| Orange Park/Jacksonville, Florida | |
|---|---|
| Branding | WJXX Channel 25 (general) First Coast News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | Your News Leader ABC 25, Start Here |
| Channels | Digital: 10 (VHF) Virtual: 25 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 25.1 ABC 25.2 First Coast News doppler channel |
| Owner | Gannett Company, Inc. (Gannett River States Publishing Corporation) |
| First air date | February 9, 1997 |
| Call letters' meaning | JaX (informal abbreviation for Jacksonville) |
| Sister station(s) | WTLV |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 25 (1997–2009) |
| Transmitter power | 29.5 kW |
| Height | 290.7 m |
| Facility ID | 11893 |
| Website | www.firstcoastnews.com |
WJXX is the ABC-affiliated television station television for Jacksonville, Florida. The station broadcasts a digital signal on VHF channel 10, identifying via PSIP as virtual channel 25 (after its original analog channel number). The station is owned by Gannett as part of a duopoly with the area's NBC affiliate, WTLV (digital 13/virtual 12). The two stations share studios located on East Adams Street in downtown near EverBank Field; WJXX and WTLV share a transmitter that is located in Kilarney Shores. The station is licensed to Orange Park. The station serves all of northeast Florida (more specifically, the First Coast) and southeast Georgia. The station is available on channel 5 on Comcast cable in the Jacksonville area. U-Verse carries WJXX on channel 25 and an HD feed on channel 1025.
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WJXX first went on the air on February 9, 1997[1] owned by WPR, L.P. and operated by Allbritton Communications under a local marketing agreement (LMA).[2] While at one point WJXX was slated to be an independent, Allbritton had, in 1996, signed an LMA with Brunswick, Georgia-based WBSG-TV (channel 21);[2] it also signed a long-term groupwide affiliation deal with ABC, and announced that WBSG would replace WJKS (channel 17) as Jacksonville's ABC affiliate.[3] Allbritton subsequently planned to sign WJXX on April 1 to serve as the ABC affiliate for the Florida side of the market (with WBSG serving the Georgia side); however, it was rushed on the air two months in advance after WJKS began phasing out ABC programming in favor of becoming WB affiliate WJWB (it is now WCWJ), forcing the station to broadcast at low-power for several months.[3][4] In September 1997, Allbritton bought WJXX outright.[1]
Allbritton heavily invested in WJXX, including building studios on A.C. Skinner Parkway in Jacksonville.[5] It was the first station in the country designed for digital television, a medium which was then fairly new.[2] However, WJXX failed to gain significant traction in the market; in addition to lingering confusion from the early announcement of WBSG being the ABC affiliate for Jacksonville and the subsequent early launch,[3] the station never had full signal parity with VHF competitors WJXT (channel 4; then a CBS affiliate) and WTLV, even with the help from WBSG.[4] Not helping matters was WJXX's early placement on MediaOne channel 7, which suffered from interference from WJCT, the area's broadcast channel 7.[4] After the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) legalized duopolies on November 15, 1999, Allbritton announced the sale of WJXX to WTLV owner Gannett Company the next day.[4] Normally, duopolies between two "big four" affiliates or even "big three" affiliates would not be allowed because they usually constituted the top four stations in a market. FCC regulations do not allow common ownership of any two of the four biggest stations in a market. However, WJXX was ranked as the fifth-watched station in the market, often trailing WJWB (which had gone from one of ABC's weakest affiliates to becoming one of The WB's strongest affiliates) and Fox affiliate WAWS (channel 30) in addition to WJXT and WTLV.[4]
Once the sale was final on March 17, 2000, Gannett moved WJXX into WTLV's facilities and kept only a handful of the original staff. This created First Coast News which airs on both stations today. However, most of the news personnel are veterans of WTLV. (The deal did not include WBSG, which then joined Pax[6] and was soon acquired by Paxson Communications, becoming WPXC-TV.)
First Coast News adopted the "Global Village" theme by Stephen Arnold Music in 2000 shortly after acquiring WJXX (the package used before then was "The NBC Collection"). This package stayed until December 2006, when the station switched to "Seize The Day" by 615 Music. Earlier that year, First Coast News renovated its studios and changed their graphics after long-time anchor Alan Gionet departed.
On September 10, 2007, First Coast News stopped simulcasting the 5 and 5:30 p.m. weekday broadcasts on WJXX. The Ellen DeGeneres Show replaced the broadcasts at 5 p.m. on WJXX instead. Since NBC's Today expanded to four hours, the station moved Live with Regis and Kelly, which had previously aired at 10 a.m. on WTLV, to WJXX at 9 a.m. Divorce Court was also moved from WJXX (where it had aired at Noon) to 2 p.m. on WTLV. Joy Purdy (who previously worked at WFOR-TV, the CBS affiliate in Miami) also debuted as the new anchor of First Coast News at 7. On October 29, 2007, First Coast News once again debuted new graphics in time for the November sweeps. Along with new graphics, Donna Hicken officially identified herself on-air as Donna Deegan.
On May 15, 2008, First Coast News released an email to all subscribers about their new website set to debut on May 21. It was announced by Online Manager Linda Mock that the new site was to have a new forum system known as 'Pluck' and would require everyone to sign up, unlike their existing system 'Topix'. A new banner that will change with the weather conditions replaced the old banner that showed the current on-air anchors. Also started was ads for every newscast at the top of the screen, that cycles through with previous ads. The new website was also announced via a breaking news alert at the top of the existing website.[7]
On May 21, 2008, as expected, First Coast News debuted its new website.[8]
First Coast News now offers a "Weather Call" service that will call your telephone in the event of severe weather near your specific location. It utilizes National Weather Service data to place the call.
On October 23, 2008, First Coast News debuted new graphics and music, the same standardized packages as on every other Gannett television station. The new uniformed graphics were created by G3 (or the Gannett Graphics Group) based near sister station KUSA-TV in Denver; the music was composed by Rampage Music New York.[9]
In January, 2009, First Coast News fired weekend meteorologist Dave Vanore. Michelle Jacobs returned to First Coast News to anchor weather and traffic in the mornings. The entire weather team shifted, with Steve Smith moving from mornings to 7 p.m. weekdays, and Mark Collins moving to weekend newscasts.
On June 12, 2009, WJXX shut down its analog transmitter in Clay County, Florida. This caused viewers in areas such as Gainesville to lose programming from WJXX, but viewers in Flagler County, Florida and on the Colonial Coast of Georgia gained programming.
In July 2009, First Coast News yet again shuffled anchors around. Joy Purdy and Deanna Fene departed First Coast News at 7, with Purdy switching places with Patty Crosby and joining Phil Amato on Good Morning Jacksonville, and Fene replacing departing Victor Blackwell on weekend evenings. Crosby moved to 7 p.m. broadcasts anchoring news, with Steve Smith anchoring weather, and Dan Hicken anchoring sports. Corrine Hautala was hired to anchor weekend morning newscasts.
On February 1, 2010, First Coast News began broadcasting local newscasts in high definition, becoming the third television news operation in Jacksonville to do so. Coincidentally, Action News on WTEV-TV (channel 47) and WAWS began broadcasting in that format the day before. The entire on-air appearance was revamped, with differently stylized versions of Gannett's standardized graphics being introduced, as well as a brand new set being unveiled, designed by FX Group. With the premiere of high definition newscasts, First Coast News completed the transition to high definition broadcasts on Jacksonville's television newscasts.
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:
Digital channels
| Virtual Channel |
Physical RF Channel |
Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25.1 | 10.1 | 720p | 16:9 | Main WJXX programming / ABC HD |
| 25.2 | 10.2 | 480i | 4:3 | First Coast News Weather Plus |
In 2009, WJXX left channel 25 and kept its digital TV on channel 10 when the analog shutdown occurred.[10]
In September 1997, WJXX launched a 7 p.m. newscast called ABC 25 Tonight. When the station's brand new building was finally constructed, WJXX moved in and on December 15, 1997 started broadcasting 4½ hours of local news programming each and every weekday.
Monday through Friday there was news from 5:30 a.m.-7 a.m. (ABC 25 Today), at noon, from 5 p.m.-6:30 p.m., ABC 25 Tonight at 7 p.m., and then the 11 p.m. Nightcast. On weekends there was either a 6 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. news and then the 11 p.m. Nightcast. There was no morning show on weekends. (Before the full-scale launch of ABC 25 News, WJXX showed M*A*S*H reruns at 6 and 11 p.m., while then-satellite WBSG broke off to show its own Georgia-targeted newscasts that had predated the ABC affiliation.[5])
In the May 2007 Nielsen ratings, WTLV and WJXX had a powerful lead. They won the weekday morning, Noon, 5:30, and 6 p.m. slots. Also, at 11 p.m., more people watched WTLV and WJXX than any other local station combined. However, as of the November 2007 Nielsen Ratings, WTLV and WJXX only won the weekday morning, Noon, and 11 p.m. news slot. The 5, 5:30, and 6 p.m. slots went to WJXT.
WJXX is the only television station in Jacksonville to have a weeknight 7 p.m. newscast known as First Coast News at 7 and airs Good Morning Jacksonville Sunday as well.
In addition to their main studios, WJXX and WTLV operate a "Southern Bureau" that covers St. Johns, Clay, and Putnam Counties.
WJXX and WTLV operate their own weather radar. It is located next to WTLV's transmitter. They also broadcast a weather radar that is operated by the National Weather Service and is located at its Local Forecast Office near Jacksonville International Airport.
Current Anchors
Weather team
Sports team
Reporters
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