WSFX-TV
Encyclopedia
WSFX-TV is the Fox
-affiliated television station
for North Carolina
's Cape Fear
region licensed to Wilmington
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 30 (virtual channel
26.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter in Town Creek Township
. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable
, Charter
, and ATMC channel 9. There is a high definition feed offered on Time Warner
Cable and ATMC digital channel 920 as well as Charter digital channel 709.
Owned by Southeastern Media Holdings
, WSFX is operated through a shared services
agreement (SSA) by Raycom Media
as sister to NBC
affiliate WECT
. The two stations share studios on Shipyard Boulevard/US 117
in Wilmington. Syndicated
programming on WSFX includes Two and a Half Men
, Family Guy
, Divorce Court
, and Judge Jeanine Pirro
among others. It operates an analog repeater, W19CA channel 19, licensed to Lumberton
with a transmitter in Lumber Bridge
.
.
and was a CBS
affiliate. Prior to its startup, Wilmington was one of the few markets
in the country without its own CBS affiliate. Future sister station WECT aired some CBS programming until cable
arrived in Wilmington in the 1970s and WBTW
in Florence, South Carolina
covered most of the market with a Grade B signal. From the 1970s until WJKA's sign-on, local cable systems piped in either WTVD
from Durham
, WNCT-TV
from Greenville
, or WBTW.
Channel 26's tenure as a CBS affiliate was far from successful. Operating on a shoestring budget, it didn't produce much local content. The station largely served as a "pass-through" for CBS programming. It didn't help matters that WNCT and WBTW provided at least grade B coverage to parts of the market. Further complicating matters, WRAL-TV
in Raleigh
, which had been available on cable in Wilmington for decades, switched to CBS a year after WJKA's sign-on, forcing the fledgling station to compete against three of the strongest CBS affiliates in the Southeast. Under the circumstances, WJKA barely registered as a blip in the local Nielsen ratings
against WECT and WWAY
.
In 1994, after CBS lost broadcasting rights of the NFL
to Fox, WJKA dropped CBS in favor of Fox and changed its call letters to the current WSFX-TV. Before the switch, Wilmington was the only portion of North Carolina and one of the few in the Eastern Time Zone
without an over-the-air Fox affiliate of its own. The area's cable systems piped in either WLFL
in Raleigh or WFAY
in Fayetteville
. As a result of WSFX's affiliation switch, Wilmington had no over-the-air CBS affiliate until March 2000 when low-powered UPN
station WILM-LP
switched its primary affiliation to CBS. During that time, cable systems supplemented the area with either WRAL-TV, WNCT, or WBTW.
On paper, the loss of CBS should have put channel 26 in serious jeopardy. The network had just begun airing a full week's worth of programming just a season earlier. However, the move to Fox rejuvenated the station. Within a few years, it was one of the strongest small-market Fox affiliates in the country.
Until 1996, WSFX was the default Fox affiliate for the Florence/Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
market which did not have its own affiliate. In fact, the call letters stand for Super FoX, referring to its on-air name at the time. Since the station's over-the-air signal does not reach Florence, the Pee Dee
area had to rely on cable for Fox programming until WGSE-TV (now WFXB
) in Myrtle Beach took the affiliation.
In 2003, WSFX's original local owners sold the station to Southeastern Media Holdings. Raycom Media took over WSFX' operations through a shared service agreement with WECT. As part of the agreement, WSFX's operations were integrated into WECT's facility.
On May 8, 2008, the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) announced five stations in Wilmington (including WSFX) had agreed to voluntarily cease analog broadcasting on September 8. The Wilmington market was billed as the first in the United States
to convert to all-digital transmission due to its role as the FCC's digital transition test market. Hawaii
shut down analog broadcasting in January 2009 followed by more, but not all, full-power television broadcasters on February 17. Robeson County, North Carolina
(now in the Myrtle Beach market) was previously part of the Wilmington market and, prior to that, Raleigh/Durham. In the late-1990s, Time Warner Cable in Lumberton began to drop Wilmington stations. This station was dropped from cable in Laurinburg
in the early to mid-1990s when it was still a CBS affiliate.
WFXB in Myrtle Beach is currently the only Fox affiliate offered on cable in that area. The northern and western areas of Robeson County
(St. Pauls
, Parkton
, and Red Springs
) also do not carry WSFX even though its analog translator is located nearby in Lumber Bridge. This repeater has a directional signal covering Robeson County fairly well. The translator can be seen as far north as Raeford
in Hoke County
and Hope Mills
in Cumberland County
in the Raleigh/Durham area. On June 27, 2011, WSFX re-branded as "Fox Wilmington" and introduced a new logo. Besides sharing the same call letters, this television station and WSFX-FM
89.1 in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania
have no other relation to each other.
26.
On September 22, 2003 after becoming operated by WECT, that station added a nightly thirty minute prime time broadcast to WSFX. Currently known as Fox Wilmington News at 10, the show airs from a secondary set at WECT's studios featuring a separate graphics scheme and music package.
On September 13, 2006, the parent station added an hour-long extension of its weekday morning show to WSFX. Known as Carolina in the Morning on Fox Wilmington, the news airs from 7 until 8 offering a local choice to the national morning shows seen on the area's big three stations
. On August 31, 2008, WECT became Wilmington's first station to upgrade local newscasts to high definition and broadcasts on WSFX were included. With the change came new Raycom Media corporate graphics seen on other company-owned outlets.
After WWAY dropped weekend local news on August 1, 2009, this station and WECT became the only outlet for broadcasts. Although a late night newscast was eventually restored to Sundays on October 3, 2010, WSFX and WECT remain the only stations in the market to offer shows throughout the weekend. The station added a new half-hour newscast on weeknights. Known as Fox Wilmington News at 6:30, the broadcast goes up against the big three network national newscasts. Corresponding with the launch, WSFX introduced updated graphics.
Fox Wilmington First Alert Meteorologists
Sports
Reporters
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
-affiliated television station
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 North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
's Cape Fear
Cape Fear (region)
Cape Fear is a coastal plain and tidewater region of North Carolina centered about the city of Wilmington. The region takes its name from the adjacent Cape Fear headland, as does the Cape Fear River which flows through the region and empties into the Atlantic Ocean near the cape...
region licensed to Wilmington
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
. 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 30 (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....
26.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter in Town Creek Township
Brunswick County, North Carolina
-External links:*******....
. 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...
, Charter
Charter Communications
Charter Communications is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 4.7 million customers in 25 states. By revenues, it is the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, behind Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Cox Communications...
, and ATMC channel 9. There is a high definition feed offered on Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
Cable and ATMC digital channel 920 as well as Charter digital channel 709.
Owned by Southeastern Media Holdings
Southeastern Media Holdings
Southeastern Media Holdings is a broadcasting company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. It owns television stations in several cities in the Southeastern United States.-Fox Affiliates:* WXTX-TV, Columbus, Georgia* WSFX-TV, Wilmington, North Carolina...
, WSFX is operated through a 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...
agreement (SSA) by Raycom Media
Raycom Media
- History :Although Raycom Media dates its birth to 1996, the core of the company was formed in 1992 when Atlanta native Bert Ellis formed Ellis Communications. He eventually controlled 13 television stations and two radio stations....
as sister 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 WECT
WECT
WECT is the NBC-affiliated television station for the Cape Fear and Sandhills areas of North Carolina that is licensed to Wilmington. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 44 from a transmitter southwest of Winnabow. The station can also be seen on Time Warner and Charter...
. The two stations share studios on Shipyard Boulevard/US 117
U.S. Route 117
U.S. Route 117 was a north–south US Highway that ran for from Norlina, North Carolina to Virginia. Established in 1927, US 117 traveled from Norlina, through the towns of Warrenton, Roanoke Rapids, and Murfreesboro; from there it went north into Virginia. In 1932, US 117 was removed from this...
in Wilmington. 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 WSFX includes 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...
, Divorce Court
Divorce Court
Divorce Court is a judge show about cases which only involve divorcing couples. Out of the shows currently airing in the court-themed genre, Divorce Court is the oldest...
, and Judge Jeanine Pirro
Judge Jeanine Pirro
Judge Jeanine Pirro is an American reality series that debuted on The CW on September 22, 2008...
among others. It operates an analog repeater, W19CA channel 19, licensed to Lumberton
Lumberton, North Carolina
Lumberton is a city in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 20,795 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Robeson County. Lumberton, located in southern North Carolina's Inner Banks region, is located on the Lumber River...
with a transmitter in Lumber Bridge
Lumber Bridge, North Carolina
Lumber Bridge is a town in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 118 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lumber Bridge is located at ....
.
Digital programming
On WSFX-DT2, Time Warner Cable digital channel 126, and Charter digital channel 174 is This TVThis TV
This TV is a United States general entertainment television network, with a large emphasis in its programming on movies....
.
| Channels | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30.1 | WSFX-DT | 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 WSFX programming / FOX |
| 30.2 | WSFX-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 | This TV |
History
The station signed-on September 24, 1984 with the call sign WJKA. It aired an analog signal on UHF channel 26 from the WWAY-TV tower in Brunswick CountyBrunswick County, North Carolina
-External links:*******....
and was a CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate. Prior to its startup, Wilmington was one of the few markets
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...
in the country without its own CBS affiliate. Future sister station WECT aired some CBS programming until 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...
arrived in Wilmington in the 1970s and WBTW
WBTW
WBTW is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Pee Dee and Grand Strand areas of South Carolina that is licensed to Florence. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter southeast of Dillon on Pee Dee Church Road. Owned by Media General, the station...
in Florence, South Carolina
Florence, South Carolina
-Municipal government and politics:The City of Florence has a council-manager form of government. The mayor and city council are elected every four years, with no term limits...
covered most of the market with a Grade B signal. From the 1970s until WJKA's sign-on, local cable systems piped in either WTVD
WTVD
WTVD, channel 11, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, licensed to Durham, North Carolina. The station serves the areas of Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and Fayetteville, known as the Triangle...
from Durham
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
, WNCT-TV
WNCT-TV
WNCT-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Eastern North Carolina's Inner Banks licensed to Greenville. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 10 from a transmitter in Grifton along NC 118. The station can also be seen on Charter channel 6 as well as Time Warner...
from Greenville
Greenville, North Carolina
Greenville is the county seat of Pitt County and principal city of the Greenville, North Carolina metropolitan area. Greenville is the health, entertainment, and educational hub of North Carolina's Tidewater and Coastal Plain and in 2008 was listed as the Tenth Largest City in North Carolina...
, or WBTW.
Channel 26's tenure as a CBS affiliate was far from successful. Operating on a shoestring budget, it didn't produce much local content. The station largely served as a "pass-through" for CBS programming. It didn't help matters that WNCT and WBTW provided at least grade B coverage to parts of the market. Further complicating matters, WRAL-TV
WRAL-TV
WRAL-TV, virtual channel 5 , is a television station in Raleigh, North Carolina. WRAL-TV has been the flagship station of Capitol Broadcasting Company since its inception, and is currently the CBS affiliate for the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill/Fayetteville area, known collectively as the Triangle...
in Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
, which had been available on cable in Wilmington for decades, switched to CBS a year after WJKA's sign-on, forcing the fledgling station to compete against three of the strongest CBS affiliates in the Southeast. Under the circumstances, WJKA barely registered as a blip in the local Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
against WECT and WWAY
WWAY
WWAY is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Cape Fear area of North Carolina that is licensed to Wilmington. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 46 from a transmitter northwest of Bolivia. Owned by Morris Multimedia, the station has studios on North Front Street...
.
In 1994, after CBS lost broadcasting rights of the NFL
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...
to Fox, WJKA dropped CBS in favor of Fox and changed its call letters to the current WSFX-TV. Before the switch, Wilmington was the only portion of North Carolina and one of the few in the Eastern Time Zone
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
without an over-the-air Fox affiliate of its own. The area's cable systems piped in either WLFL
WLFL
WLFL is the CW-affiliated television station for North Carolina's Triangle licensed to Raleigh. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 27 from a transmitter located in Auburn, North Carolina. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 2 and in high definition...
in Raleigh or WFAY
WFPX
WFPX-TV is one of two Ion Television affiliates for the Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina, USA, television market, licensed to nearby Fayetteville. The station is owned by ION Media Networks , and is a full-time satellite of WRPX. WFPX operates on UHF digital channel 36. Its transmitter is located...
in Fayetteville
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville is a city located in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army post located northwest of the city....
. As a result of WSFX's affiliation switch, Wilmington had no over-the-air CBS affiliate until March 2000 when low-powered UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
station WILM-LP
WILM-LP
WILM-LD is the low-powered CBS-affiliated television station for the Cape Fear area of Southeastern North Carolina. Licensed to Wilmington, it broadcasts a digital signal on UHF channel 40 from a transmitter in Delco. The station can also be seen on AMTC channel 10, Time Warner channel 12, and...
switched its primary affiliation to CBS. During that time, cable systems supplemented the area with either WRAL-TV, WNCT, or WBTW.
On paper, the loss of CBS should have put channel 26 in serious jeopardy. The network had just begun airing a full week's worth of programming just a season earlier. However, the move to Fox rejuvenated the station. Within a few years, it was one of the strongest small-market Fox affiliates in the country.
Until 1996, WSFX was the default Fox affiliate for the Florence/Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach is a coastal city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is situated on the center of a large and continuous stretch of beach known as the Grand Strand in northeastern South Carolina. It is considered to be a major tourist destination in the...
market which did not have its own affiliate. In fact, the call letters stand for Super FoX, referring to its on-air name at the time. Since the station's over-the-air signal does not reach Florence, the Pee Dee
Pee Dee
The Pee Dee region of South Carolina is the northeastern corner of the state. It is the area of the lower watershed of the Pee Dee River, named after the Pee Dee Native American tribe. Its center is Florence...
area had to rely on cable for Fox programming until WGSE-TV (now WFXB
WFXB
WFXB is the Fox-affiliated television station for South Carolina's Grand Strand and Pee Dee areas licensed to Myrtle Beach. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 18 from a transmitter in Mullins. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable and HTC Cablevision channel 7...
) in Myrtle Beach took the affiliation.
In 2003, WSFX's original local owners sold the station to Southeastern Media Holdings. Raycom Media took over WSFX' operations through a shared service agreement with WECT. As part of the agreement, WSFX's operations were integrated into WECT's facility.
On May 8, 2008, 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) announced five stations in Wilmington (including WSFX) had agreed to voluntarily cease analog broadcasting on September 8. The Wilmington market was billed as the first in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to convert to all-digital transmission due to its role as the FCC's digital transition test market. Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
shut down analog broadcasting in January 2009 followed by more, but not all, full-power television broadcasters on February 17. Robeson County, North Carolina
Robeson County, North Carolina
Robeson County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2010 it had a population of 134,168. Since then, it has been one of the 10% of United States counties that were majority-minority; its combined population of American Indian, African American and Latino residents comprise over...
(now in the Myrtle Beach market) was previously part of the Wilmington market and, prior to that, Raleigh/Durham. In the late-1990s, Time Warner Cable in Lumberton began to drop Wilmington stations. This station was dropped from cable in Laurinburg
Laurinburg, North Carolina
Laurinburg is a mid-sized city in Scotland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Scotland County. Located in southern North Carolina near the South Carolina state border, Laurinburg is southwest of Fayetteville and is home to St. Andrews Presbyterian College...
in the early to mid-1990s when it was still a CBS affiliate.
WFXB in Myrtle Beach is currently the only Fox affiliate offered on cable in that area. The northern and western areas of Robeson County
Robeson County, North Carolina
Robeson County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2010 it had a population of 134,168. Since then, it has been one of the 10% of United States counties that were majority-minority; its combined population of American Indian, African American and Latino residents comprise over...
(St. Pauls
St. Pauls, North Carolina
St. Pauls is a town in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,137 at the 2000 census.-History:The town of St. Pauls was built up around St. Pauls Presbyterian Church which was built on land donated in 1799 by William Davis. St. Pauls grew slowly from a town of just the...
, Parkton
Parkton, North Carolina
Parkton is a town in Robeson County, North Carolina, in the Lumberton metro area, in the United States. The town was named because it was a place where farmers tied up their horses while waiting for the train...
, and Red Springs
Red Springs, North Carolina
Red Springs is a town in Robeson and Hoke counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 3,493 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Red Springs is located at ....
) also do not carry WSFX even though its analog translator is located nearby in Lumber Bridge. This repeater has a directional signal covering Robeson County fairly well. The translator can be seen as far north as Raeford
Raeford, North Carolina
Raeford is a city in Hoke County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,386 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Hoke County. The county was named after Confederate General Robert F. Hoke, as Tar Heel native....
in Hoke County
Hoke County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 46,952 people, 11,373 households, and 8,745 families residing in the county. The population density was 86 people per square mile . There were 12,518 housing units at an average density of 32 per square mile...
and Hope Mills
Hope Mills, North Carolina
Hope Mills is a town in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,176 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Hope Mills is located at ....
in Cumberland County
Cumberland County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 302,963 people, 107,358 households, and 77,619 families residing in the county. The population density was 464 people per square mile . There were 118,425 housing units at an average density of 181 per square mile...
in the Raleigh/Durham area. On June 27, 2011, WSFX re-branded as "Fox Wilmington" and introduced a new logo. Besides sharing the same call letters, this television station and WSFX-FM
WSFX (FM)
WSFX is a radio station broadcasting an alternative music format. Licensed to Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, USA, the station is currently owned by Luzerne County Community College....
89.1 in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania
Nanticoke, Pennsylvania
Nanticoke is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 10,465 at the 2010 census.-History:The name Nanticoke was derived from Nantego, the Indian tidewater people who moved here when their Maryland lands were spoiled for hunting by the colonial settlement in...
have no other relation to each other.
News operation
As a CBS affiliate, WJKA had virtually no local news department. In the mid-1980s, it did air a weekday noon show called Midday offering news headlines and entertainment reports. In the early-1990s, just before the switch to Fox, it began a short-lived news operation branded as WJKA Action NewsAction News
Action News is a local television newscast format in the United States. It was conceived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at WFIL-TV by then-news director Mel Kampmann in 1970 as a response to the "Eyewitness News" format used on rival station KYW-TV...
26.
On September 22, 2003 after becoming operated by WECT, that station added a nightly thirty minute prime time broadcast to WSFX. Currently known as Fox Wilmington News at 10, the show airs from a secondary set at WECT's studios featuring a separate graphics scheme and music package.
On September 13, 2006, the parent station added an hour-long extension of its weekday morning show to WSFX. Known as Carolina in the Morning on Fox Wilmington, the news airs from 7 until 8 offering a local choice to the national morning shows seen on the area's big three stations
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...
. On August 31, 2008, WECT became Wilmington's first station to upgrade local newscasts to high definition and broadcasts on WSFX were included. With the change came new Raycom Media corporate graphics seen on other company-owned outlets.
After WWAY dropped weekend local news on August 1, 2009, this station and WECT became the only outlet for broadcasts. Although a late night newscast was eventually restored to Sundays on October 3, 2010, WSFX and WECT remain the only stations in the market to offer shows throughout the weekend. The station added a new half-hour newscast on weeknights. Known as Fox Wilmington News at 6:30, the broadcast goes up against the big three network national newscasts. Corresponding with the launch, WSFX introduced updated graphics.
News team
Anchors- Kim Ratcliff - weekday mornings and "Carolina Kids" segment producer
- Bob Townsend - weekday mornings also "Cape Fear Hero" and "Your Family Matters" segments producer
- Michelle Li - Weeknights @ 6:30pm and 10pm
- Jon Evans - weeknights @ 6:30pm and 10pm
- Ashlea Kosikowski - Saturdays and reporter
- Craig Reck- Sunday
- Bill Rancic - America Now host
Fox Wilmington First Alert Meteorologists
- Robb Ellis - weeknights
- Colin Hackman - weekday mornings and news reporter
- Eric Davis (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) - weekends
Sports
- Bob Bonner - 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 - John Smist - weekends and reporter
Reporters
- Heather Setzler - Executive Producer and "First Act" segment producer
- Veronica Macias - Saturday multimedia journalist and producer
- Al Hight - "Coastal Gardner" segment producer
- Casey Roman - investigative and features
- Lindsay Curtin - multimedia journalist
- Amy Taylor - weekday morning traffic
- Ryan Koresko - Chief Photographer
- Mike Pelzer - photojournalist
- Claire Hosmann - producer
- Gavin Johnson
- Craig Reck