WTNZ
|
 | |
| Knoxville, Tennessee United States | |
|---|---|
| Branding |
Fox 43 (general) Fox 43 News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | Something For Everyone |
| Channels |
Digital: 34 (UHF) (to move to 15 (UHF)) Virtual: 43 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels |
43.1 Fox 43.2 Bounce TV 43.3 Grit |
| Affiliations | Fox (since 1986) |
| Owner |
Raycom Media (sale to Gray Television pending;[1] to be resold to Lockwood Broadcast Group thereafter[2]) (WTNZ License Subsidiary, LLC) |
| First air date | December 31, 1983 |
| Call letters' meaning | TeNneZ (Tennessee) |
| Former callsigns | WKCH-TV (1983–1994) |
| Former channel number(s) | 43 (UHF analog, 1983–2009) |
| Former affiliations |
Independent (1983–1986) PTEN (secondary, 1993–1995) This TV (DT2; 2009–2014) |
| Transmitter power |
460 kW 300 kW (CP) |
| Height | 529 m (1,736 ft) |
| Facility ID | 19200 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 36°0′13″N 83°56′34″W / 36.00361°N 83.94278°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
| Website |
wtnzfox43 |
WTNZ is a Fox-affiliated television station licensed to Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 34 (or virtual channel 43 via PSIP) from a transmitter on Sharp's Ridge in North Knoxville. Owned by Raycom Media, WTNZ has studios on Executive Park Drive (along I-75/I-40) in Knoxville's Green Valley section.
On cable, the station is available on channel 11 on Charter Spectrum, Comcast Xfinity and WOW!, and channel 43 on AT&T U-Verse.
History
The station signed on December 31, 1983 with the calls WKCH-TV. It was known on-air as "Catch 43" and aired an analog signal on UHF channel 43. It was locally owned by Knoxville Television, LP. There had been another independent in the area, WINT-TV, but it went dark about a month after WKCH signed on. On October 6, 1986, WKCH became a charter Fox affiliate and became known on-air as "Catch Fox 43".
Knoxville Television, LP declared bankruptcy in the late 1980s, and WKCH was sold to FCVS Communications (the owner of WACH in Columbia, South Carolina) in 1990. FCVS sold all three of its stations (WKCH and WACH, plus WEVU-TV (now WZVN-TV) in Naples, Florida) to Ellis Communications in 1993.
In 1994, it changed call letters to the current WTNZ. Ellis Communications was folded into current owner Raycom Media in late 1996. Despite the network musical chairs which have occurred in Knoxville over the years, the station has been the area's only Fox affiliate during the network's history.
On June 25, 2018, Raycom Media announced that it agreed to be sold to Gray Television. Gray Television will keep its existing duopoly of WVLT-TV and WBXX-TV and sell WTNZ to a third-party;[3] on August 20, 2018, Gray announced that WTNZ, along with fellow Fox affiliates WFXG in Augusta, Georgia, WPGX in Panama City, Florida, and WDFX-TV in Dothan, Alabama, would be sold to Lockwood Broadcast Group.[2]
Digital television
Digital channels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43.1 | 720p | 16:9 | WTNZ-DT | Main WTNZ programming / Fox |
| 43.2 | 480i | 4:3 | THIS TV | Bounce TV |
| 43.3 | GRIT | GritTV | ||
Analog-to-digital conversion
WTNZ shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 43, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 34.[5] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 43.
Mobile DTV channel
| Channel [6] | PSIP Short Name | Programming |
|---|---|---|
| 43.32 | WTNZ-HD | Mobile DTV Simulcast of 43.1 |
Programming
Syndicated programming on the station includes Two and a Half Men, The Goldbergs, Everybody Loves Raymond, Paternity Court and The Middle among others.
News operation
In the mid-1980s, it produced a news break each day called WKCH News. The brief news and weather update was anchored by one of the station's staff announcers, Phil Rainey. In 1998, a news share agreement was established with local CBS station WVLT. This resulted in a nightly prime time newscast debuting on WTNZ known as Fox 43 Ten O'Clock News. The show originated from WVLT's studios off Papermill Road in West Knoxville. Liz Tedone, Patrick McMurtry, Nick Paranjape and Craig Edwards anchored the news, weather and sports for the half-hour nightly newscast. Eventually, Fox 43 ended its agreement with WVLT and their news share agreement and entered into a similar contract with ABC's WATE.
In March 2011, WTNZ terminated its agreement with WATE and entered into a new arrangement with NBC affiliate WBIR (owned by the Gannett Company). At the same time, that station stopped producing the WBXX update. On March 28, WBIR took over production of the nightly half-hour newscast which is still known as Fox 43 News at 10.
In 2011, a two-hour weekday morning show (airing from 7 until 9) was added to WTNZ and is known as Fox 43 News This Morning. In addition, the weeknight prime time news at 10 was expanded to an hour. In April 2017, Fox 43 News at 6:30 premiered as the Knoxville market's only local news in that time period. All shows now originate in high definition from WBIR's facilities on Hutchinson Avenue in Knoxville's Lincoln Park section (official address is Bill Williams Avenue).
References
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ https://www.raycommedia.com/gray-and-raycom-to-combine-in-a-3-6-billion-transaction/
- ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for WTNZ
- ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
- ↑ http://www.mdtvsignalmap.com/listing/print-listing.php?metroArea=Knoxville,%20TN