WDFX-TV

WDFX-TV
Ozark/Dothan, Alabama; United States
City	Ozark, Alabama
Branding	Fox 34 (general); WSFA 12 News on Fox 34 (newscasts); Bounce Wiregrass (on DT2)
Slogan	WDFX Marks the Spot!; Alabama's News Source
Channels	Digital: 33 (UHF); Virtual: 34 (PSIP)
Subchannels	34.1 Fox; 34.2 Bounce TV; 34.3 GritTV
Owner	Raycom Media; (sale to Gray Television pending;[1] to be resold to Lockwood Broadcast Group thereafter[2]); (WDFX License Subsidiary, LLC)
First air date	February 1991
Call letters' meaning	We're Dothan's FoX
Sister station(s)	WSFA, WPGX, WTVM, WXTX, WAFF-TV, WBRC, WALB, WTXL-TV
Former callsigns	WDAU (1991–1995)
Former channel number(s)	34 (UHF analog, 1991–2009)
Transmitter power	538 kW
Height	148 m (486 ft)
Class	DT
Facility ID	32851
Transmitter coordinates	31°12′29.7″N 85°36′49.4″W / 31.208250°N 85.613722°W
Website	wdfxfox34.revrocket.us

WDFX-TV is a Fox-affiliated television station licensed to Ozark, Alabama, United States and serving the Wiregrass Region of southeastern Alabama, including Dothan. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 33 (or virtual channel 34 via PSIP) from a transmitter in unincorporated Wicksburg. Owned by Raycom Media, WDFX has studios on Ross Clark Circle (AL 210/U.S. 231) in Dothan.

History

The station launched as WDAU in February 1991. Airing an analog signal on UHF channel 34, it was the market's fourth television outlet to sign-on and has been with Fox since the very beginning. It was established after a small group of Ozark investors saw the market as being underserved with the network and the need for a locally based affiliate in the area. The call sign had been previously used on what is now CBS affiliate WYOU in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (a sister station to rival ABC affiliate WDHN in Dothan).

The call letters changed to WDFX-TV on August 31, 1995 while owned by David Woods, Woods Communications Corporation of nearby Montgomery (controller of that market's Fox affiliate WCOV-TV). His father, Charles Woods, had operated rival CBS affiliate WTVY (channel 4) in Dothan. WDFX quickly grew in popularity under Woods Communications Corporation.

In June 1999, the station was bought by Waitt Media and, under the company's ownership, moved to its current facility on Ross Clark Circle. This change resulted in its advertising sales and traffic departments being held together under the same room for the first time. On December 15, 2003, Raycom Media bought the station; two years later, WDFX became a sister station to NBC affiliate WSFA in Montgomery after Raycom acquired The Liberty Corporation. The big three outlet served the Wiregrass Region as its de facto NBC affiliate until WRGX-LD signed on in 2013.

Gray Television announced its acquisition of Raycom Media on June 25, 2018; Gray immediately put WDFX-TV on the market, as it already owned WTVY.^[1] On August 20, 2018, Gray announced that WDFX, along with fellow Fox affiliates WTNZ in Knoxville, Tennessee, WFXG in Augusta, Georgia, and WPGX in Panama City, Florida, would be sold to Lockwood Broadcast Group.^[2]

Digital channels

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Channel	Video	Aspect	PSIP short name	Programming
34.1	720p	16:9	WDFX-DT	Main WDFX-TV programming / Fox
34.2	480i	4:3	WDFX-D2	Bounce TV
34.3	480i	16:9	WDFX-DT3	GritTV

Programming

Syndicated programming on the station includes The Big Bang Theory, Judge Judy, Two and a Half Men, and The Dr. Oz Show among others.

News operation

On January 7, 2008, WDFX began airing a nightly prime time newscast at 9 produced by WSFA in Montgomery. Originally airing for 35 minutes on weeknights, a weekend half-hour edition of Fox News at 9 began in Summer 2008. It was produced in conjunction with Montgomery's Fox outlet WCOV through a news share agreement. The show originated from a secondary set at WSFA's studios on East Delano Avenue; likewise there was a primary focus in coverage of the Montgomery area. However, there were also localized news and sports contributions from two personalities based at WDFX's facility in Dothan (known on-air as the "Wiregrass Newsroom").

Although WSFA upgraded its local newscasts and primary set to high definition level on August 3, 2008, Fox News at 9 on WDFX and WCOV was not initially included in the change. It would not be until Spring 2010 that the prime time show would make the switch complete with an updated graphics package separate from local news programs seen on WSFA. After WCOV's outsourcing contract with WSFA expired at the end of 2010, the former entered into a new agreement with another Mongomery big three affiliated station in order to specifically cover the Montgomery area.

As a result, WSFA transitioned its nightly prime time show (renamed The News at Nine) to its second digital subchannel (then affiliated with the Retro Television Network; now with Bounce TV) on January 1, 2011. The show's format remained mostly unchanged except for originating from WSFA's primary set. Eventually, at some point in time, WSFA added a simulcast of its weekday afternoon newscast at 4 to WDFX's schedule. This sixty-minute broadcast, however, generally covers the greater Montgomery area. On September 10, 2012, WDFX began having competition to its prime time news at 9 with the introduction of a weeknight-only half-hour show on CW affiliate WTVY-DT3.

References

1 2 Miller, Mark K. (June 25, 2018). "Gray To Buy Raycom For $3.6 Billion". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheckMedia. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
1 2 Aycock, Jason (August 20, 2018). "Gray sets divestitures in eight more markets for Raycom deal". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved August 20, 2018.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[graycom-1] 1 2 Miller, Mark K. (June 25, 2018). "Gray To Buy Raycom For $3.6 Billion". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheckMedia. Retrieved June 25, 2018.

[sa-saletolockwood-2] 1 2 Aycock, Jason (August 20, 2018). "Gray sets divestitures in eight more markets for Raycom deal". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved August 20, 2018.

Broadcast television in Southeast Alabama, including Dothan and Ozark
Reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television
Local stations	WDIQ/WGIQ (2.1/43.1 PBS/APT, 2.2/43.2 PBS Kids, 2.3/43.3 Create, 2.4/43.4 World) WTVY (4.1 CBS, 4.2 MNTV/MeTV, 4.3 CW+, 4.4 NBC) WJJN-LD 5 (Ind/FN) WDHN (18.1 ABC, 18.2 Escape, 18.3 Laff) WRGX-LD (23.1 NBC) WDFX (34.1 Fox, 34.2 Bounce TV, 34.3 GritTV)
Adjacent locals	Panama City WJHG (7.1 NBC, 7.2 The CW, 7.3 CBS) WECP-LD (18.1 CBS, 18.2 MNTV, 18.3 AccuWX) WBIF (51.1 Daystar) Montgomery WSFA (12.1 NBC, 12.2 Bounce TV, 12.3 GritTV) WDSF-LD (19.1 MNTV/DrTV, 19.2 Buzzr, 19.3 GetTV) WAXC-LD (31.1 Retro TV) WAAO-LD (40.1 Retro TV) WIYC (48.1 Cozi TV)

Raycom Media
sorted by primary channel network affiliations
ABC	KAIT KLTV KSWO KVHP-DT2 ^{1, 2} KXXV / KRHD-CD ⁵ KTRE WALB ¹ WDAM-DT2 ¹ WLOX WTVM WTXL ⁵ WWSB
CBS	KAUZ ² KFDA KFVS KGMB KOLD KSLA WAFB WBTV WCSC WLOX-DT2 ¹ WOIO WTOC WTOL ⁵
The CW	KAIT ¹ KAUZ-DT2 ^{1, 2} KPLC-DT2 ¹ KWES-DT2 / KWAB-DT2 ^{1, 5} KYOU ^{1, 2} WQWQ / KFVS-DT2 / WQTV WUAB WUPV ²
Fox	KMSB ² KNIN ³ KVHP ² KYOU ² WBRC WDBD ² WDFX ⁵ WFLX ³ WFXG ⁵ WPGX ⁵ WSFX ² WTNZ WUPW ^{2, 5} WVUE WXIX WXTX ²
MyNetworkTV	KFVE / KGMD / KGMV ^{2, SP} KTTU ² WBXH WLOO ² WUAB
NBC	KAIT ¹ KCBD KHNL / KHBC / KOGG KPLC KWES / KWAB ⁵ KYOU ^{1, 2} WAFF WALB WAVE WDAM WECT WFIE WIS WLBT WMBF WMC WSFA WWBT
Telemundo	KEYU KLTV-DT3 ¹ KSCM-LP KKTM-LP / KSWO-DT2 ¹ KTLE-LP KTRE-DT2 ¹
Radio stations	KEYU-FM KTXC
Other assets	Raycom Sports (ACC Network) Bounce Media ⁴ Katz Broadcasting ⁴ RTM Studios PowerNation
Acquisitions	Calkins Media Drewry Communications Liberty Corporation Lincoln Financial Media Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.
Programming	Me Time with Frangela Right This Minute
Sale of company to Gray Television pending. ¹ These stations broadcast these networks on their digital subchannels. ² Raycom operates these stations through SSA. ^SP Raycom operates through a SSA. Sale pending FCC approval. ³ Owned by Raycom, E.W. Scripps Company operates these stations through an SSA. ⁴ Raycom has partial ownership stake in these companies. ⁵ Station to be resold to another company due to Gray ownership conflicts.