WFXR-TV
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| WFXR-TV / WWCW | |
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| WFXR: Roanoke, Virginia WWCW: Lynchburg, Virginia |
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| Branding | Fox 21 and 27 CW 5 (DT2) |
| Slogan | Your First News |
| Channels | Analog: WFXR: 27 (UHF) WWCW: 21 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | Fox The CW (DT2) |
| Owner | Grant Broadcasting System II, Inc. (WFXR: GB Roanoke Licensing, LLC) (WWCW: GB Lynchburg Licensing, LLC) |
| First air date | WFXR: 1988 WWCW: March 23, 1986 |
| Call letters’ meaning | WFXR: FoX Roanoke WWCW: The CW |
| Former callsigns | WFXR: WVFT (1988-1993) WWCW: WJPR (1986-2006) |
| Former affiliations | WFXR: independent (1988-1993) WWCW: independent (1986) |
| Transmitter Power | WFXR: 2690 kW (analog) 400 kW (digital) WWCW: 4170 kW (analog) 400 kW (digital) |
| Height | WFXR: 607 m (analog) 594 m (digital) WWCW: 500 m (analog) 500.3 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | WFXR: 24813 WWCW: 24812 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | WFXR: WWCW: |
| Website | www.fox2127.com |
WFXR-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station in Roanoke, Virginia. The station broadcasts its analog signal on UHF channel 27 and its digital signal on UHF channel 17. WFXR's transmitter is located on Poor Mountain in Roanoke County.
WFXR operates a full-time satellite, WWCW in Lynchburg, Virginia. WWCW broadcasts its analog signal on UHF channel 21 and its digital signal on UHF channel 20. WWCW's transmitter is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains 10 miles west of Bedford.
Together, the two stations are known on-air as "Fox 21 / 27" (though WFXR is the main station) and are owned by Grant Broadcasting System II. The station's main studios are located in Roanoke while additional offices are located in Lynchburg. WFXR & WWCW operate the area's CW affiliate on their DT2 digital subchannels, making the station group one of only four Fox affiliates in the United States that are also affiliated with The CW via digital subchannel; KHON-TV of Honolulu, Hawaii, WTLH of Tallahassee, Florida and WFFF in Vermont are the others. WFXR is also offered on Cox cable channel 5 which is why the affiliate is known on-air as "CW 5".
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[edit] History
The channel 27 frequency in Roanoke was originally home to WROV-TV, which operated from late 1952 until early 1953. It was the first UHF station in the country to go dark after less than three months on the air. Southwest Virginia is very mountainous and the difficulties faced by UHF stations at the time were magnified by the area's rugged terrain. Its facilities were eventually sold to the Times-World Corporation to launch its new station, WDBJ-TV in 1955.
Also appearing on the channel 27 frequency was WRFT, which was known to have broadcasted from the early 1960s to 1974 as an ABC affiliate. At the time, the area's primary ABC affiliate, WLVA-TV in Lynchburg (now WSET-TV), provided only marginal coverage of Roanoke.
The current incarnation of channel 27 debuted in 1988 as independent station WVFT.
In 1984, Jefferson-Pilot Communications (now Lincoln Financial Media) launched WJPR as an independent station on channel 21, with the callsign meaning Jefferson Pilot Radio. In 1986, WJPR became a charter FOX affiliate.
On September 15, 1993, Milt Grant bought WJPR and WVFT, and began airing the same programming on both stations with WVFT serving as the main station. Although channel 21 decently covers Roanoke, it doesn't provide a strong signal to the New River Valley (despite its 4.1 million-watt ERP). The two stations provide a strong combined signal with 60% overlap. In October of 1993, WVFT was renamed WFXR-TV.
In 1996, Fox 21/27 approached NBC affiliate WSLS-TV on the topic of a "news sharing agreement". The deal would allow WSLS to produce a 10 PM newscast for Fox 21/27. They had originally approached CBS affiliate WDBJ with a similar idea, but nothing came of it. "The FOX 10 O'Clock News" with Frances Scott and John Carlin premiered on October 28, 1996.
On June 30, 2006, the call letters of WJPR were changed to WWCW. The new call letters matched the new affiliation agreement with The CW, which appears on both stations' digital subcarriers (see below). FOX will continue to be on both WFXR and WWCW, with both analog and digital signals. This drew the ire of some people who were used to the WJPR calls, as well as of those who think the WWCW calls should only be used if that station's analog channel is a CW affiliate as well. At present, Grant has no announced plans to split off the two stations and make channel 21 solely a CW station.
[edit] "WBVA-TV" "WB 5"
WFXB & WWCW operated the area's cable-only WB affiliate known by the fictional calls of "WBVA-TV". It was offered on Cox cable channel 5 and as a result was known on-air as "WB 5". When WWCW's digital signal signed on in April of 2002, WBVA was the sole programming aired on it (Fox was added and WBVA made a subchannel in early 2003). The WB affiliate was also offered on DirecTV and Dish Network. When WFXR's digital signal began airing programming in December 2003, it aired both Fox and WBVA in the same arrangement as WWCW.
On January 24, 2006, the UPN and WB networks announced that they would end broadcasting and merge. The newly combined network would be called The CW, the letters representing the first initial of its corporate parents CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner.
On March 28, 2006, it was announced that WBVA would become the area's CW affiliate. To reflect this, the fictional WBVA calls were changed to "WCW5-TV" in June of 2006. The CW began broadcasting on September 18, 2006 which is when the affiliate changed its branding to "CW 5".
WFXR and WWCW's digital signals are arranged separately when it comes to high definition TV.
WFXR offers FOX programming in HD format, and CW programming in standard definition format. WWCW offers CW programming in HD, and FOX programming in SD. [1]
[edit] Newscasts
WFXR & WWCW's daily 10 PM newscast is produced by the area's NBC affiliate WSLS. This is a result of a news share agreement between the stations. The newscast is simulcasted on "CW 5". Whenever FOX programming or sports delays the broadcast of the 10 PM newscasts on WFXR & WWCW, it is aired on "CW 5".
[edit] Newscast Titles
- FOX 21/27 The Ten O'Clock News (1996-1998)
- FOX 21/27 Ten O'Clock News (1998-Present)
[edit] External links
- Station Website
- "WCW5-TV" "CW 5" Website
- WSLS Website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WFXR
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WWCW
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WFXR1 (construction permit for a WFXR booster in Lynchburg)
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WJPR (construction permit for a WWCW booster in Roanoke)
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WFXR-TV
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WWCW-TV
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