| Bangor, Maine | |
|---|---|
| Branding | WFVX Fox Bangor Fox Bangor News |
| Slogan | So Fast. So Fresh. So Fox. |
| Channels | Analog: 22 (UHF) Digital: WVII-DT 7.2 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | Fox (primary) MyNetworkTV (secondary) Jewelry Television (overnights) |
| Owner | Rockfleet Broadcasting (Rockfleet Broadcasting III, LLC) |
| Founded | April 14, 2003 |
| Call letters' meaning | refers to Fox |
| Sister station(s) | WVII, WJFW-TV |
| Transmitter power | 2 kW 14 kW (WVII-DT2) |
| Height | 224 m 229 m (WVII-DT2) |
| Class | LP |
| Facility ID | 15287 3667 (WVII-DT2) |
WFVX-LP is the primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV television station for Central and Eastern Maine licensed to Bangor. It broadcasts a low-powered analog signal on UHF channel 22 from a transmitter on Black Cap Mountain along the Penobscot and Hancock County line. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 4 and in high definition on digital channel 704. Owned by Rockfleet Broadcasting, WFVX is sister to ABC affiliate WVII-TV and the two outlets share studios on Target Industrial Circle in West Bangor.
Syndicated programming on this station includes The Office, Everybody Loves Raymond, Friends and Judge Joe Brown among others. Overnight, it airs paid programming from Jewelry Television. MyNetworkTV shows can be seen Monday through Saturday nights from 11 at night until 1 the next morning. WFVX's current logo is similar to fellow Fox affiliate WNAC-TV in Providence, Rhode Island. There is no separate website for this station right now.
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In April 2001, Rockfleet Broadcasting made its first venture into UHF broadcasting by entering into a local marketing agreement (LMA) with MPBN Plus repeater W30BF (locally-owned by James McLeod). Rockfleet then changed the call letters to WCKD-LP and network affiliation to UPN. After Portland's WPXT dropped Fox for The WB, the company negotiated with Fox to convert WCKD to the network. However, UPN threatened legal action for breach of an affiliation agreement and the plan was abandoned. Despite that, WCKD did air some Fox Sports programming including Super Bowl XXXVI.
In 2003, Rockfleet purchased a new station assigned the call letters WFVX-LP. This was set up to broadcast an analog signal on channel 22 and became the Fox affiliate for Bangor. The station officially signed-on April 14 of that year and inherited WCKD's syndicated programming. The WFVX calls were previously used on WFUP in Vanderbilt, Michigan which serves as a full-time satellite of fellow Fox affiliate and former sister station WFQX-TV in Cadillac, Michigan. In early-2006, this station swapped Time Warner Cable channel positions with WB 100+ outlet "WBAN".
On December 6, 2006, it was announced WFVX would start airing programming from Fox's new sister network MyNetworkTV. This new service launched nationally back on September 5 and did not have a Bangor affiliate until WFVX added the network in a secondary nature. Besides a generic MyNetworkTV logo on its website, there is no local logo and/or branding indicating the secondary affiliation. The station's contract with Time Warner Cable to offer Fox and MyNetworkTV programming in high definition was established in September 2007 with a tentative expiration in 2011.
Until June 12, 2009, WFVX did not broadcast a digital signal of its own due to its low-powered status. On that date, WVII added a new second digital subchannel to offer a high definition feed of WFVX for off-air viewers. This station has construction permit allowing the station to perform a "flash-cut" from analog to digital on the channel 22 allotment. At this time, no date has been announced when the change will actually commence. After transitioning to digital-exclusive transmission, it will eventually adopt the call letters WFVX-LD ("LD" stands for low-powered digital). Due to its low-powered status, WFVX's current analog signal has very little penetration outside the greater Bangor area. However, it is carried on cable and satellite television as far away as Skowhegan and Bar Harbor.
There is little in the way of local programming on WFVX. A weekday morning talk show, So Goes The Nation, was met with little success. This program was hosted by fellow broadcasters Charlie Horne and Alan Silberberg from the WFVX studios in Bangor. It was carried by this station, WPFO in Portland, and WLOB radio from early-2003 until 2004. The broadcast was a three-hour call-in talk show until September 2004 when it was reduced to a single hour before being canceled altogether in November of that year. This station carried Shop at Home overnights until its closure in March 2008. In August 2008, WFVX and WVII became part of the New England Patriots Television Network and the two split airings of pre-season games. The station airs Patriots All Access Sunday mornings at 11 produced by Boston, Massachusetts's WBZ-TV. Starting in November 2009, it began airing IWE: Championship Wrestling every Saturday night.
Sister outlet WVII produces a weeknight prime time newscast on WFVX for 35 minutes. Known as The 10 PM News on Fox Bangor, the show is simulcasted on conservative talk radio station WNZS-AM 1340. Since September 18, 2006, the prime time broadcast has been competing with other local news seen for a half-hour on WABI's CW-affiliated second digital subchannel. In mid-October 2006, WVII began taping WFVX's program earlier in the evening. However, the sports report was still seen live featuring game highlights and scores. As of September 2011, WFVX has resumed airing a live prime time newscast at 10.
Although an in-house weather department existed at one point in time, WVII currently contracts with AccuWeather to produce the station's forecasts. The segments are recorded in advance and fed via satellite to Bangor from AccuWeather's headquarters on Science Park Road in State College, Pennsylvania. As a result, the station may not cover all severe weather events or be too late in doing so when conditions warrant. Meteorologists will sometimes refer to the forecast segments as originating from the "Fox Bangor Weather Center" even though the outsourcing exists.
On September 7, 2011, WVII expanded its news department to include a weekday morning show at 7 seen for sixty minutes on WFVX. Known as The 7 AM News Hour on Fox Bangor, it is the first time the station has ever offered a weekday morning newscast. The addition is only the second option for local news originating from Bangor since NBC affiliate WLBZ simulcasts sister outlet WCSH in Portland with regional content. The broadcast's first half competes with another local news program seen on WABI-DT2 (although this is recorded in advanced). The weather forecast segments seen on WFVX continue to be taped in advance since there is still no locally-based weather team in Bangor.
Anchors
Fox Bangor AccuWeather Meteorologists
Reporters
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