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WXXA-TV
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WXXA-TV | |
|---|---|
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| Albany, New York | |
| Branding | FOX 23 (general) FOX 23 News (newscasts) VTV: The Variety Channel (on DT2) |
| Slogan | We've Got It! (on-air) Coverage & Convenience (website) |
| Channels | Analog: 23 (UHF) Digital: 7 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | FOX The Variety Channel (on DT2) |
| Owner | Aloha Station Trust, LLC (controlled by Newport Television, possible sale pending) |
| Founded | July 30, 1982 |
| Call letters meaning | XX (most recognizable letter combination) Albany |
| Former callsigns | none |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1982-1987) UPN (1995-1997, secondary) |
| Transmitter Power | 3.675 mW (analog) 8.10 kW (digital) |
| Facility ID | 11970 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | fox23news.com |
WXXA-TV, known on-air as "FOX 23", is the FOX-affiliated television station for New York State's Capital District and Western New England. Licensed to Albany, the station broadcasts an analog signal on UHF channel 23 and a digital signal on VHF channel 7. WXXA's transmitter is located in the Helderberg Mountains in New Scotland. The station's studios are located on Corporate Circle near the Westmere section of Albany. The station is currently owned by Aloha Station Trust, LLC and is controlled by Newport Television; this arrangement exists due to an ownership conflict after the purchase of the Clear Channel Communications television stations by Newport Television.
WXXA broadcasts "The Variety Channel" on its DT2 digital subchannel and Time Warner digital cable channel 423.
Syndicated programming on the station includes: South Park, The Tyra Banks Show, Montel, Judge Hatchett, Judge Mathis, Judge Joe Brown, The People's Court, Everybody Loves Raymond, The Simpsons, and Frasier.
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WXXA is the only Albany television station that has never changed its network affiliation. However, it started as an independent. WXXA began broadcasting on July 30, 1982 as the market's first independent station. Before this, the channel 23 position existed for many years as a construction permit (originally as WPTR-TV) and prior to sign-on was rumored to get the NBC affiliation shed by WRGB prior to that network affiliating with WNYT.
In 1987, WXXA became one of the sign-on affiliates of the fledgling FOX network and was sold from its original local owners to Heritage Broadcasting. In 1994, Heritage sold the station to Clear Channel Communications, preceding its radio entry into the market and its sizeable expansion of television assets in the Northeast by several years. Clear Channel would soon move WXXA from its original studios on Central Ave. in Albany (now a car dealership) to an expanded facility in Albany located near the Westmere area of the city. This move and expansion allowed the station to begin producing newscasts in October of 1996.
When UPN launched in 1995, WXXA gained a secondary affiliation with the network and aired its programming at off-hours on the weekends. Cable viewers in virtually the entire market were also able to watch the shows in-pattern on WSBK from Boston). WXXA's secondary affiliation ended at the start of the 1997-1998 television season when UPN affiliated with WVBG-LP.
From January of 2000 until August of 2003, WXXA operated "WEDG-TV", a cable-only UPN affiliate seen on Time Warner, Charter, and Mid-Hudson Cablevision cable systems in the market. Known on-air as "UPN 4", the station signed off concurrent with the sign-on of broadcast UPN affiliate WNYA.
WXXA's digital signal began broadcasting in December of 2005 on VHF channel 7. A combination of objections from analog co-channels in New York City and Watertown, both of which have signals at the fringes of the Albany market, was the primary reason for the late (and delayed) sign-on.
On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television stations group to Providence Equity Partners' Newport Television. [1] However, Providence Equity Partners currently owns a 16 percent stake in Freedom Communications, the owner of local CBS affiliate WRGB. As a result, the Federal Communications Commission granted conditional approval of the deal in late-November, provided that Providence Equity Partners follows through with its planned divestiture of its share in Freedom Communications (as required when Providence Equity Partners purchased a minority stake in the Spanish-language broadcaster Univision earlier in 2007) to another company before the group deal can be finalized.[2]. In the interim, WXXA was moved over to the Aloha Station Trust, alongside assorted for-sale Clear Channel radio stations, until a divestiture can be made; once the share of Freedom Communications is spun off, WXXA will be fully transferred to Newport TV.
In January of 2007, Clear Channel launched a digital-only network known as "The Variety Channel". The network broadcasts classic TV shows, auto showcase programming, and various home improvement programs. WXXA also inserts some local programming including newscast rebroadcasts. It began airing on WXXA's DT2 digital subchannel in mid-January 2007. The channel can also be received on Time Warner digital cable channel 423.
On October 7, 1996, WXXA launched a 10 PM newscast. It was not the first in the market, as WMHQ's WNYT-produced newscast started earlier that year. Filling a niche in local news, the 10 PM newscast was expanded in early 2000 to an hour and was joined by a 6:30 PM newscast later that year. In 2001, WXXA took on the big 3 stations in the market for the first time by launching a 6 PM newscast that struggled to gain ratings. A change in upper management led to a realignment of early evening newscasts with the 6:30 PM newscast moving to 5 PM in September of 2002. The 6 PM newscast was cancelled in July of 2003.
In recent years, the station has made waves by putting a significant investment in its news operation. The biggest move was the signing of popular WNYT anchor John Gray in late 2003 and adding resources and capabilities behind the scenes and on-air. WXXA has also been on the forefront of changing technology. The station became one of the first to offer podcasts in 2005. [1] It was also the first television station worldwide to provide video podcasts. [2]
On September 25, 2006, WXXA launched a weekday morning newscast which currently runs from 5 to 8 AM. The announcement of this launch back in March of that year led to a preemptive move in April by the area's CBS affiliate WRGB. That station added an extension of its weekday morning newscast from 7 to 8 AM on the area's MyNetworkTV affiliate WNYA. At the same time, there were rumors circulating that WRGB would start producing a 10 PM newscast on WNYA. The rumors shifted to WCWN when it was purchased by WRGB's owner and made a sister station. At the start of 2007, the WRGB weekday morning newscast extension moved to WCWN. That shift was made because WCWN has higher ratings than WNYA.
During weather forecasts, WXXA uses live NOAA National Weather Service radar data from 4 regional sites.
Anchors
(In Alphabetical Order)
| Personality | Position | WXXA Since |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Baker | Fox23 News Daybreak | 2006 |
| John Gray | Fox23 News at 5, Fox23 News at 10/Consumer Reporter | 2004 |
| Ann Hughes | Fox23 News at 5, Fox23 News at 10/Health Reporter | 1998 |
| Diane Lee | Fox23 News Daybreak | 2006 |
| Walt McClure | Fox23 News at 10 (split weekends) | 2005 |
| Jeff Saperstone | Fox23 News at 10 (split weekends) | 2003 |
Reporters
(In Alphabetical Order)
| Personality | Position | WXXA Since |
|---|---|---|
| Kaitlyn Barto | Fox23 News Daybreak TimeSaver Traffic Reporter | 2006 |
| Kathryn Hauser | Fox23 News Daybreak General Assignment Reporter | 2006 |
| Kristin Lowman | General Assignment Reporter | 2007 |
| Paul Merrill | General Assignment Reporter | 2007 |
FOX 23 Weather Where You Live Meteorologists
(in order of rank)
| Personality | Position | WXXA Since |
|---|---|---|
| Steve Teeling | Fox23 News at 5, Fox23 News at 10, Fox23 News Chief Meteorologist | 2006 |
| Chris Silveri | Fox23 News at 10 (weekends)/Fill-in meteorologist | unknown |
| Brandon Hertell | Fox23 News Daybreak Meteorologist | 2006 |
Sports
(in order of rank)
| Personality | Position | WXXA Since |
|---|---|---|
| Rich Becker | Sports Director, Fox23 News at 5, Fox23 News at 10/Host of: Fox23 Times Union High School Sports Show, Fox23 Fast Track | 1999 |
| Brent Martineau | Sports Reporter (weekdays)/Fox23 News at 10 (weekends)/Host of: Fox23 Times Union High School Sports Show, Fox23 Fast Track | 2002 |
| Scott Morlock | Fill-in sports anchor/Host of: Fox23 Fast Track | 1997 |
- Dan Bazile (Former reporter/fill-in anchor, now weekend morning anchor at WNYT)
- Greg Floyd (Original lead anchor and managing editor, downgraded to weekends upon John Gray's arrival, left for WRGB in December 2005)
- Noah Francis (Chief meteorologist 1996-2006 and the last on-air talent from the news department's launch to leave the station)
- Molly Line (Reporter and fill-in anchor in the early 2000s, now is a reporter at Fox News Channel)
- Natalie Martinez (Weeknight co-anchor from 1998 to 2000, previously reporter and original weekend anchor). Now a reporter and fill-in anchor at WMAQ in Chicago)
- Marci Natale (Former reporter, now weekend evening anchor at WRGB)
- Nathan O'Leary (Former reporter/fill-in anchor)
- Allison Seymour (Original co-anchor, now early morning anchor at WTTG in Washington DC)
- Gary Somerset (reporter in the late 1990s)
- Kristin Stinar (Reporter and 6:30 co-anchor with Ann Hughes in the early 2000s, now reporter and fill-in anchor at KSTP-TV in Minneapolis)
- David Wade (Original weekend reporter, then becoming reporter and weeknight anchor at WFXT in Boston)
- Brian Pastiglione (Former reporter and fill-in anchor.)
- Stephanie Gorin (Anchor from 1996-1998, now the lead anchor out of WPTZ in Plattsburgh)
- Keith Galley (Former weekend meteorologist.)
- Tim Drawbridge (Former weekend meteorologist, now weekend meteorologist at WNYT.)
Outside the realm of news, a few other personalities in WXXA-TV's past could be considered notable
- "Ranger Danger": Played by veteran radio DJ Gary Locatelli (better known as "Uncle Vito" of WPYX), the character of Ranger Danger was a cartoon host/children's show character who developed a cult following until the show was cancelled upon Clear Channel's purchase of the station.
- John Mulrooney, by then working for WPYX as morning show sidekick, briefly was a host of the station's late night comedies in 2001.
- ^ Clear Channel Communications (2007-04-20). Clear Channel Agrees to Sell Television Station Group to Providence Equity Partners. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-04-20.
- ^ FCC OK's Clear Channel TV Sale. Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved on 2007-11-29.
- WXXA-TV "FOX 23"
- WXXA Wireless
- WXXA-DT2 "The Variety Channel"
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WXXA-TV
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Local television stations Local and regional cable television channels |
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| See also: ABC, CBS, CW, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS and Other stations in New York |