WYZZ-TV

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WYZZ-TV
Bloomington/Peoria, Illinois
Branding	Fox 43
Slogan	Your Place to Be (general) An Hour Earlier & Never Too Late (news)
Channels	Digital: 28 (UHF)
Affiliations	Fox
Owner	Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (operated by Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc.) (WYZZ Licensee, Inc.)
First air date	October 18, 1982
Sister station(s)	WMBD-TV
Former callsigns	WBLN (1982-1985)
Former channel number(s)	43 Analog (1982-2009)
Former affiliations	independent (1982-1986)
Transmitter Power	1 megawatt
Height	293 m
Facility ID	5875
Transmitter Coordinates	40°38′40.5″N 89°10′45.9″W / 40.644583°N 89.179417°W / 40.644583; -89.179417
Website	www.centralillinoisproud.com

WYZZ Fox 43 is the only TV station licensed to Bloomington, Illinois. Channel 43 was founded as WBLN by members of Grace Presbyterian Church in Peoria, Illinois on October 18, 1982, but is unrelated to the old WBLN on channel 15 in the 1950s. Channel 43 was later sold to Sinclair Broadcast Group. The station is still owned by Sinclair, but is managed by Nexstar Broadcasting Group as a sister station of WMBD-TV. WYZZ's transmitter is located near a dairy farm in Congerville, Illinois.

In May 2006, Sinclair and Fox Broadcasting Company finalized a six-year affiliation contract extension for Sinclair's 19 Fox affiliates, including WYZZ. WYZZ's affiliation contract now expires in March 2012.^[1]

WYZZ-TV broadcasts digitally on UHF channel 28 and (like most Sinclair-owned stations) has been digital-only since February 17, 2009.^[2]

[edit] Current on-air personalities

• Will Koch
• Chuck Collins

The rest are reporters/anchors from WMBD-TV.

[edit] Former on-air personalities

• Maria Henneberry (News anchor)
• Mitch Robinson (creator and host of the former Fox 43 Kids Club)
• Missy (of the former Fox 43 Kids Club)

"Mitch & Emmy," creators and hosts of "The Fox 43 Kids Club" shown in 1993. More than 65,000 kids in Central Illinois were members of the club during their tenure.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] External links

• WYZZ Fox 43 - station site (shared with WMBD)
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WYZZ
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WYZZ-TV

[edit] References

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