 | |
| |
|---|---|
| City | Fort Walton Beach, Florida |
| Channels | |
| Branding | WFGX 35[1] |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations |
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| Ownership | |
| Owner |
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| WEAR-TV,WPMI-TV,WJTC | |
| History | |
| Founded | December 20, 1983 |
First air date | April 7, 1987 (1987-04-07) |
Former call signs | WQAC (1983–1987) |
Former channel numbers |
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| |
Call sign meaning | Family Group Broadcasting (founding owners), "X" as a placeholder |
| Technical information[2] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 6554 |
| ERP | 1,000kW |
| HAAT | 582.8 m (1,912 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 30°36′45.4″N87°38′41.6″W / 30.612611°N 87.644889°W /30.612611; -87.644889 |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | wfgxtv |
WFGX (channel 35) is atelevision station licensed toFort Walton Beach, Florida, United States, serving northwest Florida and southwest Alabama as an affiliate ofMyNetworkTV. It is owned bySinclair Broadcast Group alongsidePensacola-licensed dualABC/NBC affiliateWEAR-TV (channel 3); Sinclair also provides certain services toMobile, Alabama–licensedWPMI-TV (channel 15) and Pensacola-licensedindependent stationWJTC (channel 44) under alocal marketing agreement (LMA) withDeerfield Media.
WFGX and WEAR-TV share studios—which also housemaster control and some internal operations for WPMI-TV and WJTC—on Mobile Highway (US 90) in unincorporatedEscambia County, Florida (with a Pensacolamailing address); WFGX's transmitter is located in unincorporatedBaldwin County, Alabama (northeast ofRobertsdale).
WFGX signed on the air on April 7, 1987, as anindependent station, the second in the market after WJTC. It was the third of four stations in Florida to be owned byTampa-basedFamily Group Broadcasting, and the second Florida station founded by it after Tampa'sWFTS-TV (which had been sold three years prior).
In 1995, Family Group Broadcasting entered into alocal marketing agreement (LMA) withHeritage Media, then-owner of WEAR. This enabled WFGX to become the area'sWB affiliate on September 29, 1996, taking the affiliation fromWBQP-CD. The station's formeranalog signal on UHF channel 35 was very weak (509kilowatts), resulting in marginal (at best) reception outsideOkaloosa County. It was barely viewable even in Pensacola, and could not be seen at all over the air on the Alabama side of the market. Despite the shortfall in coverage, WFGX has long identified as "Pensacola–Fort Walton Beach," which is unusual since the city of license is normally listed first when a station references another city in its legal on-air identification. It had to rely on cable and satellite carriage in order to reach the entire market.
Sinclair Broadcast Group took over WFGX's operations after Heritage sold its television division to Sinclair in 1997. When the stronger WBPG (channel 55, nowWFNA) signed on fromGulf Shores, Alabama, on September 2, 2001, it replaced WFGX as the area's WB affiliate. WFGX then became an independent station, airinghome shopping programming fromJewelry Television, syndicated shows andinfomercials. Sinclair purchased WFGX outright in 2004.
On February 22, 2006,News Corporation announced that it would launch a new network calledMyNetworkTV, which would be operated byFox Television Stations and its syndication divisionTwentieth Television.[3][4] Sinclair opted to affiliate several of its stations (including WFGX) with the new programming service, which launched on September 5, 2006.
WFGX discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, overUHF channel 35, 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. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 50,[5] usingvirtual channel 35.
At the same time, WFGX increased its digital signal to 1 million watts (equivalent to 5 million watts in analog), which was enough to provide a good signal to viewers in Pensacola. However, it was still practically unviewable on the Alabama side of the market. In July 2010, WFGX's digital transmitter was moved fromGulf Breeze, Florida, to WEAR's tower east of Rosinton, Alabama. With the same power output at the new location, it is now able to offer a signal comparable to those of the other full-powered stations in the market. Within two months, the station began offering ahigh definition signal over-the-air for the first time, and the transmitter move allowed Sinclair to invokemust-carry status on the Alabama side of the market for the station in order to also carry WEAR throughretransmission consent.
In 1996, WFGX began producing nightly newscasts at 6:30 and 9 p.m. calledEmerald Coast News originating from its original studios on Beach Drive in Fort Walton Beach. Each broadcast aired for 30 minutes and stories on the newscasts specifically focused on Okaloosa County, Florida, helping to provide better coverage for WEAR. On December 11, 1998,Emerald Coast News was canceled by WFGX.
On August 12, 2013, sister station WEAR-TV began producing a weeknight-only, half-hour prime time newscast at 9 p.m. for WFGX. The newscast competes withFox affiliateWALA-TV (channel 10)'s long established, dominant and hour-long 9 p.m. newscast, but due to WEAR's Pensacola focus, provides some differing content from WALA's Mobile-centric news operation.
The station's signal ismultiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WFGX | MyNetworkTV |
| 35.2 | 480i | Get-TV | Story Television | |
| 35.3 | Comet | Comet | ||
| 55.2 | 480i | 16:9 | Bounce | Bounce TV (WFNA) |
| 55.3 | Busted | Busted (WFNA) | ||
| 55.4 | Grit | Grit (WFNA) |
Includes English-language stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Florida | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
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Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the state ofAlabama | ||
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Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Alabama | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent | ||
| PBS |
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| Religious | ||
| Other | ||
| ATSC 3.0 | ||
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Broadcast television stations by affiliation in the state ofMississippi | ||
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Includes stations in out-of-state TV markets, but reaching a portion of Mississippi | ||
| ABC | ||
| CBS | ||
| Fox | ||
| NBC | ||
| The CW | ||
| Ion Television | ||
| Independent | ||
| PBS | ||
| Religious | ||
| Other | ||
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