WMUR-TV - New Hampshire Network Affiliates

New Hampshire Network Affiliates

Manchester is about 45 miles (72 km) north from Boston while Concord is about 60 miles (97 km). Boston's VHF stations have Grade A signals in Manchester and Grade B signals in Concord while the UHF stations have Grade B signals in Manchester but spotty signals in Concord. It was once thought that southern New Hampshire could break away from Boston and become its own market. If the sub-market were to break away from Boston, it would rank in the top 100 of all U.S. DMAs. However, CBS' ownership of WBZ-TV makes this unlikely as it could dilute that station's ad revenue. In the early-1990s, that station operated a news bureau in Manchester which was re-established on Elm Street in November 2006.

At the start of 1988, the sub-market had WMUR and PBS member station WENH-TV. On February 1, 1988, WNHT, an independent station based in Concord became southern New Hampshire's first CBS affiliate and began to produce local newscasts. WNHT lost the affiliation and stopped broadcasting on March 31, 1989 as a result of low viewership and ratings. There has not been an affiliate of the network based in the state since then.

When WNHT signed-off, WMUR and WENH remained the only network affiliated stations in the state until the creation of MyNetworkTV on September 5, 2006. On that date, WZMY-TV, another independent station based in Derry, became the southern New Hampshire and Boston affiliate for MyNetworkTV; that station is now WBIN-TV, which continued to offer MyNetworkTV programming until September 2011 (though MyNetworkTV has since transitioned to operating as a programming service rather than a network).

Except for WRLH out of Lebanon, which operated from 1966 until 1976, there has never been an NBC station based in the state. However, since 1978, WNNE has broadcast programming from that network into parts of western New Hampshire (the region previously served by WRLH) from across the state line in Vermont (and was, for a time early in its existence, licensed to Hanover). Much of this area is considered part of the Burlington / Plattsburgh market, although WMUR is still available. The rest of the state receives the NBC feed from that network's affiliates in either Boston or Portland. There were no The WB and UPN affiliates when those networks were active; likewise, The CW does not presently have any affiliates in New Hampshire.

WMUR has always promoted the fact that it is the only major network affiliate and consistent local news source in the state. The station's current slogan reflects this.