WXIX-TV
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WXIX-TV, channel 19, is a television station licensed to Newport, Kentucky, serving as the Fox Broadcasting Company affiliate for the Cincinnati, Ohio television market. WXIX is owned by Raycom Media, with studios and transmitter located in Cincinnati.
History
The station began operation on August 1, 1968, owned by James Lang and partners. It was the first new commercial station in the market since 1949, and the second UHF station in the area (behind PBS member WCET).
While WXIX was running test transmissions before its inaugural broadcast, the station intermittently aired "mini-shows" featuring The Larry Smith Puppets promoting the sale of UHF converters which can be used with pre-1964 television sets which were only equipped to receive VHF signals at the time. Larry Smith and his puppets (a witch named "Battie Hattie from Cincinnati" and her dog "Snarfy" among other characters) later hosted a daytime children's program in the weekday afternoons for several years. Afterward, "The Cool Ghoul" [1] – played by Dick VonHoene, known for his weekend late night sci-fi/monster movie program "Scream-In" – also hosted a weekday children's show in the afternoons.
Channel 19 was sold to U.S. Communications in 1970, and then to Metromedia in 1972. Metromedia's deep pockets helped WXIX develop as a strong-performing general entertainment independent station, airing cartoons, off-network sitcoms, first-run talk shows, dramas, movies and talk shows. After nearly a decade on air, it finally received competition in 1980 with the launch of WBTI (channel 64, now WSTR-TV), which ran general entertainment and religious programing before 6 p.m., and subscription TV at night. However, that competition was short-lived, ending when WBTI became a full-time subscription station by 1982. The over-air subscription TV pheonomeon occurred in larger markets in the U.S. where cable had yet to penetrate city centers before the late 1980s.
Malrite Broadcasting bought channel 19 in 1983. It remained the leading independent station in the market, even after WBTI returned to full-time general entertainment programming in 1986. By that time, WXIX had become a charter affiliate of the Fox network (which, coincidentally, was based around some of WXIX's former Metromedia sister stations). The station changed its on-air branding from "19xix" to "Fox 19" in 1996.
The station launched a 10 p.m. newscast in 1993 and a morning newscast in 1997. It also aired a newscast at 11:30 a.m. during the late 1990s. The station will begin airing newscasts at 6:30 pm Monday through Friday starting on August 11th. WXIX partnered with WBQC-TV to air channel 19's evening newscast during the University of Cincinnati basketball season. However, with that station no longer on basic cable in Northern Kentucky or Southwest Ohio, these newscasts are seen on Insight Communications' channel 6 in Kentucky and on Time Warner Cable channel 2 in Ohio. WXIX no longer broadcasts [[University of Cincinnati] football or basketball games.
In 1998 all Malrite's TV stations, including WXIX, were acquired by Raycom Media, which still owns WXIX today.
On January 31, 2007, WXIX announced that meteorologist Paul Horton would become the chief meteorologist. Horton decided to leave channel 19 on August 7, 2007, to take the morning meteorologist position at CBS affiliate KPHO-TV in Phoenix.
On August 21, 2007, WXIX announced that they plan to offer their newscasts in high definition on August 9 2008.
On March 17, 2008, it was announced that WKRC-TV am Meteorologist Steve Horstmeyer will be leaving that station effective March 31st. He has accepted the position of Chief Meteorologist at WXIX and will start on August 7, 2008. [1]
Digital television
WXIX-DT
WXIX-DT broadcasts on digital channel 29.
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 19.1 / 29.1 | main WXIX-TV/Fox programming |
Post-analog shutdown
After the analog television shutdown and digital conversion, which is tentatively scheduled to take place on February 17, 2009[2], WXIX-TV will remain on its current pre-transition channel number, 29. [3] However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display WXIX's virtual channel as 19.
Notable WXIX alumni
- Lynsay Clutter, reporter (now at WTHR in Indianapolis)
- Gene Cox, weekend anchor (now at WXIN in Indianapolis)
- Chris Rose, sports intern (now on Fox Sports Net's Best Damn Sports Show Period)
- Jonathan Freed, reporter/anchor (now correspondent for CNN's Chicago bureau)
- Kevin Frazier, sports reporter/anchor (now weekend host for Entertainment Tonight)
- Rich Apuzzo, meteorologist, (now owner/operator/meteorologist at http://skyeyeweather.com)
- Dick VonHoene, news anchor and news director in the early days of WXIX; also known as the "Cool Ghoul", host of a late night weekend horror movie show in the early 1970s.
Current news staff
- Tricia Macke
- Jack Atherton
- Brian Gisenschlag
- Zach Wells
- Regina Russo
- Frank Marzullo
- Kristie Dutton
- Pat Barry
- Shelia Gray
- Rob Williams
- Dan Carroll
- Corey McConnell
- Megan Mongillo
- Dan Wells