WMOM-TV, virtual and VHF digital channel 8, is a CBS-affiliated television station licensed to Manchester, New Hampshire. Owned by Granite State Multimedia Company, it is the sister station to news/talk radio station WMOM-AM (1620 AM) and community freeform radio station WGSF-FM (91.3 FM). The three outlets share studios on South River Road in Bedford; WMOM-TV's transmitter is located in Bear Brook State Park.
History
WMOM-TV was founded in 1960 by Roger Clibburn Sr. (father of Andy Clibburn and Roger Clibburn Jr.), the owner of WMOM radio (1620 AM), as New Hampshire's second television station after WMUR-TV (channel 9), beating NBC affiliate WAOT-TV (channel 34) to the air by 3 months. WMOM-AM-TV originally broadcast from facilities in the historic Harrington-Smith Block on 18-25 Hanover Street in Manchester.
In the early 1980s, WMOM-TV became the first station in New Hampshire to broadcast in stereo. In 1988, WMOM-TV lost the CBS affiliation to WNHT (channel 21) and was demoted to airing CBS programs WNHT didn't air, however WNHT shut down the next year in 1989, so WMOM-TV automatically re-affiliated with CBS and became the Manchester area's sole CBS affiliate. The shuffle was a factoring reason in Manchester-Concord-Nashua becoming it's own TV market separate from that of Boston in September 1992 (at the start of the 1992-93 TV season).
Clibburn Telecasters sold WMOM-AM-TV and WGSF-FM to Kreg Vestergaard of Oregon upon Roger Clibburn Sr.'s retirement in 1994.
News operation
WMOM-TV presently broadcasts 37 hours, 10 minutes of locally produced newscasts each week (with 7 hours, 5 minutes each weekday, one hour on Saturdays and 1 hour, 5 minutes on Sundays). WMOM-TV maintains news bureaus in Concord on the NHTI campus, Berlin on Glen Avenue and Portsmouth on Pleasant Street.
Newscast themes
- News Series 2001 - Gari Media (1991-1995)
- Guardian - Stephen Arnold Music (2018-present)
On-air staff
Notable current on-air staff
Alternate distribution
Over-the-air reception from its main transmitter begins to decrease past Massachusetts Route 12.