WEVV-DT2

WEVV-DT2 / WEEV-LD
Evansville, Indiana
United States
Branding Fox 44 (general)
44 News (newscasts)
Slogan Focused On Family and the Community
Channels Digital: WEVV-DT 45.2 (UHF)
Virtual: 44.2 (PSIP)
Translators 47 (UHF) WEEV-LD 47.1 Evansville
(HD simulcast of 44.2)
Affiliations Fox & MyNetworkTV
Owner Bayou City Broadcasting
(Bayou City Broadcasting Evansville, Inc.)
First air date September 5, 2006 (2006-09-05)
Call letters' meaning double disambiguation of WEVV and the former Evansville translator's W47EE-D calls
Former callsigns Translator: W47EE-D (2011–2015)
Transmitter power WEVV-DT2: 500 kW
WEEV-LD: 4 kW
Height WEVV-DT2: 288 m
WEEV-LD: 399.9 m
Facility ID WEVV-DT2: 72041
WEEV-LD: 188022
Transmitter coordinates 37°53′17.4″N 87°32′37.3″W / 37.888167°N 87.543694°W / 37.888167; -87.543694
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: / WEEV-LD Profile
/ WEEV-LD CDBS
Website www.fox44tv.com

WEVV-DT2 is a primary Fox- and secondary MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Evansville, Indiana, United States. It operates as a second digital subchannel of CBS affiliate WEVV-TV (channel 44), which is owned by Bayou City Broadcasting. Over-the-air, it broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 45.2 (or virtual channel 44.2 via PSIP) from a transmitter located at John James Audubon State Park in Henderson, Kentucky. WEVV-TV maintains studio facilities located on Carpenter and Bond Streets in downtown Evansville, which it shares with PBS member station WNIN (channel 9).

The station also operates WEEV-LD, a low-power digital translator licensed to Evansville, that relays WEVV-DT2's programming in high definition. On cable, the subchannel is also available on Insight Communications channel 119, WOW! channel 3 (in standard definition) and digital channel 103 (in high definition), Mediacom channel 7 and Dish Network channel 45, ad in high definition on Insight digital channel 915 and WOW! digital channel 803. The subchannel is branded as "Fox 44", and is the largest subchannel-only Fox affiliate in the United States.

History

Early history

Prior to WEVV-DT2 taking the Fox affiliation, WEVV-TV was the original affiliate for the network in the Evansville market from the launch of the network's primetime lineup on April 5, 1987 until December 3, 1995, when WTVW (channel 7) ended its 39-year affiliation with ABC and affiliated with Fox, following the network's purchase of a 20% equity stake in Petracom Communications – which had just purchased WTVW – that year;[1] this saw WTVW, WEVV and then-CBS affiliate WEHT (channel 25) enter into a three-way affiliation swap that also saw ABC move to WEHT and CBS move from WEHT to WEVV.

WEVV-DT2's logo as "My 44", used from April 2009 (after parting with WTSN-LP) through June 30, 2011.

The subchannel's history began in September 2006, when WEVV – then owned by the Communications Corporation of America – began broadcasting a high definition digital signal; at the time, a digital subchannel was added on channel 44.2, which served as a primary affiliate of MyNetworkTV (which is owned by Fox's parent company 21st Century Fox, whose assets were part of News Corporation at the time) and was a simulcast of low-power station WTSN-LP (channel 56, now Retro Television Network affiliate WYYW-CD on channel 15), which was branded as "MyTSN". The station's relationship with WTSN-LP ended in 2009, after it affiliated with America One; at that time, channel 44.2 changed its branding to "My44".

Fox affiliation

On May 11, 2011, Fox announced that it would end its affiliation with WTVW after 16 years, and signed an affiliation agreement with WEVV-DT2 to carry Fox programming effective July 1, 2011. The move came about as Fox has been aggressively seeking a share of earnings from retransmission consent revenue gained by its affiliates through pay television providers as part of affiliation agreements; the amount that Fox demanded its affiliates share with the network had openly irked WTVW's owner Nexstar Broadcasting Group, and saw Nexstar lose Fox affiliations with stations in Springfield, Missouri and Fort Wayne, Indiana; Nexstar also decided to end the Fox affiliation with WFXW in Terre Haute, Indiana and affiliate that station with ABC. Locally, WTVW decided to become an independent station.[2] In effect, as a result of the agreement, WEVV regained the Fox affiliation it had lost 16 years earlier.

As a result, the Evansville market – which has only five full-power commercial television stations – became one of the only television markets in the United States with four out of the six broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and The CW) having primary affiliations, the remaining two (Fox and the MyNetworkTV program service) with affilaitions through digital multicast channels, and the analog-era VHF station being unaffiliated with a network compared to the market's UHF stations (the latter, WTVW, would become a CW affiliate in January 2013, after the shutdown of the defunct WAZE-TV (channel 17)'s translator stations).[3] Shortly before affiliating with Fox, WEVV began working with all of the market's cable and satellite providers to place WEVV-DT2's high definition signal on their systems, and move the station's standard definition channel from the extended digital lifeline tier to the basic tier which all cable subscribers in the area can receive.

WEVV-DT2's first logo as "Fox 44", used from July 1, 2011 to July 1, 2015.

On June 8, 2011, WEVV decided to rebrand the subchannel as "Fox 44", instead of the previously announced branding of "MyFox 44". The original logo resembled that of its Fox-affiliated sister stations under Comcorp ownership (such as WGMB in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, KMSS-TV in Shreveport, Louisiana and KWKT in Waco, Texas), though with a plain midpoint bullet between the station's call letters and city of license rather than a decorative outline, and continuing to use WEVV's longtime "44" logo.[4] On June 24, 2011, WEVV-TV signed on a new digital low-power station on channel 47,[5][6][7] under the callsign W47EE-D, to relay WEVV-DT2's programming – specifically its Fox and MyNetworkTV programming – in 720p high definition over-the-air in the immediate Evansville/Henderson area, and to provide an HD feed of the subchannel to local cable and satellite providers.

WEVV-DT2 continues to broadcast its schedule solely in 480i standard definition, but transmits it in widescreen to meet Fox's minimum requirements for transmission of its programming (rendering programming in letterboxed 4:3 on analog sets). The use of W47EE-D would avert viewer complaints about reductions in picture quality on WEVV's main channel from a combined shared signal broadcast in 1080i/720p HD, while still allowing the station to provide Fox content in high definition to the main part of the market and standard definition service to the remainder of WEVV's coverage area for viewers watching the station over-the-air.

On April 24, 2013, Communications Corporation of America announced the sale of its stations to WEHT owner and WTVW operator Nexstar Broadcasting Group. Since there are fewer than eight full-power stations in the Evansville market, neither Nexstar nor its partner company (and WTVW owner) Mission Broadcasting could legally buy WEVV. Instead, Nexstar originally opted to sell WEVV to Rocky Creek Communications, a Denton, Texas-based company founded by Shirley Green; Nexstar would have operated the station under a shared services agreement, which would have formed a virtual triopoly with WEHT and WTVW.[8] However, due to issues that stalled the Comcorp purchase from being completed because of the FCC proposals to restrict sharing agreements between two or more television stations within the same market to help increase female and ethnic minority ownership in television broadcasting, on August 4, 2014, Nexstar announced that it would instead sell WEVV to The Woodlands, Texas-based Bayou City Broadcasting (owned by DeJuan McCoy, who is African American) for $18.6 million; the sale price later increased to $26.85 million by its closure.[9] The sale was completed on January 1, 2015.[10]

On November 11, 2015, the translator's call letters were officially changed to WEEV-LD.[11]

Dish Network programming disputes

When WEVV-DT2 was announced as the new Fox affiliate for Evansville, ComCorp sought carriage agreements from local cable and satellite providers in the Tri-State region that did not carry the channel to add it to their channel lineups. Dish Network wound up engaged in a carriage dispute with ComCorp, Dish claimed ComCorp proposed a 325-350% carriage fee increase over what Dish had paid WTVW to carry that station;[12] this prevented Dish Network customers from being able to view WEVV-DT2 (including sporting events televised by Fox such as first five weeks of the 2011 National Football Conference season, the 2011 American League Division Series and the early rounds of the 2011 American League Championship Series), unless they switched to DirecTV, a cable provider (such as Time Warner Cable or Mediacom) or view the subchannel over-the-air. After a stalemate that lasted 104 days, ComCorp and Dish Network reached a carriage agreement on October 14, 2011; WEVV-DT2 was added on channel 45 for subscribers in the Evansville market.[13]

On January 8, 2015, WEVV-TV and WEVV-DT2 were removed from Dish Network, due to a carriage dispute spurred by Bayou City and Dish's inability to agree on retransmission consent revenue during negotiations on a new carriage agreement. Bayou City representatives claimed that Dish was trying to gain leverage over the company in negotiations because of the company's smaller size in comparison to other television station groups. Dish, however, claimed the new owners wanted transmission fees higher than those it pays other local broadcasters.[14] The dispute was resolved on February 3, 2015, through the reaching of a multi-year carriage agreement with Dish Network.[15]

Digital television

Digital channels

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[16][17]
44.2 480i 16:9 WEVV-FX WEVV-DT2 / Fox & MyNetworkTV

Programming

WEVV-DT2 carries the entire Fox and MyNetworkTV programming schedules. Prior to the addition of Fox programming, the subchannel aired MyNetworkTV programming in pattern from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.; after becoming a primary Fox affiliate on July 1, 2011, the MyNetworkTV schedule has aired on a two-hour delay from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m., immediately following Fox programming.[18] MyNetworkTV programming was pushed farther into late-night in July 2015, when WEVV-DT2 began to air the service's schedule from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. in preparation for the August 3 launch of the subchannel's primetime newscast upon the launch of WEVV-TV's news department. Syndicated programs broadcast by WEVV-DT2 (as of July 2015) include Jerry Springer, Maury, The Middle, The Steve Wilkos Show, Modern Family, The Wendy Williams Show and How I Met Your Mother.

Sports programming

Sports programming on WEVV-DT2 comes solely through Fox Sports. In the past because of Fox holding primary rights to the National Football Conference (NFC), WEVV-DT2 preferred to carry the St. Louis Rams as the closest NFC team available. With the team's move to Los Angeles for the 2016 season, it is unknown what their plans might be for the future as the nearest NFC teams are the Chicago Bears and Atlanta Falcons. NFL telecasts typically run opposite of CBS' American Football Conference telecasts on WEVV's main channel), as well as any games involving the Indianapolis Colts and/or Tennessee Titans (both of which play in the AFC) at times when either of the aforementioned teams plays a home game against an NFC opponent that airs in a Sunday afternoon timeslot.

Newscasts

WEVV-TV presently produces 29½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week for WEVV-DT2 (consisting of 4½ hours on weekdays and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays).

From the subchannel's launch, WEVV-DT2 did not broadcast any local news programming, as its parent station has not produced any local news programming since it shut down its original news department in July 2001;[19] this resulted in the station being one of the few Fox affiliates in the country that did not carry any local newscasts upon joining the network in July 2011. However, the subchannel did carry local weather cut-ins on weekday evenings, which were produced by WeatherVision out of its headquarters in Jackson, Mississippi.

After Bayou City Broadcasting acquired WEVV, Bayou City president DeJuan McCoy announced on December 9, 2014, that the company planned to relaunch the station's news department in 2015.[20] In May 2015, WEVV-TV announced the hirings of its main anchor teams, which include weeknight anchors Amanda Decker (formerly an anchor for the Independent News Network) and Chris Cerenelli (formerly of fellow CBS affiliate WTVF in Nashville); morning anchors Shelby Coates (formerly of fellow CBS affiliate WSPA in Spartanburg, South Carolina) and Melissa Schroeder (formerly of KARK-TV/KLRT-TV in Little Rock, Arkansas); and meteorologists Chad Evans (formerly of fellow CBS affiliate WLFI-TV in Lafayette, and previously with rival WEHT) and Jackie Brown (formerly of KXLY-TV in Spokane, Washington) and sports director Andrew Keesee (formerly of KWES-TV in Midland, Texas).[21][22]

Upon the launch of the news department on August 3, 2015, WEVV began producing a nightly hour-long primetime newscast at 9:00 p.m. for the subchannel (the station previously produced a newscast in that timeslot for its main channel from 1992 to 1995 as a Fox affiliate), as well as a weekday morning newscast from 4:30 to 9:00 a.m. (the first 2½ hours of which are simulcast with WEVV-TV's primary channel, followed by a two-hour extension of the program that is exclusive to the subchannel).[23] WEVV's news department is based out of studio facilities at 477 Carpenter Street in Evansville, which were previously occupied by WTVW until that station merged its operations with WEHT through a shared services agreement in December 2011; other station operations (including advertising, programming and traffic departments and master control operations) were also migrated to the facility at that time.[21][24]

References

  1. ↑ "Fox buys interest in group owner". Broadcasting & Cable. Cahners Business Information. May 22, 1995. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  2. ↑ Michael Malone (May 11, 2011). "Fox Inks New Affiliation Agreements, Scraps Others". Broadcasting & Cable. NewBay Media.
  3. ↑ Jacob Newkirk (May 11, 2011). "FOX ends affiliation with WTVW". Evansville Courier & Press. E. W. Scripps Company.
  4. ↑ Jacob Newkirk (June 8, 2011). "Don't call it MyFox44: WEVV draws from its history, changes name of new Fox station to Fox44". Jake's DTV Blog.
  5. ↑ Jacob Newkirk (June 29, 2011). "Fox moves to WEVV, HD available on low-power channel". Evansville Courier & Press. E. W. Scripps Company. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Licensing.fcc.gov page". U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
  7. ↑ "Licensing.fcc.gov page". U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
  8. ↑ https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS_Attachment/getattachment.jsp?appn=101552312&qnum=5040&copynum=1&exhcnum=1
  9. ↑ "Nexstar Selling WEVV For $18.6 Million". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. August 4, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Consummation Notice". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  11. ↑ Digital TV Market Listing for WEEV-LD (RabbitEars.Info)
  12. ↑ Jacob Newkirk (August 31, 2011). "Talks between WEVV, Dish TV reportedly at standstill". Evansville Courier & Press. E. W. Scripps Company.
  13. ↑ Jacob Newkirk (October 13, 2011). "WEVV owner, Dish Network reach agreement on Fox44 programming". Evansville Courier & Press. E. W. Scripps Company.
  14. ↑ Susan Orr (January 14, 2015). "DISH, WEVV dispute leaves customers frustrated". Evansville Courier & Press. E. W. Scripps Company. Retrieved July 16, 2015 – via DuBois County Herald.
  15. ↑ "DISH, owner of local TV station reach retransmission deal". Evansville Courier & Press. E. W. Scripps Company. February 2, 2015. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  16. ↑ "RabbitEars TV Query for WEVV". RabbitEars. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  17. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for WEEV-LD
  18. ↑ "FOX BROADCASTING COMPANY AND COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION OF AMERICA AGREE TO AFFILIATION IN EVANSVILLE, INDIANA". Communications Corporation of America. May 11, 2011. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011 – via WEVV-TV.
  19. ↑ Bob Boxell (November 2011). "The Big Switch". Evansville Living. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  20. ↑ Susan Orr (December 9, 2014). "WEVV to add local news programming". Evansville Courier & Press. Journal Media Group.
  21. 1 2 Ryan Reynolds (May 1, 2015). "WEVV names four members of news team for upcoming launch". Evansville Courier & Press. Journal Media Group.
  22. ↑ Kevin Eck (May 20, 2015). "WEVV Names Morning Team for Launch". TVSpy. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved July 16, 2015.
  23. ↑ Zach Evans (July 24, 2015). "WEVV readying young news team for Tri-State". Evansville Courier & Press. Journal Media Group. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  24. ↑ "CONFIRMED: WEVV's news department will launch August 3rd.". The Changing Newscasts Blog. WordPress. Roly Ortega. July 12, 2015. Retrieved July 17, 2015.

External links

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