WAOT-TV

WAOT-TV, virtual channel 34 (VHF digital channel 15), is a -affiliated television station serving, United States that is licensed to. The station is owned by, as part of a duopoly with Manchester-licensed independent station WAMN-TV (channel 53); the two stations are sister outlets to radio stations WAOT and WAOT-FM. The four outlets share studios on Iron Horse Drive in and transmission facilities on Old Auburn Road in. WAOT also operates a secondary studio on Ocean Boulevard in Hampton Beach.

History
WAOT-TV started operations on September 17, 1960, after WAOT radio's owner Joseph Bonhomme won the rights to use the VHF channel 34 license assigned to on the third try, having previously applied for it twice in 1957 and 1959 respectively.

In 1980, WAOT-TV-AM-FM were seized by US government officials amid securities fraud complaints regarding Bonhomme Broadcasting. The court-appointed station manager, Dan Armellini, and the -designated receiver, Domingo Carvajal, both had zero experience running a TV station, and thus arguments between the manager, receiver and station employees arose due to alleged mismanagement on parts of Armellini and Caravajal. Station employees took the SEC, Armellini and Carvajal to court in 1982. Receiver Carvajal sold WAOT-TV-AM-FM to the most interested buyer, (owners of the Toledo Blade newspaper in ), as part of the lawsuit settlement.

In 1995, Block signed-on WAMN-TV as a charter affiliate of UPN and a sister station to WAOT-TV, and Block introduced a on-air graphical upgrade to WAOT-TV in 1999, including a new logo (a similar logo would be adopted by former sister station in  upon it's switch to NBC in 2005).

In 2007, Block Communications sold WAOT-TV-AM-FM and WAMN-TV to -based for $1.5 million.

Syndicated programming
Syndicated programming seen on WAOT includes Judge Judy, Dr. Phil, and The Doctors, among others.

Local programming
WAOT currently broadcasts 46½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week, with 8½ hours each weekday, three hours on Saturdays and one hour on Sundays; all under the WAOT-34 TV NH News branding. The station's newscasts primarily focus on Manchester as well as the, , , and  regions. The 5:30 and 10:30 p.m. newscasts on weeknights focus primarily on news stories in the and  as well as stories in,  and ; they are branded as NH News Mountains & North Country Edition. WAOT has been nominated for five for "Best Newscast" since 2003.

In 2003, WAOT began airing Spanish-language newscasts at 11:00 a.m. weekdays. 2014, WAOT formed a partnership with News United LLC to produce a French-language newscast airing nightly at 11:00 p.m. The anchor of the French-language newscasts is Fabrice Johannes, broadcasting from News United's Canadian studio in, , ; and airing segments from French-speaking reporters at WAOT.

In 2008, WAOT formed a broadcast partnership with 's Fox station (channel 25) that allowed the two stations to cooperate in news gathering for local stories.

News operation
In October 2018, co-anchor Patrice Mabille announced her departure from NH News. She officially left on November 2, 2018 to move to. She was replaced by newcomer journalist Janine G. Bastock, who had become a social media sensation when her story of coming out as transgender was publicized by in.

In July 2020, Weekday Meteorologist Smith London announced his departure from NH News to join the as a representative. He was temporarily replaced by Dave Quarrie Jr. of sister station  via a satellite link until Sally Prindiville (a fill-in meteorologist) took over the position.

Notable current on-air staff

 * Nathan West - anchor
 * Janine G. Bastock - anchor
 * Lawrence Avey - reporter (formerly with and )
 * Sally Prindiville - weekday meteorologist
 * Francisco Aarón Cebrián - anchor of NH News Edición en Español

Newscast themes

 * News 4 New York - Jim McAllister (1982-1986)
 * Total Coverage - 615 Music (1999-2009)
 * KSTP 5 Eyewitness News Package (2015-present)