WXCW
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WXCW | |
|---|---|
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| Naples / Fort Myers, Florida | |
| Branding | CW 6 WINK News Now |
| Channels | Analog: 46 (UHF) Digital: 45 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | The CW |
| Owner | Sun Broadcasting |
| First air date | August 14, 1986 |
| Call letters’ meaning | Channel SiX The CW |
| Sister station(s) | WARO-FM WINK-TV WINK-AM / WNOG-AM WNTY-FM WTLT-FM |
| Former callsigns | WNPL-TV (1990-1995) WTVK (1995-2007) |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1986-1995) UPN (1995-1998) The WB (1998-2006) |
| Transmitter Power | 5,000 kW (analog) 1,000 kW (digital) |
| Height | 456 m (both) |
| Facility ID | 61504 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | cw6tv.com |
WXCW, channel 46, is the CW-affiliated television station for Southwest Florida, licensed to Naples . Its transmitter is located north of Fort Myers Shores near the Lee and Charlotte County line. Locally owned by Sun Broadcasting, the station is sister to CBS affiliate WINK-TV. That station is also locally owned by the Fort Myers Broadcasting Company who operates WXCW through a shared service agreement (SSA). The two stations share studios on Palm Beach Boulevard (a.k.a. S.R. 80) in Fort Myers. WXCW is located on Comcast channel 6 and, as a result, is known on-air as CW 6.
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[edit] Overview
Along with CW prime time, syndicated programming on WXCW includes: Two and a Half Men, King of Queens, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Family Guy and Judge Judy. The station also airs Miami Dolphins preseason football games from WFOR-TV in Miami and SEC football and basketball games from Raycom Sports. WXCW is one of two major Fort Myers-based stations licensed to Naples (the other one being ABC affiliate WZVN-TV). In addition to being offered over-the-air, WXCW's high definition signal is located on Comcast digital cable channel 206 or 236.
[edit] History
The station began broadcasting on August 14, 1986 as WNPL-TV. It was the second independent station in Southwest Florida. Channel 46 was beset with problems early on, most notably finding programming. As late as 1993, station personnel were often going to a local video store and renting public domain videos to play on the station. Often, the station's graphics were misplaced and the status of WNPL was constantly in doubt. From 1993 until 1998, the station carried Florida Marlins baseball games from WBFS-TV in Miami. It also aired Orlando Magic basketball during much of this time.
The situation changed on January 15, 1995 when the station joined UPN as a charter affiliate. It changed its call letters to WTVK in September of that year. Those calls were previously used on what is now WVLT-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee. With a network backing it up, the station was able to change program content and strengthen its signal. In 1998, WTVK switched its UPN affiliation with the area's cable-only WB affiliate "WNFM". It adopted the on-air moniker WB 6. On January 24, 2006, UPN and The WB announced that they cease broadcasting and merge. The new 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 February 22, News Corporation announced that they would start up another network called MyNetworkTV. The new network, which would be sister to FOX, would be operated by FOX Television Stations and its syndication division Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming independent. It was also created to compete against The CW. On March 9, Acme announced that most of its WB stations, including WTVK, would affiliate with The CW. However, it was likely that WTVK would receive the CW affiliation without the corporate deal. The area's UPN affiliate, WNFM was a cable-only station with a low-powered, over-the-air repeater. WNFM eventually joined MyNetworkTV which began broadcasting on September 5. WTVK began broadcasting The CW on September 18. On that date, WTVK became known on-air as CW 6.
Back on May 15, 2006, Acme Communications announced that it would sell WTVK to Sun Broadcasting, a local broadcaster owned by Joe Schwartzel, who also owns several radio stations in Southwest Florida under another corporation, Meridian Broadcasting. The sale was finalized on February 16, 2007. On March 2, after Sun Broadcasting assumed control, the station changed its call letters to the current WXCW. After that, WXCW moved from its Bonita Springs studios to WINK-TV's facilities in Fort Myers. Although the sale was finalized, Acme's website still listed the station as one of their owned stations for about two months afterward. WXCW's website is currently under construction. In September of 2008, WXCW will add two new syndicated game shows: Deal or No Deal and Trivial Pursuit.
[edit] News operation
The station airs the first hour of the nationally syndicated morning show, The Daily Buzz, during the week from 6 to 7 A.M. Starting on March 26, 2007, WINK-TV began producing a nightly 10 o'clock newscast on WXCW. This was the third 10 o'clock news established in the market after FOX affiliate WFTX and WNFM. Right from the start, it emerged as the #2 ranked 10 P.M. production in the area. On May 25, the WZVN-produced WNFM news stopped airing. This was the result of Comcast's frequent technical difficulties, which hindered on the show's ratings, and the popularity of the WXCW production.
Beginning on October 20, WINK-TV was the first station in Southwest Florida to broadcast local news in high definition. The station purchased new high definition studio cameras, field cameras, weather computers, and graphics to complete the launch. The WXCW broadcasts were also included in the upgrade. On January 7, 2008, WINK-TV added a two-hour extension of its weekday morning news on WXCW. This displaced the second and third hours of The Daily Buzz. WXCW also began to rebroadcast WINK News Now at Noon at 1 P.M.
[edit] News teams
The Daily Buzz
(Weekday Mornings 6 to 7 A.M.)
- Anchors:
- Andy Campbell
- Andrea Jackson
- News Updates:
- Kia Malone
- Weather:
- Mitch English
WINK News Now This Morning
(Weekday Mornings 7 to 9 A.M.)
- Anchors:
- Rob Spicker
- Sarah Augusthy
- Weather:
- Brian Monahan
- Traffic:
- Miriam Zamorano
WINK News Now at Noon
(Weekdays 1 to 2 P.M.)
- Anchor:
- Lindsay Liepman
- Weather:
- Brian Monahan
WINK News Now at 10 (10 to 10:30 P.M.)
Weeknights
- Anchors:
- Trey Radel
- Stacey Adams
- Weather:
- Scott Zedeker
Weekends
- Anchors:
- Jeremiah Jacobsen
- Weather:
- Amanda McDonald
- Sports:
- Randy Scott
WXCW uses additional news personnel from WINK-TV. See that article for a complete listing.
[edit] Logos
 WTVK's "WB 6" logo. |
 Former "CW 6" logo used under Acme Broadcasting ownership. |
 Current WXCW "CW 6" logo. |
[edit] External links
- WXCW "CW 6"
- WINK-TV/DT
- The CW
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WXCW
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WXCW-TV
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