WWLP translator in Springfield, Massachusetts
WFXQ-CD
(channel 28) is a
low-power
,
Class A television station
in
Springfield, Massachusetts
, United States. It is a
translator
of dual
NBC
/
CW+
affiliate
WWLP
(channel 22), owned by
Nexstar Media Group
. WFXQ-CD's
transmitter
is located at the old
Mount Tom Ski Area
summit in
Holyoke
. Its parent station maintains studios at Broadcast Center in the Sandy Hill section of
Chicopee
at the northwest corner of the
I-391
/
MA 116/Chicopee Street
interchange.
History
[
edit
]
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
(channel 61). 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-TV).
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-TV 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
in
Providence, Rhode Island
. 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. Since that point it has mainly served as a local UHF translator of WWLP for the central part of the Springfield market, including
Northampton
,
Easthampton
, and
Holyoke
, and most of Springfield.
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.
[2]
The merger was completed on December 19.
[3]
On January 1, 2015, WWLP began to carry what had been the cable-exclusive CW affiliate WBQT as their second digital subchannel, which also applied to WFXQ-CD's second subchannel, finally fulfilling the original purpose of LIN's purchase of the station.
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 would have been 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 could 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.
[4]
[5]
[6]
On January 27, 2016, however,
Nexstar Broadcasting Group
announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire Media General, who subsequently abandoned its plans to purchase Meredith.
[7]
Subchannels
[
edit
]
The station's signal is
multiplexed
:
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Facility Technical Data for WFXQ-CD"
.
Licensing and Management System
.
Federal Communications Commission
.
- ^
"Media General buys LIN Media, owner of WWLP Channel 22 in Springfield"
.
The Republican
.
Associated Press
. March 21, 2014
. Retrieved
March 22,
2014
.
- ^
Media General Completes Merger With LIN Media
Archived
December 19, 2014, at the
Wayback Machine
, Press Release, Media General, Retrieved December 19, 2014
- ^
"Media General Acquiring Meredith For 2.4 Billion"
.
TVNewsCheck
. NewsCheck Media. September 8, 2015.
- ^
Littleton, Cynthia (September 8, 2015).
"TV Station Mega Merger: Media General Sets $2.4 Billion Acquisition of Meredith Corp"
.
Variety
.
Penske Media Corporation
. Retrieved
September 9,
2015
.
- ^
Lindahl, Chris (September 8, 2015).
"Media General buying Meredith Corp.; companies own Springfield-area TV stations WWLP, WGGB, CBS 3, Fox 6"
.
Daily Hampshire Gazette
.
Newspapers of New England
. Retrieved
September 9,
2015
.
- ^
Picker, Leslie (January 27, 2016).
"Nexstar Clinches Deal to Acquire Media General"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
January 27,
2016
.
- ^
RabbitEars TV Query for WFXQ-CD
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with
cable television
|
Full power
| |
---|
Low power
|
- WDMR-LD
(14.1
TMD
, 14.2
TXO
, 14.3
LX
, 14.4
Oxygen
)
- WFXQ-CD
(
28.1
NBC
,
28.2
CW+
)
- WSHM-LD
(33.1
CBS
, 33.2
Cozi
, 33.3
Start
, 33.4
Grit
, 33.5
Defy
, 33.6
Laff
, 33.7
The365
)
- WHTX-LD
(43.1
UNI
, 43.2
This
, 43.3
Grio
)
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ATSC 3.0 digital
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ABC
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(
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Other stations
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TV channels
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TV programs
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Other assets
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Acquisitions
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- 1
Nexstar operates these stations under an
SSA
.
- 2
These stations broadcast these networks on their digital subchannels.
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