WREX
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WREX, channel 13, is the NBC television affiliate serving the Rockford, Illinois, US area. It is the market's only full-powered VHF station and is Rockford's second oldest television station. Its studios and transmitter are located on Auburn Road west of Rockford. The station has been owned by Quincy Newspapers, Inc. of Quincy, Illinois since 1995.
WREX operates Stateline CW 14, a digital broadcast affiliate of The CW Television Network via The CW Plus. Stateline CW is seen on channel 14 on most Rockford area cable systems, as well as on WREX's digital subchannel 13.2.
On April 4, 2013, WREX added MeTV, on digital subchannel 13.3, that shows classic television shows.
WREX's signal reaches as far away as Madison, Milwaukee's southwestern suburbs, and the northern suburbs of Chicago.
History
WREX began operation on October 1, 1953, as an affiliate primarily of CBS and secondarily of ABC and DuMont. The station's call letters were selected in honor of Rex N. Caster, the son of the station's founding shareholder and president L.E. Caster. Rex Caster was a First Lieutenant in the United States Army who was killed in France during World War II.
Besides serving its immediate area, WREX attracted viewers early on in its history from parts of the neighboring Madison, Wisconsin area. In fact, the two areas still share overlapping coverage among their television stations, especially in Rock County, Wisconsin (technically in the Madison television market), and that market's ABC affiliate, WKOW (channel 27) is a sister station to WREX, assisting with newsgathering in the northern part of the Rockford market. Until Madison's WISC-TV signed on in 1956, WREX was the only VHF station for both the Rockford and Madison areas.
During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.[1] In 1963, the station was sold to the Gannett Company; during the mid-1960s, WREX was briefly co-owned with the Rockford Register Star. WREX became a full-time ABC affiliate in 1965, when WCEE-TV signed on the air. In 1966, WREX became the first television station in Rockford to broadcast in color.
The station was sold in 1969 to the Gilmore Broadcasting Corporation, owner of WEHT in Evansville, Indiana. Gilmore served as WREX's longest-standing owner. In 1987, Gilmore sold the station to ML Media Partners, L.P. In August 1995, Quincy Newspapers purchased WREX and switched network affiliations with WTVO.
Digital television
Digital channels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WREXNBC | Main WREX programming / NBC |
| 13.2 | 720p | WREXCW | Stateline CW | |
| 13.3 | 480i | 4:3 | WREXME | MeTV |
Analog-to-digital conversion
WREX shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 13, at 12:30 p.m. on February 17, 2009, the original target date in which full-power television stations in the United States were to transition from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 54, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition, to its analog-era VHF channel 13 for post-transition operations.[3][4]
News operation
WREX was named the 2013 Outstanding News Operation by the Illinois Associated Press. WREX airs almost 22 hours worth of newscasts a week, with two hours weekday mornings at 5:00; 30 minutes on weekdays at noon, 5, and 6; 35 minutes weekdays at 10; 30 minutes Saturdays at 6 and 10, and 30 minutes Sunday at 10. Minute-and-a-half news/weather updates also air throughout the day weekdays on Stateline CW 14.
WREX has a unique partnership with The Rockford Register Star, the city's daily newspaper. Staff of the newspaper appear often on WREX's news programs. In return, the newspaper promotes upcoming news stories and programming on Channel 13. WREX also has a partnership with Mid-West Family Broadcasting radio stations in the Rockford market. WREX provides weather reports for the stations and in return the radio stations provide promotion for WREX's programming.
WREX began to air newscasts in high-definition on December 12, 2010, the second in the Rockford market after WIFR and the third in the Quincy Newspapers station group after KWWL and WKOW.
See also
- Channel 13 digital TV stations in the United States
- Channel 13 virtual TV stations in the United States
- Channel 14 branded TV stations in the United States
References
- ^ "Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films", Boxoffice: 13, November 10, 1956
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WREX
- ^ http://www.wrex.com/Global/story.asp?S=9791969
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.