states city rochester branding news 8 slogan the team you can trust channels digital 45 uhf virtual 8 psip subchannels 8.1 cbs 8.2 bounce tv 8.3 laff 8.4 escape affiliations cbs 1989 present owner nexstar broadcasting group nexstar broadcasting inc. first air date june 11 1949 ; 67 years ago 1949 06 11 call letters meaning rochester sister station s wsyr tv wwti wetm tv wutr wfxv wpny lp wivt wbgh cd wfff tv wvny former callsigns wham tv 1949 1956 former channel number s analog 6 1949 1954 5 1954 1962 8 1962 2009 former affiliations primary nbc 1949 1989 secondary dumont 1949 1956 1 transmitter power 1 000 kw height 122.3 m facility id 73964 transmitter coordinates 43 8 7 n 77 35 2 w 43.13528 n 77.58389 w 43.13528 ; 77.58389 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.rochesterfirst.com wroc tv virtual channel 8 is a cbs affiliated television station based in rochester new york usa owned and operated by nexstar broadcasting group . wroc tv is the flagship of the company s upstate new york stations and it has studios on humboldt street in rochester . wroc tv s transmitter is located on pinnacle hill in brighton new york . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 4 news operation 4.1 notable current on air staff 5 references 6 external links history edit wroc tv is rochester s oldest television station signing on june 11 1949 as wham tv an nbc affiliate on channel 6 . it was owned originally by stromberg carlson a telephone equipment manufacturer along with wham radio . the station was also affiliated with the now defunct dumont television network . 3 wham tv moved to channel 5 on july 24 1954 as part of a revision of upstate new york s vhf allotments resulting from the federal communications commission s sixth report and order of 1952 . however wham tv on channel 5 dealt with interference issues from cblt a cbc television station from toronto after that station moved from its original channel 9 allocation to channel 6 in 1956 . cblt was replaced on channel 9 by cfto tv in 1960 and that channel relocation would later play an indirect role in the station s second frequency shift eight years later . stromberg carlson merged with general dynamics in 1955 . general dynamics was not interested in owning broadcast outlets and put the wham tv outlets on the market . in 1956 wham tv was sold to transcontinent broadcasting which owned wgr radio and wgr tv in buffalo . the new owners changed the call letters to the current wroc tv . in 1961 transcontinent sold the station to veterans broadcasting company which subsequently sold its half of what is today whec tv channel 10 to the gannett company then based in rochester . 2 the wham tv callsign is now used on rochester s abc affiliate channel 13 previously known as wokr . other than the shared callsign that station is unrelated to the earlier wham tv . under veterans ownership wroc tv moved to channel 8 on september 8 1962 as part of another channel allocation change this one being a switch involving rochester and syracuse . 3 the fcc moved wroc tv s former channel 5 east to syracuse and it was taken by meredith corporation owned when tv now wtvh which was previously on channel 8 . the move also allowed a new station on channel 9 to enter the syracuse market ; it signed on as wnys tv later wixt tv and now wsyr tv the following day . veterans broadcasting merged with rust craft broadcasting in 1964 . rust craft became a subsidiary of ziff davis in 1979 . rust craft then sold wroc tv and sister stations in weyi tv in saginaw michigan wrdw tv in augusta georgia and wtov tv in steubenville ohio to television station partners lp in 1983 . television station partners sold wroc tv along with the weyi tv and wtov tv to smith broadcasting in 1996 . nexstar purchased wroc tv in 1999 . headquarters on humboldt street in rochester new york under the stewardship of television station partners wroc tv made another switch on july 1 1989 after 40 years with nbc channel 8 swapped network affiliations with whec tv and became a cbs station . 4 since the 1970s wroc tv s newscasts have struggled in the nielsen ratings usually placing a distant third behind wokr wham tv and whec tv . even with the strong nbc prime time line up in the mid to late 1980s the last few years of wroc tv s affiliation contract with nbc and the strong cbs line up during the 2000s decade wroc tv s newscasts remained in third place for the most part although it slowly grew in market share over the course of the decade . in the november 2008 ratings period however wroc tv s 11 pm newscast finished ahead of the slumping whec tv for the first time in many years . for many years wroc tv was one of three rochester area stations offered on cable in the ottawa gatineau and eastern ontario regions . the rochester area stations were replaced with detroit stations when the microwave relay system that provided these signals was discontinued . until january 2009 wroc tv was also available in many central ontario communities such as belleville cobourg and lindsay . on july 9 2012 wroc tv replaced wlky louisville on time warner cable systems in that station s region when wlky s owners hearst television pulled its stations off time warner cable s systems in a retransmission dispute . 5 however nexstar complained that time warner cable has used their signals outside their markets without permission while time warner cable was within its rights to use their signals as replacements until a deal with hearst is reached . 6 wroc tv for its part made the best of its predicament naming the administrator of a facebook group of tongue in cheek louisvillean wroc tv fans its fan of the week and making a handful of other shout outs to its emerging louisville fanbase . 7 the substitution of wroc tv in place of wlky lasted until july 19 2012 when a deal was reached between hearst and time warner . 8 digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital signal is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 9 8.1 1080i 16 9 wroc hd main wroc tv programming cbs 8.2 480i 4 3 bounce bounce tv 8.3 laff laff 8.4 escape escape on september 26 2011 wroc tv launched bounce tv owned by bounce media llc whose coo jonathan katz is president ceo of katz broadcasting on sub channel 8.2 . on june 15 2016 nexstar announced that it has entered into an affiliation agreement with katz broadcasting for the escape laff grit and bounce tv networks bringing one or more of the four networks to 81 stations owned and or operated by nexstar including wroc tv . as a result wroc tv will shortly add two additional subchannels carrying escape and laff grit is already available in rochester on wham dt3 . 10 analog to digital conversion edit wroc tv discontinued regular programming on its analog signal over vhf channel 8 at 11 35 p.m. on june 12 2009 following the late newscast the official date in which full power television stations in the united states transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate . the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition uhf channel 45 . 11 through the use of psip digital television receivers display the station s virtual channel as its former vhf analog channel 8 . programming edit syndicated programming on wroc tv includes wheel of fortune jeopardy inside edition and the dr. oz show . all are distributed by cbs television distribution . news operation edit in august 1957 wroc tv began airing the area s first 11 o clock broadcast called eleventh hour news . regular sports segments were added to the show on april 7 1958 . wroc tv enjoyed ratings dominance with popular anchorman tom decker and weatherman bob mills . anne keefe another well known talent who split time between wroc tv radio and tv contributed to the station s success in the 1960s and 1970s . however by the mid 1970s decker mills and keefe left . the loss of these popular veteran broadcasters and the station s failure to keep up with changing technology lead to a ratings slump that lasted decades . since the mid 1970s through the early 2000s wroc tv s newscasts struggled in the nielsen ratings usually placing a distant third behind wham tv and whec tv . even with the strong nbc prime time line up in the mid to late 1980s the last few years of wroc tv s affiliation contract with nbc and the cbs line up during the early 2000s its newscasts remained in third place . however after finally establishing some stability with its anchor team market share has been growing over the course of the past decade . in the november 2008 ratings period wroc tv s 11 p.m. newscast finished ahead of slumping whec tv for the first time in many years . after becoming operated by nexstar wuhf s separate news department was shut down . two anchors a producer and a photographer were added to wroc tv s news staff . the remainder of its personnel was laid off in this move . on september 1 2005 a nightly half hour prime time broadcast produced by wroc tv called fox first at 10 began airing on wuhf . originating from a secondary set at this station s facilities the show eventually expanded to 45 minutes followed by a fifteen minute sports highlight program known as sports extra . on september 13 2010 this station began airing a weeknight 4 p.m. newscast for a half hour an area first . 12 as of 2011 wroc tv s newscasts remain in third place overall . on september 4 2012 wroc tv became the second rochester area tv station to have upgraded its local newscasts to high definition . the 10 p.m. newscast on wuhf was included in the upgrade . wroc s relationship with wuhf ended in december 2013 due to sinclair s purchase of the assets of abc affiliate wham tv along with the sale of its license to an affiliated company and the re location of wuhf to its facilities . wuhf s 10 p.m. newscast was replaced by a wham produced version on january 1 2014 . 13 notable current on air staff edit stacey pensgen chief meteorologist ams seal of approval references edit jim ellwanger . tv guide lake ontario edition . personal website ellwanger.tv . retrieved 2010 07 08 . fcc okays 30 million in station sales . broadcasting august 7 1961 pg . 90 . 1 final orders add vhf to three markets . broadcasting august 7 1961 pg . 55 . 2 in brief . broadcasting april 10 1989 pg . 96 top of page adweek imported signals in retrans fight raise regulatory questions july 10 2012 . greensboro news record new twist in dispute between time warner and wxii july 12 2012 . naughton peter july 12 2012 . elsewhere louisville ky fans embrace wroc tv . cnytvnews.com . retrieved july 16 2012 . broadcasting & cable hearst tv time warner cable end viewer blackout july 19 2012 . rabbitears tv query for wroc bounce tv grit escape laff multicast deal covers 81 stations 54 markets . broadcasting & cable . june 15 2016 . retrieved june 18 2016 . dtv tentative channel designations for the first and the second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . http