WSFX-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WSFX-TV
station_
station_slogan = One Hour Earlier
station_branding = Fox 26 (general)
Fox 26 News (newscasts)
analog =
Time Warner & Charter
cable 9
digital = 30 (UHF) &
Charter cable 709 &
Time Warner cable 920
other_chs = W19CA Lumberton
affiliations = 26.1 Fox
founded = September 24, 1984
location = Wilmington, North Carolina
callsign_meaning = Super FoX
former_callsigns = WJKA-TV (1984-1994)
former_channel_numbers = Analog:
26 (1984-2008)
owner = Southeastern Media Holdings
"(operated under SSA by Raycom Media)"
sister_stations = WECT
former_affiliations = CBS (1984-1994)
effective_radiated_power = 80 kW
HAAT = 590 m
facility_id = 72871
coordinates = coord|34|7|53.8|N|78|11|15.4|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.wsfx.com/ wsfx.com]

WSFX-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station in Wilmington, North Carolina. The station broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 30. While there is no over-the-air analog signal of the station, it can be seen on Time Warner and Charter cable channel 9. For high definition digital cable, the station is on Charter channel 709 and Time Warner channel 920. Its transmitter is located in Winnabow. WSFX is owned by Southeastern Media Holdings but operated through a shared service agreement (SSA) by Raycom Media. This makes it a sister station to NBC affiliate WECT. The two stations share studios on Shipyard Boulevard in downtown Wilmington. WSFX operates a translator, W19CA on channel 19, that is licensed Lumberton. Its transmitter is located in Lumber Bridge. Syndicated programming on the station includes: "Everybody Loves Raymond", "Seinfeld", "Two and a Half Men", and "Divorce Court".

History

The station began on September 24, 1984 as WJKA-TV and affiliated with CBS. Prior to then, Wilmington was one of the few cities in the country without its own CBS affiliate. Local cable systems carried either WTVD from Raleigh, WNCT-TV from Greenville, or WBTW from Florence, South Carolina for CBS programming.

In 1994, after CBS lost broadcasting rights of the NFL to Fox, WJKA dropped CBS in favor of Fox. In the process, the station changed its call letters to the current WSFX-TV. Before then, cable systems offered either WLFL in Raleigh or WFAY in Fayetteville. Today's call letters stand for Super FoX. This was because until 1996 it was the default Fox affiliate for the Florence / Myrtle Beach, South Carolina television market as that area did not have an affiliate of its own. However, WSFX's over-the-air signal does not reach Florence. The Pee Dee area thus had to rely on cable for Fox programming until WGSE-TV (now WFXB) in Myrtle Beach took the affiliation.

As a result of WSFX's affiliation switch, Wilmington was without a CBS affiliate until March of 2000 when low-powered UPN station WILM-LP switched its primary affiliation to CBS.

In 2003, WSFX was sold to Southeastern Media Holdings and began to be operated by Raycom Media through a shared service agreement with WECT. The station then moved into WECT's studios. On May 8, 2008, the FCC announced that five stations in Wilmington, including WSFX, had agreed to voluntarily cease analog broadcasting on September 8. This was five months ahead of the February 17, 2009 tentative date for television stations to complete the analog-to-digital transition. The Wilmington market became the first in the United States to convert to all-digital and will be used by the FCC as a transition test market. WSFX broadcasts from its current pre-transition digital channel number, 30. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display WSFX's virtual channel as 26.

Newscasts

As a CBS affiliate, WJKA operated on a shoestring budget with virtually no local news. In the mid-1980s, it had a weekday Noon show called "Midday" which offered news and entertainment reports. Since September 22, 2003, WECT has been producing a nightly 10 o'clock newscast for WSFX. It is currently the only primetime newscast in the market. On September 13, 2006, WECT began to produce an hour-long extension of its weekday morning newscast at 7 A.M. On August 31, 2008, WECT became the first station in Wilmington to launch their local news in high definition. The launch came with a new graphics package and the WSFX broadcasts were included in the upgrade.

"Carolina in the Morning on Fox 26"
"(Weekday Mornings 7 to 8 A.M.)"
*Anchors:
**Bob Townsend
**Kim Ratcliff
*Weather:
**Eric Davis

"Fox 26 News at 10" "(10 to 10:30 P.M.)"
"Weeknights"
*Anchor:
**Jon Evans
**Genevieve Barker
*Weather:
**Craig Carnesi
*Sports:
**Bob Bonner

"Weekends"
*Anchor:
**Joe Keiley

*Weather:
**George Elliot
*Sports
**Kevin Hull

"WSFX uses additional news personnel from WECT. See that article for a complete listing."

Logos

External links

* [http://www.wsfx.com/ WSFX-DT "Fox 26"]
* [http://www.wect.com WECT channel 6]
*TVQ|WSFX-TV
*TVQ|W19CA