WFXW

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WFXW
city =
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding = Fox 38
analog = 38 (UHF)
digital = 39 (UHF)
other_chs =
affiliations = Fox
network =
founded =
airdate = April 3, 1973
location = Terre Haute, Indiana
callsign_meaning = FoX Wabash
former_callsigns = WIIL-TV (1973-1978)
WBAK-TV (1978-2005)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Mission Broadcasting, Inc.
"(operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc.)"
licensee =
sister_stations = WTWO
former_affiliations = ABC (1973-1995)
effective_radiated_power = 2140 kW (analog)
850 kW (digital)
HAAT = 299 m (analog)
248 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 65247
coordinates = coord|39|13|54.8|N|87|23|40.7|W|type:landmark_scale:2000 (analog)
coord|39|14|32.4|N|87|23|28.7|W|type:landmark_scale:2000 (digital)
homepage = [http://www.mywabashvalley.com/ www.mywabashvalley.com]

WFXW is a television station in Terre Haute, Indiana, broadcasting locally on channel 38 as an affiliate of the Fox television network. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, but is operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group through a local marketing agreement. Nexstar also operates local NBC affiliate WTWO. The station's transmitter is located in Farmersburg.

History

The station began on April 3, 1973 as WIIL-TV, a full-time affiliate of ABC. Prior to 1973, ABC had been relegated to partial clearances on WTHI-TV and WTWO. Originally assigned to broadcast on UHF channel 66, the station eventually gained permission to broadcast on UHF channel 38.

The original owner, Alpha Broadcasting, poured money into the new operation, including a weeknight newscast, the "WiiL-TV Evening News". However, the local market situation led the station immediately into the red. Viewers had strongly entrenched viewing habits with the longer-established VHF stations WTWO and WTHI (although WTWO was less than a decade old), and were not as familiar with the then-weaker ABC network lineup. By 1974 the newscast had been cancelled and the station itself nearly ceased operating for good; however the station survived.

In 1978, Cy Bahakel purchased the station, renaming it WBAK-TV (after his last name). Local news returned in the form of "News 38", which was largely composed of former employees of local CBS affiliate WTHI-TV. This incarnation of local news, which ran as a single newscast daily, folded in 1981. Local morning programming of a sort continued in the form of "Good Morning Terre Haute", which consisted of taped interviews and a weather forecast. "Faith to Live By", a short daily devotional program that previously aired on WTWO, was seen weekday mornings immediately after the sign-on.

In 1995, WBAK-TV changed affiliation to the Fox network, citing low ratings from the then-overabundance of (stronger-rated) outlying ABC affiliates. Originally, most cable companies in the market carried ABC affiliates such as WRTV in Indianapolis, WTVW in Evansville, or Decatur, Illinois' WAND-TV, in addition to WBAK-TV. In addition to cable, WTVW's signal in particular was very strong in the southern half of the Terre Haute DMA, while the eastern half (including most of Terre Haute itself) was covered fairly well by WRTV.

The outlying ABC affiliates themselves went through changes also. In 1995, WTVW (in which its current logo is very similar to and is a sister to WFXW) switched to the Fox network, leaving many viewers in the southern half of the DMA without ABC programming (new Evansville ABC affiliate WEHT suffered from a weaker UHF signal). In 2005, WAND in eastern Illinois switched to NBC. ABC was then picked up in that market by WICD in Champaign, which replaced WAND on cable systems in the Illinois part of the Terre Haute market. Over-the-air viewers actually benefited from this switch, as WICD's transmitter tower is closer to the Terre Haute DMA than that of WAND's, and provides a stronger signal.

While leaving the Terre Haute DMA without an over-the-air ABC affiliate, the network switch gave the market its first-ever Fox network affiliate; that network had previously been available through cable only, via either the now-defunct Foxnet or Indianapolis station WXIN. The switch to Fox and the introduction of a primetime local newscast helped the ratings of the station, which had previously languished for years as an ABC affiliate.

At the same time that WBAK-TV switched to Fox programming, an agreement was reached with local CBS affiliate WTHI-TV to provide a 10 p.m./9 p.m. Central primetime newscast for the newly christened "Fox 38".

The station's morning interview program, "Good Morning Terre Haute", continued for a short period as the retitled "Valley Focus on Fox 38". This ended in 1996, as did the devotional program "Faith To Live By". "Valley Point of View", a weekly public affairs program produced by the Leadership Terre Haute organization, continued on the station until 2004.

The WTHI-TV newscast lasted until December 31, 2003, some time after local NBC affiliate WTWO had taken control of WBAK under a joint sales agreement. WBAK had been sold by Bahakel to Mission Broadcasting, which had immediately entered into the JSA with WTWO owner Nexstar Broadcasting Group.

In mid 2004, WTWO premiered its own 10/9 p.m. newscast, entitled "NewsChannel 2 Prime Edition". This broadcast utilized the same talent and resources as WTWO's 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. weeknight newscasts.

WBAK's call letters were changed to "WFXW" on July 1, 2005. On the same day, the 10 p.m. newscast was rebranded to "Fox 38 News at Ten" for a brief period, then later to "WFXW Prime Edition". On June 7, 2007, the branding was amended to "WTWO Prime Edition on WFXW".

Aside from the stand-alone live 10 p.m. weeknight newscast, WFXW also airs rebroadcasts of WTWO's 6 a.m. news at 7 a.m.

WFXW's analog signal was off between April 16, 2008 and May 9th, 2008. Their transmitter failed and went off the air approximately 10 minutes into the American Idol results show. Many viewers were upset over missing the rest of the show. However, WFXW's digital signal was used to restore service to local cable systems as well as the signal on Dish Network. The American Idol broadcasts during the week of April 21st aired on sister station WTWO. On May 9th the analog signal was restored to service.

Trivia

*WFXW is one of three original ABC affiliates in Indiana to have switched to Fox. The other two are WSJV in South Bend and WTVW in Evansville.

External links

* [http://www.mywabashvalley.com/ WFXW home page, shared with WTWO]
*TVQ|WFXW
*BIA|WFXW|TV|TV