WQRF-TV
Encyclopedia
WQRF-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station
for Northern Illinois
licensed to Rockford
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 42 (or virtual channel
39.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter at its studios on North Meridian Road/IL 24 in Rockford. The station can also be seen on Comcast
channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel Owned by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group
, WQRF operates ABC
affiliate WTVO
(owned by Mission Broadcasting
) through joint sales
and shared services
agreements and the two outlets share facilities together. Syndicated
programming on this station includes The Big Bang Theory
, Two and a Half Men
, Family Guy
and The Simpsons
among others.
.
as the market
's fourth television outlet. It was the last full-power analog television station to sign-on in Rockford while other stations in the area since then have either been low-powered, cable
-only, or a digital subchannel
s. Airing an analog signal on UHF channel 39, WQRF was founded by local businessman Marvin Palmquist. The channel allotment was previously used by WTVO from its sign-on until 1967. It was promoted as an Independent, "family-oriented" alternative to the area's big three network
affiliates. Overcoming a four-month wait to finally get on-the-air, WQRF's first program was an episode of the classic sitcom Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
. Among some of the earlier programs to also air on the station were I Love Lucy
, The Bob Newhart Show
, The Jeffersons
, The Dick Van Dyke Show
and first-run fare such as Entertainment Tonight
, the original nighttime edition of Family Feud
, The PTL Club
and The 700 Club
.
As it was the only Independent outlet in the market, WQRF stocked up much of its programming schedule with live sports including Major League Baseball
(Chicago White Sox
, St. Louis Cardinals
and Milwaukee Brewers
), the National Basketball Association
(Chicago Bulls
and Milwaukee Bucks
), National Football League
preseason action (Chicago Bears
) and college sports (specifically Big Ten Conference
football and basketball). The station joined Fox in August 1989 and, until that point, programming from the network was offered through Chicago
's WFLD
, Madison
's WMSN-TV
, or Milwaukee
's WCGV (Fox affiliate at the time) depending on location. Within four years of joining Fox, WQRF ranked as one of the network's highest-rated stations.
Of course with the expansion of Fox's primetime programming and due to the lack of a fifth commercial station in the market, much of WQRF's off-network reruns from yesteryear and sports coverage had gradually disappeared. The station joined Nexstar as part of the company's acquisition of Quorum Broadcasting in late-2003. On November 22, 2004, Mission Broadcasting (a subsidiary of Texas
-based Nexstar Broadcasting) bought WTVO from Young Broadcasting
for $
21 million. WTVO shares studios with Nexstar-owned WQRF although that station essentially functions as the senior partner in the agreement. WQRF originates from the WTVO facility and that station produces programming for this outlet.
WB affiliate "WBR" (produced by WREX). This distinction made WQRF's news Rockford's first over-the-air newscast at 9. Competition between "WBR" and WQRF was short lived, because in late-2007, the former had its news canceled by WREX for an unknown reason. The time slot is currently used to replay that station's weeknight 6 o'clock show. Another addition to local newscasts on WQRF occurred on January 14, 2008 when WTVO launched Fox 39 Evening News at 6:30 to air weeknights on this station.
That show went up against the national broadcasts on the area's big three affiliates
. At some point in time after this, WQRF expanded Fox 39 News at 9 to a seven night operation and expanded the weeknight version to a full hour. The station would eventually drop the 6:30 show on weeknights. WIFR was the first outlet in Rockford to upgrade newscasts to high definition followed by WREX on December 12, 2010. Local news seen on WQRF and WTVO remain in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition and there are currently no plans made public to upgrade the two stations to either 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen or full HD level.
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 Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois.-Economics:Northern Illinois is dominated by the metropolitan areas of Chicago, Rockford, and the Quad Cities, which contain a majority of Illinois' population and economic activity, including...
licensed to Rockford
Rockford, Illinois
Rockford is a mid-sized city located on both banks of the Rock River in far northern Illinois. Often referred to as "The Forest City", Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County, Illinois, USA. As reported in the 2010 U.S. census, the city was home to 152,871 people, the third most populated...
. 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 42 (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....
39.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter at its studios on North Meridian Road/IL 24 in Rockford. The station can also be seen on Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 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...
, WQRF operates 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 WTVO
WTVO
WTVO is the ABC-affiliated television station for Northern Illinois licensed to Rockford. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 16 from a transmitter at its studios on North Meridian Road/IL 24 in Rockford. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 4 and in high...
(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...
) through joint sales
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 shared services
Shared services
Shared services refers to the provision of a service by one part of an organization or group where that service had previously been found in more than one part of the organization or group. Thus the funding and resourcing of the service is shared and the providing department effectively becomes an...
agreements and the two outlets share facilities together. 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 this station includes The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers...
, 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 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...
and The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
among others.
Digital programming
On WQRF-DT2 and Comcast digital channel 818 is Bounce TVBounce TV
Bounce TV is a United States television network airing on digital terrestrial television stations. Promoted as "the first 24/7 digital multicast broadcast network created exclusively for African Americans," Bounce TV launched on September 26, 2011 and features programming geared toward blacks in...
.
| Channels (virtual/physical) | Name | Video | Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39.1/42.1 | WQRF-HD | 720p 720p 720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
main WQRF programming/Fox (HD) |
| 39.2/42.2 | WQRF-DT2 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | "Bounce Rockford" (SD) |
History
The station signed-on November 27, 19781978 in television
The year 1978 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1978.For the American TV schedule, see: 1978-79 American network television schedule.-Events:...
as 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...
's fourth television outlet. It was the last full-power analog television station to sign-on in Rockford while other stations in the area since then have either been low-powered, cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
-only, or a 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...
s. Airing an analog signal on UHF channel 39, WQRF was founded by local businessman Marvin Palmquist. The channel allotment was previously used by WTVO from its sign-on until 1967. It was promoted as an Independent, "family-oriented" alternative to the area's big three network
Big Three Television Networks
The Big Three Television Networks are the three traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: ABC, CBS and NBC...
affiliates. Overcoming a four-month wait to finally get on-the-air, WQRF's first program was an episode of the classic sitcom Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.The show renders the title as Gomer Pyle - USMC. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot was aired as the finale of the fourth season of The Andy...
. Among some of the earlier programs to also air on the station were I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
, The Bob Newhart Show
The Bob Newhart Show
The Bob Newhart Show is an American situation comedy produced by MTM Enterprises, which aired 142 original episodes on CBS from September 16, , to April 1, . Comedian Bob Newhart portrayed a psychologist having to deal with his patients and fellow office workers...
, The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons is an American sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, through June 25, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes. The show was produced by the T.A.T. Communications Company from 1975–1982 and by Embassy Television from 1982-1985...
, The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom that initially aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System from October 3, 1961, until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. It was produced by Reiner with Bill Persky and Sam Denoff....
and first-run fare such as Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
, the original nighttime edition of 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...
, The PTL Club
The PTL Club
The PTL Club , later called The Jim and Tammy Show, and in its last days PTL Today and Heritage Today, was a Christian television program first hosted by evangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, which ran from 1974 to 1989...
and The 700 Club
The 700 Club
The 700 Club is the flagship news talk show of the Christian Broadcasting Network, airing in syndication throughout the United States and Canada. In production since 1966, it is currently hosted by Pat Robertson, Terry Meeuwsen, Kristi Watts, and Gordon P. Robertson, two of whom will host on any...
.
As it was the only Independent outlet in the market, WQRF stocked up much of its programming schedule with live sports including Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
(Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
, St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
and Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are a professional baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, currently playing in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
), the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
(Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
and Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are a professional basketball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. They are part of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1968 as an expansion team, and currently plays at the Bradley Center....
), National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
preseason action (Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
) and college sports (specifically Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
football and basketball). The station joined Fox in August 1989 and, until that point, programming from the network was offered through Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's WFLD
WFLD
WFLD, virtual channel 32 , is the Fox owned-and-operated television station, based in Chicago, Illinois; through its parent company News Corporation, the station is owned in a duopoly with area MyNetworkTV affiliate WPWR-TV...
, Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
's WMSN-TV
WMSN-TV
WMSN-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Southern Wisconsin's Eastern Ridges and Lowlands licensed to Madison. It broadcasts a high definition signal on UHF channel 49 from a transmitter in Madison's Middleton Junction section. The station can also be seen on Charter channel 8 and in...
, or Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
's WCGV (Fox affiliate at the time) depending on location. Within four years of joining Fox, WQRF ranked as one of the network's highest-rated stations.
Of course with the expansion of Fox's primetime programming and due to the lack of a fifth commercial station in the market, much of WQRF's off-network reruns from yesteryear and sports coverage had gradually disappeared. The station joined Nexstar as part of the company's acquisition of Quorum Broadcasting in late-2003. On November 22, 2004, Mission Broadcasting (a subsidiary of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
-based Nexstar Broadcasting) bought WTVO from Young Broadcasting
Young Broadcasting
New Young Broadcasting Holding Co, Inc. is an owner of 14 television stations in 11 United States media markets. The company was formerly known as Young Broadcasting Inc. and was the outgrowth of the ad representation/invest firm Adam Young, Inc. which was founded in 1944 by Adam Young and is...
for $
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....
21 million. WTVO shares studios with Nexstar-owned WQRF although that station essentially functions as the senior partner in the agreement. WQRF originates from the WTVO facility and that station produces programming for this outlet.
Newscasts
In March 2006, WTVO began producing the market's second prime time newscast on WQRF known as Fox 39 News at 9. The broadcast only aired on weeknights unlike the area's original prime time show that was seen every night on cable-onlyThe 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 affiliate "WBR" (produced by WREX). This distinction made WQRF's news Rockford's first over-the-air newscast at 9. Competition between "WBR" and WQRF was short lived, because in late-2007, the former had its news canceled by WREX for an unknown reason. The time slot is currently used to replay that station's weeknight 6 o'clock show. Another addition to local newscasts on WQRF occurred on January 14, 2008 when WTVO launched Fox 39 Evening News at 6:30 to air weeknights on this station.
That show went up against the national broadcasts on the area's big three affiliates
Big Three Television Networks
The Big Three Television Networks are the three traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: ABC, CBS and NBC...
. At some point in time after this, WQRF expanded Fox 39 News at 9 to a seven night operation and expanded the weeknight version to a full hour. The station would eventually drop the 6:30 show on weeknights. WIFR was the first outlet in Rockford to upgrade newscasts to high definition followed by WREX on December 12, 2010. Local news seen on WQRF and WTVO remain in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition and there are currently no plans made public to upgrade the two stations to either 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen or full HD level.
News team
- Kimberly Nelson - weeknight news anchor
- Sachelle Saunders - weekend news anchor and reporter
- Ty Shesky (CBMCertified Broadcast MeteorologistCertified Broadcast Meteorologist is a rating for meteorologists given by the American Meteorological Society.The Certified Broadcast Meteorologist program was established to raise the professional standard in broadcast meteorology and encourage a broader range of scientific understanding,...
and 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...
Seals of Approval) - Chief Meteorologist seen weeknights - Eric Nefstead (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...
Seal of Approval) - weekend meteorologist - Scott Leber - Sports DirectorSports DirectorA sports director is an individual at a television or radio station who is in charge of the sports department. In local news, the sports director is typically the station's primary sportscaster, and often anchors the primetime newscasts on weekdays. They are in charge of sports programming and...
seen weeknights - Ben Hutchison - weekend sports anchor and sports reporter
- Bob Ryder - Senior Reporter also fill-in weekend news anchor
- Marty Kasper - multimedia journalist
- Mark Stevens - reporter
- Alex Shabad - reporter