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WFTX-TV

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WFTX-TV
CityCape Coral, Florida
Channels
BrandingFox 4 (general)
Fox 4 News (newscasts)
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
October 14, 1985 (38 years ago) (1985-10-14)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
36 (UHF, 1985–2009)
Digital:
35 (UHF, until 2020)
Independent (1985–1986)
Call sign meaning
"Family Television X"; a variation on originally co-owned WFTS-TV in Tampa[1]
Technical information[2]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID70649
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT391 m (1,283 ft)
Transmitter coordinates26°47′39.7″N 81°48′4″W / 26.794361°N 81.80111°W / 26.794361; -81.80111
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.fox4now.com

WFTX-TV, virtual channel 36 (UHF digital channel 34), is a Fox-affiliated television station serving Fort Myers and Naples, Florida, United States that is licensed to Cape Coral. The station is owned by the Cincinnati-based E. W. Scripps Company. WFTX-TV's studios are located on Southwest Pine Island Road (SR 78) in Cape Coral, and its transmitter is located near Punta Gorda (east of I-75/SR 93) near the Charlotte and Lee county line.

The station is branded as Fox 4, in reference to its channel location on most cable systems in the market.

History

In 1982, interest began in the channel 36 allocation to Cape Coral. In 1984, out of four applications, a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) administrative law judge gave the nod to Florida Family Broadcasting Limited, which included one Native American and one Asian investor, over three other groups seeking the construction permit.[3] Florida Family—a company associated with Family Group Broadcasting, which two years prior had signed on WFTS-TV in Tampa—had to settle with the other applicants, a process that look longer than expected.[4]

Construction work began in April,[5] and after a prolonged construction marked by delays due to high winds, WFTX-TV started broadcasting on October 14, 1985.[6] It was the first independent station in Southwest Florida, and from the start, it aired on channel 4 on most systems.[6] Within a year of building WFTX-TV, Family Group sold it for $17 million to Terre Haute, Indiana-based Wabash Valley Broadcasting, controlled by the family of Tony Hulman; Wabash Valley, which owned WTHI-TV in its home town of Terre Haute, had also agreed to purchase WBSP-TV in Ocala earlier that year.[7][8]

Even though it was on the air in 1985, a full studio facility was not completed until 1987; that same year, the station affiliated with Fox (partly to prevent new independent WNPL-TV channel 46 from doing so) and extended its coverage north with an increase in tower height.[9] WFTX even pitched ABC on defecting from its affiliate, perennial third-place station WEVU-TV, in 1988.[10] With Fox, channel 36's programming rapidly grew in ratings. Its first major local program, the consumer series Troubleshooter, was outdrawing national and local newscasts by 1991;[11]

the station was originally owned by Family Group Broadcasting, which had previously owned WFTS-TV in Tampa, from which the WFTX call letters are derived. WFTX became a charter affiliate of Fox on October 9, 1986. Family Group Broadcasting sold the station to Terre Haute, Indiana-based Wabash Valley Broadcasting, controlled by the family of Tony Hulman, that December.[12] Under Wabash Valley Broadcasting, elements of the station closely paralleled that of Wabash Valley's flagship station in Terre Haute, WTHI-TV; the two stations used the same voice-over announcer and identical logos, and one of WTHI's news anchors subsequently transferred to WFTX.

The station changed hands again in 1998, when Emmis Communications purchased the assets of Wabash Valley Broadcasting, giving Emmis its first television stations.[13] From 2002 to 2005, WFTX's master control and other internal operations were controlled from a regional hub located at the company's WKCF in Lake Mary, near Orlando.[14] Emmis exited the television business in 2005, with Journal Broadcast Group acquiring WFTX and two other stations.[15]

On July 30, 2014, it was announced that the E. W. Scripps Company would acquire Journal Communications in an all-stock transaction and spin off the combined company's print assets. The deal made WFTX a sister station once again to WFTS and also NBC affiliate WPTV-TV in West Palm Beach.[16] The FCC approved the deal on December 12, 2014. It was approved by shareholders on March 11, 2015, closing on April 1.

News operation

In 1992, WFTX announced it would start a local news service in 1993.[17] The first 10 p.m. newscast aired on October 10, 1993,[18] In its first year, the Associated Press selected WFTX as having the best medium-market newscast in the state of Florida.[19] A 6 p.m. program was added in 1995, incorporating the previously separate Troubleshooter show;[20] low ratings prompted its cancellation in 2000.[21]

After the sale to Journal, WFTX expanded its news department with a focus on consumer advocacy and investigative reporting. A weekday morning newscast titled Fox 4 News Rising subsequently debuted in the fall of 2006; the station launched an 11 p.m. newscast in 2007 and a 6 p.m. show in 2010.[22] A 5 p.m. hour has since been added.

Due to the highly competitive nature of the Fort Myers–Naples market, WFTX's flagship 10 p.m. newscast has attracted competition over the years. In August 2006 when ABC affiliate WZVN-TV (channel 26) announced that it would launch a nightly primetime newscast on cable-only MyNetworkTV affiliate "WNFM". On March 26, 2007, CBS affiliate WINK-TV (channel 11) entering into the 10 p.m. race with its own broadcast on CW affiliate WXCW. Right from the start, this emerged as a strong second-place finisher to WFTX's longer-established newscast, building on WINK-TV's longtime status as the most watched station in the market. On May 25 after only eight months on-the-air, the nightly WZVN-produced newscasts on WNFM were dropped, due to Comcast's frequent technical difficulties (the cable provider operates the MyNetworkTV affiliate) which hindered in the program's ratings, as well as the success of the WXCW production. To take on the big three stations, WFTX began airing an hour-long weeknight 6 p.m. newscast on August 2, 2010, with the second half competing against the national evening news programs on WZVN, WBBH and WINK.

Notable former on-air staff

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP short name Programming [24]
36.1 720p 16:9 WFTX-DT Main WFTX-TV programming / Fox
36.2 480i 4:3 Bounce Bounce TV
36.3 Court TV Court TV
36.4 Grit Grit
36.5 16:9 Ion Television

Analog-to-digital conversion

WFTX-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 36, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The shutdown occurred during the opening scene of an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.[25] The station's digital signal continues to broadcast on its pre-transition UHF channel 35;[26][27] it uses PSIP to display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 36.

See also

References

  1. ^ Erickson, Michael (February 21, 1986). "Looking between the letters". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 1D, 6D. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WFTX-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  3. ^ "Charlotte County investors win license for Cape Coral TV station". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. September 13, 1984. p. 1B. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Leighton, Brian (October 13, 1984). "Group seeking Cape TV license given more time for settlement". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 1B, 3B. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Sabo, William (April 2, 1985). "Council approves Cape TV station". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 1B. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b Rinella, Frank (October 15, 1985). "TV station finally gets signal across". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 1B. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "TV station in Cape purchased". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. July 12, 1986. p. 5B. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "TV station sold". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. September 12, 1986. p. 1C. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Zoldan, Sheldon (March 9, 1987). "WFTX-TV commits $1 million for tower, studio improvements". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. Business 8. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Zoldan, Sheldon (June 30, 1988). "TV-36 wants ABC to switch channel". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 1A, 8A. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Berg McClure, Christy (May 12, 1991). "Sly like a fox: Some innovative TV programming moves WFTX up". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 1E, [v 2E]. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Broadcasting & Cable Market Place (PDF). 1992. p. B-15. Retrieved March 22, 2011.
  13. ^ Jerse, Dorothy (April 5, 2008). "LOOKING BACK: 1983-Terre Haute receives 13 mentions in new state promotional booklet". Tribune-Star. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
  14. ^ Kerschbaumer, Ken (April 1, 2002). "Emmis shares hub". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  15. ^ Romano, Allison (December 1, 2005). "Emmis Completes Deal for Six TVs". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  16. ^ Glauber, Bill (30 July 2014). "Journal, Scripps deal announced". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  17. ^ "Fine Tuning: WFTX, FOX trot to TV success". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. September 4, 1992. p. 59. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. {{cite news}}: More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help)
  18. ^ Strauss, Larry A. (October 10, 1993). "News faces: WFTX-TV joins local broadcast battle". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 1F, 4F. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Strauss, Larry A. (April 22, 1994). "Classy jazz, piano shows light up Phil". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. Gulf Coasting 2. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Strauss, Larry A. (August 1, 1995). "Time for change in news shows at WFTX, WBBH". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 1D. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Scott, Denise L. (June 6, 2000). "WFTX drops 6 p.m. newscast". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 1B. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Gauthier, Andrew (May 10, 2010). "In Fort Meyers, WFTX Enters 6pm News Competition". TVSpy. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference faces was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WFTX#station
  25. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Fort Myers TV Stations Switch Off Analog (2009)". YouTube.
  26. ^ [1]
  27. ^ CDBS Print
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