WFQX-TV
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2017) |
Traverse City | |
Links | |
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Public license information | |
Website | www |
Satellite station | |
WFUP | |
Channels | |
Programming | |
Affiliations |
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History | |
Founded | April 9, 1992 |
First air date | January 11, 1993 |
Former call signs |
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Former channel number(s) |
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Call sign meaning | Fox Upper Peninsula |
Technical information[2] | |
Facility ID | 25395 |
ERP | 100 kW |
HAAT | 324.7 m (1,065 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 45°10′12″N 84°45′4″W / 45.17000°N 84.75111°W |
Links | |
Public license information |
WFQX-TV (channel 32) is a television station licensed to Cadillac, Michigan, United States, serving the northern Lower and eastern Upper peninsulas of Michigan as an affiliate of Fox and The CW Plus. It is owned by Cadillac Telecasting Company, which maintains a shared services agreement (SSA) with 910 Media Group, owner of Cadillac-licensed CBS affiliate WWTV, channel 9 (and its Sault Ste. Marie–licensed full-time satellite, WWUP-TV, channel 10), for the provision of certain services. Both stations share studios on Broadcast Way (near US 131) in Cadillac, while WFQX-TV's transmitter is located on 130th Avenue in unincorporated Osceola County, just northeast of Tustin.
As with other network affiliates in this vast and mainly rural area, WFQX-TV operates a full-time, full-power satellite in Vanderbilt, WFUP (channel 45), whose transmitter is located on Hudson Lookout in southeastern Charlevoix County. Unlike other network affiliates in Northern Michigan, the WFQX and WFUP combination does not incorporate the satellite station's channel number in its branding; the stations are simply referred to as Local 32. Except for required hourly legal identification, there is no on-air mention that WFUP exists, and aside from the transmitter, WFUP does not maintain any physical presence locally in Vanderbilt. Unlike its parent station, WFUP does not carry any of WFQX-TV's subchannels and has a different subchannel lineup.
History
The station first signed on the air as WGKI on UHF channel 33 on October 6, 1989. Its transmitter was just north of the current location in northern
In the station's early years, the channel was extremely low-budget. This was evident in the station's use of 1970s-era electronic graphics for the first few years of broadcasting. Due to the growing popularity of the Fox network and shows such as The Simpsons and Married... with Children, the station quickly grew. The on-screen graphics were modernized and it started to use higher-quality video equipment.
In the early 1990s, WGKI launched several repeaters in the Eastern Upper Peninsula unreached by the station's analog signal. By the mid-1990s, the station moved into permanent studios southeast of Cadillac along
When CBS affiliate
On January 16, 1995, WGKI became a secondary affiliate of UPN. It aired the network's shows outside of prime time. WGKI continued to air UPN programming until 2006, when UPN merged with The WB to form The CW, at which point WGKI ended its affiliation.
In 1999, the channel increased its
On February 10, 2007, WFQX upgraded its digital signal on UHF channel 47 (from a transmitter shared with WGTU east of
It had been announced with the switch to digital broadcasting (then scheduled for February 17, 2009), WFUP would shut down. However, that channel had an application to perform a
On August 4, 2009, WFQX switched its longtime moniker "Fox 33" to "Fox 32" while adding a logo matching Fox owned-and-operated stations. The station made the channel move with its PSIP also being adjusted to match the new signal. WFUP's digital signal remained the same. The previous allotment is now used for WPBN-TV's digital broadcasts.
WFQX/WFUP are affiliates of the
At one point, WFQX operated a repeater on channel 40 in Traverse City. That signal was shut down with the addition of one on channel 54. This too has since been shut off. Two translators that served the eastern Upper Peninsula were replaced with digital signals on new digital subchannels of WWTV and WWUP. WFQX also operated a repeater in Alpena, W31BO on channel 31. This would be shut down in November 2009 when WBKB-TV added a new digital subchannel featuring primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV programming on 11.2.
In December 2017, WFQX-TV/WFUP rebranded from "Fox 32" to "Local 32". Despite the name change, the station remains a Fox affiliate.
WFQX-DT2
WFQX-DT2, branded on-air as The CW Northern Michigan, is the
History
What would become WFQX-DT2 began in 1998 as "WBVC", a WB affiliate. It was part of
On January 24, 2006, Time Warner and CBS Corporation (the latter of which took over UPN after the split of Viacom into two companies occurred in December 2005) announced that they would shut down The WB and UPN in September 2006 and merge those two networks' resources to create The CW, a new television service whose initials represented the names of both of those respective companies. UPN aired in a delayed arrangement on Fox affiliates WFQX-TV/WFUP. On July 25, a new logo for "WBVC" appeared on WGTU's website. At that time, there were no announcements posted about its future as a CW affiliate. However, that changed a few weeks before the new network started. The CW began broadcasting on September 18. On that date, "WBVC" became known on-air as "Northern Michigan CW" and WFQX dropped its secondary affiliation with UPN. After the station was added to a new second digital subchannel of WGTU, it began to use the WGTU-DT2 call sign in an official manner.
On September 19, 2007, there was an application filed to the FCC by Max Media to sell WGTU to Tucker Broadcasting for $10 million. After approval in April 2008, Tucker entered into a shared services agreement with Barrington Broadcasting that resulted in WPBN operating WGTU. After the closing of the deal with Tucker Broadcasting, the CW subchannel went dark and the programming service became exclusively available via cable with no local affiliate selling advertising. It resumed using the fictitious "WBVC" call letters.
As WFQX-DT2
In 2018, WFQX-DT2 had assumed the CW affiliation from the once cable-exclusive "WBVC", allowing over-the-air access to the network for the first time in 10 years, rebranding it as "The CW Northern Michigan". By March 2020, the
News operation
As WGKI, the station simulcast WKBD's hour-long prime time newscast at 10 o'clock. In June 2000, WFQX launched a news department of its own and began producing a nightly 10 o'clock broadcast. Known as Northern Michigan's Fox News at 10, this was plagued from the start by a lack of basic resources such as reporters and engineering upkeep. The station initially had its own weather department, but later began outsourcing weather duties to AccuWeather in State College, Pennsylvania, which pre-taped weather segments and fed them to WFQX via satellite. As a result, WFQX was criticized for being too late when severe weather was an issue or choosing not to cover an event. At some point in time, the news title changed to Fox 33 News at 10 and weekend broadcasts ended.
On January 8, 2007, WFQX began to air a simulcast of the weekday morning show of WJBK, Detroit's Fox owned-and-operated station. Branded as Michigan's Fox News Morning and running from 6 to 8 a.m., it featured local weather cut-ins from AccuWeather, and was established as part of a cooperation between the two stations to provide advertising opportunities in Detroit to businesses of Northern Michigan. On February 5, WFQX also began simulcasting the second half of WJBK's 10 p.m. news.
After the sale of the channel to Cadillac Telecasting, the station's news department was shut down. On October 31, WWTV began producing the weeknight 10 p.m. newscast and the WJBK simulcast at 10:30 p.m. was dropped. On January 7, 2008, when CBS began requiring affiliates to carry The Early Show in its entirety, the third hour of WWTV's Michigan This Morning, which had been running from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m., was moved to WFQX/WFUP and expanded to two hours. That evening on WFQX, WWTV launched the area's first 7 p.m. news. In April 2013, WFQX (along with sister station WWTV) began airing its newscasts in high definition.
Notable former on-air staff
- Jim Kosek – weeknights
Technical information
The stations' signals are
WFQX subchannels
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
32.1 | 720p | 16:9 |
WFQX-DT | Fox |
32.2 | WFQX-CW | The CW Plus | ||
32.3 | 480i | WFQX-IO | Ion Television | |
32.4 | WFQX-D4 | Scripps News | ||
32.5 | WFQX-D5 | Ion Mystery | ||
32.6 | WFQX-D6 | Defy TV | ||
32.7 | WFQX-D7 | Bounce TV | ||
32.8 | WFQX-D8 | QVC |
WFUP subchannels
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
45.1 | 720p | 16:9 | WFUP-FX | Fox |
45.2 | 1080i | WFUP-CB | CBS (WWTV/WWUP-TV) | |
45.3 | 480i | WFUP-ME | MeTV | |
45.4 | WFUP-LA | Laff | ||
45.5 | WFUP-QV | QVC | ||
45.6 | WFUP-HS | HSN |
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WFQX-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WFUP". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WFQX
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WFQX
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WFUP