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WXXV-TV

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WXXV-TV is the primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV affiliated television station for the Mississippi Gulf Coast that is licensed to Gulfport. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 48 (or virtual channel 25.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Wire Road East, in unincorporated Stone County, northeast of McHenry. Owned by Morris Multimedia, WXXV has studios on U.S. 49 in Lyman (with a Gulfport postal address). Syndicated programming on the station includes The Dr. Oz Show, The Big Bang Theory, Family Feud, and The Doctors among others.

Digital channels

Channel Video Aspect PSIP short name Programming [1]
25.1 720p 16:9 WXXV Main WXXV-TV programming / Fox & MyNetworkTV
25.2 WXXV-NBC WXXV-DT2 / NBC
25.3 WXXV-CW Gulf Coast CW

History

The station signed on February 14, 1987 as the market's third television outlet (after WLOX and WMAH-TV). It was originally owned by Gulf Coast Television Ltd. Airing an analog signal on UHF channel 25, WXXV was Mississippi's third Independent to launch after WDBD in Jackson and WNTZ-TV in Natchez. Gulf Coast Television sold the station to Am-South Realty, a subsidiary of AmSouth Bank in 1989. It would not join Fox as the area's first affiliate until 1990. Prime Cities Broadcasters bought the station in 1991. Prior to that, cable systems piped in WNOL-TV from New Orleans, Louisiana or WPMI-TV in Mobile, Alabama for Fox programming. WXXV aired the ABC crime drama NYPD Blue starting in 1994 when local ABC affiliate WLOX refused to air the show. From January 1995 until September 2006, the station also featured some limited UPN programming out-of-pattern through a secondary relation. Prime Cities Broadcasters sold the station to current owner Morris Multimedia in 1997.

A new second digital subchannel was launched in September 2006 to be the area's MyNetworkTV affiliate. Now considered a programming service rather than a true over-the-air broadcast network, it is a sister operation to Fox. WXXV's broadcasts became digital-only on February 17, 2009.[2] The station continues to broadcast on digital channel 48.[3] However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display WXXV's virtual channel as 25. The station was added to DirecTV's local station offering on June 16, 2010.

The station also served as the Hattiesburg/Laurel market's longtime default Fox affiliate. WXXV's transmitter tower site and directional antenna pattern are strategically located and designed to enable the station to cover the entire southern half of Mississippi, including the Gulf Coast and Pine Belt regions. In addition, WXXV could be picked up locally on Comcast in the Pine Belt. On October 13, 2011, low-powered WHPM-LD joined the network as the first ever Fox outlet for Hattiesburg and Laurel.

Despite the addition of that outlet to the network, Comcast in Hattiesburg and Laurel continues to offer WXXV's standard and high definition channels on its system. That market still lacks its own MyNetworkTV-affiliated station resulting in WXXV being the Pine Belt's default affiliate (through its main channel's secondary affiliation as of 2015).

On June 25, 2012, it was announced WXXV would become the market's first ever locally based NBC affiliate. The MyNetworkTV affiliation was moved to cable-exclusive status so that WXXV-DT2 could become the NBC outlet. Prior to the station adding NBC, both WDSU-TV in New Orleans and WDAM-TV in Laurel, Mississippi served as the Gulf Coast's longtime de facto affiliates on cable.[4] On January 1, 2015, WXXV took over promotional and advertising responsibilities of the market's cable-only CW affiliate "WBGP" from Cable ONE.

As a result, the service was added to a new third subchannel of WXXV in order to offer over-the-air viewers access to The CW for the first time. Although "WBGP" was seen on the basic tier Cable ONE, WXXV-DT3 is only available on digital channel 476 which was formerly the location of WXXV's cable-exclusive MyNetworkTV station. At the same time that WXXV-DT3 launched, MyNetworkTV programming moved to a secondary affiliation on WXXV's primary channel and can be seen on weeknights from 10 until midnight.[5]

News operation

The station airs all national breaking news coverage from Fox News and the network's weekly public affairs show. Unlike most Fox affiliates, however, WXXV did not operate a local news department of its own for most of its existence but has done so in two previous attempts in the past. In the early 1990s, WDBD aired a local newscast called Mississippi News Tonight which was simulcasted on WXXV. Likewise, it featured regional news and weather coverage despite being produced at WDBD's studios in Jackson. Due to low ratings and inconsistent viewership, the program was dropped from both outlets after only a year on-the-air.

For a few years in the late-1990s and early 2000s, WXXV operated its own locally based news operation from its Gulfport studios. A broadcast, known as Fox 25 News at Nine, attempted to provide another option for viewers in the market besides longtime dominant WLOX. For an unknown reason, however, this effort also eventually ceased production.

On September 30, 2013, WXXV launched an in-house news operation for the second time in its history following the expansion of its studios to house the department; the station hired fifteen personnel to staff the startup operation. Locally produced newscasts, running a half-hour in length, air on both the Fox and NBC channels in high definition under the News 25 branding. The main channel airs a weeknight prime time show at 9 while weeknight newscasts at 5:30 and 10 p.m. are seen on WXXV-DT2. NBC Nightly News is therefore aired in a half-hour tape delay at 6 which is unlike most NBC affiliates in the Central Time Zone. The NBC subchannel also carries local weather cut-ins on weekday mornings from 7 until 11 a.m. during Today. [4][6][7][8][9] The station does not maintain a sports department. On September 21, 2015, WXXV debuted an hour-long weekday morning newscast from 7-8 a.m. called News 25 Today on its main channel while it airs from 6-7 a.m. on the NBC subchannel. On September 27, 2015, it debuted a Sunday night newscast on both stations.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://wxxv.titantv.com/apg/ttv.aspx
  2. ^ http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20090207/NEWS01/902070322
  3. ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
  4. ^ a b Malone, Michael (March 22, 2012). "Exclusive: NBC Signs Affiliate For Biloxi". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  5. ^ http://www.sunherald.com/2014/12/24/5985870/wxxv-to-become-coasts-first-local.html
  6. ^ Local News to Debut on WXXV Tonight TVSpy, September 30, 2013.
  7. ^ WXXV NBC Lineup
  8. ^ WXXV Fox Lineup
  9. ^ Scallan, Melissa M. (May 25, 2013). "WXXV-TV in South Mississippi will begin local newscasts this fall". Sun Herald. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
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