the first incarnation of whdh tv on channel 5 in boston which existed from 1957 to 1972 see whdh tv defunct . for the first licensee of channel 7 in boston which existed from 1948 to 1982 see wnac tv defunct . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message whdh boston massachusetts united states branding 7 or 7nbc general 7 news newscasts slogan the news station channels digital 42 uhf virtual 7 psip affiliations .1 nbc to become an independent station on january 1 2017 .2 this tv owner sunbeam television whdh tv founded february 1982 first air date may 22 1982 ; 34 years ago 1982 05 22 call letters meaning sequentially assigned to former sister station whdh am sister station s wlvi former callsigns wnev tv 1982 1990 former channel number s analog 7 vhf 1982 2009 digital 7 vhf 2009 former affiliations cbs 1982 1995 transmitter power 1 000 kw height 288 m facility id 72145 transmitter coordinates 42 18 41 n 71 13 0 w 42.31139 n 71.21667 w 42.31139 ; 71.21667 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.whdh.com whdh channel 7 is an nbc affiliated television station located in boston massachusetts . whdh is owned by sunbeam television and operates as part of a duopoly with cw affiliate wlvi channel 56 . the two stations share studio facilities located at bulfinch place near government center in downtown boston ; whdh s transmitter is located in newton massachusetts . contents 1 history 1.1 origins 1.2 wnac tv s fight for survival and transition 1.3 as wnev tv 1.4 whdh radio 1.5 sale to sunbeam 1.6 switch to nbc affiliation 1.7 loss of nbc affiliation 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 programming 3.1 preempted programming 3.2 lottery 4 news operation 4.1 media partnerships 4.2 news department history 4.2.1 1982 1993 4.2.2 1993 present 4.3 notable current on air staff 4.4 notable former on air staff 5 out of market coverage 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit origins edit see also wnac tv defunct the station first signed on the air on may 22 1982 as wnev tv . it was originally owned by the new england television corporation netv who received a new license from the federal communications commission fcc for channel 7 in boston after improprieties by rko general the owner of the previous occupant of the channel 7 allocation . that station wnac tv commenced operations on june 21 1948 as boston s first cbs affiliate . the station switched to abc in 1961 but rejoined cbs in 1972 . wnac tv s fight for survival and transition edit main article wnac tv defunct by 1965 rko general faced numerous investigations into its business and financial practices . though the fcc renewed wnac tv s license in 1969 rko general lost the license in 1981 after its parent company general tire admitted to a litany of corporate misconduct which among other things included the admission that general tire had committed financial fraud over illegal political contributions and bribes as part of a settlement with the u.s. securities and exchange commission . however in the fcc hearings rko general had withheld evidence of general tire s misconduct and had also failed to disclose evidence of accounting errors on its own part . in light of rko s dishonesty the fcc stripped rko of the boston license and the licenses for khj tv now kcal tv in los angeles and wor tv now wwor tv in new york city . the fcc had previously conditioned renewal of the latter two stations licenses on wnac tv s renewal . an appeals court partially reversed the ruling finding that rko s dishonesty alone merited having the wnac tv license removed . however it held that the fcc had overreached in tying the other two license renewals to wnac tv s renewal and ordered new hearings . though rko continued to appeal the decision in late february 1982 the fcc granted new england television a merger of two of the original rivals to the station s license controlled by boston grocery magnate david mugar 1 a construction permit to build a new station on channel 7 . 2 two months later in april the u.s. supreme court declined to hear rko s appeal leaving the firm with no further recourse but to accept the commission s decision and surrender wnac tv s license . 3 rko then sold the station s non license physical assets including its downtown boston studio facility and transmitter tower site in suburban newton to netv . 4 on may 21 1982 at midnight rko signed off wnac tv for the final time . netv took over channel 7 on may 22 under a new license signing on the new wnev tv at 5 55 a.m. et that morning ; it also dropped wnac tv s strip layered 7 logo in favor of a new se7en logo . 5 however wnev inherited most of the former wnac tv staff and channel 7 s cbs affiliation . as wnev tv edit new england television s mission from the start was to allocate programming hours to innovative in house productions in much the same way that boston broadcasters did when it launched wcvb tv on channel 5 ten years earlier . notable productions that premiered early on were look 1982 1984 which began as a two hour 4 6 p.m. late afternoon talk and lifestyle show that led into wnev s 6 p.m. newscast . despite a powerful effort at an entertaining and informative program and praise from critics look was a ratings failure ; for its second year the show was cut back to an hour and renamed new england afternoon before being dropped . wnev continued to produce talk programs first with morning live 1984 1987 a half hour weekday morning talk show hosted by susan sikora and later with the similarly structured talk of the town 1988 hosted by matt lauer . nancy merrill former host of wbz tv s people are talking headlined two talk shows on wnev the weekend late night entry merrill at midnight 1986 87 and the weekday morning program nancy merrill 1987 88 . netv also made it an immediate purpose to further diversify the station s workforce both on air and behind the scenes . within wnev s first couple of years there was an increase of news reporters and anchors of color joining the station notably including anchor lester strong and reporter amalia barreda . the commitment to diversity extended itself to a series of new public affairs shows that each targeted a specific ethnic group urban update with an african american focus revista hispana asian focus and jewish perspective . other public affairs and newsmagazines launched by wnev included a sunday morning religious affairs program higher ground ; the weekend talk and advice show boston common ; the saturday night newsmagazine our times ; and studio 7 which focused on the arts . in 1987 another of wnev s ambitious efforts premiered the hour long live children s variety show ready to go . featuring broadway actress singer liz callaway and scott reese who not only hosted but also sang and acted the program featured an equal mix of entertainment and educational content along with musical acts and celebrity interviews . the series began as a 6 7 a.m. programming alternative against wbz and wcvb s morning newscasts before moving to 7 a.m. in september 1989 . on march 24 1990 after only six months at its new time slot the station cut the series back to once a week saturday broadcasts only before canceling the show outright in 1991 . in mid august 1987 wnev overhauled its on air image . the station dropped its se7en identity in favor of a new logo which consisted of the number 7 made up of seven white dots inside of a blue circle . the logo was introduced as a part of the new station wide campaign we re all on the same team in which the seven dots represented the heads of team members . the dots also had dual usage as lottery balls in promotions for lottery live the massachusetts state lottery drawings which were moving to wnev late that summer . the campaign was primarily launched as a continued attempt to bolster the station s third place news ratings and to promote its news sharing partnership with other tv and radio stations the new england news exchange . whdh radio edit throughout the 1980s wnev tv frequently partnered with whdh radio 850 am ; frequency now occupied when by weei for public events such as project bread and the walk for hunger as well as for other initiatives . netv would eventually purchase whdh on august 7 1989 . in january 1990 mugar announced that on march 12 of that year wnev would change its call letters to whdh tv in order to correspond with its sister radio operation . the whdh tv call sign was previously used by the original occupant of channel 5 under the ownership of the boston herald traveler from 1957 to 1972 . it was mugar s plan to create once again a second major television radio duopoly primarily in news to compete with the long standing combo of wbz radio and wbz tv . boston mayor ray flynn declared march 12 1990 as whdh day in boston celebrating the joining of the radio and television stations . on that day personalities from whdh tv spoke as guests on whdh radio . the dual operation which began with much fanfare and leverage proved to be too costly for mugar and company . netv gradually slid into a deficit prompting cutbacks on in house programming as well as in the television station s news department ; the most notable effect being the elimination of whdh tv s 5 00 p.m. newscast for two years beginning in 1991 . with channel 7 s news ratings in third place minimal help from cbs which had been in a ratings slump since the end of the 1987 88 television season and declining profits mugar was eventually prompted to sell the whdh stations . the radio station was sold to atlantic ventures in 1992 . 6 sale to sunbeam edit by 1991 the relationship between majority owner david mugar and minority owner robert kraft had become strained . kraft who is the current when owner of the new england patriots exercised an option that forced mugar to purchase his shares for an estimated 25 million . this along with the nearly 100 million debt he held from the 1986 buyout and falling advertising revenues left mugar strapped for cash . 7 8 on april 22 1993 david mugar entered into an agreement to sell whdh to miami based sunbeam television a company led by worcester native edmund ansin . the purchase was completed in late july . shortly afterward ansin brought in news director joel cheatwood from his miami station wsvn . cheatwood had become infamous in miami for his changes to wsvn s news operation which focused on visually intensive fast paced newscasts with heavy emphasis on tabloid journalism particularly covering crime wsvn which was an nbc affiliate from 1956 until it joined fox in 1989 adopted the format developed by cheatwood in order to buoy viewership for its newscasts which like whdh had languished in third place for several years . cheatwood planned to perform similar changes at whdh . 9 whdh s new format would ultimately be toned down in comparison to its new sister station but still adopted traits from wsvn including a faster paced format increased