KFXA
Encyclopedia
KFXA is the Fox-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...

 for Eastern Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

 licensed to Cedar Rapids
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Cedar Rapids is the second largest city in Iowa and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, north of Iowa City and east of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city...

. It broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...

 digital signal on UHF channel 27 (or virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....

 28.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter in Van Horne
Van Horne, Iowa
Van Horne is a city in Benton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 716 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Cedar Rapids Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Van Horne is located at ....

. The station can also be seen on Mediacom
Mediacom
Mediacom is a cable television and communications provider in the United States. Founded in July 1995, it serves primarily smaller markets in the Midwest and Southern United States. Formerly a publicly traded firm, it went private in a $600.0 million transaction in March 2011 and is, as of 2011,...

 channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 828. Owned by Second Generation of Iowa, KFXA is operated by the Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group
The Sinclair Broadcast Group is an American telecommunications company that operates the largest number of local television stations in the United States. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, it owns a total of 57 stations across the country in 35 primarily small and medium markets, many of...

 as sister to CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 affiliate KGAN
KGAN
KGAN is the CBS-affiliated television station for Eastern Iowa licensed to Cedar Rapids. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 51 from a transmitter in Rowley near the junction of Buchanan, Benton and Linn Counties. The station can also be seen on Mediacom channel 2 and in...

. The two outlets share studios at Broadcast Park on Old Marion Road Northeast (along IA 100) in Cedar Rapids. Syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...

 programming on this station includes The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

, Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...

, The Steve Wilkos Show
The Steve Wilkos Show
The Steve Wilkos Show is a syndicated American tabloid talk show hosted by Steve Wilkos. The show debuted on September 10, 2007, two months after Wilkos' departure as director of security on The Jerry Springer Show.-History:...

and Maury
Maury (TV series)
Maury is a syndicated American tabloid talk show hosted by Maury Povich.When the series first aired in 1991, the show was called The Maury Povich Show and was produced by MoPo Productions in association with Paramount Domestic Television...

among others.

Digital programming

On KFXA-DT2 and Mediacom digital channel 103 is The Country Network.
Channels Name Video Aspect
Aspect ratio
The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,...

Programming
28.1 KFXA-HD 720p
720p
720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan...

 
16:9
16:9
16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ...

 
Main KFXA programming / FOX
28.2 KFXA-DT2 480i
480i
480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC...

 
4:3  The Country Network

History

The station signed-on February 1, 1988
1988 in television
The year 1988 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1988.For the American TV schedule, see: 1988-89 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:...

 as KOCR-TV with studios on Boyson Road Northeast in Cedar Rapids. Airing an analog signal on UHF channel 28, it was the first new full-market
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...

 commercial station
Commercial broadcasting
Commercial broadcasting is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship...

 to launch in Eastern Iowa in 34 years. KOCR was a Fox affiliate from the beginning and owned by Gerald Fitzgerald and his company, Metro Program Network. After being on-the-air only a few weeks, it was ordered off-the-air by the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

 (FCC) because a $150 check from the station bounced. Once it got back on-air some weeks later, the full story came out. Metro Program Network planned and had a construction permit
Construction permit
A construction permit or building permit is a permit required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and in some cases for major renovations. Generally, the new construction must be inspected during construction and after completion to ensure compliance...

 for a 1,200-foot tower between Cedar Rapids and Waterloo. Lacking financing for such a tower, the company instead built a tiny 500-foot tower next to its studio building without approval of the FCC or Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...

 (FAA).

This forced the station to rely on cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...

 for most of its viewership. By 1994, Fox was reaching new heights from gaining broadcast rights of the NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

's National Football Conference
National Football Conference
The National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL.-Current teams:Since 2002, the NFC has comprised 16 teams,...

 from CBS. However, KOCR's coverage area was not nearly as large as those of the other Eastern Iowa stations so it sold local NFC rights to KGAN. Before the year was out, the FCC ordered the station off-the-air again due to financial troubles. After this, cable systems in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City offered the national Foxnet
Foxnet
Foxnet was a cable network that was available to markets in the United States without an affiliate of the Fox Network. It was usually available in very small television markets....

 feed in place of KOCR.

In 1995, the station was purchased by current owner Second Generation of Iowa and was relaunched as KFXA after going back on-the-air August 13. After the company took possession of the station, it entered into a local marketing agreement
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...

 (LMA) with KDUB in Dubuque
Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2010 its population was 57,637, making it the ninth-largest city in the state and the county's population was 93,653....

 which operated on UHF channel 40. That station's call letters were changed from KDUB to KFXB and its affiliation was changed from ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 to Fox as a semi-satellite of KFXA. The two stations were then branded together as "Fox 28&40". The LMA lasted until 2004 when Dubuque TV Limited Partnership sold KFXB to the Christian Television Network
Christian Television Network
Christian Television Network is a non-profit broadcast television network of small owned-and-operated stations that broadcasts religious programming. It is based in Largo, Florida , and the flagship station is WCLF channel 22, which signed on the air in the Tampa Bay Florida region in 1979...

. When that was done, KFXA became the primary Fox outlet for Northeastern Iowa.

Eventually after establishing an operational outsourcing agreement with the Sinclair Broadcasting Group (owner of KGAN), Second Generation merged internal operations of KFXA into KGAN's studios. On February 1, 2008, Sinclair announced it would attempt to purchase this station outright for $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

19 million. The announcement was only partially true since the Sinclair press release only mentioned the company had acquired the non-license assets of KFXA but held an option to acquire the station's license (which Sinclair has yet to exercise as of September 2011). Officially, Second Generation of Iowa continues to own KFXA's license but all of its operations are now outsourced to KGAN. At 11:59 p.m. on February 17, 2009, KFXA's digital signal remained on UHF channel 27 when the analog to digital conversion was completed.

As part of the KGAN twinstick
Duopoly (broadcasting)
In United States broadcast television and radio, duopoly is a term used to describe a single company which owns two or more stations in the same city or community....

, this station is considered an alternate CBS affiliate airing that network's programs when KGAN is unable to do so such as during a breaking news emergency (such as severe weather
Severe weather
Severe weather phenomena are weather conditions that are hazardous to human life and property.- Examples Include :Severe weather can occur under a variety of situations, but three characteristics are generally needed: a temperature or moisture boundary, moisture, and , instability in the...

) or local special. The renewal of a retransmission dispute between Sinclair and Mediacom threatened to have the station removed from the cable provider's lineup. Failure to reach a new agreement could have prevented the primary cable company in the state of Iowa from having access to the 2010 Orange Bowl
2010 Orange Bowl
The 2010 FedEx Orange Bowl game featured the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Iowa Hawkeyes on Tuesday, January 5, 2010, at Land Shark Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida...

which aired on Fox with local favorite Iowa Hawkeyes
2009 Iowa Hawkeyes football team
The 2009 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa and the Iowa Hawkeyes athletic program during the 2009 college football season. The team played its home games at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. 2009 marked Kirk Ferentz's 11th year as head coach of Iowa...

 football team defeating the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
2009 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team
The 2009 Yellow Jackets football team represented the Georgia Institute of Technology in the 2009–2010 Football Season. The team was coached by second year head coach Paul Johnson...

. On December 31, 2009 the expiration date of the original agreement, Sinclair agreed to give Mediacom an eight-day extension that would keep the Orange Bowl on-the-air. Two days after the game, the parties agreed to a one-year carriage deal. KFXA airs Big 12 Conference
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...

 basketball and the Iowa high school state championships in football, wrestling, as well as boys and girls basketball.

News operation

Since KFXB operated as a semi-satellite of KFXA through the LMA, it allowed the former to keep its Dubuque-based news department established during its ABC affiliation. In 2004, Second Generation decided to close this operation down and have a combined news department based out of Cedar Rapids and KFXA. Currently, Dubuque has coverage provided though bureaus operated by KWWL and KCRG-TV
KCRG-TV
KCRG-TV, channel 9, is a television station, operating as the ABC affiliate for the Cedar Rapids, Iowa metropolitan area, and the nearby cities of Waterloo, Iowa City and Dubuque....

. Ultimately, the former captured a majority of the local news market in the area. It is unknown exactly when KFXA's separate news department in Cedar Rapids was shut down with that outlet's consolidation with KGAN.

On March 4, 2001, KGAN began producing a nightly prime time newscast on sister station and fellow Fox affiliate KDSM-TV
KDSM-TV
KDSM-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Central Iowa licensed to Des Moines. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 16 from a transmitter in Alleman. The station can also be seen on Mediacom channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 817. Owned by the...

 in Des Moines
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...

. Known as Fox 17 News at 9, this half-hour show originated live from KGAN's studios and featured its own on-air personnel. There was regional news coverage and statewide weather forecasts provided since there were no locally-based personnel in Des Moines. In 2002 for the convenience of Eastern Iowa viewers, the thirty minute program was added to KFXA through a simulcast and renamed Fox News at 9.

For the most part, the broadcast's format remained the same although Eastern Iowa reports from KGAN reporters were added. On September 2, 2008, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 affiliate WHO-DT (owned by Local TV
Local TV
Local TV LLC is a limited liability corporation, owned by Oak Hill Capital Partners , which operates 18 local network-affiliated television stations in the United States.-History:...

) in Des Moines entered into a news share agreement with KDSM. As a result, the big three outlet
Big Three Television Networks
The Big Three Television Networks are the three traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: ABC, CBS and NBC...

 began producing a Central Iowa-focused prime time newscast on that station from WHO's studios. Today, KGAN contunues to produce an hour-long prime time newscast at 9 seen every night on KFXA.

The station did not participate in the wider implementation of Sinclair's now-defunct, controversial News Central
News Central
News Central was a primetime newscast on Sinclair television stations in the United States, mixing locally produced news with nationally produced news and an opinion segment from Sinclair's Hunt Valley, Maryland studios...

format for its newscasts but did air "The Point" (a one-minute conservative political commentary
Political criticism
Political criticism is criticism that is specific of or relevant to politics, including policies, politicians, political parties, and types of government.-Controversy:...

) that was also controversial and a requirement of all Sinclair-owned stations with local news until the series was discontinued in December 2006. In Fall 2005 despite having no weekday morning show of its own, KGAN began producing Good Day Iowa on KFXA. This was seen for two hours from 7 until 9 and competed against national morning shows on Eastern Iowa's big three affiliates. Due to inconsistent viewership and low ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...

, the newscast was canceled in July 2007.

At some point in September 2011, KGAN brought back a weekday morning show to KFXA after adding Fox News at 7 which is seen for an hour until 8. The station remain the only news department in Eastern Iowa to air local newscasts in pillarboxed 4:3 standard definition. KGAN operates a Doppler weather radar of its own at the Old Marion Road Northeast studios. Weather forecasts from this station can also heard on KCRR
KCRR
KCRR is a radio station serving Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and surrounding cities with a classic rock format. This station broadcasts on FM frequency 97.7 MHz and is under ownership of Cumulus Media. Cory Ford is program director for KCRR and Elwin "Jim" Huffman serves as morning news host...

-FM 97.7, KKHQ-FM
KKHQ-FM
KKHQ-FM is a radio station serving Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and the surrounding area known as the Cedar Valley with a Top 40 format. This station broadcasts on FM frequency 92.3 MHz and is under ownership of Cumulus Media...

 92.3, KOEL-FM
KOEL-FM
KOEL-FM is a radio station serving Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and surrounding cities with a modern country format. This station broadcasts on FM frequency 98.5 MHz and is under ownership of Cumulus Media. KOEL used to be broadcast on the FM frequency of 92.3 while 98.5 was then known as KKCV "The Hog"...

 98.5 and KCJJ
KCJJ
KCJJ is a radio station licensed to serve Iowa City, Iowa, USA. The station is owned by Steve Bridges' River City Radio. The station was assigned the KCJJ call sign by the Federal Communications Commission in 1982.-Programming:...

-AM 1630.

News team

Anchors
  • Tim Seymour - weekday mornings and Executive Producer
  • Kelly O'Connell - weekday mornings and reporter
  • Tiffany O'Donnell - weeknights
  • Jack Miller - weeknights
  • TBD - weekends


Fox 28 First Warning Meteorologists
  • Mace Michaels (AMS
    American Meteorological Society
    The American Meteorological Society promotes the development and dissemination of information and education on the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and the advancement of their professional applications. Founded in 1919, the American Meteorological Society has a membership...

     Seal of Approval) - weeknights
  • Justin Roberts - weekday mornings and "Will It Work?" segment producer
  • Lee Dennis (AMS and NWA
    National Weather Association
    The National Weather Association is an American professional association with a mission to support and promote excellence in operational meteorology and related activities...

     Seals of Approval) - weekends


Sports (both seen on Fox Sports Sunday)
  • Jared Aarons - Director
    Sports Director
    A sports director is an individual at a television or radio station who is in charge of the sports department. In local news, the sports director is typically the station's primary sportscaster, and often anchors the primetime newscasts on weekdays. They are in charge of sports programming and...

     seen weeknights
  • Heather Gilchrist - weekends and sports reporter


Reporters
  • Mark E. Hyman
    Mark E. Hyman
    Mark E. Hyman is the Vice President for Corporate Relations for Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest chain of local television stations in the United States. Hyman became a visible presence during local news broadcasts over Sinclair's stations, many of which aired The Point from late 2001...

     - Sinclair Vice President
    Vice president
    A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...

    for Corporate Relations and "Beyond the Headlines" segment producer
  • Brian Scott - photojournalist
  • Kelsey Minor
  • Alice Barr

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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