WEVV-DT2
Encyclopedia
WEVV-DT2 is the primary Fox
and secondary MyNetworkTV
television station
for Evansville, Indiana
. It is the second digital subchannel
of CBS
affiliate WEVV-TV, owned by Communications Corporation of America
. Over-the-air, the station broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 45.2 (or virtual channel
44.2 via PSIP) from a transmitter located in Henderson, Kentucky
. The station also operates W47EE-D, a low-power digital translator licensed to Evansville, that relays WEVV-DT2's programming in high definition
. The subchannel can also be seen on Insight
channel 119, WOW! channel 3 and digital channel 103, Mediacom
channel 7 and Dish Network
channel 45. There is a high definition feed offered on Insight digital channel 915 and WOW! digital channel 803.
(channel 7) ended its 39-year affiliation with ABC
and affiliated with Fox, following the network's purchase of a 20% equity stake in then-owner Petracom Communications that year.; 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.
The subchannel's history began in September 2006, when WEVV 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 News Corporation
) and was a simulcast of low-power station WTSN-LP
, branded as "MyTSN". In 2009, the relationship with WTSN-LP ended after the station affiliated with America One
and channel 44.2 changed its branding to My44.
On May 11, 2011, Fox announced that it would end its 16-year affiliation with WTVW 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 retransmission earnings gained by its affiliates as part of affiliation agreements, the amount 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 affilation with WFXW in Terre Haute, Indiana
changing its affiliation to ABC. Locally, WTVW decided to become an independent station.
As a result, the five full-power commercial station Evansville market is 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) as digital multicast channels, and the analog-era VHF station being unaffiliated with a network compared to the market's UHF stations. 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.
On June 8, 2011, WEVV decided to rebrand the subchannel as Fox 44, instead of the previously announced branding of MyFox 44. The logo resembles that of its fellow Comcorp-owned Fox affiliates such as WGMB
in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
, KMSS-TV
in Shreveport, Louisiana
and KWKT
in Waco, Texas
, though with a plain midpoint bullet
between calls and city rather than a decorative outline, and continuing to use WEVV's longtime "44" logo. On June 24, 2011, WEVV-TV signed on a new digital low-power station on channel 47. This translator, which will eventually hold the callsign W47EE-D, will be used to air the Fox and MyNetworkTV schedules in 720p
high definition to cable and satellite providers and local over-the-air viewers in the immediate Evansville/Henderson area. WEVV-DT2 will continue to broadcast its schedule solely in 480i
standard definition, and in widescreen
to meet Fox's minimum requirements for airing of their programming; on analog sets, the screen is rendered in letterbox
ed 4:3. 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 ComCorp to provide Fox 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.
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; 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 prodvider (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.
programming on WEVV-DT2 includes Jerry Springer
, Maury
, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
, Cold Case, Frasier
, TMZ
and How I Met Your Mother
among others. Since WEVV-TV does not have a news operation, WEVV-DT2 is one of the few Fox affiliates in the country that does not carry any local newscasts, though WeatherVision
does provide weather content for both WEVV-TV and WEVV-DT2.
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
and secondary MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
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 Evansville, Indiana
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...
. It is the second digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
of 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 WEVV-TV, owned by Communications Corporation of America
Communications Corporation of America
Communications Corporation of America is a broadcasting company in the United States that owns television stations in smaller markets. The company is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana...
. Over-the-air, the station broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 45.2 (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....
44.2 via PSIP) from a transmitter located in Henderson, Kentucky
Henderson, Kentucky
Henderson is a city in Henderson County, Kentucky, United States, along the Ohio River in the western part of the state. The population was 27,952 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Evansville Metropolitan Area often referred to as "Kentuckiana", although "Tri-State Area" or "Tri-State" are more...
. The station also operates W47EE-D, a low-power digital translator licensed to Evansville, that relays WEVV-DT2's programming in 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...
. The subchannel can also be seen on Insight
Insight Communications
Insight Communications is the 13th largest multiple system operator in the United States with approximately 692,000 customers in the three contiguous states of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio...
channel 119, WOW! channel 3 and digital channel 103, 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 7 and Dish Network
Dish Network
Dish Network Corporation is the second largest pay TV provider in the United States, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to 14.337 million commercial and residential customers in the United States. Dish...
channel 45. There is a high definition feed offered on Insight digital channel 915 and WOW! digital channel 803.
History
Prior to WEVV-DT2 taking the Fox affiliation, WEVV-TV was the original affiliate for the network in the Evansville market from its 1986 launch until December 3, 1995, when WTVWWTVW
Banam sold WTVW to Petracom Broadcasting in 1995. A 20-percent equity stake in Petracom was purchased by Fox soon afterward, eventually leading to a three-way affiliation swap in which WTVW ended its 39-year ABC affiliation and joined Fox on December 3, 1995, with ABC moving to former CBS...
(channel 7) ended its 39-year affiliation with 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...
and affiliated with Fox, following the network's purchase of a 20% equity stake in then-owner Petracom Communications that year.; this saw WTVW, WEVV and then-CBS affiliate WEHT
WEHT
WEHT is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Tri-State area of Southwestern Indiana, Northwestern Kentucky and Southeastern Illinois; it is owned by Nexstar Broadcasting Group under a shared services agreement with independent station WTVW...
(channel 25) enter into a three-way affiliation swap that also saw ABC move to WEHT and CBS move from WEHT to WEVV.
News Corporation
News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...
) and was a simulcast of low-power station WTSN-LP
WTSN-LP
WTSN-LD channel 36 is the Me-TV affiliate in Evansville, Indiana. It is licensed in Evansville. Formerly a Pax, UPN and My Network TV affiliate, it became an affiliate of America One in June 2009....
, branded as "MyTSN". In 2009, the relationship with WTSN-LP ended after the station affiliated with America One
America One
America One is an over-the-air television network in the United States. The network serves over 170 LPTV, Class A, Full Power, Cable and Satellite affiliate stations...
and channel 44.2 changed its branding to My44.
On May 11, 2011, Fox announced that it would end its 16-year affiliation with WTVW 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 retransmission earnings gained by its affiliates as part of affiliation agreements, the amount Fox demanded its affiliates share with the network had openly irked WTVW's owner Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group
Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc., is an entity of broadcast television stations headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company consists of 50 television stations across the U.S., ranging from market sizes 9 to 201 . 43 of the stations are broadcasting at full power, with the other 4 broadcasting at...
, and saw Nexstar lose Fox affiliations with stations in Springfield, Missouri and Fort Wayne, Indiana
WFFT-TV
WFFT-TV is an Independent station for Northeastern Indiana licensed to Fort Wayne. From the network's launch on October 9th, 1986 to July 31, 2011, WFFT was the Fox-affiliated television station for Fort Wayne. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 from a transmitter at...
; Nexstar also decided to end the Fox affilation with WFXW in Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...
changing its affiliation to ABC. Locally, WTVW decided to become an independent station.
As a result, the five full-power commercial station Evansville market is one of the only television markets in the United States with four out of the six broadcast networks (ABC, 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...
, 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...
and The CW) having primary affiliations, the remaining two (Fox and the MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
program service) as digital multicast channels, and the analog-era VHF station being unaffiliated with a network compared to the market's UHF stations. 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.
On June 8, 2011, WEVV decided to rebrand the subchannel as Fox 44, instead of the previously announced branding of MyFox 44. The logo resembles that of its fellow Comcorp-owned Fox affiliates such as WGMB
WGMB
WGMB-TV is the local Fox affiliate for Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is owned by Communications Corporation of America, and is sister station to the area's The CW affiliate, WBRL-CD. WGMB also shared facilities and staff with WVLA-TV and KZUP-CD...
in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
, KMSS-TV
KMSS-TV
KMSS-TV is the Fox affiliate in Shreveport, Louisiana. The station is seen via satellite through Dish Network and DirecTV...
in Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
and KWKT
KWKT
KWKT-TV channel 44 and KYLE-TV channel 28 are Fox affiliates in Central Texas and are owned by Communications Corporation of America. KWKT serves the Waco/Killeen/Temple area. KYLE serves the Bryan-College Station area....
in Waco, Texas
Waco, Texas
Waco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. Situated along the Brazos River and on the I-35 corridor, halfway between Dallas and Austin, it is the economic, cultural, and academic center of the 'Heart of Texas' region....
, though with a plain midpoint bullet
Bullet (typography)
In typography, a bullet is a typographical symbol or glyph used to introduce items in a list. For example:*Item 1*Item 2*Item 3...
between calls and city rather than a decorative outline, and continuing to use WEVV's longtime "44" logo. On June 24, 2011, WEVV-TV signed on a new digital low-power station on channel 47. This translator, which will eventually hold the callsign W47EE-D, will be used to air the Fox and MyNetworkTV schedules in 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...
high definition to cable and satellite providers and local over-the-air viewers in the immediate Evansville/Henderson area. WEVV-DT2 will continue to broadcast its schedule solely in 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...
standard definition, and in widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
to meet Fox's minimum requirements for airing of their programming; on analog sets, the screen is rendered in letterbox
Letterbox
Letterboxing is the practice of transferring film shot in a widescreen aspect ratio to standard-width video formats while preserving the film's original aspect ratio. The resulting videographic image has mattes above and below it; these mattes are part of the image...
ed 4:3. 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 ComCorp to provide Fox 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.
Dish Network programming dispute
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 NetworkDish Network
Dish Network Corporation is the second largest pay TV provider in the United States, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to 14.337 million commercial and residential customers in the United States. Dish...
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; this prevented Dish Network customers from being able to view WEVV-DT2 (including sporting events televised by Fox such as first five weeks
2011 NFL season
The 2011 NFL season, the 92nd regular season of the National Football League, began on Thursday, September 8, 2011 with the Super Bowl XLV champion Green Bay Packers defeating the New Orleans Saints 42–34 at Lambeau Field and will end with Super Bowl XLVI, the league's championship game, on...
of the 2011 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,...
season, the 2011 American League Division Series
2011 American League Division Series
The 2011 American League Division Series were two best-of-five playoffs comprising the opening round of the Major League Baseball postseason, played to determine the participating teams in the 2011 American League Championship Series. Three divisional winners and a fourth team—a wild card—played...
and the early rounds of the 2011 American League Championship Series
2011 American League Championship Series
The 2011 American League Championship Series was a best-of-seven playoff pitting the winners of the 2011 American League Division Series, the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers, against each other for the American League championship and the right to be the league's representative in the 2011 World...
), unless they switched to DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
, a cable prodvider (such as Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
or 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,...
) 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.
Programming
Since the subchannel added the Fox affiliation on July 1, 2011, MyNetworkTV programming moved from the 7-9 p.m. primetime slot to 9-11 p.m. immediately following Fox programming. SyndicatedTelevision 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 WEVV-DT2 includes Jerry Springer
The Jerry Springer Show
The Jerry Springer Show is a syndicated television tabloid talk show hosted by Jerry Springer, a former politician, broadcast in the United States and other countries...
, 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...
, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? is a television game show format based on asking grade-school level questions to adults, hosted by Jeff Foxworthy...
, Cold Case, Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
, TMZ
TMZ on TV
TMZ on TV, or simply TMZ and TMZTV, is an American syndicated entertainment and gossip news television show that premiered on September 10, 2007. The program is generally aired on Fox, The CW and MyNetworkTV affiliates, though a majority of the stations that carry the series are Fox affiliates...
and How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother
How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays.As a framing device, the main character, Ted Mosby with narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and daughter the events that led to his meeting...
among others. Since WEVV-TV does not have a news operation, WEVV-DT2 is one of the few Fox affiliates in the country that does not carry any local newscasts, though WeatherVision
WeatherVision
WeatherVision is a TV syndication company based in Jackson, Mississippi, that produces and distributes customized weather forecast segments for local airing by over 200 commercial and public television stations and Networks nationwide...
does provide weather content for both WEVV-TV and WEVV-DT2.