WHTM-TV

WHTM-TV, virtual channel 27 (VHF digital channel 10), is the ABC-affiliated television station serving the Susquehanna Valley region of south-central Pennsylvania, licensed to Harrisburg. The station is owned by Media General.

WHTM maintains studio facilities located on North 6th Street in Harrisburg (although with a Hoffman Street address), and its transmitter is located on the ridge north of I-81 along the Cumberland and Perry County line. On cable, the station is available on Comcast cable channel 9 and in high definition on digital channel 807, and is also available via Verizon FiOS, DirecTV and Dish Network.

History

The station first signed on the air on July 6, 1953 as WTPA (standing for Television PennsylvaniA), operating as an NBC affiliate. WTPA was founded by the Newhouse family, whose media holdings eventually became Advance Publications, and was operated alongside Harrisburg's two major newspapers, The Patriot and The Evening News (since merged as The Patriot-News). The following year, it switched affiliations to ABC. It originally operated on UHF channel 71, but later moved to channel 27 in 1957, after that channel's original occupant, WCMB-TV, ceased operations. During WTPA's first year on the air, the station broadcast from 9:00 a.m. to 12:15 a.m. on weekdays and from noon to midnight on weekends. Early local programs included a midday religious program Daily Devotions, music and comedy-focused variety program Mac's Matinee, daytime talk show Harrisburg Hostess, cooking show Look What's Cooking and Susquehanna Trail.