WZDX
Encyclopedia
WZDX is the Fox-affiliated television station
for North Alabama
's Tennessee Valley
. Licensed to Huntsville
, it broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on UHF channel 41 (or virtual channel
54.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Monte Sano Boulevard Southeast in Madison County
(east of Huntsville). The station can also be seen on Knology
channel 4 as well as Charter
and Comcast
channel 5. There is a high definition feed offered on Comcast digital channel 434, Charter digital channel 705, and Knology digital channel 905. Owned by Grant Broadcasting System II
, WZDX is sister to MyNetworkTV
affiliate "WAMY-TV
" and the two share studios on North Memorial Parkway/US 72
/US 231
/US 431
in Huntsville. Syndicated
programming on the station includes Two and a Half Men
, How I Met Your Mother
, Judge Mathis
, Dr. Phil
, and The People's Court
among others.
.
as WTXT and aired an analog signal on UHF channel 54. It was Northern Alabama
's first Independent station and the area's first new outlet to launch in nearly twenty years. The inaugural program shown was an airing of the 1968 film Charly
. The station's transmitter was on Green Mountain in Southeastern Huntsville while its studios were in the northwestern section of the city. During the first months after going on-air, WZDX used the slogan "We're Taking You to the Top!". The station changed call letters to WZDX on October 10, 1984.
When Fox began broadcasting on October 6, 1986, WZDX abstained from affiliating with the networks unlike many Independents. However, the station did occasionally air Fox special broadcasts such as the Emmy Awards. Eventually in 1990 it became a full time affiliate of the network. Also that year on March 29, WZDX became the first property owned by a new broadcasting group founded by Milton Grant. In 2002, it launched the second digital signal of the market
on UHF channel 41. A simulcast of cable-only
WB affiliate "WAWB-TV" was then added to a second digital subchannel of WZDX.
That offered non-cable viewers access to WB programming for the first time. In September 2003, the broadcast tower shared by WZDX and ABC
affiliate WAAY-TV
collapsed killing three men. Until it could be replaced, WZDX and WAAY temporarily aired from the nearby tower of CBS
affiliate WHNT-TV
. As part of the DTV transition in the United States
on June 12, 2009, this station ceased analog operations and became digital-exclusive. In order to adequately serve its coverage area, its effective radiated power
was increased to 700 kW on July 2.
(INN) through an outsourcing agreement with Grant Broadcasting. News anchors, meteorologists, and sports anchors were provided by INN and other personnel from the newscast production company would fill-in as needed. WZDX maintained two locally-based news reporters which would contribute content to the show. It was taped in advance and then fed to the station through satellite.
The broadcasts originated from INN's facility on Tremont Avenue in Davenport, Iowa
. In a report in the Macon, Georgia
Telegraph
, it was announced the Independent News Network filed for chapter 7
bankruptcy
and the company would end all news productions (including those for WZDX) by January 9, 2009. However, all INN broadcasts would then be reinstated under ownership of Fusion Communications (also of Davenport) according to the newspaper. WZDX would not face local news competition until February 1, 2010 when WHNT added a nightly half-hour newscast at 9 to its Retro Television Network
(RTV) subchannel.
On September 20, this station terminated its outsourcing agreement with INN and entered into another news share arrangement with WAAY (owned by Calkins Media
). This resulted in a local refocus of Fox 54 Nine O'Clock News which can now be seen every night from a secondary set at WAAY's studios on Monte Sano Boulevard Southeast. WZDX maintains separate news anchors and a meteorologist but they can report for and/or fill-in on WAAY. In addition to its main facility, the latter also operates bureaus in Decatur
(on Lee Street Northeast) and The Shoals (in Florence
on North Pine Street within the University of North Alabama
campus).
Weather
Sports
Reporters
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 Alabama
North Alabama
North Alabama is a region of the U.S. state of Alabama, generally considered to include 12 counties: Cherokee, Colbert, DeKalb, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marshall, Morgan, and Winston, with a combined population of 958,247, or 20.84% of the state's population as...
's Tennessee Valley
Tennessee Valley
The Tennessee Valley is the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and is largely within the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from southwest Kentucky to northwest Georgia and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina...
. Licensed to Huntsville
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 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 41 (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....
54.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Monte Sano Boulevard Southeast in Madison County
Madison County, Alabama
Madison County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is a major part of the Huntsville Metropolitan Area.It is also included in the merged Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. The county is named in honor of James Madison, fourth President of the United States of America, and the...
(east of Huntsville). The station can also be seen on Knology
Knology
Knology Inc. is a cable company that formed in 1994 by ITC Holding Company, Inc, a telecommunications holding company in West Point, Georgia that also founded Internet service provider Mindspring. In late 1994, shortly after Knology's inception, two employees made a $600,000 investment to make...
channel 4 as well as 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 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 5. There is a high definition feed offered on Comcast digital channel 434, Charter digital channel 705, and Knology digital channel 905. Owned by Grant Broadcasting System II
Grant Broadcasting System II
Based in Roanoke, Virginia, Grant Broadcasting System II is an owner of various television stations in the United States....
, WZDX is sister to 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 "WAMY-TV
WAMY-TV
"WAMY-TV" is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Tennessee Valley area of Northeastern Alabama. In most areas, the station broadcasts on Comcast and Charter cable channel 8. As a result, its logo refers to this although it is known on-air as My WAMY. There some locations,...
" and the two share studios on North Memorial Parkway/US 72
U.S. Route 72
U.S. Route 72 is an east–west United States highway that runs for 337 miles from southeast Tennessee through northern Alabama and northern Mississippi to southwest Tennessee. The highway's eastern terminus is Chattanooga, Tennessee. Its western terminus is Memphis, Tennessee...
/US 231
U.S. Route 231
U.S. Route 231 is a parallel route of U.S. Route 31. It currently runs for 912 miles from St. John, Indiana, at U.S. Route 41 to south of U.S. Route 98 in Downtown Panama City, Florida.One of its most notable landmarks is the William H...
/US 431
U.S. Route 431
U.S. Route 431 is a spur of U.S. Route 31. It currently runs for 556 miles from Owensboro, Kentucky at U.S. Route 60 to Dothan, Alabama, at U.S. Route 231 and U.S. Route 84. Through many parts of US 431 it is a two lane with not many places of it being a four lane highway.-Alabama:U.S. 431 is...
in Huntsville. 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 the station 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...
, How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
, Judge Mathis
Judge Mathis
Judge Mathis is a syndicated television legal reality show produced originally by Black Pearl Productions. In 2008, it entered its tenth season produced by AND Syndicated Productions and Telepictures. It is taped at NBC Tower in Chicago, but includes cases and litigants from other U.S....
, Dr. Phil
Dr. Phil (TV series)
Dr. Phil is a reality/talk television show hosted by Phil McGraw. After McGraw's success with his segments on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil debuted on September 16, 2002...
, 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.
Digital programming
Sister station "WAMY-TV" can be seen on WZDX's second digital subchannelDigital 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...
.
| Channels | Name | Video Display resolution The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by all different factors in cathode ray tube , flat panel or projection... |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 54.1 | WZDX-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 | Main WZDX programming / FOX |
| 54.2 | WZDX-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 | "WAMY-TV" "My 8" |
History
The station signed-on August 20, 19841984 in television
This article is a list of television-related events in 1984.-Events:*January 9 – Wendy's "Fluffy Bun" ad first airs, which propels Clara Peller and her "Where's the beef?" catchphrase to national prominence....
as WTXT and aired an analog signal on UHF channel 54. It was Northern Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
's first Independent station and the area's first new outlet to launch in nearly twenty years. The inaugural program shown was an airing of the 1968 film Charly
Charly
Charly is a 1968 American film directed by Ralph Nelson. The drama stars Cliff Robertson , Claire Bloom, Lilia Skala, Leon Janney and Dick Van Patten and tells the story of a mentally retarded bakery worker who is the subject of an experiment to increase human intelligence...
. The station's transmitter was on Green Mountain in Southeastern Huntsville while its studios were in the northwestern section of the city. During the first months after going on-air, WZDX used the slogan "We're Taking You to the Top!". The station changed call letters to WZDX on October 10, 1984.
When Fox began broadcasting on October 6, 1986, WZDX abstained from affiliating with the networks unlike many Independents. However, the station did occasionally air Fox special broadcasts such as the Emmy Awards. Eventually in 1990 it became a full time affiliate of the network. Also that year on March 29, WZDX became the first property owned by a new broadcasting group founded by Milton Grant. In 2002, it launched the second digital signal of 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...
on UHF channel 41. A simulcast of 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 affiliate "WAWB-TV" was then added to a second digital subchannel of WZDX.
That offered non-cable viewers access to WB programming for the first time. In September 2003, the broadcast tower shared by WZDX 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 WAAY-TV
WAAY-TV
WAAY-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Tennessee Valley area of North Alabama that is licensed to Huntsville. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 32 from a transmitter at its Monte Sano Boulevard studios on top of Monte Sano Mountain. Calkins Media owns...
collapsed killing three men. Until it could be replaced, WZDX and WAAY temporarily aired from the nearby tower of 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 WHNT-TV
WHNT-TV
WHNT-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Tennessee Valley area of North Alabama that is licensed to Huntsville. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 19 from a transmitter on Monte Sano. Owned by Local TV, the station has studios on Holmes Avenue Northwest in...
. As part of the DTV transition in the United States
DTV transition in the United States
The DTV transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of free over-the-air television programming...
on June 12, 2009, this station ceased analog operations and became digital-exclusive. In order to adequately serve its coverage area, its effective radiated power
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
was increased to 700 kW on July 2.
Newscasts
In January 2007, WZDX launched a thirty minute prime time newscast known as Fox 54 Nine O'Clock News. Airing every night except Saturday, it was produced by the Independent News NetworkIndependent News Network
For the consortium of non-profit investigative news organizations, see .The Independent News Network, also known as INN, is a television news service based in Davenport, Iowa. It syndicates "localized" news programs for television stations across the country with little budget for news...
(INN) through an outsourcing agreement with Grant Broadcasting. News anchors, meteorologists, and sports anchors were provided by INN and other personnel from the newscast production company would fill-in as needed. WZDX maintained two locally-based news reporters which would contribute content to the show. It was taped in advance and then fed to the station through satellite.
The broadcasts originated from INN's facility on Tremont Avenue in Davenport, Iowa
Davenport, Iowa
Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...
. In a report in the Macon, Georgia
Macon, Georgia
Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
Telegraph
The Telegraph (Macon)
The Telegraph, frequently referred to as the Macon Telegraph, is a McClatchy newspaper in Macon, Georgia, United States, and is the primary print news organ in Middle Georgia...
, it was announced the Independent News Network filed for chapter 7
Chapter 7, Title 11, United States Code
Chapter 7 of the Title 11 of the United States Code governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States...
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
and the company would end all news productions (including those for WZDX) by January 9, 2009. However, all INN broadcasts would then be reinstated under ownership of Fusion Communications (also of Davenport) according to the newspaper. WZDX would not face local news competition until February 1, 2010 when WHNT added a nightly half-hour newscast at 9 to its Retro Television Network
Retro Television Network
The Retro Television Network is a system of television stations that airs classic television shows as well as more recently produced programs...
(RTV) subchannel.
On September 20, this station terminated its outsourcing agreement with INN and entered into another news share arrangement with WAAY (owned by Calkins Media
Calkins Media
Calkins Media is a media company based in Levittown, Pennsylvania, which owns 8 newspapers and 3 television stations, all of them are ABC affiliates. It was established in 1937 as Calkins Newspapers, Inc...
). This resulted in a local refocus of Fox 54 Nine O'Clock News which can now be seen every night from a secondary set at WAAY's studios on Monte Sano Boulevard Southeast. WZDX maintains separate news anchors and a meteorologist but they can report for and/or fill-in on WAAY. In addition to its main facility, the latter also operates bureaus in Decatur
Decatur, Alabama
Decatur is a city in Limestone and Morgan Counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. The city, affectionately known as "The River City", is located in Northern Alabama on the banks of Wheeler Lake, along the Tennessee River. It is the largest city and county seat of Morgan County...
(on Lee Street Northeast) and The Shoals (in Florence
Florence, Alabama
Florence is the county seat of Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the northwestern corner of the state.According to the 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the city's population was 36,721....
on North Pine Street within the University of North Alabama
University of North Alabama
The University of North Alabama is a coeducational university located in Florence, Alabama, and the state's oldest four-year public university....
campus).
News team
Anchors- Ellis Eskew - Monday through Friday
- Chase Gallimore - Sunday through Thursday
- Rebecca Shlien - Saturday
Weather
- Spencer Denton - Sunday through Thursday
- Ben Luna - Friday and Saturday
Sports
- Ronnie Duncan - Sunday through Thursday
- Kyle Burger - Friday and Saturday
Reporters
- Rachel Keith - photojournalist
- Erika Odell - Shoals Bureau
- Rebecca Shlien
- Lillian Askins
- Tim Reid