WCVB-TV

WCVB (ABC)
Slogan: "Local Live Coverage You Can Count On"
Boston, Massachusetts
Channel 5 Digital channel 20
Owner	Hearst-Argyle Television
Founded	1957
Signal Radius	Greater Boston, southern New Hampshire, northern Rhode Island, northeastern Connecticut
Callsign Meaning	W Channel V(5) Boston
Former Affiliations	CBS
Former Callsigns	WHDH
www.thebostonchannel.com

WCVB-TV is the ABC affiliate in Boston, Massachusetts. The station's TV transmitters are located at the Viacom digital television facility in Needham, Massachusetts. The studios are located nearby along Route 128. Also, it is one of six local Boston TV stations seen in Canada on the Bell ExpressVu satellite provider.

It signed on November 26, 1957 as WHDH-TV, owned by the Boston Herald along with WHDH radio. In 1961, the FCC (according to some, at the behest of the Boston Globe) began investigating the media combination of the Herald Traveler and WHDH-AM-FM-TV. In 1969, a local group, Boston Broadcasters, won a construction permit for a new channel 5. The Herald Traveler fought the decision in court, but lost in 1972. On March 19, 1972, WHDH-TV signed off for the last time, replaced by the new WCVB.

WCVB was notable for providing more local programming than any other television station in the nation throughout the 1970s and the 1980s. It is also known for exceptional news coverage and has been consistently at the top of the news ratings since the 1980s, though it now competes fiercely with the current WHDH-TV.

The station was the first to broadcast digitally in New England in 1998. The live broadcast was of a space shuttle launch.

External Links and References

• The Boston Radio Dial: WCVB-TV