WFTX-TV

WFTX-TV

Cape Coral–Fort Myers–Naples, Florida United States
City	Cape Coral, Florida
Channels	Digital: 34 (UHF) Virtual: 36
Branding	Fox 4 (cable channel)
Programming
Affiliations	36.1: Fox for others, see § Subchannels
Ownership
Owner	E. W. Scripps Company (Scripps Broadcasting Holdings LLC)
History
First air date	October 14, 1985 (39 years ago) (1985-10-14)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 36 (UHF, 1985–2009) Digital: 35 (UHF, until 2020)
Former affiliations	Independent (1985–1986)
Call sign meaning	"Family Television X"; a variation on co-owned WFTS-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″N 81°48′4″W
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.fox4now.com

WFTX-TV (channel 36) is a television station licensed to Cape Coral, Florida, United States, serving as the Fox affiliate for Southwest Florida. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, the station has studios on Southwest Pine Island Road (SR 78) in Cape Coral, and its transmitter is located near Punta Gorda (east of I-75/SR 93) near the Charlotte and Lee county line.

WFTX-TV is branded as Fox 4, in reference to its channel location on most cable systems in the market, which it has enjoyed since its sign on in 1985.

History

In 1982, interest began in the channel 36 allocation to Cape Coral. In 1984, out of four applications, a Federal 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 with Family Group Broadcasting, which two years prior had signed on WFTS-TV in Tampa—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 first independent 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 to Terre Haute, Indiana–based Wabash Valley Broadcasting, controlled by the family of Tony Hulman; Wabash Valley, which owned WTHI-TV in its home town of Terre Haute, had also agreed to purchase WBSP-TV in Ocala 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 independent WNPL-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 station WEVU-TV, in 1988.^[10] With Fox, channel 36's programming rapidly grew in ratings. Its first major local program, the consumer series Troubleshooter, was outdrawing national and local newscasts by 1991.^[11]

The station changed hands again in 1998, when Emmis Communications purchased the assets of Wabash Valley Broadcasting, giving Emmis its first television stations.^[12] From 2002 to 2005, WFTX's master control and other internal operations were controlled from a regional hub located at the company's WKCF in Lake Mary, near Orlando.^[13] Emmis exited the television business in 2005, with Journal 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 also NBC affiliate WPTV-TV in West 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 added Ion Television as a subchannel after Scripps' acquisition of Ion Media, bringing the network over-the-air to Southwest Florida for the first time since its 1998 launch. The Fort 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.

News operation

In 1992, WFTX announced it would start a local news service in 1993.^[16] The first 10 p.m. newscast aired on October 10, 1993,^[17] In its first year, the Associated Press selected WFTX as having the best medium-market newscast in the state of Florida.^[18] A 6 p.m. program was added in 1995, incorporating the previously separate Troubleshooter show;^[19] low ratings prompted its cancellation in 2000.^[20]

After the sale to Journal, WFTX expanded its news department with a focus on consumer advocacy and investigative reporting. A weekday morning newscast titled Fox 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.^[21] 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 when ABC affiliate WZVN-TV (channel 26) announced that it would launch a nightly prime time newscast on cable-only MyNetworkTV affiliate "WNFM". On March 26, 2007, CBS affiliate WINK-TV (channel 11) entering into the 10 p.m. race with its own broadcast on CW 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 the big 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.

Notable former on-air staff

• Cindy Preszler — meteorologist (now at WFOR-TV in Miami)
• Michelle Tuzee — anchor/reporter (later with KABC-TV in Los Angeles)^[17]

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WFTX-TV^[22]

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[23]
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-national Florida Panthers games would air on its third subchannel.^[23]

Analog-to-digital conversion

WFTX-TV ended regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 36, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate.^[24] The station's digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre-transition UHF channel 35.^[25][26]

See also

• Channel 4 branded TV stations in the United States
• Channel 34 digital TV stations in the United States
• Channel 36 virtual TV stations in the United States

References

1. Erickson, Michael (February 21, 1986). "Looking between the letters". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 1D, 6D. Archived from the original on December 5, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Facility Technical Data for WFTX-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
3. "Charlotte County investors win license for Cape Coral TV station". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. September 13, 1984. p. 1B. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Leighton, Brian (October 13, 1984). "Group seeking Cape TV license given more time for settlement". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 1B, 3B. Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Sabo, William (April 2, 1985). "Council approves Cape TV station". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 1B. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Rinella, Frank (October 15, 1985). "TV station finally gets signal across". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 1B. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "TV station in Cape purchased". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. July 12, 1986. p. 5B. Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "TV station sold". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. September 12, 1986. p. 1C. Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
9. Zoldan, Sheldon (March 9, 1987). "WFTX-TV commits $1 million for tower, studio improvements". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. Business 8. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Zoldan, Sheldon (June 30, 1988). "TV-36 wants ABC to switch channel". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 1A, 8A. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Berg McClure, Christy (May 12, 1991). "Sly like a fox: Some innovative TV programming moves WFTX up". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 1E, [v 2E]. Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
12. Jerse, Dorothy (April 5, 2008). "LOOKING BACK: 1983-Terre Haute receives 13 mentions in new state promotional booklet". Tribune-Star. Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved March 21, 2011.
13. Kerschbaumer, Ken (April 1, 2002). "Emmis shares hub". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
14. Romano, Allison (December 1, 2005). "Emmis Completes Deal for Six TVs". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
15. Glauber, Bill (July 30, 2014). "Journal, Scripps deal announced". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on July 31, 2014. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
16. "Fine Tuning: WFTX, FOX trot to TV success". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. September 4, 1992. pp. Sun-Press 1, 2. Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
17. Strauss, Larry A. (October 10, 1993). "News faces: WFTX-TV joins local broadcast battle". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 1F, 4F. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
18. Strauss, Larry A. (April 22, 1994). "Classy jazz, piano shows light up Phil". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. Gulf Coasting 2. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
19. Strauss, Larry A. (August 1, 1995). "Time for change in news shows at WFTX, WBBH". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 1D. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
20. Scott, Denise L. (June 6, 2000). "WFTX drops 6 p.m. newscast". News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. p. 1B. Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
21. Gauthier, Andrew (May 10, 2010). "In Fort Meyers, WFTX Enters 6pm News Competition". TVSpy. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
22. "It's time to rescan your TV if you use an antenna". Fox4Now.com. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
23. "Florida Panthers and Scripps Sports Announce Programming for 2024-25 Season". Florida Panthers. August 29, 2024. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
24. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Fort Myers TV Stations Switch Off Analog (2009)". YouTube.
25. "Attachment I: DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on August 29, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
26. "CDBS Print". Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2018.

External links

• Official website