WXFT-TV

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WXFT-TV
Aurora / Chicago, Illinois
Branding	Telefutura 60
Channels	60 (off air) (UHF) analog, 59 (off air) (UHF) digital
Affiliations	Telefutura
Owner	Univision
Founded	April 20, 1982
Call letters meaning	W C(X)hicago/Xtreme TeleFuTura (WCFT was already in use)
Former callsigns	WBBS-TV (1982-1987) WEHS (1987-2001)
Former affiliations	Independent (1982, 1985-1986) Sportvision (1982-1984) HSN (1986-2002)

WXFT-TV is a Telefutura affiliated television station offering Spanish entertainment programming such as Spanish movies, serials, comedies, children's shows, and sports. Owned by Univision, the station is licensed to Aurora, Illinois, but serves the Greater Chicago market.

[edit] History

The station began in 1982. The station was shared by a Spanish Group, and from 7 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. it was WBBS, running a Spanish programming format.

Fred Eychaner's Metrowest Corporation applied for the license in 1978, but the FCC didn't approve of it until 1982. In April 1982, WPWR Channel 60, premiered with a large percentage of its broadcast schedule dedicated to a new pay television service called Sportsvision, which Eychaner had developed in a deal with Chicago White Sox owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn. To access the service, viewers had to pay for a set top converter and subscription fees to watch their favorite baseball team. However, Sportsvision was not a success and moved to cable in January 1984. With Sportsvision gone, Eychaner ran public domain movies and old sitcoms from the early to mid 1950s as well as old cartoons. In 1984, more familiar classic sitcoms and newer barter cartoons were mixed in.

The station was something of an oddity, especially for a major market, in that it was a split-licensed station. WPWR aired from 2:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. for seven days a week. At 7 p.m., Spanish language station WBBS signed on. WBBS, owned by Marcelino Miyares and doing business as Hatco-60, broadcast a Spanish entertainment format.

However, at this point in Chicago's television history, the market could only handle two Spanish language stations. Three were on the air, including WCIU, WSNS, and WBBS. Though ratings were good for WBBS, the 1985 announcement that WSNS was affiliating with the Spanish International Network (SIN) caused WBBS to end weekday programming at the end of 1985: the exception was on the weekends when it broadcast Spanish movies into 1986.

Eychaner spent $1.5 million for WGMI, a channel 56 construction permit that had been held by a group of Indiana businessmen since 1976, but was never built. In 1982, Eychaner opted to help build Channel 60 with help from Marcelino Miyares. In 1985, Eychaner acquired the educational broadcast license for WCAE, channel 50 which belonged to Lake Central School Corporation of St. John, IN. He then swapped the licenses and channel 56 became WYIN. Channel 50 became a commercial license with plans to be put on the air and re-dubbed WPWR with Channel 60's assets. The primary reason for swapping Channel 50 and 56 was due to the Channel 50 allocation was able to go on to the Sears Tower, while 56 was not.

In early 1986, Eychaner bought WBBS's share of Channel 60 for $11 million. When Channel 50 was ready to sign on he sold Channel 60 to the Home Shopping Network (HSN) for $25 million. HSN changed the calls to WEHS and on January 17, 1987, went on the air right in the middle of a sale. At the same time, WPWR moved off channel 60 and reappeared on channel 50.

In January 1987, Silver King bought Channel 60 and ran Home Shopping Network programming. Barry Diller, who owned USA Network, acquired Silver King in the mid 1990s. The company became known by 1997 as USA Broadcasting. There were plans to convert Channel 60 to a general entertainment programming schedule, and USA almost sold to Disney (which would have made channel 60 a sister to ABC-owned WLS-TV). However, the station was sold to Univision in a group deal. As a result, WEHS switched to Univision's new network, Telefutura.

There were rumors that Tribune Company would buy WXFT-TV from Univision, essentially creating a duopoly in Chicago with CW affiliate WGN-TV (channel 9). However, the Tribune Company is now selling off TV stations in order to reduce debt (notably in Atlanta and Boston). Tribune acquiring more stations is considered unlikely to happen.

WXFT's 100,000 watt transmitter on the 101st floor of the Sears Tower malfunctioned in the early hours of December 6, 2006, causing an alarm which forced action by the Chicago Fire Department to extinguish the smoldering equipment [1]. The transmitter was destroyed, leaving only one-half power available. The station was also still available via cable due to a direct connection to local cable systems. A new transmitter was commissioned on January 11th, 2007, restoring normal operation.

[edit] External links

• Query the FCC's TV station database for WXFT-TV