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WEVV-TV

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WEVV-TV
Channels
Branding
  • 44News
  • .1:CBS 44
  • .2:Fox 44
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
Cable:Bally Sports Midwest,Bally Sports South
History
First air date
November 17, 1983(40 years ago)(1983-11-17)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:44 (UHF, 1983–2009)
  • Digital:45 (UHF, 2005–2019)
  • Independent(1983–1987)
  • Fox (1987–1995)
  • CBS (secondary, September–December 1995)
Call signmeaning
Evansville ( "EVV" is also theIATA codeforEvansville Regional Airport)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID72041
ERP243kW
HAAT310.7 m (1,019 ft)
Transmitter coordinates37°53′17.2″N87°32′37″W/ 37.888111°N 87.54361°W/37.888111; -87.54361
Translator(s)WEEV-LD 47.1 (21 UHF) Evansville (relays WEVV-DT2)
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.wevv

WEVV-TV(channel 44) is atelevision stationinEvansville, Indiana,United States, affiliated withCBS,Fox,andMyNetworkTV.Owned byAllen Media Group,the station maintains studios on Carpenter and Bond Streets in downtown Evansville and a transmitter atJohn James Audubon State ParkinHenderson, Kentucky.

WEEV-LD(channel 47) in Evansville operates as alow-powertranslatorof WEVV-TV, relaying the Fox and MyNetworkTV programming shown on WEVV-DT2; this station's transmitter is located on Wolf Hills Road in Henderson along theOhio River.

History[edit]

Early history[edit]

Channel 44 first signed on the air on November 17, 1983, as anindependent station.The station was originally owned byRalph Wilson(owner ofSan Franciscoindependent stationKICU-TV,and founder of theBuffalo Bills). It was the first full-market independent station in the Tri-State, and the first full-market commercial television station to sign on in the Evansville market sinceWTVW(channel 7, now aCWaffiliate) debuted 27 years earlier in August 1956.

Competing independent station WLCN (channel 19, laterWAZE-TVand now defunct)—which signed one month after WEVV began operations—primarily served the southern part of the market at the time. The station originally operated from studio facilities located on Main Street and Riverside Drive in downtown Evansville.

As a Fox affiliate[edit]

WEVV logo used from 1992 to 1995, as a Fox affiliate.

The station became an affiliate of theFox Broadcasting Companyon April 5, 1987, when the network debuted its inaugural lineup of prime time programming, which aired on Sunday evenings. However, like other Fox stations during the network's early years, WEVV continued to be programmed as ade factoindependent station, as Fox would not carry seven nights a week of programming until September 1993.[citation needed]

Until Fox began airing programming on a nightly basis, WEVV airedmovieson nights when network programs did not air, usually starting at 7 p.m. Shortly after affiliating with the network, the station began branding as "Fox 44". The station changed its branding to "WEVV Fox TV" in 1994.

CBS affiliation[edit]

In May 1995, Banam Broadcasting, a subsidiary ofBankAmerica,sold WTVW to Petracom Broadcasting.[2]Fox then acquired a 20% equity stake in Petracom;[3]this led to a three-way affiliation swap in which WTVW ended its affiliation withABCafter 39 years and joined Fox on December 3, 1995. Conversely, the ABC affiliation moved toWEHT(channel 25) ending that station's affiliation withCBS.

On July 1, 1995, WEVV signed an affiliation agreement with CBS to become the network's new affiliate for the Evansville market. Although CBS' affiliation agreement with WEHT did not expire until December of that year, channel 25 (which was unhappy about losing its network affiliation with CBS after 42 years) began dropping CBS shows from its schedule in stages. As a result, CBS' programming gradually migrated to WEVV over the next four months, during which the station carried both CBS and Fox programming.The Price Is Rightwas the first CBS program to move to channel 44 on September 18, 1995. WEVV then picked upCBS This Morningin November. The switch to CBS was officially completed on December 3, when the remainder of the CBS programming schedule moved to WEVV. At that point, the station sold much of its syndicated programming inventory to WTSN-LP (channel 56, nowRetro Television NetworkaffiliateWYYW-CDon channel 15).[4]

On February 11, 1999, Wilson sold the station toCommunications Corporation of Americafor $27.5 million.[5]In June 2006, Comcorp filed forChapter 11 bankruptcyprotection in the Western District ofLouisiana.That September, WEVV began broadcasting a digitalhigh-definitionsignal; at the time, a digital subchannel was added on virtual channel 44.2, which was originally affiliated solely with MyNetworkTV and was simulcast on WTSN-LP (and as such, was branded as "MyTSN" ). The station's relationship with WTSN-LP ended in 2009, at which time WEVV-DT2 rebranded as "My44", with WTSN converting into anAmerica Oneaffiliate.

WEVV-TV ended regular programming on its analog signal, overUHFchannel 44, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United Statestransitioned from analog to digital broadcastsunder federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 45,[6]usingvirtual channel44. As part of theSAFER Act,WEVV-TV kept its analog signal on the air until June 26 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop ofpublic service announcementsfrom theNational Association of Broadcasters.[7]

WEVV-DT2's logo as "My 44", used from April 2009 (after parting withWTSN-LP) through June 30, 2011.

On May 11, 2011, WEVV signed an affiliation agreement with Fox on its second digital channel after WTVW (which then became an independent station) lost its affiliation due to a dispute between Fox and Nexstar over Fox's revenue sharing demands of its stations'retransmission consentearnings—in essence, resulting in WEVV regaining the Fox affiliation it had lost 16 years earlier. WEVV added Fox programming to its second digital subchannel on July 1, 2011, on WEVV digital channel 44.2. Consequently, MyNetworkTV programming—which had been carried on the subchannel since it launched with the programming service on September 5, 2006—was moved from the 7 to 9 p.m. to 9 to 11 p.m., immediately following Fox programming.[8]On June 24, 2011, WEVV-TV signed on a new digital low-power translator station on UHF channel 47,[9]under the callsignW47EE-D,to relay WEVV-DT2's programming in720phigh definition over-the-air in the immediate Evansville/Henderson area.[10]and to provide an HD signal of the subchannel to local cable and satellite providers.

WEVV-DT2's first logo as "Fox 44", used from July 1, 2011, to July 1, 2015.

Bayou City Broadcasting ownership[edit]

On April 24, 2013, Communications Corporation of America announced the sale of its stations to WEHT owner and WTVW operatorNexstar Broadcasting Groupfor $270 million, in a deal that also included rights to the local marketing agreements involving stations owned by Comcorp partner company White Knight Broadcasting. Since there are fewer than eight full-power stations in the Evansville market, neither Nexstar nor its partner company (and WTVW owner)Mission Broadcastingcould legally buy WEVV. Instead, Nexstar originally opted to sell WEVV to Rocky Creek Communications, aDenton, Texas–based company founded by Shirley Green; Nexstar would have operated the station under ashared servicesagreement (SSA), which would have formed a virtualtriopolywith WEHT and WTVW.[11][12]However, the deal came soon after the FCC began closely scrutinizing sharing agreements between two or more television stations within the same market to help increase female andethnic minorityownership in television broadcasting. When it was apparent the Comcorp sale would be delayed, Nexstar announced on August 4, 2014, that it would instead sell WEVV toThe Woodlands, Texas–basedBayou City Broadcasting(owned by DuJuan McCoy, who isAfrican American) for $18.6 million; the sale price later increased to $26.85 million by its closure.[13]The sale was completed on January 1, 2015.[14]

On January 8, 2015, WEVV and WEVV-DT2 were removed fromDish Networkin the Evansville market, due to acarriage disputespurred by Bayou City and Dish's inability to agree on retransmission consent revenue during negotiations on a new carriage agreement. Bayou City representatives claimed that Dish was trying to gain leverage over the company in negotiations because of the company's smaller size in comparison to other television station groups. Dish, however, claimed the new owners wanted transmission fees higher than those it pays other local broadcasters.[15]The dispute was resolved on February 3, 2015, through the reaching of a multi-year carriage agreement with Dish Network.[16]

On August 3, 2015, upon the relaunch of its news department, WEVV moved its operations to WTVW's former studios on Carpenter Street in Downtown Evansville, which had sat vacant since WTVW merged operations with WEHT through a shared services agreement in December 2011.[17][18]On November 11, 2015, the translator's callsign was changed to the currentWEEV-LD.[10]

On May 6, 2019, it was announced thatLos Angeles–basedEntertainment Studios,headed by entertainment entrepreneurByron Allen,would purchase the Bayou City stations (including WEVV-TV) for $165 million.[19]The sale was completed on July 31, 2019.[20]

News operation[edit]

WEVV started producing a 9 p.m. newscast February 23, 1992, as a Fox affiliate. Once it became a CBS affiliate in 1995, it moved the newscast to 10 p.m. and added additional newscasts. However, none of the changes to its newscasts helped the station in the ratings, and WEVV remained continually in fourth place behindWFIE,WEHT and WTVW. Unable to make any ratings headway, WEVV shut down its news department in July 2001, causing the layoffs of 40 staffers.[21]As a result of the shutdown of the original news department, WEVV became one of the fewBig Threeaffiliates that did not air any local newscasts—a group that includes CBSowned-and-operated stationWWJ-TVinDetroit,ABC affiliateKDNL-TVinSt. Louisand NBC affiliateWTWC-TVinTallahassee, Florida.In 2002, the station began airing local weather cut-ins on weekday evenings, which were produced byWeatherVisionout of its headquarters inJackson, Mississippi.[citation needed]

After Bayou City Broadcasting acquired WEVV, Bayou City president DuJuan McCoy announced on December 9, 2014, that the company planned to relaunch a news department in 2015.[22]The newscasts premiered on August 3, 2015, with the debuts of a new weekday morning news program (initially airing from 4:30 to 7 a.m., and is also simulcast on WEVV-DT2/WEEV-LD), a 90-minute news block starting at 5 p.m. and half-hour newscasts at noon and 10 p.m. on its main channel, which have all been produced in high definition since the return of in-house news operations.[18]In addition to producing local newscasts for its main feed, WEVV also produces separate weekday morning and nightly 9 p.m. newscasts for its Fox/MyNetworkTV subchannel. Unlike most CBS affiliates, WEVV carries only a late-evening newscast at 10 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays (with an hour-long weekend newscast at 9 p.m. for WEVV-DT2/WEEV-LD) as it did not produce an early-evening or weekend morning newscast at launch.[18][23]

Notable former on-air staff[edit]

Technical information[edit]

Subchannels[edit]

The stations' signals aremultiplexed:

Subchannels of WEVV-TV[24]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
44.1 1080i 16:9 CBS44 CBS
44.2 FOX44 Fox&MyNetworkTV
44.3 480i WEVVQVC QVC
44.4 WEVVHSN HSN
44.5 METOONS MeTV Toons
Subchannel of WEEV-LD[10]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
47.1 720p 16:9 FOX44 Fox&MyNetworkTV

Ever since its inception, the WEVV-DT2 subchannel had been airing in16:9widescreenstandard definition,and its high definition simulcast was exclusive to low-power WEEV-LD, which meant that Fox programming in HD had only been available on cable and satellite outside the immediate Evansville area; however, since an upgrade to their multiplexer equipment sometime in January 2020, the WEVV-DT2 subchannel has been broadcasting in1080ifull HD over-the-air (rather than the 720p format of most other Fox affiliates).

References[edit]

  1. ^"Facility Technical Data for WEVV-TV".Licensing and Management System.Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^Miles, Laureen (May 15, 1995). "Fox eyes Evansville station".Mediaweek.BPI Publications.
  3. ^"Fox buys interest in group owner".Broadcasting & Cable.Cahners Business Information.May 22, 1995.
  4. ^Newkirk, Jacob (July 31, 2010)."Saturday Special:" Great Affiliation Switch "captivated Tri-State viewers in '95".Jake's DTV Blog.RetrievedSeptember 1,2011.
  5. ^"Hoosier Highlights".Times-Mail.Schurz Communications.AP DataStream.March 1, 1999.RetrievedJuly 16,2015.
  6. ^"DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds"(PDF).RetrievedMarch 24,2012.
  7. ^"UPDATED List of Participants in the Analog Nightlight Program"(PDF).Federal Communications Commission. June 12, 2009.RetrievedJune 14,2024.
  8. ^Newkirk, Jacob (May 11, 2011)."FOX ends affiliation with WTVW".Evansville Courier & Press.E. W. Scripps Company.Archived fromthe originalon July 20, 2015.
  9. ^Newkirk, Jacob (June 29, 2011)."Fox moves to WEVV, HD available on low-power channel".Evansville Courier & Press.E. W. Scripps Company. Archived fromthe originalon September 23, 2015.RetrievedJuly 16,2015.
  10. ^abc"Digital TV Market Listing for WEEV-LD".RabbitEars.Info.RetrievedJuly 11,2017.
  11. ^"Nexstar, Mission Buy 19 Stations For $270M".TVNewsCheck.NewsCheck Media. April 24, 2013.RetrievedJuly 18,2015.
  12. ^"CDBS".licensing.fcc.gov.RetrievedJanuary 25,2024.
  13. ^"Nexstar Selling WEVV For $18.6 Million".TVNewsCheck.NewsCheck Media. August 4, 2014.
  14. ^"Consummation Notice".CDBS Public Access.Federal Communications Commission.RetrievedJanuary 5,2015.
  15. ^Orr, Susan (January 14, 2015)."DISH, WEVV dispute leaves customers frustrated".Evansville Courier & Press.E. W. Scripps Company.RetrievedJuly 16,2015– viaDuBois County Herald.
  16. ^"DISH, owner of local TV station reach retransmission deal".Evansville Courier & Press.E. W. Scripps Company. February 2, 2015. Archived fromthe originalon July 30, 2015.RetrievedJuly 16,2015.
  17. ^Reynolds, Ryan (May 1, 2015)."WEVV names four members of news team for upcoming launch".Evansville Courier & Press.Journal Media Group.
  18. ^abcEvans, Zach (July 24, 2015)."WEVV readying young news team for Tri-State".Evansville Courier & Press.Journal Media Group.RetrievedJuly 27,2015.
  19. ^Miller, Mark K. (May 6, 2019)."Byron Allen Buying Bayou City TVs for $165M".TVNewsCheck.NewsCheck Media.
  20. ^Mills, Wes (July 31, 2019)."FCC Approves Evansville TV Station Sale".Inside Indiana Business.Grow INdiana Media Ventures, LLC.RetrievedAugust 8,2019.
  21. ^Boxell, Bob (November 2011)."The Big Switch".Evansville Living.RetrievedJuly 16,2015.
  22. ^Orr, Susan (December 9, 2014)."WEVV to add local news programming".Evansville Courier & Press.Journal Media Group.Archived fromthe originalon July 17, 2015.
  23. ^"WEVV's news department will launch August 3rd".The Changing Newscasts Blog.July 12, 2015.RetrievedJuly 21,2015.
  24. ^"RabbitEars TV Query for WEVV".RabbitEars.RetrievedJanuary 2,2014.

External links[edit]

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