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WGXA
Channels
Branding
  • 24.1: WGXA Fox 24
  • 24.2: WGXA ABC 16
  • WGXA News
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
April 21, 1982 (42 years ago) (1982-04-21)
Former call signs
WWLG (CP, 1980–1982)[1]
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 24 (UHF, 1982–2009)
  • Digital: 16 (UHF, 2000–2019)
Call sign meaning
An X in the middle of "GA" represents "the crossroads of Middle Georgia", the region served[2]
Technical information[3]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID58262
ERP540 kW
HAAT243 m (797 ft)
Transmitter coordinates32°44′58.4″N 83°33′34.5″W / 32.749556°N 83.559583°W / 32.749556; -83.559583
Links
Public license information
Websitewgxa.tv

WGXA (channel 24) is a television station in Macon, Georgia, United States, affiliated with Fox and ABC. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station maintains studios on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (GA 11/GA 22/GA 49/US 80/US 129) in downtown Macon, and its transmitter is located on GA 87/US 23/US 129 ALT (Golden Isles Highway), along the Twiggs–Bibb county line.

Established in 1982, WGXA was the third television station in Macon but emerged immediately as a more credible competitor than the longer-established WCWB-TV (channel 41) to locally dominant station WMAZ-TV (channel 13). Originally an affiliate of ABC, it was sold in 1995 to GOCOM Media and changed affiliations from ABC to Fox, with which it felt it could increase its local programming presence. An ABC subchannel was added in 2010 after the existing ABC affiliate balked at the network's programming. Local newscasts for the Fox and ABC subchannels, as well as a local newscast for air in Albany, Georgia, are produced from WGXA's Macon newsroom.

History

[edit]

As a primary ABC affiliate

[edit]

Aside from the brief existence of WETV/WNEX-TV/WOKA-TV from 1953 to 1955, Macon had one commercial television station (WMAZ-TV, channel 13) from 1955 to 1968, when WCWB-TV (channel 41) signed on. WMAZ had been a secondary affiliate of ABC since signing on in 1953, but by the 1970s, Macon was among the largest markets remaining without full service from the three networks; only cable viewers or those lucky enough to receive stations from Atlanta or Columbus could see the full ABC schedule. An effort in 1970 to get WMCN-TV off the ground on channel 24 failed.[4] It was not until later in the decade that movement started in earnest to bring Middle Georgia its third commercial TV station. A trio of WMAZ-TV employees—Lloyd Harris, Stan Carey, and Bill Manly—formed Broadcasting Dynamics and began planning a third station, which prompted WMAZ to fire them in September 1977.[5]

A year later, Russell-Rowe Communications of Atlanta, headed by entrepreneurs Herman J. Russell and Howard Rowe, filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a construction permit to build channel 24.[6] Just days later, Rowe died, but Russell pressed on; they were joined by the Broadcasting Dynamics team, which had decided they did not have the money to pursue their own application.[7] Lewis Television of Savannah, Georgia, owned by Julius Curtis Lewis Jr. and owner of Savannah's WJCL, also filed for channel 24, but it dropped its application in October 1979,[8] clearing the way for Russell-Rowe to be awarded the permit in January 1980.[9]

While Russell-Rowe hoped to name the station WROW in honor of the deceased Rowe, the first call letters on the construction permit were WWLG. The station purchased the former site of the Brown Hotel in downtown Macon,[10] while a tower went up on the Cochran Short Route, near the other TV transmission facilities for the Macon area.[11] While WGXA made its on-air debut on April 21, 1982, it was nowhere near fully ready. The studio was unlit; equipment was still in boxes, while other components had not yet arrived.[12] Local commercials had to be edited in Atlanta or Columbus.[13] The first local newscast did not air until October 18, six months later.[14]

In Macon's television ratings, WGXA established itself as the second station, far behind the commanding audience shares that WMAZ held for news and entertainment programming but slightly ahead of WMGT (the renamed WCWB-TV).[15]

GOCOM ownership and switch to Fox

[edit]

When we looked at the station, we wondered, 'What if?' What if enough money had been put into news, into promotion?

Ric Gorman, president, GOCOM Media, on his attitude to operating WGXA[16]

In February 1995, Russell-Rowe—whose three owners, Russell and two other men, were all past retirement age—filed to sell the station to GOCOM Media of Charlotte, North Carolina, for $11.75 million.[17] GOCOM closed on the sale in July; it replaced the management and announced an infusion of $1 million in cash and the hiring of 20 new staff for the station.[18]

That September, GOCOM announced the station would switch network affiliations from ABC to Fox, a move that the company felt would allow the station to more effectively counterprogram WMAZ with a 10 p.m. local newscast and shows aimed at a younger audience.[19][20] This displaced Register Communications-owned WPGA-TV (channel 58), which began airing Fox programming in December 1994; during the 1994 season, WGXA had aired the NFL on Fox.[21] WPGA-TV aligned with ABC, setting up an affiliation switch for January 1, 1996.[22] WGXA became one of just nine Fox affiliates ranked number one or two in their markets.[23] GOCOM was itself acquired by a group led by Bain Capital in 1997.[24] Two years later, GOCOM merged its ten-station portfolio with Atlanta-based Grapevine Communications;[25] the company then changed its name to Piedmont Communications.[26]

Frontier ownership and return of ABC

[edit]

In 2007, Frontier Television Investors, a company owned by Jason R. Wolff, purchased WGXA-TV from Piedmont for $18.7 million, equivalent to $26.6 million in 2023 dollars.[27][28]

Under Frontier ownership, ABC returned from WPGA-TV after 13 years to a subchannel of WGXA beginning January 1, 2010. The move was precipitated by two factors, both involving WPGA-TV's owner, Lowell Register: he disapproved of a change by ABC regarding the institution of affiliation fees, and he also decried what he felt was an increasingly risqué program offering from ABC, telling a reporter for The Macon Telegraph, "I had somebody tell me they're running a good bit of gay and lesbian stuff on it".[29] The new subchannel was branded as "ABC 16", reflecting the physical channel then used for WGXA's broadcasts.[30]

The shift of ABC programming from WPGA-TV to the new WGXA-ABC subchannel led to a dispute between Cox Communications, the primary cable provider in Macon, and WPGA-TV over whether WPGA's channel 6 position belonged to WPGA-TV—as that station contended—or could be used for ABC programming—as Cox desired, in order to place the new WGXA subchannel on cable channel 6, and believed it could do under the terms of its contract with Register. WPGA-TV won a temporary restraining order in late December to hold the position, leading to the ABC subchannel debuting on cable channel 16.[31]

A district court dismissed the case, but Register appealed; on June 23, 2011, the Georgia Court of Appeals upheld the ruling enabling Cox to drop WPGA from its lineup and place WGXA-ABC on cable channel 6, which it did in July.[32] (A final appeal by Register to the FCC ended when the commission found that WPGA's contract with Cox rendered it a station that elected retransmission consent.[33])

Sale to Sinclair

[edit]

On March 24, 2014, Frontier Radio Management reached a deal to sell WGXA to Sinclair Broadcast Group for $33 million;[34][35] the sale was completed on September 3, 2014.[36]

News operation

[edit]

WGXA began producing local newscasts on October 18, 1982.[14] The launch of News 24 brought the market back to two full-service television newsrooms; WCWB had, the month before, dropped its full-length newscasts to produce inserts into CNN Headline News.[37] Nearly immediately, the station made a more credible showing than WCWB, attracting about half the audience of the dominant WMAZ.[38]

In conjunction with the switch to Fox, the station expanded its local news programming with new weekend newscasts and invested in improved equipment as Gocom sought to make the station more competitive against WMAZ.[39][40] A morning newscast, News A.M., debuted in August 1997.[41] Viewership grew among youth audiences for the newscasts.[42] The station retained its early evening newscast at 5:30 p.m. until 2001, when it consolidated it with the 10 p.m. newscast as an hourlong program.[43]

On March 1, 2010, an expansion of the WGXA newsroom began with a new 5:30 p.m. broadcast for the Fox subchannel and dedicated 7 and 11 p.m. newscasts on the ABC subchannel; the combined brand "NewsCentral" was adopted.[44] From 2010 to 2012, the station aired a morning radio-television simulcast with WMAC (940 AM), featuring the same people that had been producing a similar show for WPGA radio and television.[45]

In 2019, WGXA morning news anchor Rick Devens competed on the CBS reality show Survivor: Edge of Extinction.[46]

WGXA handled production of a weeknight hour-long 10 p.m. newscast for sister station WFXL in Albany. Local reporters in the Albany area covered that region's news, which was presented from Macon. The WGXA news director also held that title for WFXL,[47] and in 2022, WGXA was added to the portfolio of the general manager of WFXL and WACH-TV in Columbia, South Carolina.[48] In March 2023, several newscasts were cut back at WGXA and replaced with Sinclair's national news program, The National Desk, accompanying a round of layoffs.[49]

Technical information

[edit]

Subchannels

[edit]

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WGXA[50]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
24.1 720p 16:9 FOX Fox
24.2 ABC ABC
24.3 480i Comet Comet

WGXA's broadcasts became digital-only, effective June 12, 2009.[51]

The station was repacked from channel 16 to 26 in 2019.[50]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "FCC History Cards for WGXA". Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ Doss, Ann (March 17, 1982). "New TV Station's Opening Delayed". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. 1B. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WGXA". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  4. ^ "Action Line". The Macon Telegraph and News. Macon, Georgia. April 12, 1970. p. 1. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Expected in '78: New TV Station For Macon?". The Macon News. Macon, Georgia. October 12, 1977. p. 2A. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Bonner, Christopher (December 21, 1978). "FCC Takes TV Station Application". The Macon News. Macon, Georgia. p. 1A. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Hill, Sidney (December 23, 1978). "Death Won't Hinder Third TV Station". The Macon News. Macon, Georgia. p. 1B. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Burdette, Mary (October 31, 1979). "TV Station Applicant Withdraws". The Macon News. Macon, Georgia. p. 1A, 2A. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "New TV Station Gets FCC Permit". The Macon News. Macon, Georgia. January 15, 1980. p. 1. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Beasley, David (September 28, 1981). "Channel 24 planning to stir things up". The Macon News. Macon, Georgia. p. 1A, 2A. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "WGXA, Macon's Third TV Station, To Begin Operations About April 1". The Macon News. Macon, Georgia. February 28, 1982. p. 8M. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Bills, Steve (April 22, 1982). "New Macon TV station goes on air". The Macon News. Macon, Georgia. p. 1B. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Clarke, Mitch (April 21, 1992). "Debut of the decade: WGXA has had 'a good 10 years'". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. 1D, 2D. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ a b Bustin, Craig (October 18, 1982). "No cloudy skies anymore in Macon TV weather forecasts". The Macon News. Macon, Georgia. p. 3B, 4B. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Lam, Stacy (January 7, 1985). "Macon's TV competition". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. Business Plus 3, 6. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Billips, Mike (December 21, 1995). "New attitude: WGXA parties in anticipation of move to Fox". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. 1B, 2B. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Billips, Mike (February 22, 1995). "N.C. company buying WGXA". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. 1B. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Billips, Mike (July 29, 1995). "WXGA [sic] bosses plan to challange [sic] WMAZ: $1 million in changes include 20 new employees". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. 1B. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Billips, Mike (September 8, 1995). "WGXA-TV dropping ABC to pick up Fox affiliation". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. 1A, 6A. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Jessell, Harry A. (September 11, 1995). "ABC, Fox change partners again: ABC is switching to WCPO-TV in Cincinnati, Fox is moving to WGXA-TV in Macon, Ga" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. p. 16. ProQuest 225333563. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022 – via World Radio History.
  21. ^ Aronin, Ivan (August 20, 1995). "Bowl alliance ends full day of football". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. Football '95 55. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Billips, Mike (November 2, 1995). "Channel 58, ABC strike deal: Switch of two local stations set for New Year's". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. 1B. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Maley, Dan (February 21, 1997). "Finding a niche: Fox 24 sees improvement with its 10 p.m. newscast". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. Out & About 20. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ Coburn, David (July 28, 1997). "Gocom-Cottonwood: 'Large group of small-market network stations'". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, North Carolina. p. 3D. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ Kitchel, Rob (May 12, 1999). "WGXA-TV to be sold". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. 2B. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ Mildenberg, David (February 6, 2004). "Media veteran joins Elevator Channel as president". Charlotte Business Journal. p. 7. ProQuest 231323428 – via ProQuest.
  27. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  28. ^ "Wolff gets a Fox". Radio and Television Business Report. July 9, 2007. Archived from the original on May 10, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  29. ^ Stucka, Mike (October 30, 2009). "Changes ahead for ABC affiliate". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. 1A, 3A. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ Ramati, Phillip (December 7, 2009). "Cox, WPGA at odds over channel placement". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. 1A, 10A. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ Ramati, Phillip (December 23, 2009). "Injunction issued in Cox, WPGA feud". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. 1A, 3A. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ Ramati, Phillip (June 23, 2011). "Cox to drop WPGA in July". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. 1B, 2B. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ Ramati, Philip (December 8, 2011). "FCC clears way for Cox to drop WPGA from cable lineup". The Macon Telegraph. Archived from the original on January 26, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2011.
  34. ^ "Application For Consent To Assignment Of Broadcast Station Construction Permit Or License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. April 23, 2014. Archived from the original on April 26, 2014. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
  35. ^ "Station Trading Roundup: 1 Deal, $33 Million". TVNewsCheck. April 29, 2014. Archived from the original on May 2, 2014. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  36. ^ "Sinclair Closes WGXA Purchase, WHTM Sale". TVNewsCheck. September 3, 2014. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  37. ^ Bustin, Craig (September 17, 1982). "WCWB news is signing off". The Macon News. Macon, Georgia. p. 1A. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. ^ Groat, Janet (June 18, 1983). "Viewers Switching to 24 in Late-Night Ratings". The Macon News. Macon, Georgia. p. 1B, 2B. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved April 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  39. ^ Billips, Mike (December 31, 1995). "Local TV-news battle heats up". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. 15A. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  40. ^ Billips, Mike (December 31, 1995). "The rating game". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. 1C. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  41. ^ Maley, Dan (August 15, 1997). "Fox 24 adds morning news". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. Out and About 19. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  42. ^ Wallace, Lance (November 9, 1997). "News wars: WGXA is fastest growing Fox news in country". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. 1C, 4C. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  43. ^ Sams, Cindy (September 5, 2001). "Fox 24 expands prime-time newscast". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. 8C, 7C. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  44. ^ Ramati, Phillip (March 1, 2010). "WGXA adds new features today: Station to roll out news broadcasts on Fox, ABC". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. 3A, 4A. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  45. ^ Morris, Linda S. (May 28, 2010). "Telegraph, Fox, ABC, 940 AM to partner on shows". The Macon Telegraph. Macon, Georgia. p. 1A, 5A. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  46. ^ Malone, Michael (May 21, 2019). "Anchor Devens Fights to the End on 'Survivor'". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on June 15, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  47. ^ Hendricks, Conner (June 10, 2021). "Jeff Cox promoted to News Director of WGXA and WFXL". WFXL.
  48. ^ Miller, Mark K. (April 8, 2022). "Greg Conner Named WGXA Macon VP-GM". TVNewsCheck. Archived from the original on June 4, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  49. ^ Stahl, Michael (May 1, 2023). "Sinclair Shutters Five News Markets: 'We Just Turned Off The Lights For Many'". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved May 1, 2023.
  50. ^ a b "RabbitEars query for WGXA". RabbitEars. Archived from the original on March 29, 2016. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  51. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. May 23, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
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