WSFX-TV

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WSFX-TV
Wilmington, North Carolina
Branding Fox 26
Fox 26 News
Slogan One Hour Earlier
Channels Analog: 26 (UHF)

Digital: 30 (UHF)
Translators W19CA Lumberton
Affiliations Fox
Owner Southeastern Media Holdings
(operated under shared services agreement by Raycom Media)
Founded September 24, 1984
Call letters’ meaning Super FoX
Sister station(s) WECT
Former callsigns WJKA-TV (1984-1994)
Former affiliations CBS (1984-1994)
Transmitter Power 2,190 kW (analog)
80 kW (digital)
Height 500 m (analog)
590 m (digital)
Facility ID 72871
Transmitter Coordinates 34°7′53.8″N, 78°11′15.4″W
Website wsfx.com

WSFX-TV, channel 26, is the Fox Broadcasting Company-affiliated television station in Wilmington, North Carolina. Its transmitter is located in Winnabow. Owned by Southeastern Media Holdings but operated through a shared service agreement (SSA) by Raycom Media, the station is sister to NBC affiliate WECT. The two stations share studios on Shipyard Boulevard in downtown Wilmington.

WSFX operates a translator, W19CA channel 19, in Lumberton. It is one of five Wilmington television stations that agreed to end analog transmissions early and become a digital-only station on September 8, 2008. The move will make Wilmington the first all-digital television market in the United States.

Contents

[edit] History

The station began in 1984 as WJKA-TV affiliated with CBS. Prior to then, Wilmington was one of the few cities in the country without its own CBS affiliate. Local cable systems carried either WTVD from Durham, WNCT-TV from Greenville, or WBTW from Florence, South Carolina for CBS programming. In 1994, after CBS lost broadcasting rights of the NFL to Fox, WJKA switched its affiliation to that network. In the process, the station changed its call letters to the current WSFX-TV.

Before then, cable systems offered either WLFL in Raleigh or WFAY in Fayetteville. Today's call letters stand for Super FoX. This was because until 1996 it was the default Fox affiliate for the Florence / Myrtle Beach television market as it did not have an affiliate of tis own. However, WSFX's over-the-air signal does not reach Florence. This means the Pee Dee area had to rely on cable for Fox programming.

This was the case until WGSE-TV (now WFXB) in Myrtle Beach took the affiliation. As a result of WSFX's affiliation switch, Wilmington was without a CBS affiliate until March of 2000 when UPN station WILM-LP switched its primary affiliation to CBS. In 2003, WSFX was sold to Southeastern Media Holdings and began to be operated by Raycom Media through a shared service agreement with WECT. The station then moved into WECT's studios. On May 8, 2008, the FCC announced that five stations in Wilmington, including WSFX, had agreed to voluntarily cease analog broadcasting on September 8, 2008.

This is five months ahead of the February 17, 2009 tentative date for television stations to complete the analog-to-digital transition. When in effect, the Wilmington market will be the first in the United States to convert to all-digital and will be used by the FCC as a transition test market. WSFX will broadcast from its current pre-transition channel number, 30. However, through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers will display WSFX's virtual channel as 26.

[edit] News operation

The station's weeknight anchors.
The station's weeknight anchors.
Meteorologist Craig Carnesi is seen on weeknights.
Meteorologist Craig Carnesi is seen on weeknights.

As a CBS affiliate, channel 26 operated on a shoestring budget with virtually no local news. In the mid-1980s, it had a weekday Noon show called Midday which offered news and entertainment reports. Since September 22, 2003, WECT has been producing a nightly 10 o'clock news for WSFX. It is currently the only 10 P.M. newscast in the market. On September 13, 2006, WECT began to produce an hour-long extension of its weekday morning news at 7 A.M.

Carolina in the Morning
(Weekday Mornings 7 to 8 A.M.)

  • Anchors:
    • Bob Townsend
    • Kim Ratcliff
  • Weather:
    • Eric Davis

Fox 26 News at 10 (10 to 10:30 P.M.)
Weeknights

  • Anchor:
    • Kim Lehman
    • Jon Evans
  • Weather:
    • Craig Carnesi
  • Sports:
    • Bob Bonner

Weekends

  • Anchor:
    • Joe Keiley - Saturdays
    • Sarah Warlick - Sundays
  • Weather:
    • George Elliot
  • Sports
    • Kevin Hull

WSFX uses additional news personnel from WECT, see that article for a complete listing.

[edit] Logos

WJKA-TV's logo used in 1986.

WSFX's previous logo.

WSFX's current logo.

WSFX's 10 o'clock news logo.

[edit] External links


v • d • e
Broadcast television in the Wilmington market  (Nielsen DMA #135)

WWAY 3* (ABC) - WECT 6* (NBC, WX Plus on DT2) - WILM-LP 10* (CBS) - WSFX 26* (Fox) - WUNJ 39 (PBS/UNC-TV) - W47CK 47 (MNTV) - W51CW 51* (TBN)

Local cable television channels
WBW 29 (The CW)

* - These stations will only transmit in digital beginning at noon on September 8 due to the FCC using the market for digital testing before the February 17, 2009 national digital switchover.
See also: Broadcast television in the Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville, Greenville/New Bern/Washington, and Florence/Myrtle Beach markets
v • d • e
Fox Network Affiliates in the state of North Carolina
See also: ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CW, MNTV and Other stations in North Carolina
v • d • e
Raycom Media
Corporate Staff
Paul McTear (President & CEO) · Wayne Daugherty · Marty Edelman · Leon Long · Jeff Rosser · Anne Adkins · Clyde Baucom · Rebecca Bryan · David Folsom · Mary Carloe McDonnell · Billy McDowell · Susana Schuler · Melissa Thurber
Network Affiliates

ABC Network Affiliates: KAIT · KLTV · KTRE · WLOX · WTVM

CBS Network Affiliates: KFVS · KOLD · KSLA · WAFB · WBTV  · WCSC  · WOIO · WTOC · WTOL · WTVR3

The CW Network Affiliates: WQWQ · WUPV1

Fox Network Affiliates: WDFX · WFLX · WFXG1 · WPGX · WSFX1 · WTNZ · WXIX · WXTX1

MyNetworkTV Affiliates: KFVE · WBXH · WUAB

NBC Network Affiliates: KCBD · KHNL/KHBC/KOGG  · KPLC · WAFF · WALB · WAVE · WDAM  · WECT · WFIE · WIS · WLBT · WMBF2  · WMC · WSFA · WWBT

1Raycom Media owns and operates these stations through Southeastern Media Holdings. 2Scheduled to begin broadcasting in 2008. 3Subject to sale once a buyer is found.
Annual Revenue: Unknown at this time. · Employees: 4,200 · Stock Symbol: None, privately held. · Website: www.raycommedia.com