WTXX

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WTXX
city = Waterbury
station_
station_branding = txx
Fox 61 News
analog = 20 (UHF)
digital = 12 (VHF)
affiliations = The CW
founded = September 4, 1953
location = Waterbury / Hartford /
New Haven, Connecticut
callsign_meaning = Waterbury Television
XX (20, channel number in Roman numerals)
former_callsigns = WATR-TV (1953-1982)
former_channel_numbers = 53 (1953-1962)
owner = Tribune Company
licensee = WTXX, Inc.
sister_stations = WTIC-TV
former_affiliations = DuMont (secondary, 1953-1956)
ABC (secondary, 1953-1966)
NBC (1966-1982)
Independent (1982-1995)
UPN (1995-2000)
The WB (2001-2006)
effective_radiated_power = 2,240 kW (analog)
1.7 kW (digital)
HAAT = 366 m (analog)
515 m (digital)
facility_id = 14050
coordinates = coord|41|31|4.1|N|73|1|7.4|W|type:landmark_scale:2000 (analog)
coord|41|42|13.1|N|72|49|54|W|type:landmark_scale:2000 (digital)
homepage = [http://wtxx.com/ wtxx.com]

WTXX, channel 20, is the CW-affiliated television station for the state of Connecticut (except Fairfield County) that is licensed to Waterbury. Its analog transmitter is located near the East Mountain section of the city. The station's digital transmitter is located between U.S. 6 and I-84 in Farmington. Owned by Tribune, the station is sister to Fox affiliate WTIC-TV. The two stations share studios at Corporate Center in downtown Hartford. Syndicated programming on WTXX includes: "Sex and the City", "Will & Grace", "That '70s Show", "Everybody Loves Raymond, and "Friends".

History

The station commenced operations on September 4, 1953 as WATR-TV. Located on channel 53, it was the second UHF station in Connecticut. The station was owned by the Thomas family along with WATR 1320 AM. In 1962, the station relocated to channel 20. Channel 53 is now occupied by WEDN, a PBS station in Norwich. At the time, the station's signal only covered the southern portions of the state. WATR was originally a dual secondary affiliate of both DuMont and ABC sharing them with New Haven-based WNHC-TV channel 8 (now WTNH-TV). DuMont ceased broadcasts in 1956, and shortly afterward, WNHC became an exclusive ABC affiliate. WATR then became an independent station on paper but picked up ABC shows turned down by WNHC. In 1966, WATR switched networks and joined NBC. That network's primary affiliate in Connecticut, WHNB-TV channel 30 (now WVIT) in New Britain, served Hartford and eastern Connecticut but its signal was not strong enough to cover New Haven and the southwestern portions of the state. In the 1970s, WATR offered very little local news and instead aired older syndicated programs and religious shows such as Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's "The PTL Club" when NBC programs were not offered.

When WVIT's transmission power was increased to reach New Haven in 1980, it became clear that WATR would soon be forced to discontinue NBC programming. WVIT now had the advantage of a stronger signal to go along with a legitimate news department, a better lineup of syndicated programs, and fewer pre-emptions of NBC programming. However, channel 20's affiliation contract had close to two years remaining. In March 1982, in a move which coincided with the end of the station's network relationship, the Thomas family sold WATR to Odyssey Television Partners (to later become Renaissance Broadcasting). The new owners subsequently changed the station's calls letters to the current WTXX and turned channel 20 into the state's first full-service independent since Hartford's WHCT-TV channel 18 (now WUVN) operated under the ownership of RKO General. Odyssey also boosted the station's signal to a level comparable with the other major Connecticut stations. Programming consisted the typical independent fare of cartoons, off-network series, and movies. WTXX also carried some sports most notably New York Mets telecasts from WOR-TV (now WWOR-TV) in New York City, Boston Celtics telecasts from WLVI-TV in Boston and formerHartford Whalers (now currently Carolina Hurricanes and minor league Hartford Wolf Pack) from WHCT-TV (now Univision affiliate WUVN-TV) . WTXX prospered in its new status and continued to do so even after WTIC-TV signed on in 1984. This continued after WTIC took on the Fox affiliation two years later as a charter station.

In 1992, Renaissance had purchased Chase Broadcasting who owned WTIC and FCC regulations of the time did not allow common ownership of two stations in the same market. WTXX was then sold to a Roman Catholic group called Counterpoint Communications which was consummated on March 19, 1993. Renaissance retained the rights to almost all the programming it bought for channel 20. WTIC wanted a full-time local marketing agreement (LMA) with WTXX which basically amounted to channel 20 being programmed by its competitor. Counterpoint balked wanting only a part-time agreement. Renaissance then moved some of WTXX's stronger shows to WTIC leaving channel 20 with a considerably weakened schedule. Under the terms of the sale to Counterpoint, WTXX retained only some movies, "Highway To Heaven", and programming from the Home Shopping Network (which would run for fifteen hours a day including daytime and prime time). In addition, channel 20 would air a daily Catholic Mass along with other Catholic religious programs for one hour per day. During this time, WTXX ran two hours of cartoons (in a programming slot known as Disney Afternoon) and two hours of sitcoms (all still owned by Renaissance) from 3 to 7 P.M. while Renaissance attempted to negotiate an LMA with WTXX.

After being unable to negotiate an LMA with WTIC, WTXX entered into a part-time LMA with WVIT. Everyday from 7 to 9 A.M. and from 3 to 7 P.M. during the week, WTXX ran syndicated cartoons (most of which aired on WTXX previously and never moved to WTIC). From 10:30 P.M. to 1 A.M., the station ran syndicated programs some of which aired earlier in the day by WVIT. WTXX became Connecticut's UPN affiliate in April 1995. By the Spring of 1996, the station began acquire stronger syndicated programming such as: sitcoms, talk, and reality shows. HSN programming was relegated to overnights and eventually disappeared from the schedule. In 1998, WTIC (now owned by Tribune Broadcasting) replaced WVIT as WTXX's LMA partner. The LMA change caused no impact on WTXX's daily broadcasts of the Catholic Mass which continues to the present day. Around this time, the station changed its on-air name from "UPN 20" to "Connecticut's 20". In 1999, WTXX and WTIC consolidated their operations in a new facility in downtown Hartford.

On January 1, 2001, WTXX and WBNE channel 59 (now WCTX) swapped affiliations. WTXX became "Connecticut's WB" and later that year Tribune purchased channel 20 outright creating a duopoly with WTIC. Tribune, having already received a temporary waiver from FCC rules barring common ownership of a newspaper and a television station in the same area when it purchased the "Hartford Courant" a year earlier, received an additional waiver for their purchase of WTXX. Tribune had been seeking a waiver in anticipation of the FCC relaxing its rules to allow such media combinations to exist with the agency's blessing which would include television duopolies. In March 2005, the FCC requested that Tribune sell WTXX to a new owner. In late-2007, the FCC loosened its restrictions on newspaper / broadcast cross-ownership perhaps creating an opening for Tribune (purchased by investor Sam Zell in December of 2007) to retain WTXX without a waiver.

On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced that they would end broadcasting and merge. A new network emerged, called The CW, and began to be jointed owned and operated by CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner (parent of the former WB). The new network signed a ten-year affiliation agreement with most of Tribune's WB affiliates including WTXX. The CW officially began operations that fall on September 18. UPN affiliate WCTX joined MyNetworkTV (another new network) on September 5. WTXX is the television rights holder of WNBA's Connecticut Sun. The station also simulcasts some New York Mets games which are aired by sister station WPIX in New York City. WTXX has made an effort to run shows, that WTIC Fox 61 has no room to air, literal examples, Malcolm in the Middle, Frasier, Friends, Shepherd's Chapel, and more recently Everybody Loves Raymond, due to future and upcoming newscasts on that station. In August 2008, the station changed their branding from "CW 20" to "txx" in a corporate effort by Tribune to strengthen the local branding of their stations and reduce the dependence on the use of the "CW" in their stations' brandings.

Newscasts

In July 1993, WTXX began to air a nightly 10 o'clock newscast produced by WVIT. When the station switched LMA partners to WTIC, it began simulcasting the first half-hour of WTIC's 10 P.M. news. On April 24, 2006, WTXX began simulcasting WTIC's full hour-long news. There is no separate news opening on WTXX for WTIC's newscasts. Whenever Fox programming or sports delays the news on WTIC, it is still shown on WTXX but under the name of "News at Ten". There is also a "News at Ten" logo in place of "Fox 61 News". "Beyond the Headlines", WTIC's weekly public affairs show, airs on Sunday motnings at 11 on WTXX. On March 3, 2008, WTIC launched a weekday morning newscast. However, unlike the 10 P.M. broadcast, the morning news is not simulcasted on WTXX.

"Fox 61 News at 10"

"Weeknights (10 to 11 P.M.)"
*Anchors:
**Brent Hardin
**Susan Christensen
*Weather:
**Garett Argianas
*Sports:
**Rich Coppola

"Weekends (10 to 10:30 P.M.)"
*Anchor:
**Laurie Perez
*Weather:
**Bob Cox
*Sports:
**Bob Rumbold

"WTXX features additional news personnel from WTIC. See that article for a complete listing."

Logos

External links

* [http://wtxx.com/ WTXX "txx"]
* [http://fox61.trb.com/ WTIC-TV/DT "Fox 61"]
*TVQ|WTXX