WHAG-TV

WHAG-TV channel 25, is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Hagerstown, Maryland. The station is owned by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group. WHAG-TV's studio facilities are located in the Alexander House Hotel on National Pike (U.S. 40 eastbound) in Downtown Hagerstown (also called East Washington Street), and its transmitter located in Fairview Mountain west of Clear Spring.

History

The station signed on the air on January 3, 1970. It was originally owned by Warren Adler along with WHAG radio in Halfway (AM 1410 and FM 96.7, now WDLD). WHAG-TV's original analog transmitter was to be on top of the Hagerstown Motor Inn (now the Alexander House) but was rejected due to structural incompatibility. A site on Fairview Mountain would become the location of the analog signal on UHF channel 25. Regional Broadcasting Company wanted the station to affiliate with ABC (which was the number one network at the time) but had to join NBC, which was the number three network. Adler Communications sold WHAG-TV to Sheldon and Samuel Magazine of Washington D.C. in 1973. The Magazine Brothers then sold it to local aviation pioneer Richard Henson in 1977. Henson then sold the station to Great Trails Broadcasting in 1981. Great Trails exited broadcasting and sold WHAG along with 2 of its stations—WFFT-TV in Fort Wayne, Indiana and KSVI in Billings, Montana to Quorum Broadcasting in 1998 for $65 million.