WFXR-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WFXR-TV / WWCW
city =
station_

station_slogan = Your First News
station_branding = Fox 21 and 27
CW 5 (DT2)
analog =
WFXR: 27 (UHF)
WWCW: 21 (UHF)
digital =
WFXR: 17 (UHF)
WWCW: 20 (UHF)
other_chs =
subchannels = 27.1/21.1 Fox
27.2/21.2 The CW
network =
founded = WFXR: 1986
WWCW: March 23, 1986
location = WFXR: Roanoke, Virginia
WWCW: Lynchburg, Virginia
callsign_meaning = WFXR: FoX Roanoke
WWCW: The CW
former_callsigns = WFXR:
WVFT (1986-1993)
WWCW:
WJPR (1986-2006)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Grant Broadcasting System II
licensee = WFXR: GB Roanoke Licensing, LLC)
(WWCW: GB Lynchburg Licensing, LLC
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = WFXR:
Independent (1986-1993)
WWCW:
Independent (1986)
effective_radiated_power = WFXR:
2690 kW (analog)
400 kW (digital)
WWCW:
4170 kW (analog)
400 kW (digital)
HAAT = WFXR:
607 m (analog)
594 m (digital)
WWCW:
500 m (analog)
500.3 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = WFXR: 24813
WWCW: 24812
coordinates = WFXR:
coord|37|11|47.8|N|80|9|14.6|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
WWCW:
coord|37|19|14.5|N|79|37|57.6|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.myfoxswva.com/ www.myfoxswva.com]

WFXR-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station in Roanoke, Virginia. The station broadcasts its analog signal on UHF channel 27 and its digital signal on UHF channel 17. WFXR's transmitter is located on Poor Mountain in Roanoke County.

WFXR operates a full-time satellite, WWCW in Lynchburg, Virginia. WWCW broadcasts its analog signal on UHF channel 21 and its digital signal on UHF channel 20. WWCW's transmitter is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains 10 miles west of Bedford.

Together, the two stations are known on-air as "Fox 21 / 27" (though WFXR is the main station) and are owned by Grant Broadcasting System II. The station's main studios are located in Roanoke while additional offices are located in Lynchburg. WFXR and WWCW carry a secondary affiliation with the CW Television Network on their second digital subchannels. WFXR's CW programmning is also offered on local Cox Communications cable systems; this channel is branded as "CW 5"".

History

Channel 27 origins

The channel 27 frequency in Roanoke was originally home to WROV-TV, which operated from late 1952 until early 1953. It was the first UHF station in the country to go dark after less than three months on the air. Southwest Virginia is very mountainous and the difficulties faced by UHF stations at the time were magnified by the area's rugged terrain. Its facilities were eventually sold to the Times-World Corporation to launch its new station, WDBJ-TV, in 1955.

Also appearing on the channel 27 frequency was WRFT, which was known to have broadcasted from the early 1960s to 1974 as an ABC affiliate. At the time, the area's primary ABC affiliate, WLVA-TV in Lynchburg (now WSET-TV), provided only marginal coverage of Roanoke.

The current incarnation of channel 27 debuted in March 1986 as a Christian television station WVFT owned by Roanoke Christian Television. Initially, the station ran only religious programming but was sold soon after sign on to Family Group Television. Beginning in the fall, the station began to convert towards a general-entertainment format, and by 1987 the station was a conventional independent station.

Channel 21 origins

In 1984, channel 21 in the Lynchburg area was slated to sign on with a general entertainment format. The assets were owned by Carney Communications. But due to financial and engineering problems, the station was unable to sign on. Jefferson-Pilot Communications (now Lincoln Financial Media) bought the construction permit, programming assets, land, and broadcasting equipment in September 1985. After resolving the difficulties, in February 1986, WJPR (for Jefferson Pilot Radio) was launched as the area's first general independent station. It ran a general entertainment format featuring cartoons, off-network programs, movies, and some religious programs. In October 1986, WJPR became a charter affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company.

Merger

The Roanoke-Lynchburg market was too small at the time to support what was essentially two independent stations (Fox wouldn't air a full week's worth of programming until 1993), and both channels 21 and 27 suffered from the tight competition. However, by 1989, WVFT's financial problems were more pronounced; the station suffered from lower ratings and was unable to pay for stronger syndicated programming. Jefferson Pilot, then-owners of WJPR, offered to combine its programming assets with WVFT and begin simulcasting WVFT on WJPR. This gave Fox programming a strong signal throughout the market. Although channel 21 decently covers Roanoke, it doesn't provide a strong signal to the New River Valley (despite its 4.1 million-watt ERP). The two stations provide a strong combined signal with 60 percent overlap.

On September 15, 1993; UHF television pioneer Milton Grant bought both WVFT and WJPR. The simulcast continued, though WVFT began serving as the main station. In October 1993, WVFT was renamed WFXR-TV. It was also announced that the two stations would eventually split from each other, with one reverting to independent status. However, this plan never manifested itself.

In January 1995, WFXR/WJPR acquired a secondary affiliation with the newly-launched United Paramount Network, running UPN shows on weekends and some late nights. In 1996, the stations reached a deal with NBC affiliate WSLS-TV, allowing WSLS to produce a 10:00 p.m. newscast for WFXR/WJPR. "The Fox 10 O'Clock News" premiered on October 28, 1996.

In the spring of 1997, the market's UPN affiliation moved to WDRG-TV (now WDRL-TV), and WFXR/WJPR picked up a secondary alliance with the WB Television Network. Meanwhile, WFXR and WJPR operated the area's cable-only WB affiliate, known by the fictional calls "WBVA-TV". It was offered on Cox cable channel 5 and as a result was known on-air as "WB 5".

Plans were still underway to separate the two stations, and in 2001, the "WB 5" intellectual unit and the WBVA calls were set to move to WJPR, leaving Fox on WFXR. The two stations would still share some syndicated programs. However, the separation plan was canceled due to concerns about reception problems in the 40 percent of the market only served by one station over the air. When WJPR's digital signal signed on in April 2002, "WBVA" was the sole programming aired on it (Fox was added and WBVA made a subchannel in early 2003). The WB affiliate was also offered on DirecTV and Dish Network. When WFXR's digital signal began airing programming in December 2003, it aired both Fox and WBVA in the same arrangement as WJPR.

On January 24, 2006, the UPN and WB networks announced that they merge into a new programming service, the CW Television Network. On March 28, 2006, it was announced that WBVA would become the area's CW affiliate. To reflect this, the fictional WBVA calls were changed to "WCW5-TV" in June 2006. The CW network began broadcasting on September 18, 2006; the cable-only station changed its branding to "CW 5" simultaneously.

On June 30, 2006, the call letters of WJPR were changed to WWCW. The new call letters matched the new affiliation agreement with the CW network, which appears on both stations as digital subchannels. This immediately led to speculation that channel 21 would split off and become the area's CW affiliate. However, Grant Broadcasting has no announced plans to split off the two stations. Fox programming will continue to be on both WFXR and WWCW, with both analog and digital signals.

Digital television

The stations' digital signals are multiplexed:

After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009, http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf] WFXR-TV and WWCW will remain on their respective, pre-transition channel numbers (17 and 20). [http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101232744&formid=387&fac_num=24813 CDBS Print ] ] [http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101233765&formid=387&fac_num=24812 CDBS Print ] ] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display virtual channels for both stations corresponding to their present analog channel numbers.

Newscasts

WFXR and WWCW's nightly 10:00 p.m. continues to be produced by WSLS-TV. Whenever Fox programming or sports delays the newscast on WFXR and WWCW, it is aired live on "CW 5".

References

External links

* [http://www.myfoxswva.com/ WFXR-TV/WWCW Website]
* [http://www.cw5va.com/ "WCW5-TV" "CW 5" Website]
*TVQ|WFXR
*TVQ|WWCW
*TVQ|WFXR1 "(construction permit for a WFXR booster in Lynchburg)"
*TVQ|WJPR "(construction permit for a WWCW booster in Roanoke)"