WYZZ-TV
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| Bloomington/Normal/ Peoria, Illinois |
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| City of license | Bloomington |
| Branding | Fox 43 (general) Fox 43 News |
| Slogan | Your Place to Be (general) An Hour Earlier and Never Too Late (news) |
| Channels | Digital: 28 (UHF) Virtual: 43 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 43.1 Fox 43.2 TheCoolTV |
| Owner | Sinclair Broadcast Group (operated through LMA by Nexstar Broadcasting Group) (WYZZ Licensee, Inc.) |
| First air date | October 18, 1982 |
| Sister station(s) | WMBD-TV, WICS/WICD |
| Former callsigns | WBLN (1982-1985) |
| Former channel number(s) | 43 (UHF analog, 1982-2009) |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1982-1986) |
| Transmitter power | 1,000 kW |
| Height | 293 m |
| Class | DT |
| Facility ID | 5875 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 40°38′40.5″N 89°10′45.9″W / 40.644583°N 89.179417°W |
WYZZ-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Central Illinois licensed to Bloomington. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 28 (or virtual channel 43.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter in Montgomery Township. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 910. Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, WYZZ is operated by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group through a local marketing agreement (LMA) as a sister outlet to CBS affiliate WMBD-TV. The two stations share studios on North University Street in Peoria. Syndicated programming on this station includes Two and a Half Men, Entourage, Everybody Loves Raymond and The Simpsons among others.
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[edit] Digital programming
On WYZZ-DT2 and Comcast digital channel 807 is TheCoolTV.
| Channels | Name | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43.1 | WYZZ-HD | 720p | 16:9 | Main WYZZ programming / FOX |
| 43.2 | WYZZ-DT2 | 480i | 4:3 | TheCoolTV |
[edit] History
The station signed-on October 18, 1982 and aired an analog signal on UHF channel 43. Ir was founded as WBLN (standing for We BeLieve iN) by members of Peoria's Grace Presbyterian Church. Except for the call sign, it was unrelated to the old WBLN that broadcasted on UHF channel 15 in the 1950s. The station was a religious Independent and first new outlet to sign-on since future sister WMBD hit the airwaves 24 years earlier. WBLN was sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group in 1985 which changed its calls to the current WYZZ-TV.
On October 6, 1986, the station became the market's charter affiliate of Fox. In 2002, Sinclair and the Nexstar Broadcasting Group (owner of WMBD) entered into a local marketing agreement (LMA) calling for WYZZ to be a subordinate entity in an arrangement allowing WMBD to control programming for this station. WYZZ moved from its studios on East Lincoln Street in Bloomington to WMBD's facilities in Peoria. In August 2005, a similar agreement would be established between Nexstar's WROC-TV and Sinclair's WUHF in Rochester, New York.
In May 2006, Sinclair and Fox finalized a six-year affiliation contract extension for the company's nineteen affiliates including WYZZ. Its affiliation contract now expires in March 2012. [1] WYZZ broadcasts digitally on UHF channel 28 and (like most Sinclair-owned stations) has been digital-only since February 17, 2009. [2] According to a post on The Peoria Chronicle website, WYZZ and WMBD were planning on terminating the local marketing agreement between the two effective April 1, 2010. Since the two station still operate together today, it appears this move was not followed through with. [3]
[edit] Newscasts
Through a news share agreement, sister station WMBD produces a nightly prime time newscast on WYZZ. Known on-air as Fox 43 News at 9, this thirty minute broadcast competes with a weeknight-only half-hour show seen on MyNetworkTV affiliate WAOE (that is produced by NBC affiliate WEEK-TV). At some point in time after WEEK-TV and WHOI combined operations, the two stations became Peoria's first news department to upgrade local news to 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen. Although not truly high definition, the shows match the aspect ratio of HD television screens.
All broadcasts currently seen on WYZZ and WMBD remain in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition and it is unclear if and/or when Nexstar/Sinclair plans on upgrading these two stations to enhanced definition or even full HD level. In addition to the main facility in Peoria, WYZZ and WMBD operate a Twin Cities Bureau on East Lincoln Street in Bloomington that were this station's original studios while functioning as a separate entity. Therefore, this makes the two stations the only outlet in the area with a significant Bloomington-based news and advertising sales operation.
[edit] Station slogans
- "TV 43, We Bring Home the Fun!" (1980s)
- "Your Place to Be" (general, 2008-present)
- "An Hour Earlier and Never Too Late" (news, 2008-present)
[edit] News team
Anchors
- Cynthia Schweigert - weeknight news
- Jacob Long - weekend news and Twin Cities Bureau Chief
- Marcus Bailey - Chief Meteorologist seen weeknights
- Brandon Arnold - weekend meteorologist and news reporter (also "I Challenge Brandon" segment producer)
- Kurt Pegler - Sports Director seen weeknights
- Kyle Dierking - weekend sports and sports reporter
Reporters
- Thom Parker - Chief Photographer
- Maria Chandler
- Eugene Daniel
- Kim Behrens
- Lisa Miller
[edit] References
- ^ Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.. ""Sinclair Secures Renewal of FOX Station Affiliations"" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2007-04-03. http://www.newscentral.tv/news_releases/2006/release_200652_160.pdf. Retrieved 2007-09-07. See also Sinclair Broadcast Group second quarter 2006 10-Q SEC filing: "FOX has agreed to provide each affiliate station with two hours of programming on Monday to Friday, seven hours on Saturday and four hours on Sunday. Each Affiliation Agreement will expire on March 6, 2012."
- ^ FCC list of full-service US TV stations, February 16, 2009
- ^ http://peoriachronicle.com/2010/01/20/wmbd-and-wyzz-to-split/
[edit] External links
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