WFVX-LP
Encyclopedia
WFVX-LP is the primary Fox and secondary MyNetworkTV
television station
for Central
and Eastern
Maine
licensed to Bangor
. It broadcasts a low-powered
analog signal on UHF channel 22 from a transmitter on Black Cap Mountain along the Penobscot
and Hancock
County line. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable
channel 4 and in high definition
on digital channel 704. Owned by Rockfleet Broadcasting
, WFVX is sister to ABC
affiliate WVII-TV
and the two outlets share studios on Target Industrial Circle in West Bangor.
Syndicated
programming on this station includes The Office, Everybody Loves Raymond
, Friends
and Judge Joe Brown among others. Overnight, it airs paid programming
from Jewelry Television
. MyNetworkTV shows can be seen Monday through Saturday nights from 11 at night until 1 the next morning. WFVX's current logo is similar to fellow Fox affiliate WNAC-TV
in Providence, Rhode Island
. There is no separate website for this station right now.
(LMA) with MPBN Plus
repeater W30BF (locally-owned by James McLeod). Rockfleet then changed the call letters to WCKD-LP
and network affiliation to UPN
. After Portland
's WPXT
dropped Fox for The WB, the company negotiated with Fox to convert WCKD to the network. However, UPN threatened legal action for breach of an affiliation agreement and the plan was abandoned. Despite that, WCKD did air some Fox Sports
programming including Super Bowl XXXVI
.
In 2003, Rockfleet purchased a new station assigned the call letters WFVX-LP. This was set up to broadcast an analog signal on channel 22 and became the Fox affiliate for Bangor. The station officially signed-on April 14
of that year and inherited WCKD's syndicated programming. The WFVX calls were previously used on WFUP in Vanderbilt, Michigan
which serves as a full-time satellite of fellow Fox affiliate and former sister station WFQX-TV
in Cadillac, Michigan
. In early-2006, this station swapped Time Warner
Cable channel positions with WB 100+
outlet "WBAN".
On December 6, 2006, it was announced WFVX would start airing programming from Fox's new sister network MyNetworkTV. This new service launched nationally back on September 5 and did not have a Bangor affiliate until WFVX added the network in a secondary nature. Besides a generic MyNetworkTV logo on its website, there is no local logo and/or branding indicating the secondary affiliation. The station's contract with Time Warner Cable to offer Fox and MyNetworkTV programming in high definition was established in September 2007 with a tentative expiration in 2011.
Until June 12, 2009, WFVX did not broadcast a digital signal of its own due to its low-powered status. On that date, WVII added a new second digital subchannel to offer a high definition feed of WFVX for off-air viewers. This station has construction permit
allowing the station to perform a "flash-cut
" from analog to digital on the channel 22 allotment. At this time, no date has been announced when the change will actually commence. After transitioning to digital-exclusive transmission, it will eventually adopt the call letters WFVX-LD ("LD" stands for low-powered digital). Due to its low-powered status, WFVX's current analog signal has very little penetration outside the greater Bangor area. However, it is carried on cable and satellite television as far away as Skowhegan
and Bar Harbor
.
There is little in the way of local programming on WFVX. A weekday morning talk show, So Goes The Nation, was met with little success. This program was hosted by fellow broadcasters Charlie Horne and Alan Silberberg from the WFVX studios in Bangor. It was carried by this station, WPFO
in Portland, and WLOB
radio from early-2003 until 2004. The broadcast was a three-hour call-in talk show until September 2004 when it was reduced to a single hour before being canceled altogether in November of that year. This station carried Shop at Home overnights until its closure in March 2008. In August 2008, WFVX and WVII became part of the New England Patriots
Television Network and the two split airings of pre-season games. The station airs Patriots All Access Sunday mornings at 11 produced by Boston, Massachusetts's WBZ-TV
. Starting in November 2009, it began airing IWE: Championship Wrestling every Saturday night.
radio station
WNZS
-AM 1340. Since September 18, 2006, the prime time broadcast has been competing with other local news seen for a half-hour on WABI's CW-affiliated second digital subchannel. In mid-October 2006, WVII began taping WFVX's program earlier in the evening. However, the sports report was still seen live featuring game highlights and scores. As of September 2011, WFVX has resumed airing a live prime time newscast at 10.
Although an in-house weather department existed at one point in time, WVII currently contracts with AccuWeather
to produce the station's forecasts. The segments are recorded in advance and fed via satellite to Bangor from AccuWeather's headquarters on Science Park Road in State College, Pennsylvania
. As a result, the station may not cover all severe weather
events or be too late in doing so when conditions warrant. Meteorologists will sometimes refer to the forecast segments as originating from the "Fox Bangor Weather Center" even though the outsourcing exists.
On September 7, 2011, WVII expanded its news department to include a weekday morning show at 7 seen for sixty minutes on WFVX. Known as The 7 AM News Hour on Fox Bangor, it is the first time the station has ever offered a weekday morning newscast. The addition is only the second option for local news originating from Bangor since NBC
affiliate WLBZ
simulcasts sister outlet WCSH
in Portland with regional content. The broadcast's first half competes with another local news program seen on WABI-DT2 (although this is recorded in advanced). The weather forecast segments seen on WFVX continue to be taped in advance since there is still no locally-based weather team in Bangor.
Fox Bangor AccuWeather Meteorologists
Reporters
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 Central
Maine Highlands
The Maine Highlands is now a term used in the Maine tourism industry for a centrally located region that constitutes a large portion of the state of Maine. The Highlands are made up of Piscataquis and Penobscot counties...
and Eastern
Down East
In New England, the term Down East is applied in several different ways. In the narrowest sense, Down East refers to the coast of the U.S. state of Maine from Penobscot Bay to the Canadian border....
Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
licensed to Bangor
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
. It broadcasts a low-powered
Low-power broadcasting
Low-power broadcasting is electronic broadcasting at very low power and low cost, to a small community area.The terms "low-power broadcasting" and "micropower broadcasting" should not be used interchangeably, because the markets are not the same...
analog signal on UHF channel 22 from a transmitter on Black Cap Mountain along the Penobscot
Penobscot County, Maine
Penobscot County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. For U.S. Census statistical purposes, it is part of the Bangor, Maine, New England County Metropolitan Area . As of 2010, the population was 153,923...
and Hancock
Hancock County, Maine
Hancock County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of 2010, the population was 54,418. Its county seat is Ellsworth. It was incorporated on June 25, 1789...
County line. The station can also be seen on 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...
channel 4 and 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...
on digital channel 704. Owned by Rockfleet Broadcasting
Rockfleet Broadcasting
Rockfleet Broadcasting is a broadcasting company based in New York City. The company has three stations in its family.A fourth station is no longer under Rockfleet ownership. On May 10, 2007, it was announced that Rockfleet Broadcasting was planning to sell Fox affiliate WFQX-TV to Cadillac...
, WFVX is sister to 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...
affiliate WVII-TV
WVII-TV
WVII-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Central and Eastern Maine licensed to Bangor. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter on Black Cap Mountain along the Penobscot and Hancock County line. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable...
and the two outlets share studios on Target Industrial Circle in West Bangor.
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 Office, Everybody Loves Raymond
Everybody Loves Raymond
Everybody Loves Raymond is an American television sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 13, 1996, to May 16, 2005. Many of the situations from the show are based on the real-life experiences of lead actor Ray Romano, creator/producer Phil Rosenthal and the show's writing staff...
, Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
and Judge Joe Brown among others. Overnight, it airs paid programming
Infomercial
Infomercials are direct response television commercials which generally include a phone number or website. There are long-form infomercials, which are typically between 15 and 30 minutes in length, and short-form infomercials, which are typically 30 seconds to 120 seconds in length. Infomercials...
from Jewelry Television
Jewelry Television
Jewelry Television is an American television network, similar to the Home Shopping Network. It was formerly called "America's Collectibles Network" . The privately-held company was founded in 1993 and broadcasts high definition programming 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to over 80 million unique...
. MyNetworkTV shows can be seen Monday through Saturday nights from 11 at night until 1 the next morning. WFVX's current logo is similar to fellow Fox affiliate WNAC-TV
WNAC-TV
WNAC-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for the state of Rhode Island and Bristol County, Massachusetts licensed to Providence. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 12 from a transmitter on Homestead Avenue in Rehoboth, Massachusetts...
in Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
. There is no separate website for this station right now.
History
In April 2001, Rockfleet Broadcasting made its first venture into UHF broadcasting by entering into a local marketing agreementLocal 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 MPBN Plus
Maine Public Broadcasting Network
The Maine Public Broadcasting Network is a state network of public television and radio stations located in the state of Maine in the United States. It is operated by the Maine Public Broadcasting Corporation, which holds the licenses for all the Public Broadcasting Service and National Public...
repeater W30BF (locally-owned by James McLeod). Rockfleet then changed the call letters to WCKD-LP
WCKD-LP
WCKD-LP is a low power television station in Bangor, Maine. Its signal originates from a transmitter in East Eddington, Maine, and is seen on UHF channel 30. The station is not carried on any local cable systems.-History:...
and network affiliation to UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
. After Portland
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
's WPXT
WPXT
WPXT is the CW-affiliated television station for Southern Maine and Northern New Hampshire licensed to Portland. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 43 from a transmitter in South Gray along I-95/Maine Turnpike/Gold Star Memorial Highway...
dropped Fox for The WB, the company negotiated with Fox to convert WCKD to the network. However, UPN threatened legal action for breach of an affiliation agreement and the plan was abandoned. Despite that, WCKD did air some Fox Sports
Fox Sports (USA)
Fox Sports is a division of the Fox Broadcasting Company . It was formed in 1994 with Fox's acquisition of broadcast rights to National Football League games...
programming including Super Bowl XXXVI
Super Bowl XXXVI
Super Bowl XXXVI was an American football game played on February 3, 2002 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 2001 regular season. The American Football Conference champion New England Patriots won their first Super...
.
In 2003, Rockfleet purchased a new station assigned the call letters WFVX-LP. This was set up to broadcast an analog signal on channel 22 and became the Fox affiliate for Bangor. The station officially signed-on April 14
2003 in television
The year 2003 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 2003.For the American TV schedule, see: 2003-04 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:-1940s:...
of that year and inherited WCKD's syndicated programming. The WFVX calls were previously used on WFUP in Vanderbilt, Michigan
Vanderbilt, Michigan
Vanderbilt is a village in Otsego County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 587 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all land.-Demographics:...
which serves as a full-time satellite of fellow Fox affiliate and former sister station WFQX-TV
WFQX-TV
WFQX-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for the northern Lower and eastern Upper Peninsulas of Michigan. Licensed to Cadillac, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 32 from a transmitter at studios on 130th Avenue/Dighton Road in Tustin on Grove Hill...
in Cadillac, Michigan
Cadillac, Michigan
Cadillac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Wexford County. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 10,000. The city is situated at the junction of US 131, M-55 and M-115...
. In early-2006, this station swapped Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
Cable channel positions with WB 100+
The WB 100+ Station Group
The WB 100+ Station Group was a group of primarily non-broadcast local cable television outlets for The WB Television Network, for markets below the top 100 television media markets in the United States. Dayparts with no WB programming were programmed by the network...
outlet "WBAN".
On December 6, 2006, it was announced WFVX would start airing programming from Fox's new sister network MyNetworkTV. This new service launched nationally back on September 5 and did not have a Bangor affiliate until WFVX added the network in a secondary nature. Besides a generic MyNetworkTV logo on its website, there is no local logo and/or branding indicating the secondary affiliation. The station's contract with Time Warner Cable to offer Fox and MyNetworkTV programming in high definition was established in September 2007 with a tentative expiration in 2011.
Until June 12, 2009, WFVX did not broadcast a digital signal of its own due to its low-powered status. On that date, WVII added a new second digital subchannel to offer a high definition feed of WFVX for off-air viewers. This station has 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...
allowing the station to perform a "flash-cut
Flash-cut
A flash-cut, also called flash-cutover, is an immediate change in a complex system, with no phase-in period.Some telephone area codes were split immediately, rather than being phased in with a permissive dialing period. An example is telephone area code 213, which was split into 213 and 714 all at...
" from analog to digital on the channel 22 allotment. At this time, no date has been announced when the change will actually commence. After transitioning to digital-exclusive transmission, it will eventually adopt the call letters WFVX-LD ("LD" stands for low-powered digital). Due to its low-powered status, WFVX's current analog signal has very little penetration outside the greater Bangor area. However, it is carried on cable and satellite television as far away as Skowhegan
Skowhegan, Maine
Skowhegan is the county seat of Somerset County, Maine, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 8,824. Every August, Skowhegan hosts the annual Skowhegan State Fair, the oldest continuous state fair in the United States...
and Bar Harbor
Bar Harbor, Maine
Bar Harbor is a town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2010 census, its population is 5,235. Bar Harbor is a famous summer colony in the Down East region of Maine. It is home to the College of the Atlantic, Jackson Laboratory and Mount Desert Island...
.
There is little in the way of local programming on WFVX. A weekday morning talk show, So Goes The Nation, was met with little success. This program was hosted by fellow broadcasters Charlie Horne and Alan Silberberg from the WFVX studios in Bangor. It was carried by this station, WPFO
WPFO
WPFO is the Fox-affiliated television station for Southern Maine and Northern New Hampshire that is licensed to Waterville, Maine. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 23 from a transmitter on Oak Hill in Litchfield near the Androscoggin and Kennebec County line...
in Portland, and WLOB
WLOB
WLOB is a news/talk radio station in the Portland, Maine area. The current owner is Atlantic Coast Radio. In the 1960's McGavern/Guild Media NYC owned WLOB AM 1310/FM 98 as Atlantic States Industries Div...
radio from early-2003 until 2004. The broadcast was a three-hour call-in talk show until September 2004 when it was reduced to a single hour before being canceled altogether in November of that year. This station carried Shop at Home overnights until its closure in March 2008. In August 2008, WFVX and WVII became part of the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
Television Network and the two split airings of pre-season games. The station airs Patriots All Access Sunday mornings at 11 produced by Boston, Massachusetts's WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV, virtual channel 4, is a CBS owned-and-operated television station, located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WBZ-TV's studios and office facilities, shared with sister station WSBK-TV , are located in the Allston-Brighton section of Boston, and its transmitter is located in Needham,...
. Starting in November 2009, it began airing IWE: Championship Wrestling every Saturday night.
News operation
Sister outlet WVII produces a weeknight prime time newscast on WFVX for 35 minutes. Known as The 10 PM News on Fox Bangor, the show is simulcasted on conservative talkTalk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
WNZS
WNZS
WNZS is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format. Licensed to Veazie, Maine, USA, the station serves the Bangor area. The station is currently owned by Waterfront Communications Inc. and features programing from Salem Communications and Talk Radio Network...
-AM 1340. Since September 18, 2006, the prime time broadcast has been competing with other local news seen for a half-hour on WABI's CW-affiliated second digital subchannel. In mid-October 2006, WVII began taping WFVX's program earlier in the evening. However, the sports report was still seen live featuring game highlights and scores. As of September 2011, WFVX has resumed airing a live prime time newscast at 10.
Although an in-house weather department existed at one point in time, WVII currently contracts with AccuWeather
AccuWeather
AccuWeather is an American media company that provides for-profit weather forecasting services worldwide.AccuWeather was founded in 1962 by Joel N. Myers, then a Penn State graduate student working on degrees in meteorology. His first customer was a gas company in Pennsylvania. While running the...
to produce the station's forecasts. The segments are recorded in advance and fed via satellite to Bangor from AccuWeather's headquarters on Science Park Road in State College, Pennsylvania
State College, Pennsylvania
State College is the largest borough in Centre County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is the principal city of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Centre County. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 42,034, and roughly double...
. As a result, the station may not cover all 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...
events or be too late in doing so when conditions warrant. Meteorologists will sometimes refer to the forecast segments as originating from the "Fox Bangor Weather Center" even though the outsourcing exists.
On September 7, 2011, WVII expanded its news department to include a weekday morning show at 7 seen for sixty minutes on WFVX. Known as The 7 AM News Hour on Fox Bangor, it is the first time the station has ever offered a weekday morning newscast. The addition is only the second option for local news originating from Bangor since 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 WLBZ
WLBZ
WLBZ is the NBC-affiliated television station for Central and Eastern Maine licensed to Bangor. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 2 from a transmitter on Rider Bluff in Holden. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 3 and in high definition on digital...
simulcasts sister outlet WCSH
WCSH
WCSH is the NBC-affiliated television station for Southern Maine and Northern New Hampshire. Licensed to Portland, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 44 from a transmitter on Winn Mountain in Sebago. The station can also be seen on Comcast and Time Warner Cable channel 6...
in Portland with regional content. The broadcast's first half competes with another local news program seen on WABI-DT2 (although this is recorded in advanced). The weather forecast segments seen on WFVX continue to be taped in advance since there is still no locally-based weather team in Bangor.
News team
Anchors- Clay Gordon - weekday mornings and reporter
- Nicole Gerber - weekday mornings and reporter
- Cindy Michaels - News DirectorNews DirectorA news director is an individual at a broadcast station or network or a newspaper who is in charge of the news department. In local news, the news director is typically in charge of the entire news staff, including journalists, news presenters, photographers, copy writers, television producers,...
seen weeknights and producer (also reporter and "Cindy at the Cinema" segment producer) - Tony Consiglio - weeknights and producer
- Brian Sullivan - Sports DirectorSports DirectorA 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
Fox Bangor AccuWeather Meteorologists
- Jim KosekJim KosekJim Kosek is an American meteorologist who appears on-camera with AccuWeather in State College, Pennsylvania. Kosek primarily forecasts for the Northeast megalopolis, forecasting for New York City; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; and Washington, DC...
- weeknights - Bernie Rayno - weeknight fill-in
- Mark MancusoMark MancusoMark Mancuso is an American meteorologist formerly employed by The Weather Channel in Atlanta, Georgia and now with AccuWeather in State College, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a B.S. in Meteorology.-Career:Mark was a meteorologist for WITN-TV in Washington,...
- weekday mornings
Reporters
- Kate Hoffmann - "Eat Well, Live Well" segment producer
- Paul Edwards - "Officer on Duty" segment producer
- Dave Cloutier - "Pet Connection" segment producer
- David Simpson - Chief Photographer
- Aaron Jackson - fill-in sports anchor
- David Esch - producer
- Jared Pliner