Nexstar’s former Fox affil WFXW Terre Haute, Ind., will join ABC and change its calls to WAWV on Sept. 1. In addition, the group owner signs a new agreement extending its affiliations for the nine ABC affiliates it owns or operates.
DMA 152
Nexstar Drops Fox For ABC In Terre Haute
Nexstar Broadcasting Group has turned the table on Fox, dumping the network in Terre Haute, Ind. (DMA 152), and replacing it with ABC. The switch is effective Sept. 1.
With its launch as an ABC affiliate, WFXW will change its call letters to WAWV, which stands for “ABC for the Wabash Valley.” Nexstar also operates the market’s NBC affiliate, WTWO.
WFXW’s Fox affiliation expired in June 2010, but the station has continued operating as a Fox affiliate under the previous contractual terms as the parties negotiated a renewal.
Fox and Nexstar have been at odds over Fox’s aggressive demands for programming fees. Rather than pay the fees, Nexstar has given up the Fox affiliation in three other markets — Evansville, Ind.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; and Springfield, Mo. Terre Haute is the first where it has been able to jump to another network.
Nexstar owns or operates 12 other Fox affiliates.
The Terre Haute station’s pick up of ABC is part of a larger, long-term agreement in which Nexstar is renewing its ABC affiliation for nine other stations.
BRAND CONNECTIONS
Commenting on the agreement, Nexstar Broadcasting Group President and CEO, Perry A. Sook said, “We are delighted to extend, on a long-term basis, our affiliation agreements with ABC.
“WAWV’s ABC affiliation enables Nexstar to continue to serve the Terre Haute community and the Wabash Valley with compelling network programming as well as local news, lifestyle, sports and weather programming.
“Our affiliation with ABC will also dramatically increase the amount of HD programming that our local viewers will have access to on a daily basis.”
John Rouse, senior vice president, Affiliate Relations for the ABC Television Network, said, “We are very pleased to extend our affiliation with Nexstar in nine key markets, and to once again have an ABC affiliated station in Terre Haute.
“Nexstar has a proven track record for providing local viewers with outstanding programming and community service. Their strong local news presence in Terre Haute and the Wabash Valley will help strengthen ABC’s footprint in the market.”
The other Nexstar ABC affiliates: KMID Odessa-Midland, Texas; KSVI Billings, Montana; WDHN Dothan, Alabama; WJET Erie, Pa.; and KQTV St. Joseph, Mo.; KAMC Lubbock, Texas; WTVO in Rockford, Ill.; WUTR Utica, New York; and KODE Joplin, Mo.
The previous affiliation agreement for seven of the stations ended in December 2010 and the stations continued operating as ABC affiliates through short-term extensions while two of the stations’ affiliation agreements expire in December 2012.
Comments (14)
Janet Frankston Lorin says:
June 28, 2011 at 4:52 pm
Nice! Hope FOX enjoys cable only carriage in Terre Haute!
Teri Green says:
June 28, 2011 at 4:59 pm
It doesn’t matter as Terre Haute is so small they could lose 100% of the audience, and it wouldn’t effect their ratings. And ratings are what drive Ad rates. Since their ad rates won’t be hurt, no real difference. Besides Terre Haute is well covered by cable, so they’ll just bring in Fox from Indianapolis
Mark Gregory says:
June 29, 2011 at 11:43 am
… I’d really like to see the cable penetration in Terre Haute … if it’s dropping as quickly as in every other market and that’s all Fox has to delivery their netowrk in that market, I’d say there is a big difference …
Trudy Handel says:
June 28, 2011 at 5:17 pm
LIN could pick up Fox. They have a permit for an LPTV station in Terre Haute.
Manuel Morales says:
June 28, 2011 at 6:24 pm
D2- much better OTA coverage which still matters.
kari hamon says:
June 28, 2011 at 6:32 pm
Perry Sook is fighting a battle for all broadcasters. We owe him a debt of gratitude for taking a firm stance. More of us should be doing exactly the same thing. Thanks Perry, keep fighting the good fight.
Mark Gregory says:
June 29, 2011 at 11:43 am
… ditto
David Oxenford says:
June 28, 2011 at 6:42 pm
The article is incorrect. Nexstar is parting company with FOX in Springfield Missouri, not Ft. Smith.
Linda Stewart says:
June 28, 2011 at 10:33 pm
Sorry about that. We’ve corrected the story.
Heidi Arthur says:
June 29, 2011 at 10:16 am
Pre-Nexstar and a couple of call letters ago, Ch. 38 was an ABC station until the mid-’90s. Maybe the only option left is WTHI. What does Ch. 10 have for its subchannels?
Carol Thompson says:
June 29, 2011 at 12:26 pm
WTHI has CBS on 10.1, The Cool TV on 10.2 and their weather radar on 10.3.
Hope Yen and Charles Babington says:
June 29, 2011 at 9:39 pm
…and even before Channel 38, it was Channel 66 and ABC. At that high a frequency, the signal travelled down the guy wires into the ground before it got a chance to radiate!! LOL!
Hope Yen and Charles Babington says:
June 29, 2011 at 9:48 pm
BTW back ‘in the day’, we did a terrain, propagation analysis, and prediction analysis that showed a VHF (analog) Channel 5 coulda, woulda, and SHOULDA been assigned to a nearby community that would have completely covered Terre Haute with a City Grade signal from 1,000 feet HAAT! We never filed a petition for Rule Making, and noticed over the years no one else did, either, Nearby Ch. 5’s were Chicago, St. Louis and Dayton. As I recall there were one or two azimuths that would have had to be given a waiver of 5-8 miles short spacing, and all this is with a Non-DA 5-Bay Batwing. With a DA, we could have easily met required signal strength minimums to 100% protect KSD, WMAQ and WLW-D. Then there was Ray Livesay who poured heart and soul into the effort to assign Channel 2 to TH! Small market, but desirable.
Elliot Simmons says:
July 5, 2011 at 9:14 pm
Cincinnati’s current WLWT is on Channel 5. Dayton’s former WLWD (Now WDTN) is on Channel 2. There could have been a station shuffle in the past!