WCMB-TV

WHTM-TV

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Broadcasting
Founded	June 19, 1953 (1953-06-19) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States
Headquarters	Harrisburg , United States
Area served	Susquehanna Valley
Products	Television broadcasting
Owner	Nexstar Media Group
Website	abc27.com

WHTM-TV (channel 27) is a television broadcaster licensed in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, serving the Susquehanna Valley area as an affiliate of ABC. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group and maintains its studios on North 6th Street in Harrisburg. Both WHTM-TV and the religious independent station WLYH (channel 49), licensed to Red Lion, share transmission facilities under a channel sharing agreement, broadcasting via WHTM-TV's spectrum from an antenna located near the Cumberland–Perry county boundary along Interstate 81.

History

WHTM-TV commenced operations on June 19, 1953, under the call sign WTPA ("Television Pennsylvania"). Initially affiliated with NBC, it was established by the Newhouse family, proprietors of Advance Publications and the local newspapers The Patriot and The Evening News. In 1954, the station transitioned to ABC affiliation and in 1957 shifted from UHF channel 71 to channel 27 following the shutdown of WCMB-TV. Its early programming lineup featured religious broadcasts, variety shows, talk programs, and cooking demonstrations.

On March 28, 1980, Times Mirror Company acquired WTPA and rebranded it as WHTM-TV. Subsequent ownership changes included sales to Smith Broadcasting Company in 1986, Price Communications in 1994, and Allbritton Communications in 1996.

In December 2007, an ice storm caused a power failure at WHTM's transmitter site, interrupting its signal on cable and satellite platforms. Normal broadcast power was restored by December 18.

Reporter Chuck Rhodes made a cameo in the 2000 movie Lucky Numbers, which drew inspiration from the 1980 Pennsylvania Lottery scandal involving ABC affiliates.

Acquisition by Media General and Later Nexstar

On July 29, 2013, Allbritton announced it would sell its portfolio of seven television stations—including WHTM—to the Sinclair Broadcast Group for $985 million. Sinclair intended to divest the license assets of its Harrisburg station WHP-TV to Deerfield Media but planned to operate it through joint sales and shared services agreements. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), however, determined that Sinclair’s strategy to retain WHTM effectively established a new local marketing agreement with WLYH-TV, thereby breaching ownership regulations.

Following multiple amendments—including offers to sell WHP and terminate the LMA with WLYH—Sinclair ultimately chose to keep WHP along with its LMA and divest WHTM. On June 23, 2014, Media General purchased WHTM for $83.4 million. The FCC approved this transaction on July 24, 2014. Sinclair completed its acquisition of Allbritton on August 1, 2014; during this period, WHTM was managed under a "Hold Separate Agreement" until Media General’s purchase finalized on September 2.

Separately, on August 20, 2014, Sinclair exchanged three stations (KXRM-TV, KXTU-LD, and WTTA) with Media General for four others (WJAR, WLUK, WCWF, and WTGS) as part of Media General’s acquisition of LIN Media, which concluded on December 19.

On January 27, 2016, Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced its intent to acquire Media General. The deal closed on January 17, 2017, making WHTM part of a group of six Pennsylvania stations owned by Nexstar across markets including Scranton–Wilkes-Barre, Altoona, and Erie.

On December 3, 2018, Nexstar revealed plans to acquire Chicago-based Tribune Media, owner of Fox affiliate WPMT, for $6.4 billion. Due to FCC regulations prohibiting ownership of two leading stations in one market by a single entity, Nexstar had to divest either WPMT or WHTM. On March 20, 2019, Nexstar confirmed it would retain WHTM while selling WPMT to Tegna Inc. as part of a $1.32 billion deal involving nineteen stations divested between Tegna and the E. W. Scripps Company. This transaction marked Tegna’s entry into Pennsylvania television markets alongside sister station WNEP-TV.

News operation

WHTM-TV delivers a total of 34 hours of locally produced news content each week, with six hours airing on weekdays and three hours on each weekend day. In addition to its primary studio facilities, the station maintains news bureaus at The York Dispatch in Downtown York, as well as in the downtown areas of Chambersburg, Lebanon, and near the central square in Carlisle. When the station launched in 1953 as WTPA, its news broadcasts consisted of 15-minute segments scheduled at 12:15 p.m., 6:30 p.m., and 11 p.m.

Historically, WHTM has held the second position in local ratings but has been steadily closing the gap with market leader WGAL. The station commands a strong lead in northern regions such as Dauphin (including Harrisburg), Cumberland, and Perry counties. Conversely, WGAL retains the top spot primarily due to its substantial viewership in the more densely populated counties of York and Lancaster. Since 2012, WGAL experienced a decline in news audience numbers—most notably around May 2013—while WHTM steadily expanded its viewership during critical rating periods. In July 2013, WHTM overtook WGAL among adults aged 25–54 at 5 p.m. and narrowed the margin at noon. By November that year, WHTM was unique among local stations for achieving notable growth across all newscasts, whereas WGAL and WHP-TV faced audience decreases. Morning and evening broadcasts on WHTM saw rating increases of at least one point, with some gains surpassing five share points.

On October 14, 2011, WHTM became the third station in Central Pennsylvania to present local newscasts in high definition by upgrading its electronic news gathering (ENG) vehicles, satellite trucks, studio cameras, and field cameras. The station further enhanced its weather graphics to HD on January 13, 2012.

Following groundbreaking in 2018, WHTM transitioned to a new newsroom, office spaces, and studio on January 25, 2019. This new facility officially opened on January 27, 2019. Situated behind the original building—which continues to serve as office space after renovations—the expansion significantly modernized the station’s production infrastructure.

Awards

WHTM has accumulated numerous nominations and wins from the Emmy Awards and led the Mid-Atlantic chapter of NATAS with a total of 26 nominations in 2014—surpassing all other local stations combined, including those from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The station earned 16 Emmy nominations in 2013 alone, including recognition for "News Excellence." Its coverage of the Jerry Sandusky trial along with various newscasts received Regional Emmy Awards. Additionally, WHTM has been honored multiple times with the Joe Snyder Award for Outstanding News Service from the Pennsylvania Associated Press Broadcasters Association. In 2013, it secured seven first-place awards from the Associated Press for reporting on events such as the Sandusky trial and a kidnapping involving a local college student. That same year, it also received accolades from the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters for investigative journalism and spot news coverage. In 2014, WHTM was recognized by PAB for Outstanding Website (abc27.com), Outstanding Breaking News Report (covering an I-81 tanker truck explosion), and Outstanding Feature Report (on medical marijuana legalization in Pennsylvania).

Subchannels

<section begin=subs />

WHTM-TV and WLYH Subchannel Details

License	Channel	Resolution	Aspect Ratio	Identifier	Content
WHTM-TV	27.1	720p	16:9	WHTM-HD	ABC
	27.2	480i		ION	Ion Television
	27.3			GRIT	Grit
	27.4			Laff	Laff
WLYH	49.1	720p		WLYH-HD	Religious independent

<section end=subs /> On November 30, 2015, the subchannel WHTM 27.2 transitioned from Retro TV to Ion Television. Around the year 2020, WHTM-DT3 replaced getTV programming with Dabl, which was subsequently changed to Grit in June 2022.

Analog-to-digital conversion

WHTM-TV initiated its digital broadcast on VHF channel 10 in 1999 and discontinued analog transmissions on UHF channel 27 as of June 12, 2009, in compliance with the federally mandated digital transition. The station’s digital broadcasts continued on VHF channel 10 but maintained virtual channel number 27, necessitating NBC-owned WCAU in Philadelphia to operate its digital signal on channel 34.

2021 power increase and antenna change

On October 24, 2021, WHTM-TV enhanced its transmitter power to 28.1 kW and rotated its antenna by 180 degrees to improve coverage across important market regions such as Dauphin, Lancaster, York, and Lebanon counties. Prior to this adjustment, the antenna faced westward to avoid interference with Philadelphia's WCAU analog signal during the digital switchover.

LPTV simulcasts

To broaden its market penetration, WHTM’s primary channel (27.1) is broadcast in high definition via four low-power television (LPTV) stations owned by the same entity as WLYH, which shares transmission facilities with WHTM:

• WRZH-LD channel 3 serving Red Lion–Harrisburg
• WLZH-LD channel 14 in Red Lion
• WHLZ-LD channel 21 in Harrisburg
• WCZS-LD channel 30 based in Chambersburg

Moreover, WHTM employs two low-power repeaters affiliated with WLYH—WLHY-LD and W16EJ-D, both situated in Harrisburg—that have been upgraded to ATSC 3.0 standards to enhance digital broadcast performance.