WFXV
Encyclopedia
WFXV is the Fox-affiliated television station
for Central
Upstate
New York
's Mohawk Valley
. Licensed to Utica
, it broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 27 (or virtual channel
33.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter at its studios on Smith Hill
Road in Deerfield
(official address is Utica). The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable
channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 868. Owned by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group
, WFXV is sister to low-powered MyNetworkTV
affiliate WPNY-LP
and ABC
affiliate WUTR
(all three outlets share facilities).
The latter is actually owned by Mission Broadcasting
but operated by Nexstar through local marketing
and joint sales agreements. WFXV can be seen on analog repeater
W31BP channel 31 in the Town of Burlington
from a transmitter on Clark Hill Road. Syndicated
programming on WFXV includes Family Guy
, Two and a Half Men
, Family Feud
and The People's Court
among others.
.
At some point in time, translator
station W11BS licensed to Little Falls
became a sister station to WFXV and began to be housed at the Rome facility. In 1996, both were sold to Sullivan Broadcasting which would itself be bought out by the Sinclair Broadcast Group
only two years later. Instead of being acquired by that company, WFXV and the low-powered outlet were purchased by Quorum Broadcasting founded by former Sullivan head Dan Sullivan. The station was acquired by current owner Nexstar in 2003.
It was announced in December of that year Clear Channel Communications
would sell WUTR to Mission Broadcasting which is a subsidiary of Nexstar. The sale was approved by the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) on April 1, 2004 at which point Nexstar took over operations of WUTR under local marketing and joint sales agreements through the company's arrangement with Mission.
Although the ABC affiliate was the subordinate entity, WFXV and what was now known as WUPN-LP were consolidated into WUTR's studios in Deerfield. This station aired The Bill Keeler Show (a local late-night comedy series) from April 1, 2003 until 2005 when the program moved to NBC
affiliate WKTV
. Prior to the DTV transition, WFXV filed an application with the FCC to relocate its transmitter southwest of Utica to a tower on Skyline Drive in Clinton
, a village of Kirkland
. However, this proposal was ultimately denied by the FCC. WFXV's analog signal was shut down March 16, 2009 at which point the station began digital-exclusive transmission.
Sometimes, personnel had to record the newscast in advance and physically deliver the videotape to this station which was a thirty minute drive. When the outsourcing contract ended on August 31, 2004, WFXV decided not to renew it. The prime time broadcast moved to WKTV's cable-only
WB
affiliate "WBU" the next day and reduced to weeknights. It remains today on CW affiliate WKTV-DT2 as NewsChannel 2 at 10 and can be seen for thirty minutes.
After WUTR's acquisition by Mission Broadcasting, speculation began circulating Nexstar would establish a combined news department for WFXV as well as sister stations WUTR and WPNY in order to take on longtime dominant WKTV. Actual progress was not made until March 31, 2011 when the company announced it would launch a news operation for the three outlets by mid-September. Nexstar invested $
1 million for new equipment and the hiring of twelve employees. The company's initial press release indicated this station would feature separate news anchors from WUTR and be presented in a more fast-paced format to attract Fox's younger viewers.
In a later press release in August, however, indications mentioned only one anchor team was hired for both stations. WFXV competes with WKTV's show on its second digital subchannel
. The debut of WFXV 33 Eyewitness News
at 10 was September 12 and the program airs (for thirty minutes) in true high definition
as the first operation in the market
to do so. In comparison, WKTV has not yet upgraded its news operation to 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen
or full high definition. Throughout the process of building a local news operation from scratch, WFXV consulted with viewers and businesses for input in developing the final product. Right now, there is no sports department at the operation's inception.
News team
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for Central
Central New York
Central New York is a term used to broadly describe the central region of New York State, roughly including the following counties and cities:...
Upstate
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
's Mohawk Valley
Mohawk Valley
The Mohawk Valley region of the U.S. state of New York is the area surrounding the Mohawk River, sandwiched between the Adirondack Mountains and Catskill Mountains....
. Licensed to Utica
Utica, New York
Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....
, it broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on UHF channel 27 (or virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
33.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter at its studios on Smith Hill
Smith Hill
Smith Hill is the name of many places, among them:*Smith Hill , a notable house in Elphin, Ireland*Smith Hill, Providence, Rhode Island, a neighborhood*The site of a particularly long-range broadcast tower in Herkimer County, New York...
Road in Deerfield
Deerfield, New York
Deerfield is a town in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 3,906 at the 2000 census.The Town of Deerfield is on the eastern border of the county and northeast of the City of Utica.- History :...
(official address is Utica). The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 868. Owned by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc., is an entity of broadcast television stations headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company consists of 50 television stations across the U.S., ranging from market sizes 9 to 201 . 43 of the stations are broadcasting at full power, with the other 4 broadcasting at...
, WFXV is sister to low-powered MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
affiliate WPNY-LP
WPNY-LP
WPNY-LP is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Central New York State's Mohawk Valley. Licensed to Utica, it broadcasts a low-powered analog signal on VHF channel 11 from a transmitter at studios on Smith Hill Road in Deerfield . The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable...
and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate WUTR
WUTR
WUTR is the ABC-affiliated television station for Central Upstate New York's Mohawk Valley. Licensed to Utica, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 30 from a transmitter at its studios on Smith Hill Road in Deerfield...
(all three outlets share facilities).
The latter is actually owned by Mission Broadcasting
Mission Broadcasting
Mission Broadcasting, Inc. is a television station group that owns 15 television stations operated by Nexstar Broadcasting. The group's president is David S. Smith, who founded the company in 1998. In most areas where Mission owns a station, its arrangements allow Nexstar to control two of the top...
but operated by Nexstar through local marketing
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
and joint sales agreements. WFXV can be seen on analog repeater
Broadcast relay station
A broadcast relay station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator , rebroadcaster , or repeater is a broadcast transmitter which relays, repeats, or reflects the signal of another radio station or television station, usually to an area not covered by the signal of the originating station...
W31BP channel 31 in the Town of Burlington
Burlington, New York
Burlington is a town in Otsego County, New York, USA. The population was 1,085 at the 2000 census.The Town of Burlington is in the northwest part of the county and is north of Oneonta.-Geography:...
from a transmitter on Clark Hill Road. Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
programming on WFXV includes Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
, Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake...
, Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
and The People's Court
The People's Court
The People's Court is a US television court show in which small claims court cases are heard, though what is shown is actually a binding arbitration....
among others.
History
The station signed-on December 9, 1986 with the calls WTUV, operating an analog signal on UHF channel 33; it promptly affiliated with the then-new Fox network, and adopted the current call sign WFXV on February 1, 1990 in reference to the network. The call letters can also be interpreted as FoX Vtica ("U"tica) since the "V" looks like "U". The station was originally owned by Mohawk Valley Broadcasting with studios on Greenfield Road in RomeRome, New York
Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States. It is located in north-central or "upstate" New York. The population was 44,797 at the 2010 census. It is in New York's 24th congressional district. In 1758, British forces began construction of Fort Stanwix at this strategic location, but...
.
At some point in time, translator
Broadcast relay station
A broadcast relay station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator , rebroadcaster , or repeater is a broadcast transmitter which relays, repeats, or reflects the signal of another radio station or television station, usually to an area not covered by the signal of the originating station...
station W11BS licensed to Little Falls
Little Falls (city), New York
Little Falls is a city in Herkimer County, New York, USA. The population was 5,188 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from a small cataract near the city....
became a sister station to WFXV and began to be housed at the Rome facility. In 1996, both were sold to Sullivan Broadcasting which would itself be bought out by the Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group
The Sinclair Broadcast Group is an American telecommunications company that operates the largest number of local television stations in the United States. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, it owns a total of 57 stations across the country in 35 primarily small and medium markets, many of...
only two years later. Instead of being acquired by that company, WFXV and the low-powered outlet were purchased by Quorum Broadcasting founded by former Sullivan head Dan Sullivan. The station was acquired by current owner Nexstar in 2003.
It was announced in December of that year Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
would sell WUTR to Mission Broadcasting which is a subsidiary of Nexstar. The sale was approved by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) on April 1, 2004 at which point Nexstar took over operations of WUTR under local marketing and joint sales agreements through the company's arrangement with Mission.
Although the ABC affiliate was the subordinate entity, WFXV and what was now known as WUPN-LP were consolidated into WUTR's studios in Deerfield. This station aired The Bill Keeler Show (a local late-night comedy series) from April 1, 2003 until 2005 when the program moved to NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
affiliate WKTV
WKTV
WKTV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Central Upstate New York's Mohawk Valley licensed to Utica. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 29 from a transmitter in the Eatonville section of Fairfield and Herkimer. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable...
. Prior to the DTV transition, WFXV filed an application with the FCC to relocate its transmitter southwest of Utica to a tower on Skyline Drive in Clinton
Clinton, Oneida County, New York
Clinton is a village in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 1,952 at the 2000 census. It was named for George Clinton, a royal governor of the colony of New York....
, a village of Kirkland
Kirkland, New York
Kirkland is a town in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 10,138 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Samuel Kirkland, a missionary among the Oneidas.The Town of Kirkland is southwest of Utica, New York...
. However, this proposal was ultimately denied by the FCC. WFXV's analog signal was shut down March 16, 2009 at which point the station began digital-exclusive transmission.
News operation
In September 2001, WFXV entered into a news share agreement with WKTV (then owned by Smith Television). This arrangement resulted in a prime time newscast at 10 to debut on this station. Known as NewsChannel 2 on Fox, the show aired every night for a half-hour and mirrored programs seen on WKTV. The broadcast was supposed to originate live from WKTV's Smith Hill Road studios in Deerfield but there were technical problems beaming the show to WFXV's facility in Rome through microwave relay.Sometimes, personnel had to record the newscast in advance and physically deliver the videotape to this station which was a thirty minute drive. When the outsourcing contract ended on August 31, 2004, WFXV decided not to renew it. The prime time broadcast moved to WKTV's cable-only
The WB 100+ Station Group
The WB 100+ Station Group was a group of primarily non-broadcast local cable television outlets for The WB Television Network, for markets below the top 100 television media markets in the United States. Dayparts with no WB programming were programmed by the network...
WB
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
affiliate "WBU" the next day and reduced to weeknights. It remains today on CW affiliate WKTV-DT2 as NewsChannel 2 at 10 and can be seen for thirty minutes.
After WUTR's acquisition by Mission Broadcasting, speculation began circulating Nexstar would establish a combined news department for WFXV as well as sister stations WUTR and WPNY in order to take on longtime dominant WKTV. Actual progress was not made until March 31, 2011 when the company announced it would launch a news operation for the three outlets by mid-September. Nexstar invested $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1 million for new equipment and the hiring of twelve employees. The company's initial press release indicated this station would feature separate news anchors from WUTR and be presented in a more fast-paced format to attract Fox's younger viewers.
In a later press release in August, however, indications mentioned only one anchor team was hired for both stations. WFXV competes with WKTV's show on its second digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
. The debut of WFXV 33 Eyewitness News
Eyewitness News
Eyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
at 10 was September 12 and the program airs (for thirty minutes) in true high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
as the first operation in the market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
to do so. In comparison, WKTV has not yet upgraded its news operation to 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
or full high definition. Throughout the process of building a local news operation from scratch, WFXV consulted with viewers and businesses for input in developing the final product. Right now, there is no sports department at the operation's inception.
News team
- Caroline Gable - news anchor
- Jeff Matthews (NWANational Weather AssociationThe National Weather Association is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities...
and AMSAmerican Meteorological SocietyThe American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...
Seals of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist - Joe Parker - News DirectorNews DirectorA news director is an individual at a broadcast station or network or a newspaper who is in charge of the news department. In local news, the news director is typically in charge of the entire news staff, including journalists, news presenters, photographers, copy writers, television producers,...
and reporter (also fill-in news anchor) - Stephen Bond - multimedia journalist
- Jennifer Lee - multimedia journalist
- Elsa Gillis - multimedia journalist
- Chelsea Rarrick - reporter