WFXQ-CD
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| Springfield/Holyoke, Massachusetts United States |
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|---|---|
| Branding | 22 News The CW Springfield (DT2) |
| Slogan | Working For You TV Now (DT2) |
| Channels | Digital: 28 (UHF) Virtual: 22 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 22.1 NBC (DT1) 22.2 The CW in HD 22.3 Ion Television in SD |
| Affiliations | NBC (DT1) The CW (via The CW Plus) (DT2) Ion Television (DT3) |
| Owner | Media General (WWLP Broadcasting, LLC) |
| First air date | May 6, 1987 |
| Call letters' meaning | refers to unfulfilled Fox affiliation |
| Sister station(s) | WCTX, WTNH, WPRI-TV, WNAC-TV, WTEN, WXXA-TV |
| Former callsigns | W11BJ (1988-2006) W28CT (2006) WXCW-CA (2006) WFXQ-CA (2006-2009) |
| Former channel number(s) | 11 (VHF analog, 1987-2006) 28 (UHF analog, 2006-2009) |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1987-2004) UPN (2004-2006, as repeater of WCTX) TheCoolTV (2010-2013, on DT2) |
| Transmitter power | 0.024 kW |
| Height | 260 m |
| Class | Class A digital |
| Facility ID | 2650 |
| Transmitter coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
WFXQ-CD is a Class A television station for the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts that is licensed to Springfield. Owned by Media General, it broadcasts a low-powered digital signal on UHF channel 28 (or virtual channel 22.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter at the old Mount Tom Ski Area summit in Holyoke. The station serves as a full-time repeater of NBC affiliate WWLP and its CW-affiliated second digital subchannel.
Contents
History
The station first went on-the-air May 6, 1987 on VHF channel 11. Using the calls W11BJ, it originally aired a low-powered analog signal from the Rattlesnake Mountain transmitter site of Connecticut's Fox affiliate WTIC-TV. The station was an Independent that aired local shows to a senior retirement community in Farmington, Connecticut. It used a live skycam weather forecast which consisted of a character generator and a home video camera with shots of the window from the transmitter building. The owner of the station was the Chase family (who also owned WTIC).
When LIN TV bought W11BJ in 2004, there was a construction permit approved to broadcast this station on UHF channel 28 from a new transmitter on Mount Tom in Holyoke. During the building of this transmitter, WWLP temporarily put on a simulcast of Connecticut's UPN affiliate WCTX (a sister station) through an off-air pickup. In early-2006, W28CT signed-on from the top of Mount Tom and the W11BJ transmitter on Rattlesnake Mountain was shut down. Right from the start, the station began to simulcast WWLP in a full-time manner. LIN TV had initially changed the call sign to WXCW-CA in reference to The CW in anticipation of it becoming an affiliate of that network. This affiliation eventually went to cable-only WB affiliate "WBQT".
As a result, the channel's call sign was changed again to WFXQ-CA referring to a possible Fox affiliation. This caused rumors on several television industry message boards that it would become an affiliate of that network. Speculation also existed that WFXQ might affiliate with Fox's new sister network, MyNetworkTV. At the time, cable television viewers in the Springfield/Holyoke market received Fox from WTIC and the network's owned-and-operated station in Boston, WFXT, with MyNetworkTV coming from WCTX.
On November 16, 2007, the Springfield Republican reported that ABC affiliate WGGB-TV would be launching a Fox affiliate on a new second subchannel which was expected to launch at the end of that year. This was ultimately delayed until the end of March 2008 when the new service took on a primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV affiliation. Up to that time, Springfield held the distinction of being the largest television market without a Fox affiliate of its own.
Until December 9, 2008, WFXQ's analog signal transmitted on the same frequency as CW affiliate WLWC. After the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a construction permit, the station "flash-cut" to digital sometime after June 12, 2009 although, at the time, the station was still assigned a "-CA" suffix. Eventually, the FCC updated its listing and this channel began using the WFXQ-CD calls.
On March 21, 2014, Media General announced that it would purchase LIN Media and its stations, including WWLP and WFXQ-CD, in a $1.6 billion merger.[1] The merger was completed on December 19.[2]
On September 8, 2015, Media General announced that it would acquire the Meredith Corporation for $2.4 billion, with the combined group to be renamed Meredith Media General once the sale is finalized. Because Meredith already owns WGGB-TV, and the Springfield-Holyoke market does not have enough full-power television stations to legally allow a duopoly in any event (WGGB and WWLP are the only full-power licenses assigned to the market), the companies will be required to sell either WGGB or WWLP to comply with FCC ownership rules as well as recent changes to those rules regarding same-market television stations that restrict sharing agreements. Meredith-owned CBS affiliate WSHM-LD (channel 3) is the only one of the three stations affected by the merger that can legally be acquired by Meredith Media General, as FCC rules permit common ownership of full-power and low-power stations regardless of the number of stations within a single market.[3][4][5]
Digital television
Digital channels
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming [6] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WWLP-DT | Main WWLP programming / NBC |
| 22.2 | 720p | WWLP-D1 | The CW Springfield / The CW Plus | |
| 22.3 | 480i | 4:3 | WWLP-D2 | Ion Television |
WFXQ-CD2
On December 23, 2014, as part of a long-term affiliation renewal with the network, Media General announced that WWLP and WFXQ-CD would affiliate their respective second digital subchannels with The CW.[7] As a result, on April 1, 2015, WFXQ-CD and WWLP began carrying CW programming (via The CW Plus) on digital subchannel 22.2, under the brand "The CW Springfield". The subchannel is available on Comcast channel 16 and Charter channel 13 (both in standard definition). Comcast began carrying a high definition feed of WWLP-DT2 on digital channel 820 on April 1, 2015, with Charter adding the feed on digital channel 788 in mid-April 2015, making CW programming available in HD in the Springfield-Holyoke market for the first time.[8][9][10]
WFXQ-CD3
On November 5, 2015, WWLP soft-launched a standard definition feed of Ion Television's main signal on both 22.3 and WFXQ-CD3 as part of Media General's carriage agreement of the network in markets without a dedicated Ion affiliate. New London, Connecticut-based WHPX-TV has served as the market's nominal affiliate for years with some cable coverage, though over-the-air coverage of that station is generally poor in the Pioneer Valley.
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Media General Completes Merger With LIN Media, Press Release, Media General, Retrieved 19 December 2014
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for WFXQ
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
