WFXS-DT
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| Wittenberg/Wausau, Wisconsin | |
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| Branding | Fox 55 (general) Fox 55 News Me-TV 55.2 (on DT2) RTV 55.3 (on DT3) |
| Slogan | The Right Place & Your Trusted Resource |
| Channels | Digital: 31 (UHF) |
| Subchannels | 55.1 Fox 55.2 Me-TV 55.3 RTV |
| Owner | Davis Television, LLC (Davis Television Wausau, LLC) |
| First air date | November 2, 1998 |
| Call letters' meaning | Wisconsin's FoX Station |
| Former callsigns | WFXS (1998-2009) |
| Former channel number(s) | 55 (UHF analog, 1998-2009) |
| Former affiliations | Untamed Sports TV (on DT2) |
| Transmitter power | 685 kW |
| Height | 325 m |
| Class | DT |
| Facility ID | 86204 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 45°3′21.5″N 89°27′57″W / 45.055972°N 89.46583°W |
| Website | myfoxwausau.com |
WFXS-DT is the Fox-affiliated television station for North-Central Wisconsin's Northern Highland licensed to Wittenberg. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 31 (or virtual channel 55.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter northeast of Wausau in unincorporated Marathon County. The station can also be seen on Charter channel 11 and in high definition on digital channel 605. Owned by Davis Television, WFXS has studios on North 3rd Street in Downtown Wausau. Syndicated programming on the station includes Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond, Friends, and The Doctors among others.
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[edit] Digital programming
On WFXS-DT2 and Charter digital channel 965 is Me-TV. On WFXS-DT3 and Charter digital channel 964 is the Retro Television Network (RTV).
| Channels | Name | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55.1 | WFXS-HD | 720p | 16:9 | Main WFXS-DT programming / FOX |
| 55.2 | MeTV | 480i | 4:3 | Me-TV |
| 55.3 | RTV | RTV |
[edit] History
The station signed-on November 2, 1998 as WFXS and aired an analog signal on UHF channel 55. It has been an affiliate of Fox since its launch. Before the existence of WFXS, programming from the network was seen in North-Central Wisconsin on some Charter systems from the Green Bay station that carried Fox. The network also operated Foxnet which was used to serve small markets around the country without an affiliate (it was a similar operation to The CW Plus and its predecessor, The WB 100+).
Some programming was also shown through a secondary relation with ABC affiliate WAOW which carried NFL on Fox from the launch of Fox Sports in 1994 until WFXS signed-on. In early-December 2007, the station debuted a new website based on the "My Fox" template licensed for use by News Corporation Digital Media.
Since it was granted an original construction permit after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) finalized the digital television allotment plan on April 21, 1997, [1] the station did not initially receive a companion channel for a digital television station. The FCC eventually allocated UHF channel 50 (later assigned to channel 31) to as its digital service. Like all Wausau commercial stations, it decided to go ahead with the February 17, 2009 conversion date despite the DTV Delay Act changing the actual switch date to June 12. The WFXS analog signal was discontinued on the original day and the digital antenna was installed. However, the weather that week was bitterly cold and uncooperative.
Several issues caused problems such as hydraulic fluid freezing on the heavy winch system (required to lift the new antenna), high winds, and the installation not going as planned as a result. These issues caused the new digital antenna to be damaged which had to be repaired elsewhere. Management of the station received cooperation of WAOW to air WFXS' signal digitally until the antenna could be installed. It did so over WAOW-DT3 and WYOW-DT3 preempting normal RTV programming.
The digital antenna was installed successfully on March 1 and put into service shortly thereafter without any problems. The WAOW-DT3/WYOW-DT3 simulcast continued for an additional day to make sure WFXS's transmitter was running well. The next day, both third digital subchannels of WAOW and WYOW began airing This TV. It was back on-air with full-power on digital channel 31 featuring a 720p high definition broadcast. [2]
After conversion, WFXS surrendered analog channel 55 permanently as that spectrum was sold to Qualcomm for use by its MediaFLO mobile video application. It was forced to "flash-cut" its existing transmission tower to channel 31 as the frequency was being used by an analog public broadcaster in LaCrosse. For that reason, WFXS was unable to operate terrestrial dual analog/digital services. This station changed its calls to WFXS-DT on December 15, 2009. Several years prior to the transition, the station installed a direct fiber optic line to Charter's local headend for use by it and satellite providers to allow the services to carry a high definition signal. Subsequently, WFXS added digital subchannels for Untamed Sports TV and returned RTV to the Wausau airwaves in early-September 2009. The latter network was carried by WAOW-DT3/WYOW-DT3 until March 2009 when it was replaced with This TV.
In late-March 2011, Untamed Sports TV programming was replaced by Me-TV which is a sister operation to This TV. Overnight on March 3, 2009, a cooling line in the transmitter building burst causing heavy water damage to the building's floor and furnishings. The water also caused minor damage to the transmitter which had to be taken off-line. Once again, WFXS received permission from WAOW/WYOW to broadcast over 9.3/34.3 while the damage was repaired. [3] On March 9, WFXS resumed normal digital operations and asked viewers to rescan digital televisions and converter boxes.
The station was able to return the favor to WAOW a short time later when digital reception problems at that station's semi-satellite, WYOW, prevented the signal from being received. WFXS temporarily added WAOW's signal to its own second subchannel in order to feed WAOW's signal to WYOW. WAOW added a microwave feed to the WYOW tower site to fix the problem permanently. It is unknown if the previous owner of fellow Fox affiliate WVFX in Clarksburg, West Virginia is related to Davis Television of Wisconsin (owner of WFXS).
[edit] Newscast
WAOW entered into a news share agreement with WFXS in 2000. The outsourcing arrangement resulted in a weeknight prime time newscast to debut on this station. Known as Fox 55 News at 9, the thirty minute broadcast originates from WAOW's facility on Grand Avenue/US 51 in Wausau. The show features news anchor and producer Pam Warnke (also a multimedia journalist and "Someone You Should Know" segment producer), meteorologist Tony Schumacher (with an AMS Seal of Approval), as well as Sports Director Jayson Geiser.
On June 19, 2011, WAOW upgraded its newscasts to high definition complete with a redesigned set and updated graphics package. However, it is unknown if the WFXS news program was included in the change. Like all RTV affiliates in the Central Time Zone, WFXS-DT3 airs a sixty minute nationally syndicated entertainment and lifestyle show. Known as Daytime, this can be seen on weekday mornings at 8.
Other multimedia journalists
- Tom Zurawski - Chief Photojournalist
- Emily Neubauer - content producer
- Jack Rosenberg - photojournalist
- Nate Barrett - content producer
- Travis Jensen - photojournalist
- Sean Giggy - sports reporter
- Rob Duns - reporter
- Kevin Lu - sports
Multimedia journalists
- Melissa Langbehn
- Courtney Fasano
- Bonnie Shelton
- Cami Mountain
- Kristen Rietz
- Anna Carrera
- Alex Haight
- Bryon Graff
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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