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| City | Cape Coral, Florida |
| Channels | |
| Branding | Fox 4 (cable channel) |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| History | |
First air date | October 14, 1985 (40 years ago) (1985-10-14) |
Former channel numbers |
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| Independent (1985–1986) | |
Call sign meaning | "Family Television X"; a variation on co-ownedWFTS-TV in Tampa[1] |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 70649 |
| ERP | 1,000 kW |
| HAAT | 391 m (1,283 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 26°47′39.7″N81°48′4″W / 26.794361°N 81.80111°W /26.794361; -81.80111 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | www |
WFTX-TV (channel 36, cable channel 4) is atelevision station licensed toCape Coral, Florida, United States, serving as theFox affiliate forSouthwest Florida. Currently owned by theE. W. Scripps Company, the station has studios on Southwest Pine Island Road (SR 78) in Cape Coral, and its transmitter is located nearPunta Gorda (east ofI-75/SR 93) near theCharlotte andLee county line.
WFTX-TV is branded asFox 4, in reference to its channel location on mostcable systems in themarket, which it has enjoyed since its sign on in 1985.
In 1982, interest began in the channel 36 allocation to Cape Coral. In 1984, out of four applications, aFederal Communications Commission (FCC) administrative law judge gave the nod to Florida Family Broadcasting Limited, which included one Native American and one Asian investor, over three other groups seeking the construction permit.[3] Florida Family—a company associated withFamily Group Broadcasting, which two years prior had signed onWFTS-TV inTampa—had to settle with the other applicants, a process that look longer than expected.[4]
Construction work began in April,[5] and after a prolonged construction marked by delays due to high winds, WFTX-TV started broadcasting on October 14, 1985.[6] It was the firstindependent station in Southwest Florida, and from the start, it aired on channel 4 on most systems.[6] Within a year of building WFTX-TV, Family Group sold it for $17 million toTerre Haute, Indiana–basedWabash Valley Broadcasting, controlled by the family ofTony Hulman; Wabash Valley, which ownedWTHI-TV in its home town of Terre Haute, had also agreed to purchaseWBSP-TV inOcala earlier that year.[7][8]
Even though it was on the air in 1985, a full studio facility was not completed until 1987; that same year, the station affiliated with Fox (partly to prevent new independentWNPL-TV channel 46 from doing so) and extended its coverage north with an increase in tower height.[9] WFTX even pitched ABC on defecting from its affiliate, perennial third-place stationWEVU-TV, in 1988.[10] With Fox, channel 36's programming rapidly grew in ratings. Its first major local program, the consumer seriesTroubleshooter, was outdrawing national and local newscasts by 1991.[11]
The station changed hands again in 1998, whenEmmis Communications purchased the assets of Wabash Valley Broadcasting, giving Emmis its first television stations.[12] From 2002 to 2005, WFTX'smaster control and other internal operations were controlled from a regional hub located at the company'sWKCF inLake Mary, nearOrlando.[13] Emmis exited the television business in 2005, withJournal Broadcast Group acquiring WFTX and two other stations.[14]
On July 30, 2014, it was announced that the E. W. Scripps Company would acquire Journal Communications in an all-stock transaction and spin off the combined company's print assets. The deal made WFTX a sister station once again to WFTS and alsoNBC affiliateWPTV-TV inWest Palm Beach.[15] The FCC approved the deal on December 12, 2014. It was approved by shareholders on March 11, 2015, closing on April 1.
In the fall of 2021, WFTX addedIon Television as a subchannel after Scripps' acquisition ofIon Media, bringing the network over-the-air to Southwest Florida for the first time since its 1998 launch. TheFort Myers–Naples market was the only market in the state outside Tallahassee which never had a station owned by Ion Media or its forerunner companies.
On September 3, 2025, Scripps announced it planned to sell WFTX-TV to Sun Broadcasting in a $40 million deal expected to close during the fourth quarter of the year. Sun already owns several radio and TV properties in the Fort Myers market, notablyCW network affiliateWXCW, which is currently operated through ashared services agreement with Fort Myers Broadcasting-ownedCBS affiliateWINK-TV.[16]
In 1992, WFTX announced it would start a local news service in 1993.[17] The first 10 p.m. newscast aired on October 10, 1993,[18] In its first year, theAssociated Press selected WFTX as having the best medium-market newscast in the state of Florida.[19] A 6 p.m. program was added in 1995, incorporating the previously separateTroubleshooter show;[20] low ratings prompted its cancellation in 2000.[21]
After the sale to Journal, WFTX expanded its news department with a focus on consumer advocacy and investigative reporting. A weekday morning newscast titledFox 4 News Rising subsequently debuted in the fall of 2006; the station launched an 11 p.m. newscast in 2007 and a 6 p.m. show in 2010.[22] A 5 p.m. hour has since been added.
Due to the highly competitive nature of the Fort Myers–Naples market, WFTX's flagship 10 p.m. newscast has attracted competition over the years. In August 2006 whenABC affiliate WZVN-TV (channel 26) announced that it would launch a nightly prime time newscast on cable-onlyMyNetworkTV affiliate "WNFM". On March 26, 2007,CBS affiliateWINK-TV (channel 11) entering into the 10 p.m. race with its own broadcast onCW affiliate WXCW. Right from the start, this emerged as a strong second-place finisher to WFTX's longer-established newscast, building on WINK-TV's longtime status as the most watched station in the market. On May 25 after only eight months on-the-air, the nightly WZVN-produced newscasts on WNFM were dropped, due to Comcast's frequent technical difficulties (the cable provider operates the MyNetworkTV affiliate) which hindered in the program's ratings, as well as the success of the WXCW production. To take on thebig three stations, WFTX began airing an hour-long weeknight 6 p.m. newscast on August 2, 2010, with the second half competing against the national evening news programs on WZVN,WBBH and WINK.
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 36.1 | 720p | 16:9 | WFTX-DT | Fox |
| 36.2 | 480i | BOUNCE | Bounce TV | |
| 36.3 | 720p | LAFF | Laff/Scripps Sports[24] | |
| 36.4 | 480i | GRIT | Grit | |
| 36.5 | ION | Ion Television | ||
| 36.6 | MYSTERY | Ion Mystery | ||
| 36.7 | QVC | QVC | ||
| 36.8 | COURT | Court TV |
On August 29, 2024, WFTX announced that all non-nationalFlorida Panthers games would air on its third subchannel.[24]
WFTX-TV ended regular programming on its analog signal, overUHF channel 36, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate.[25] The station's digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre-transitionUHF channel 35.[26][27]
Includes English-language stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Florida | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| MyNetworkTV | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
| ||
Includes English-language stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Florida | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| MyNetworkTV | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
| ||
