WXXA-TV
Encyclopedia
WXXA-TV is the Fox
-affiliated television station
for Upstate
New York's Capital District
and Western New England
. Licensed to Albany
, it broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on VHF channel 7 (or virtual channel
23.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter southwest of New Scotland
's Voorheesville
section. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable
, Comcast
and Verizon FiOS
channel 8. There is a high definition feed offered on Verizon FiOS digital channel 508, Comcast digital channel 708, and Time Warner
Cable digital channel 1808. It is one of two Newport-owned Fox stations to be named "Fox 23", the other being KOKI-TV
.
Owned by Newport Television
, WXXA has studios on Corporate Circle in Albany. However, master control
and some internal responsibilities are based within centralcasting facilities at sister outlet WSYR-TV
's studios on Bridge Street in East Syracuse
. Syndicated
programming on the station includes The Big Bang Theory
, Family Guy
, Judge Judy
and The People's Court
among others.
. This service is currently not available on Comcast digital systems.
The station signed-on July 30, 1982 and aired an analog
signal on UHF channel 23. It was the market
's first new commercial station
to launch in the Capital District in 29 years. A construction permit
had been issued for channel 23 in the 1950s with the calls WPTR-TV; that permit was canceled in 1960. Rumors had previously abounded that NBC
would move its programming to the new channel 23 after WRGB
switched to CBS in 1981. However, the network ended up affiliating with WNYT.
WXXA's original owners were a group of investors led by President
and Station Manager
Jim Boaz as well as movie production company Orion Pictures
under the name "Albany TV 23, Inc." On October 6, 1986, it became a charter affiliate of Fox and was sold from its original local owners to Heritage Broadcasting. The station became a secondary affiliate with Prime Time Entertainment Network
(PTEN) in 1993.
In 1994, Heritage sold the station to Clear Channel Communications
preceding its entry into the radio market and sizable expansion of television assets in the Northeast
in the following years. Clear Channel soon moved WXXA from its original studios on Central Avenue
/NYS Route 5
in Albany (now a car dealership
) to an expanded facility on Corporate Circle. When UPN
launched on January 16, 1995, WXXA dropped PTEN and added the new network as a secondary affiliation. The station aired programming from UPN off-hours on weekends.
Cable
viewers in virtually the entire market were also able to watch the shows in-pattern on WSBK-TV
from Boston, Massachusetts. WXXA's secondary affiliation ended at the start of the 1997-1998 television season when UPN affiliated with low-powered WVBG-LP
in Greenwich. The network was picked up again by WXXA after this station, in partnership with Time Warner Cable, launched cable-only affiliate "WEDG-TV
" in January 2000. Eventually known on-air as "UPN 4" after its channel location, the station signed-off in August 2003 concurrent with the sign-on of over-the-air UPN affiliate WNYA
which was operated by WRGB.
WXXA-DT began airing on VHF channel 7 on December 20, 2005. A combination of objections from analog co-channels WABC-TV
(in New York City
) and WWNY-TV
(in Watertown), both of which have signals at the fringes of the Albany area, was the primary reason for the late and delayed sign-on. On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television station group to Providence Equity Partners
' Newport Television (the deal closed in March 2008). In January 2007, Clear Channel launched a digital-only network known as The Variety Channel. The service aired classic television shows (similar to the Retro Television Network
), auto showcase programming and various home improvement programs.
WXXA-DT2 dropped the The Variety Channel on January 5, 2009 after the service was shut down replacing it with Untamed Sports TV
. This programming service billed itself as the only outdoor adventure sports channel offering a multitude of risk-taking sports to those daring enough to explore a superb voyage in the great outdoors. WXXA turned-off analog transmissions on June 12, 2009 as part of the DTV transition in the United States
. It remained on its pre-transition channel 7 but remains on virtual channel 23 using PSIP. WXXA is the only commercial television station in Albany that has never changed its primary network affiliation or call letters. On April 15, 2011, WXXA-DT2 dropped Untamed Sports TV in favor of TheCoolTV.
On October 7, 1996, the station established a news department and began airing a nightly half-hour prime time newscast known as Fox News at 10. It was not the time slot's first show in the market as WMHQ (now WCWN
) aired a WNYT-produced broadcast which has started earlier in the year. In 1998, that production was canceled due to a lack of support leaving WXXA as the only outlet for a prime time show. Filling a niche in local newscasts, its prime time broadcast was expanded on weeknights to an hour in early-2000 and renamed Fox 23 News at 10. Since launching the newscast, WXXA has been very successful in the time slot with high ratings
and viewership. This cannot be said for other local news offerings from this station which have consistently struggled against Albany's big three stations
.
In late-2000, the station took on the area's big three outlets for the first time with the launch of Fox 23 News at 6:30. This show offered a local alternative to the national news broadcasts seen in the time slot. This was followed by another show weeknights at 6 that directly competed with the other stations. Right from its start, the broadcast struggled to gain ratings and viewership from the Capital District's other long-established news departments. A change in upper management led to a realignment of early weeknight shows with the 6:30 broadcast moving to 5 in September 2002 and an expansion to an hour. Fox 23 News at 6 would eventually be dropped in July 2003 due to poor performance against its competitors.
WXXA re-focused its efforts to improve its popular prime time newscast at 10 by putting a significant investment in its news operation beginning in late-2003. The biggest move was the signing of former WNYT news anchor John Gray. Additional resources and capabilities were added to the station behind the scenes as well as on-the-air. On April 17, 2006, it was announced WNYA would begin airing an hour-long extension of WRGB's weekday morning show from 7 until 8. This action could be seen as a pre-emptive move by WRGB to fend off a challenge by WXXA which had announced its own plans to launch a weekday morning newscast two weeks earlier. The actual launch of Fox 23 News Mornings occurred September 25, 2006 and it initially ran for three hours from 5 until 8. As a result, WRGB moved the sixty minute extension of its morning show from WNYA to WCWN in order to stay competitive and take advantage of higher ratings on the latter station.
WXXA reduced its weekday morning broadcast to the current two hour format (from 6 until 8) in Summer 2009 due to low viewership. Soon after, rumors began circulated that WRGB would add prime time news at 10 on WCWN to offer a second choice in the time slot and directly compete with long-time dominant WXXA. However, the moving of a second run of Dr. Phil
to 10 on WCWN temporarily put those plans on hold. WRGB eventually followed through with the plans and started producing a weeknight prime time update on WCWN. Originally airing for ten minutes, this featured top stories of the day along with an updated weather forecast
. On October 18, 2010, this would be expanded to a full thirty minutes. The format on WCWN is now unique to the market in order to distinguish itself from WXXA and WRGB. It show is presented in a flashy, fast-paced format (stories are rarely more than one or two minutes in length) with an emphasis on entertainment and lifestyle features from several contributors.
A final addition to newscast offerings on WXXA occurred June 29, 2009 when it launched a half-hour broadcast weeknights at 11 following a national trend by other Fox affiliates. Although Fox 23 News at 10 has remained popular with viewers, its weekday morning show and Fox 23 News at 11 have continued to struggle in the ratings against long running newscasts on competing stations. Fox 23 News at 5 (seen on weeknights) has since been cut to a half-hour for that same reason. Along with WNYT, WXXA is one of two remaining news departments in the Capital District that have yet to upgrade to 16:9 enhanced definition widescreen
or full high definition level.
Fox 23 Weather Where You Live Meteorologists
Sports (all seen on Fox 23 High School Sports Show and Fox 23 Fast Track)
Reporters
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...
-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 Upstate
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
New York's Capital District
Capital District
New York's Capital District, also known as the Capital Region, is a region in upstate New York that generally refers to the four counties surrounding Albany, the capital of the state: Albany County, Schenectady County, Rensselaer County, and Saratoga County...
and Western New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. Licensed to Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
, 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 VHF channel 7 (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....
23.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter southwest of New Scotland
New Scotland, New York
New Scotland is a town in Albany County, New York, United States. The population was 8,648 at the 2010 census.The town is southwest of Albany, New York, the state capital. New Scotland is centrally located in the county.-History:...
's Voorheesville
Voorheesville, New York
Voorheesville is a village within the town of New Scotland in Albany County, New York, United States. It is a suburb of Albany and part of the city's historic metropolitan area. The population was 2,789 at the 2010 census. The village is named after a railroad attorney, Alonzo B...
section. 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...
, Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
and Verizon FiOS
Verizon FiOS
Verizon FiOS is a bundled Internet access, telephone, and television service which operates over a fiber-optic communications network. It is offered in some areas of the United States by Verizon Communications. Verizon was one of the first major U.S...
channel 8. There is a high definition feed offered on Verizon FiOS digital channel 508, Comcast digital channel 708, and 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 digital channel 1808. It is one of two Newport-owned Fox stations to be named "Fox 23", the other being KOKI-TV
KOKI-TV
KOKI-TV, virtual channel 23 , is the Fox-affiliated television station in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is owned by Newport Television, a subsidiary of private equity firm Providence Equity Partners...
.
Owned by Newport Television
Newport Television
Newport Television, LLC is a television station holding company founded by Providence Equity Partners and Sandy DiPasquale in 2007 to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications. In September 2007, Newport agreed to sell KFTY and KVOS-TV to LK Station Group LLC for $26.6...
, WXXA has studios on Corporate Circle in Albany. However, master control
Master control
Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and television networks. It is distinct from a production control room in television studios where the activities such as switching from camera to camera are coordinated...
and some internal responsibilities are based within centralcasting facilities at sister outlet WSYR-TV
WSYR-TV
WSYR-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Central New York State that is licensed to Syracuse. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 17 from a transmitter on Sevier Road in Pompey. The station can also be seen on Time Warner channel 9 and in high definition on...
's studios on Bridge Street in East Syracuse
East Syracuse, New York
East Syracuse is an incorporated village and a suburb of the City of Syracuse in eastern Onondaga County, New York. United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the village had a population of 3,178....
. 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 the station includes The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers...
, 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...
, Judge Judy
Judge Judy
Judge Judy is an American court show featuring former family court judge Judith Sheindlin arbitrating over small claims cases in small claims court...
and The People's Court
The People's Court
The People's Court is a US television court show in which small claims court cases are heard, though what is shown is actually a binding arbitration....
among others.
Digital programming
On WXXA-DT2, Time Warner Cable digital channel 423, and Verizon FiOS digital channel 467 is TheCoolTVTheCoolTV
THECOOLTV is a United States over-the-air digital subchannel launched in March 2009. The network's current program schedule consists of an all-music video lineup that can be customized to meet an affiliate's preference, along with the three hours per week of E/I programming as required by the...
. This service is currently not available on Comcast digital systems.
| Channels (physical/virtual) | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.1/23.1 | WXXA-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 WXXA programming/Fox (HD) |
| 7.2/23.2 | WXXA-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 | TheCoolTV (SD) |
History
Analog television
Analog television is the analog transmission that involves the broadcasting of encoded analog audio and analog video signal: one in which the message conveyed by the broadcast signal is a function of deliberate variations in the amplitude and/or frequency of the signal...
signal on UHF channel 23. It was the 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...
's first new 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 the Capital District in 29 years. 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...
had been issued for channel 23 in the 1950s with the calls WPTR-TV; that permit was canceled in 1960. Rumors had previously abounded that 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...
would move its programming to the new channel 23 after WRGB
WRGB
WRGB, channel 6, is a television station located in Schenectady, New York, USA. WRGB is owned by Freedom Communications, and is the CBS affiliate for the Albany-Schenectady-Troy television market...
switched to CBS in 1981. However, the network ended up affiliating with WNYT.
WXXA's original owners were a group of investors led by President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
and Station Manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
Jim Boaz as well as movie production company Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures
Orion Pictures Corporation was an American independent production company that produced movies from 1978 until 1998. It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion...
under the name "Albany TV 23, Inc." On October 6, 1986, it became a charter affiliate of Fox and was sold from its original local owners to Heritage Broadcasting. The station became a secondary affiliate with Prime Time Entertainment Network
Prime Time Entertainment Network
The Prime Time Entertainment Network was a United States television network launched in 1993 by the Prime Time Consortium, a joint venture between Warner Bros. Domestic Television and the Chris-Craft group of independent stations...
(PTEN) in 1993.
In 1994, Heritage sold the station to Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
preceding its entry into the radio market and sizable expansion of television assets in the Northeast
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
in the following years. Clear Channel soon moved WXXA from its original studios on Central Avenue
Central Avenue
Central Avenue is an often used road name. Major thoroughfares with this name include:Canada* Central Avenue India* Chittaranjan Avenue, in Kolkata, IndiaUnited States* Central Avenue Corridor in Phoenix, Arizona...
/NYS Route 5
New York State Route 5
New York State Route 5 is a state highway that extends for across the state of New York in the United States. It begins at the Pennsylvania state line in the Chautauqua County town of Ripley and passes through Buffalo, Syracuse, Utica, Schenectady, and several other smaller cities and...
in Albany (now a car dealership
Car dealership
A car dealership or vehicle local distribution is a business that sells new or used cars at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. It employs automobile salespeople to do the selling...
) to an expanded facility on Corporate Circle. When 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...
launched on January 16, 1995, WXXA dropped PTEN and added the new network as a secondary affiliation. The station aired programming from UPN off-hours on weekends.
Cable
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...
viewers in virtually the entire market were also able to watch the shows in-pattern on WSBK-TV
WSBK-TV
WSBK-TV is a MyNetworkTV television station for eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire that is licensed to Boston. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 39 from a transmitter along the Needham and Wellesley town line southwest of the MA 9 and I-95 / MA 128...
from Boston, Massachusetts. WXXA's secondary affiliation ended at the start of the 1997-1998 television season when UPN affiliated with low-powered WVBG-LP
WVBG-LP
WVBG-LP is an low-power television station that broadcasts on UHF channel 25 from the Pinnacle Campsite area on the Heidelberg Mountains.The station signed on in 1998 as an affiliate of UPN. However, in 2000, it would lose its affiliation to cable-only WEDG-TV, which would later go off-the-air in...
in Greenwich. The network was picked up again by WXXA after this station, in partnership with Time Warner Cable, launched cable-only affiliate "WEDG-TV
WEDG-TV
WEDG-TV was a cable-only UPN affiliate in New York's Capital District which was a joint venture between Time Warner Cable and Fox affiliate WXXA-TV.Edge TV, named for and promoted with a sister radio station, signed on at the start of 2000, displacing Boston's WSBK from...
" in January 2000. Eventually known on-air as "UPN 4" after its channel location, the station signed-off in August 2003 concurrent with the sign-on of over-the-air UPN affiliate WNYA
WNYA
WNYA is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for the Capital District of New York State and Western New England. Licensed to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, WNYA broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter northwest of New Salem, New York, along with a...
which was operated by WRGB.
WXXA-DT began airing on VHF channel 7 on December 20, 2005. A combination of objections from analog co-channels WABC-TV
WABC-TV
WABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company located in New York City. The station's studios and offices are located on the Upper West Side section of Manhattan, adjacent to ABC's corporate headquarters, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State...
(in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
) and WWNY-TV
WWNY-TV
WWNY-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Upstate New York's North Country region, licensed to Carthage. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter along State Street/NY 126 in Wilna's Carthage section. The station can also be seen on Time Warner...
(in Watertown), both of which have signals at the fringes of the Albany area, was the primary reason for the late and delayed sign-on. On April 20, 2007, Clear Channel entered into an agreement to sell its entire television station group to Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners is a global private equity investment firm focused on media, entertainment, communications and information investments...
' Newport Television (the deal closed in March 2008). In January 2007, Clear Channel launched a digital-only network known as The Variety Channel. The service aired classic television shows (similar to the Retro Television Network
Retro Television Network
The Retro Television Network is a system of television stations that airs classic television shows as well as more recently produced programs...
), auto showcase programming and various home improvement programs.
WXXA-DT2 dropped the The Variety Channel on January 5, 2009 after the service was shut down replacing it with Untamed Sports TV
Untamed Sports TV
Untamed Sports TV is a digital subchannel which provides niche outdoor and lifestyle programming to several stations in the United States. This channel was launched in 2008 by OlympuSAT who also distributes the Funimation Channel.-Programs:...
. This programming service billed itself as the only outdoor adventure sports channel offering a multitude of risk-taking sports to those daring enough to explore a superb voyage in the great outdoors. WXXA turned-off analog transmissions on June 12, 2009 as part of the DTV transition in the United States
DTV transition in the United States
The DTV transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of free over-the-air television programming...
. It remained on its pre-transition channel 7 but remains on virtual channel 23 using PSIP. WXXA is the only commercial television station in Albany that has never changed its primary network affiliation or call letters. On April 15, 2011, WXXA-DT2 dropped Untamed Sports TV in favor of TheCoolTV.
News operation
WCWN
WCWN is the CW-affiliated television station for New York State's Capital District and Western New England. Licensed to Schenectady, New York, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 43 from a transmitter southwest of New Scotland's Voorheesville section...
) aired a WNYT-produced broadcast which has started earlier in the year. In 1998, that production was canceled due to a lack of support leaving WXXA as the only outlet for a prime time show. Filling a niche in local newscasts, its prime time broadcast was expanded on weeknights to an hour in early-2000 and renamed Fox 23 News at 10. Since launching the newscast, WXXA has been very successful in the time slot with high 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...
and viewership. This cannot be said for other local news offerings from this station which have consistently struggled against Albany's big three stations
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...
.
In late-2000, the station took on the area's big three outlets for the first time with the launch of Fox 23 News at 6:30. This show offered a local alternative to the national news broadcasts seen in the time slot. This was followed by another show weeknights at 6 that directly competed with the other stations. Right from its start, the broadcast struggled to gain ratings and viewership from the Capital District's other long-established news departments. A change in upper management led to a realignment of early weeknight shows with the 6:30 broadcast moving to 5 in September 2002 and an expansion to an hour. Fox 23 News at 6 would eventually be dropped in July 2003 due to poor performance against its competitors.
WXXA re-focused its efforts to improve its popular prime time newscast at 10 by putting a significant investment in its news operation beginning in late-2003. The biggest move was the signing of former WNYT news anchor John Gray. Additional resources and capabilities were added to the station behind the scenes as well as on-the-air. On April 17, 2006, it was announced WNYA would begin airing an hour-long extension of WRGB's weekday morning show from 7 until 8. This action could be seen as a pre-emptive move by WRGB to fend off a challenge by WXXA which had announced its own plans to launch a weekday morning newscast two weeks earlier. The actual launch of Fox 23 News Mornings occurred September 25, 2006 and it initially ran for three hours from 5 until 8. As a result, WRGB moved the sixty minute extension of its morning show from WNYA to WCWN in order to stay competitive and take advantage of higher ratings on the latter station.
WXXA reduced its weekday morning broadcast to the current two hour format (from 6 until 8) in Summer 2009 due to low viewership. Soon after, rumors began circulated that WRGB would add prime time news at 10 on WCWN to offer a second choice in the time slot and directly compete with long-time dominant WXXA. However, the moving of a second run of Dr. Phil
Dr. Phil (TV series)
Dr. Phil is a reality/talk television show hosted by Phil McGraw. After McGraw's success with his segments on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil debuted on September 16, 2002...
to 10 on WCWN temporarily put those plans on hold. WRGB eventually followed through with the plans and started producing a weeknight prime time update on WCWN. Originally airing for ten minutes, this featured top stories of the day along with an updated weather forecast
Weather forecasting
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a given location. Human beings have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia, and formally since the nineteenth century...
. On October 18, 2010, this would be expanded to a full thirty minutes. The format on WCWN is now unique to the market in order to distinguish itself from WXXA and WRGB. It show is presented in a flashy, fast-paced format (stories are rarely more than one or two minutes in length) with an emphasis on entertainment and lifestyle features from several contributors.
A final addition to newscast offerings on WXXA occurred June 29, 2009 when it launched a half-hour broadcast weeknights at 11 following a national trend by other Fox affiliates. Although Fox 23 News at 10 has remained popular with viewers, its weekday morning show and Fox 23 News at 11 have continued to struggle in the ratings against long running newscasts on competing stations. Fox 23 News at 5 (seen on weeknights) has since been cut to a half-hour for that same reason. Along with WNYT, WXXA is one of two remaining news departments in the Capital District that have yet to upgrade to 16:9 enhanced definition 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....
or full high definition level.
Station slogans
- "Channel 23, Your Super Station" (1982–1987)
- "Fox 23, Your #1 Choice for Entertainment" (1987–1995)
- "Catch The Excitement" (1995–2001)
- "Right to the Point" (2001–2005)
- "We've Got It!" (general, 2005–2007)
- "Coverage and Convenience" (news, 2005-November 2008)
- "The 10 O'Clock News" (news with "The" emphasized, November 2008–present)
- "Proudly Serving Eastern New York and Western MassachusettsWestern MassachusettsWestern Massachusetts is a loosely defined geographical region of the U.S. state of Massachusetts which contains the Berkshires, the Pioneer Valley, and some or all of the Swift River Valley. The region is always considered to include Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties, and the...
" (general used occasionally, May 2011-present)
News team
Anchors- Stephanie Schelkun - weekday mornings and reporter
- John Gray - weeknights and "Good Day, Bad Day" segment producer
- Ann Hughes - weeknights at 10 and 11 (also health reporter and "Buddy Check 23" segment producer)
- Kristin Lowman - weekends and reporter
Fox 23 Weather Where You Live Meteorologists
- Steve Teeling - Chief seen weeknights
- Jason Caterina - weekday mornings and weekday morning news anchor
- Craig Flint - weekends and fill-in
Sports (all seen on Fox 23 High School Sports Show and Fox 23 Fast Track)
- Rich Becker - 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 - Scott Morlock - weekends
- Dani Stein - sports reporter and photographer (also producer and fill-in sports anchor)
Reporters
- Andy Guzzetti - "Money Monday" segment producer
- Tiffany Price - "Fit Friday" segment producer
- Walt McClure - fill-in news anchor
- Katherine Underwood
- Julie Tremmel
- Cait McVey
- Paul Merrill
- Torie Wells