| Macon, Georgia | |
|---|---|
| Branding | Fox 24 (general) NewsCentral ABC 16 (on DT2) |
| Slogan | Your Source For Local News |
| Channels | Digital: 16 (UHF) Virtual: 24 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 24.1 Fox 24.2 ABC |
| Owner | Frontier Radio Management, Inc. (Fox 24 of Macon License, LLC) |
| First air date | April 21, 1982 |
| Call letters' meaning | exploits G and A from Georgia's postal code along with X from Fox |
| Former channel number(s) | 24 (UHF analog, 1982-2009) |
| Former affiliations | ABC (1982-1996) MyNetworkTV (secondary, 2006-2009) |
| Transmitter power | 1,000 kW |
| Height | 216 m |
| Facility ID | 58262 |
| Website | newscentralga.com |
WGXA is the Fox affiliated television station for Central Georgia that is licensed to Macon. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 16 from a transmitter on GA 87/U.S. 23/U.S. 129 Alternate (Golden Isles Highway) along the Twiggs and Bibb County line. The station can also be seen on Cox channel 2 and in high definition on digital channel 702. Owned by Frontier Radio Management, it has studios on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (GA 11/GA 22/GA 49/U.S. 80/U.S. 129) in Downtown Macon. [1] Syndicated programming on WGXA includes: Ellen, Two and a Half Men, Everybody Hates Chris, and Judge Jeanine Pirro.
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It operates the area's ABC affiliate on a second digital subchannel. Known on-air as ABC 16 after the physical digital channel location, this can also be seen on Cox channel 15 and in high definition on digital channel 715. Syndicated programming on WGXA-DT2 includes: Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, and Extra. The channel space for WGXA is split into two 720p high definition signals for the original service and the second digital subchannel. 720p is the native broadcasting format for both networks. [2]
On February 17, 2009 at noon, WGXA turned-off its analog transmitter and continued to broadcast its digital signal on channel 16 using PSIP to display on digital television as virtual channel 24. [3]
| Channel | Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24.1 | 720p | 16:9 | Main WGXA programming / Fox |
| 24.2 | WGXA-DT2 "ABC 16" |
WGXA began broadcasting on April 21, 1982 as an ABC affiliate. It was the last of the big three stations in Middle Georgia after CBS affiliate WMAZ-TV and NBC affiliate WCWB-TV (now WMGT-TV). Prior to that time, ABC programming was only available to area residents either during the off-network hours (via tape delay) on WMAZ or on affiliates from nearby markets such as Atlanta's WXIA (later WSB-TV) or Columbus' WTVM. This made Macon one of the last markets in the country to get full network service.
During its years as an ABC affiliate, WGXA preempted various network news programs such as the Saturday and Sunday editions of World News Tonight (instead showing syndicated reruns of various shows), ABC World News This Morning (instead showing cartoons), Nightline (instead showing The Arsenio Hall Show), and This Week with David Brinkley. When NFL broadcasts moved from CBS to Fox in the early-1990s, WGXA aired them on Sunday afternoons until WPGA-TV signed-on as the area's first Fox affiliate in 1995.
The station was purchased in July of that year by GOCOM Communications. On January 1, 1996, WGXA and WPGA swapped affiliations resulting in this station becoming a full Fox affiliate and WPGA joining ABC.[4] On October 29, 2009 WPGA's owner, Register Communications, announced it would drop ABC and go Independent on New Year's Day 2010. The company cited current network programming that is not "family-friendly", specifically homosexual content, as its reason for dropping ABC. [5] Shortly afterward, WGXA entered a long-term agreement with ABC and once again picked up the network as an affiliate on a new second digital subchannel. In effect, it regained the affiliation given up fourteen years earlier. [6] [7] [8] [9]
Cox had intended to remove WPGA from its lineup and place WGXA-DT2 on channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 706. However on December 22, WPGA was granted a temporary restraining order requiring Cox to continue to carry that station on those channels. As a result, WGXA-DT2 is instead seen on channel 15 pre-empting what is usually the channel space for The Inspiration Network until the settlement of WPGA's issues. [10] On April 30, 2010, the court dismissed WPGA's case which would have allowed WGXA-DT2 to be seen on Cox channels 6 and 706 while WPGA moved to another channel. However, Register fileed an appeal. In light of this, the judge ordered Cox to leave WPGA at channels 6 and 706 until an appeals court hears the case. In addition, Register also filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over the status of WPGA. [11]
On June 23, 2011, it was announced that the Georgia Court of Appeals upheld the ruling that would enable Cox to drop WPGA from its line-up, effective July 28. On that date, WGXA-DT2 will simulcast on its new slot on channel 6, as well as its current channel 15 position; on August 28, it will be seen on channel 6 only, with channel 15 reused for bandwidth for Cox's high definition channels.[12]
On July 12, 2011 Register filed a complaint Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, seeking an injunction to prevent Cox from not only dropping WPGA, but from giving channel 6 to WGXA-DT2. However, Cox announced that their plan will continue anyway, despite the complaint, as the previous court case authorised them to make the changes.[13]
On January 1, 2011, WGXA TV programming was removed from Dish Network in a dispute with the satellite carrier over retransmission fees. Subscribers of Dish Network lost both WGXA's "ABC-16" and "Fox-24" channels as a result. [14] Both channels has since been restored on Dish Network.
Within a few months of signing-on, WGXA surged to second place behind WMAZ because its news product was far more modern than that of WCWB. For a brief time in the 1990s as an ABC affiliate, its weeknight 6 o'clock broadcast was repeated at 10 on then UPN affiliate WGNM. On January 5, 2008, it began airing a weekend edition of its 10 o'clock show. Starting March 1, 2010, there were new weeknight 7 and 11 o'clock broadcasts (along with weekday morning Good Morning America weather cut-ins) added to WGXA-DT2 which required an expansion of the news department and personnel. [15] Those newscasts have a separate anchor team but utilize the same reporting, weather, and sports personnel.
On the same day, the main channel also launched a weeknight newscast at 5:30. In a report in the May 28, 2010 edition of The Macon Telegraph, it was announced that a talk show hosted by Kenny Burgamy, Charles Richardson, and Liz Fabian would no longer be airing its weekday morning show on WPGA-TV and WPGA-FM 100.9 after July 20. [16] The morning news, talk, information, and entertainment show moved to the WGXA stations as well as WMAC-AM 940 on July 26. Known as NewsTalk Central, the program currently airs on weekdays from 6 to 7 on WGXA-DT2 and from 6 to 9 on the main signal. The Good Morning America weather cut-ins continue to be seen. The weeknight news anchors also serve as reporters.
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