WFXQ-CA
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| WFXQ-CA | |
|---|---|
| Springfield / Holyoke, Massachusetts | |
| Channels | Analog: 28 (UHF) Digital: none |
| Affiliations | repeater of WWLP |
| Owner | LIN TV (WWLP Broadcasting, LLC) |
| Founded | May of 1987 (as an independent) 2006 (as a WWLP repeater) |
| Call letters’ meaning | refers to unfulfilled Fox affiliation |
| Sister station(s) | WWLP WCTX |
| Former callsigns | W11BJ (1988-2006) W28CT (2006) WXCW-CA (2006) |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1987-2006) |
| Transmitter Power | 5 kW |
| Height | 361 m |
| Facility ID | 2650 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
WFXQ-CA is a Class A television station serving the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. Licensed to Springfield, the station broadcasts an analog signal on UHF channel 28. Its transmitter is located on Mount Tom in Holyoke. There is no digital broadcast of this station. WFXQ is owned by LIN TV as part of a duopoly with NBC affiliate WWLP. The two stations share studios located at Broadcast Center in Chicopee. Currently, WFXQ is a full-time repeater of WWLP. There is one instance, however, when that is not the case. On Saturday nights at 6:30 during the NFL season, the station airs Totally Patriots.
[edit] History
The station first went on the air on channel 11 in May of 1988. It originally broadcasted from the Rattlesnake Mountain transmitter site of Connecticut's Fox affiliate WTIC-TV. Known as W11BJ, the station was an independent that aired local shows to a senior retirement community in Farmington, Connecticut. W11BJ used a live skycam weather forecast which consisted of a character generator titler 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. In 2004, when LIN TV bought W11BJ, there was a construction permit to change the station to broadcast on channel 28 from a new transmitter located on Mount Tom in Holyoke. During the building of channel 28's new transmitter, WWLP temporarily put on a simulcast of sister station WCTX via an off air pickup. In early-2006, W28CT signed on from the top of Mount Tom and the W11BJ transmitter was shut down. Right from the start, the station began to simulcast WWLP full-time.
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". More recently, channel 28's call sign was changed again to the current WFXQ-CA referring to a possible Fox affiliation. This caused rumors on several message boards that channel 28 would become an affiliate of that network. There was also speculation that WFXQ-CA might affiliate with Fox's new sister network, MyNetworkTV. At the time, television viewers in the Springfield / Holyoke market received Fox from WTIC-TV and MyNetworkTV from WCTX on cable.
On November 16, 2007, the Springfield Republican reported that ABC affiliate WGGB-TV would be launching a Fox affiliate on its second digital subchannel, which was expected to launch at the end of that year. This was ultimately delayed until the end of March 2008 when the subchannel 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. LIN TV, the owner of WFXQ-CA, was unsuccessful at obtaining the Fox affiliation because of poor negotiating skills with the network. LIN TV's six Fox affiliates were already affiliated with the network when they were acquired by the company. WFXQ is only transmitting via an analog signal. However, a construction permit from the FCC will allow the station to "flash cut" to digital on or before February 17, 2009. Right now, the future is uncertain for the station. It is not carried on cable systems.
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