock in negotiations, Altice USA has been offering CBS All Access to its customers in the affected counties, the over-the-top service directly from the broadcaster. The free CBS All Access trial allows those customers to watch all the top network shows from the programmer, including NFL games, online.

In a research note Monday, Telsey Advisory Group media analyst Tom Eagan wrote that the dispute could end up helping CBS the most.

“Essentially, the Meredith black-out could translate to healthy CBS All Access sub gains which with $5.99 in affiliate fees and $3.50 in advertising revenue (per sub per month) would offset any loss in reverse retrans payment to CBS Corp.,” Eagan wrote.

This isn’t the first time that CBS All Access has been used as a chit in retrans negotiations. The network itself has promoted the OTT service as an alternative when local channels go dark. In addition to its broadcast shows – and the recent addition of NFL Games – CBS All Access also offers on-demand access to the network’s vast programming library.

Optimum TV’s predecessor company Cablevision Systems was an early adopter of CBS All Access – it was the first pay TV provider to distribute the OTT service to it broadband customers.

In 2015, San Diego CBS affiliate KFMB offered viewers a two-month free trial of CBS All Access while it was locked in a dispute with DirecTV.  KFMB had an agreement with CBS All Access, so its local news and programming was available over the service. The station resolved its dispute with DirecTV after being dark for about three weeks.

Altice USA's request that CBS-affiliate WFSB in Connecticut unblock programming to its customers in the state for the National Football League’s AFC Championship game on Jan. 22, pitting the local favorite New England Patriots vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers, has been stuffed.

WFSB, which broadcasts to a small portion of Altice USA customers in Litchfield and New Haven counties in Connecticut, went dark on Jan. 13 after the parties could not reach a retransmission consent agreement. Altice USA said the bulk of its Connecticut customers can see the game via the New York CBS affiliate (WCBS). The cable operator has also offered customers a free trial of CBS All Access, the over-the-top offering from the broadcaster, to watch the playoffs and other network content online. 

The fact that WFSB has not unblocked the channel shouldn’t be surprising. Going dark is usually a station’s only leverage in retrans negotiations and compelling event programming – like NFL playoff games – is usually what gets the parties to reach a compromise.

On its website, WFSB called Altice USA an “outlier,” adding that it has reached retrans agreements with every other distributor with no disruption in service.

“Without fair and equitable treatment, local TV stations will not be able to continue to provide top quality news, sports, entertainment, and other local programming that is most important to you,” WFSB said on its website.

Officials at WFSB parent Meredith Corp. did not immediately return a request for comment.

Altice USA said this is the second time its request to make the channel available for the NFL playoffs has been denied – it made the same plea for the Patriot’s Jan. 14 meeting with the Houston Texans in the AFC divisional playoff. Meredith refused that request even though the two U.S. Senators representing the state – Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Christopher Murphy – had asked the channel be made available to Altice customers while talks continued.

“We’ve heard from our Litchfield and New Haven customers and know they want to watch the Patriots game this weekend,” Altice USA said in a statement. “We’re frustrated too and think it’s outrageous that WFSB refuses to put the channel back on for our customers as we continue our negotiations. We have asked WFSB and its owners repeatedly to stop holding our customers hostage. If WFSB cares about its viewers then why won’t they agree to put the game on?”