WFXT Boston

The new members will help deliver six hours of the Boston station’s Fox25 Morning News.

Verizon FiOS and Cox Media Group, the new owner of Boston Fox affiliate WFXT, settled their retrans dispute Wednesday night, restoring access to the station for Massachusetts FiOS customers following a blackout on Thanksgiving Day.

Some football fans in Massachusetts and Rhode Island had to scramble to find alternative ways to watch the Eagles-Cowboys Thanksgiving game as the Fox station in the area, WFXT, which carries the matchup, went dark on Verizon FiOS at 3 a.m. Thursday, affecting 400,000 customers. The reason is awfully familiar — another retransmission fee dispute between Verizon and Cox Media Group, which bought the Boston-based station WFXT from Fox in June and embarked on renegotiating retransmission fees.

Tom Raponi, who was general manager of Cox’s KTVU-KICU San Francisco, moves across the country to take the reins at WFXT Boston, which goes from a Fox O&O to Fox affiliate. At WHBQ Memphis, Cox is sticking with GM John Koski.

Lee Rosenthal, currently news director at Cox Media Group’s KTVU San Francisco-Oakland, is being transferred by Cox to WFXT Boston. Cox is acquiring that station (and WHBQ Memphis) from Fox, in exchange for KTVU.

Changes are coming to the Boston Fox station, and word from the newsroom is that people are nervously eyeing the new regime that will take over once the FCC approves the swap that puts Cox Media Group in charge of the station. “No one in the newsroom is 
happy,” said one WFXT insider. “No one here knows what’s happening.”

Fox gets Cox’s KTVU-KICU duopoly in San Francisco, with Cox taking over WHBQ Memphis and WFXT Boston, both of which will remain Fox affiliates.

Boston stations had expanded local morning newscasts this morning to cover the one-year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings.

WFXT Boston crime reporter Bob Ward, known for bringing attention to unsolved cases to help authorities capture criminals, revealed the state’s “Most Wanted Sex Offender Fugitives” list on Sunday, which resulted in the captures of five out of 10 of the state’s most wanted sex offenders. Each one of these captures happened because of viewers who saw Ward’s piece and called in their tips to State Police.

Fox25 News at 5:00 will debut in Boston on Oct. 7 and will be anchored by Maria Stephanos, Mark Ockerbloom and Chief Meteorologist Kevin Lemanowicz.

I know from experience in times of crisis at a TV station’s promotion department that little thought is given to any competitive situations; all energies are devoted to providing viewers the best news coverage each station can possibly generate. So I wasn’t surprised to hear that the marketing and creative services departments at Boston’s stations also recognized how the gravity of the Boston Marathon bombings changed their roles. So what did they do?

TVNewsCheck Editor Harry A. Jessell talks with WCVB Boston GM Bill Fine and News Director Andrew Vrees about what their station and city went through in those five intense days of almost nonstop coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings and manhunt.

A tension-filled day gave way to a night of celebration, relief and even revelry on the streets of Watertown as a suspected Boston Marathon bomber was apprehended and the local TV stations — WBZ, WCVB, WFXT and WHDH as well as cable’s NECN — tracked every moment.

Fox O&O WFXt Boston (DMA 7) today named Shiri Spear meteorologist for Fox 25 Morning News. Her first day at the station will be Nov. 19. Most recently, Spear was […]

Fox O&O WFXT Boston (DMA 7) has added Brendan Fitzgerald to its sports team. He will be sports anchor for the weekday 6, 10 11 p.m. newscasts. Most recently, Fitzgerald […]

Lowell Briggs has been named VP of creative services for Fox O&O WFXT Boston. Effective Aug. 6, Lowell will be responsible for all promotion efforts and station branding. Most recently, […]

While the Fox O&O was the last Boston station to join the 4:30 a.m. morning news trend, next month it’s moving the morning news bar earlier still.

The Fox Boston O&O is adding a 4 a.m. broadcast on weekdays and a 6 p.m. newscast on Saturday and Sunday.

Sorboni Banerjee is joining Fox O&O WFXT Boston (DMA 7) morning news team as an anchor and reporter. She will be featured with Fox25 Morning News co-hosts Gene Lavanchy and […]

Fox O&O WFXT Boston (DMA 7) has named Sarah Wroblewski its weekend meteorologist. She will begin Saturday, Jan. 28m and will contribute to Fox 25 News at 10:00 on Saturdays […]

Fox O&O WFXT Boston (DMA 7) today promoted Shannon Mulaire from weekend anchor to co-anchor of Fox 25 Morning News. She will anchor from 4:30 to 10 a.m. weekdays alongside […]

The Boston Fox O&O promotes its assistant news director to succeed Lisa Hall.

The Boston Fox O&O FOX 25 announced today that effective March 14, it will launch Boston’s first local newscast at 6:30 p.m. on March 14. The new half hour will be a continuation of FOX 25 News at 6 PM,  which replaced the FOX 25 News at 5 & 5:30 PM in 2009.