| Evansville, Indiana | |
|---|---|
| Branding | Fox 44 |
| Channels | Digital: WEVV-DT 45.2 (UHF) Virtual: 44.2 (PSIP) |
| Translators | W47EE-D Evansville (HD simulcast of 44.2) |
| Affiliations | Fox (primary) MyNetworkTV (secondary) |
| Owner | Communications Corporation of America (ComCorp of Indiana License Corporation) |
| First air date | September 2006 |
| Call letters' meaning | see WEVV-TV |
| Transmitter power | 500 kW |
| Height | 288 m |
| Facility ID | 72041 |
| Website | www.fox44tv.com/ |
WEVV-DT2 is the primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV television station for Evansville, Indiana. It is the second digital subchannel of CBS affiliate WEVV-TV, owned by Communications Corporation of America. Over-the-air, the station broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 45.2 (or virtual channel 44.2 via PSIP) from a transmitter located in Henderson, Kentucky. The station also operates W47EE-D, a low-power digital translator licensed to Evansville, that relays WEVV-DT2's programming in high definition. The subchannel can also be seen on Insight channel 119, WOW! channel 3 and digital channel 103, Mediacom channel 7 and Dish Network channel 45. There is a high definition feed offered on Insight digital channel 915 and WOW! digital channel 803.
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Prior to WEVV-DT2 taking the Fox affiliation, WEVV-TV was the original affiliate for the network in the Evansville market from its 1986 launch until December 3, 1995, when WTVW (channel 7) ended its 39-year affiliation with ABC and affiliated with Fox, following the network's purchase of a 20% equity stake in then-owner Petracom Communications that year.[1]; this saw WTVW, WEVV and then-CBS affiliate WEHT (channel 25) enter into a three-way affiliation swap that also saw ABC move to WEHT and CBS move from WEHT to WEVV.
The subchannel's history began in September 2006, when WEVV began broadcasting a high definition digital signal; at the time, a digital subchannel was added on channel 44.2, which served as a primary affiliate of MyNetworkTV (which is owned by Fox's parent company News Corporation) and was a simulcast of low-power station WTSN-LP, branded as "MyTSN". In 2009, the relationship with WTSN-LP ended after the station affiliated with America One and channel 44.2 changed its branding to My44.
On May 11, 2011, Fox announced that it would end its 16-year affiliation with WTVW and signed an affiliation agreement with WEVV-DT2 to carry Fox programming effective July 1, 2011; the move came about as Fox has been aggressively seeking a share of retransmission earnings gained by its affiliates as part of affiliation agreements, the amount Fox demanded its affiliates share with the network had openly irked WTVW's owner Nexstar Broadcasting Group, and saw Nexstar lose Fox affiliations with stations in Springfield, Missouri and Fort Wayne, Indiana; Nexstar also decided to end the Fox affilation with WFXW in Terre Haute, Indiana changing its affiliation to ABC. Locally, WTVW decided to become an independent station.[2]
As a result, the five full-power commercial station Evansville market is one of the only television markets in the United States with four out of the six broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and The CW) having primary affiliations, the remaining two (Fox and the MyNetworkTV program service) as digital multicast channels, and the analog-era VHF station being unaffiliated with a network compared to the market's UHF stations.[3] Shortly before affiliating with Fox, WEVV began working with all of the market's cable and satellite providers to place WEVV-DT2's high definition signal on their systems, and move the station's standard definition channel from the extended digital lifeline tier to the basic tier which all cable subscribers in the area can receive.
On June 8, 2011, WEVV decided to rebrand the subchannel as Fox 44, instead of the previously announced branding of MyFox 44. The logo resembles that of its fellow Comcorp-owned Fox affiliates such as WGMB in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, KMSS-TV in Shreveport, Louisiana and KWKT in Waco, Texas, though with a plain midpoint bullet between calls and city rather than a decorative outline, and continuing to use WEVV's longtime "44" logo. On June 24, 2011, WEVV-TV signed on a new digital low-power station on channel 47. [4][5] [6] This translator, which will eventually hold the callsign W47EE-D, will be used to air the Fox and MyNetworkTV schedules in 720p high definition to cable and satellite providers and local over-the-air viewers in the immediate Evansville/Henderson area. WEVV-DT2 will continue to broadcast its schedule solely in 480i standard definition, and in widescreen to meet Fox's minimum requirements for airing of their programming; on analog sets, the screen is rendered in letterboxed 4:3. The use of W47EE-D would avert viewer complaints about reductions in picture quality on WEVV's main channel from a combined shared signal broadcast in 1080i/720p HD, while still allowing ComCorp to provide Fox in high definition to the main part of the market and standard definition service to the remainder of WEVV's coverage area for viewers watching the station over-the-air.
When WEVV-DT2 was announced as the new Fox affiliate for Evansville, ComCorp sought carriage agreements from local cable and satellite providers in the Tri-State region that did not carry the channel to add it to their channel lineups. Dish Network wound up engaged in a carriage dispute with ComCorp, Dish claimed ComCorp proposed a 325-350% carriage fee increase over what Dish had paid WTVW to carry that station[7]; this prevented Dish Network customers from being able to view WEVV-DT2 (including sporting events televised by Fox such as first five weeks of the 2011 National Football Conference season, the 2011 American League Division Series and the early rounds of the 2011 American League Championship Series), unless they switched to DirecTV, a cable prodvider (such as Time Warner Cable or Mediacom) or view the subchannel over-the-air. After a stalemate that lasted 104 days, ComCorp and Dish Network reached a carriage agreement on October 14, 2011; WEVV-DT2 was added on channel 45 for subscribers in the Evansville market.[8]
Since the subchannel added the Fox affiliation on July 1, 2011, MyNetworkTV programming moved from the 7-9 p.m. primetime slot to 9-11 p.m. immediately following Fox programming.[9] Syndicated programming on WEVV-DT2 includes Jerry Springer, Maury, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Cold Case, Frasier, TMZ and How I Met Your Mother among others. Since WEVV-TV does not have a news operation, WEVV-DT2 is one of the few Fox affiliates in the country that does not carry any local newscasts, though WeatherVision does provide weather content for both WEVV-TV and WEVV-DT2.
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