verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . february 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message whec tv rochester new york united states branding 10 nbc general news 10 nbc newscasts slogan coverage you can count on channels digital 10 vhf virtual 10 psip subchannels 10.1 nbc 10.2 metv 10.3 weather affiliations nbc 1989 present owner hubbard broadcasting whec tv llc founded march 1953 1 first air date november 1 1953 ; 62 years ago 1953 11 01 call letters meaning hickson electric company founders of whec radio former callsigns wvet tv shared operation 1953 1961 former channel number s analog 10 vhf 1953 2009 digital 58 uhf 2005 2009 former affiliations cbs 1953 1989 abc secondary 1953 1962 transmitter power 18.1 kw height 153 m 502 ft facility id 70041 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.whec.com index.shtml whec tv channel 10 is an nbc affiliated television station located in rochester new york usa . whec tv is owned by saint paul minnesota based hubbard broadcasting and broadcasts from a studio office facility located on east avenue in downtown rochester . the station s transmitter is located on pinnacle hill near brighton new york . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 news operation 3.1 notable former on air staff 4 references 5 external links history edit in march 1953 the federal communications commission fcc awarded the construction permit of rochester s second vhf station to two local firms who competed for the open channel . 2 in what was the first arrangement of its kind the gannett company then the rochester based publisher of the democrat and chronicle and owners of cbs radio network affiliate whec 1460 am and the veterans broadcasting company owners of wvet radio 1280 am now whtk began shared operation of channel 10 on november 1 1953 broadcasting from separate studios but using the same broadcast license channel and transmitter . 3 the combined whec tv and wvet tv operation shared a primary affiliation with the cbs television network and also carried abc programs on a secondary basis . 4 on november 15 1961 the split channel shared time arrangement ended as veterans sold its half of channel 10 to gannett . veterans subsequently acquired its own fully owned station wroc tv then on channel 5 from transcontinent broadcasting . the completion of the deal made whec tv the sole occupant of the channel 10 frequency in rochester . 5 6 7 the following year whec tv became a full time cbs affiliate as the abc affiliation moved to newly signed on wokr channel 13 now wham tv . in 1966 channel 10 was one of the founding members of the love network that aired the jerry lewis mda telethon every labor day until 2012 when it moved from first run syndication to abc and renamed it mda show of strength and ended in 2014 when mda discontinued the event on may 1 2015 . whec tv was the creator of the cut ins that local stations insert into the national telethon a concept that has since spread across the country . gannett split up its radio tv holdings in 1971 when whec radio was sold to sande broadcasting a locally based group the station is now known as whic . channel 10 was allowed to retain the whec tv call letters . 8 the station remained the gannett company s lone broadcast holding until 1979 when gannett sold channel 10 in the wake of its purchase of combined communications . 9 10 gannett feared the fcc who several years earlier decided to eliminate several small market print broadcast ownership combinations would force it to sell either the television station or the newspaper . gannett retained the democrat and chronicle which it continues to publish and the company maintained its headquarters in rochester until moving to the northern virginia suburbs of washington d.c. in 1985 . the new owners of channel 10 made u.s. television history whec tv became the first vhf network affiliated station to be purchased and wholly owned by an african american group led by investor ragan henry . 11 despite the historical connotation the henry led group s stewardship of whec tv would be short lived . in 1983 the henry group traded channel 10 to the original viacom in exchange for a pair of radio stations wdia in memphis and kdia now kmky in san francisco . 12 under viacom ownership channel 10 took part in another trade this one the first and only network affiliation switch in rochester . on july 1 1989 whec tv joined the nbc network replacing wroc tv now on channel 8 which took on cbs . this move was the result of wroc tv s poor performance and constant pre emptions of network programming nbc was very intolerant of pre emptions at this time . 13 the swap brought channel 10 in line with sister stations wnyt in albany and wvit in new britain connecticut which had recently renewed their nbc relationships . in addition nbc s strong primetime programming nbc was the most watched network at the time while cbs was in distant third near the midpoint of the laurence tisch era was another major factor . viacom purchased paramount pictures in 1994 and merged its five station group whec tv wnyt wvit kmov in st. louis and ksla tv in shreveport louisiana into the paramount stations group . however in 1995 the company decided to divest itself of all stations not affiliated with its fledgling upn network . in june 1996 paramount traded whec tv and wnyt to hubbard broadcasting in return for upn affiliate wtog in st. petersburg florida . 14 15 whec tv s digital signal on uhf channel 58 signed on september 27 2002 under a special temporary authority . for many years whec tv was one of three rochester area stations offered on cable in the ottawa ontario gatineau quebec and eastern ontario regions . the rochester area stations were replaced with detroit michigan stations when the microwave relay system that provided these signals was discontinued . whec tv and other rochester stations were available on cable in several communities along the north shore of lake ontario such as belleville and cobourg ontario . all rochester affiliates with the exception of fox affiliate wuhf channel 31 were replaced with buffalo stations in january 2009 . digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital signal is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 16 10.1 1080i 16 9 whec tv main whec tv programming nbc 10.2 480i 4 3 whec me metv 10.3 whec wx news 10 nbc pinpoint weather analog to digital conversion edit whec tv discontinued regular programming on its analog signal over vhf channel 10 on june 12 2009 the official date in which full power television in the united states transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate . the station s digital signal relocated from its pre transition uhf channel 58 which was among the high band uhf channels 52 69 that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition to its analog era vhf channel 10 . 17 news operation edit during viacom ownership whec tv stayed steadily in second place in the nielsen ratings between wham tv and wroc tv . this was also because abc was in first place while nbc was a distant third in the viewership ratings during that period . on january 30 2006 the station launched a 24 hour weather station known as news 10 nbc weatherplus on a new second digital subchannel and time warner cable digital systems . after the national service shut down on december 1 2008 whec dt2 reverted to a local weather channel . whec tv was the first station in rochester to launch a weeknight newscast at 7 in 2008 . even with ownership change to hubbard whec tv remained a solid runner up in rochester for many years . however during the november 2008 ratings period whec tv s weeknight broadcast at 11 fell to third place behind wham tv and wroc tv while the ratings for its other shows also plummeted largely due to nbc s recent ratings struggles which have continued into the present day . at that time it fell to a distant second overall closer to third place wroc tv than it is to wham tv . however this station recovered during the may 2009 sweeps with the weeknight news at 11 virtually tying wham tv and both are just ahead of wroc tv in that time slot . the three stations became competitive during the may 2009 ratings period each winning different contests . wham tv still won total day ratings with whec tv s biggest strength at the time being its late night newscast . meanwhile wroc tv led in prime time . it has a fairly long standing partnership with local news talk outlet wysl am 1040 . the radio station simulcasts all weekday newscasts from whec tv except weeknights at 7 . this arrangement is in exchange for advertisement time . in addition to the main studios the station maintains a finger lakes bureau in the messenger post newsroom on buffalo street in canandaigua . during the ratings periods of 2011 through july whec tv s newscasts have remained in second place for most time slots . with wroc tv s upgrade to high definition local newscasts on september 4 2012 with the newscast on wuhf included in the switch whec tv remains the only major station in rochester which has not yet upgraded its newscasts to high definition or 16 9 widescreen . in december 2012 whec tv introduced a new graphics package based upon the one currently used by nbc s owned and operated stations . on march 28 2013 reporter joangel concepcion tweeted great news news10nbc got the green light to go hd & widescreen on her official twitter account . 18 however whec tv has not formally announced any specific details about this . since 2013 whec tv has been broadcasting its newscasts in 16 9 widescreen but not in full hd . notable former on air staff edit maggie brooks reporter 1980 1994 . former republican monroe county executive now with rgrta steve scully anchor reporter 1980s . now with c span . 19 rich funke reporter anchor 1974 2012 . now republican 55th district new york state senator . 20 references edit for the record actions of the fcc new tv stations decisions . broadcasting telecasting march 23 1953 pp. 99 100 . 1 2 record 29 new tv grants puts fcc at end of a and b priorities . broadcasting telecasting march 16 1953 pp. 42 46 48 50 . 3 4 5 6 eight stations 5 vhf 3 uhf begin commercial operation . broadcasting telecasting november 2 1953 pg . 64 . whec tv wvet tv advertisement . broadcasting telecasting october 26 1953 pg . 75 . fcc okays 30 million in station sales . broadcasting august 7 1961 pg . 90 . tv sharetimers split in rochester deal . broadcasting november 20 1961 pg . 91 . whec tv advertisement . broadcasting december 18 1961 pg . 61 . gannett broadcast roster down to whec tv . broadcasting november 29 1971 pg . 64 . gannett goes from mostly newspapers to multiple media in one big deal . broadcasting may 15 1978 pp. 26 27 . 7 8 fcc clears biggest deal ever . broadcasting june 11 1979 pp. 19 20 . 9 10 deal under way for the first black vhf tv . broadcasting august 28 1978 pp. 30