WYZZ-TV is the Fox-affiliated television station for Central Illinois licensed to Bloomington. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 28 (virtual channel 43.1 via PSIP) from a transmitter in Congerville. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 6 and in high definition on digital channel 910. Owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, WYZZ is operated by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group through a local marketing agreement (LMA) as sister to CBS affiliate WMBD-TV. The two share studios on North University Street in Peoria. Syndicated programming on this station includes Two and a Half Men, Entourage, Everybody Loves Raymond, and The Simpsons among others.
Digital programming
On WYZZ-DT2 is TheCoolTV which is currently not offered on the Comcast digital tier. The service could be added at some point in time.
| Channels (physical/virtual) |
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| 28.1/43.1 |
main WYZZ programming/Fox (HD) |
| 28.1/43.2 |
WYZZ-DT2 TheCoolTV (SD) |
History
The station was founded as WBLN by members of Peoria's Grace Presbyterian Church in on October 18, 1982. Except for the call sign, it was unrelated to the old WBLN on UHF channel 15 in the 1950s. The 1982 station aired an analog signal on UHF channel 43. It was the market's first Independent and new commercial station to sign-on since future sister WMBD hit the airwaves 24 years earlier. WBLN was sold to Sinclair Broadcast Group in 1985 which changed the calls to WYZZ-TV. On October 6, 1986, the channel became the area's charter affiliate of Fox.
In 2002, Sinclair and the Nexstar Broadcasting Group (owner of WMBD) entered into a local marketing agreement that called for WYZZ to be a subordinate entity allowing WMBD to control programming for this channel. WYZZ moved from its studios on East Lincoln Street in Bloomington to WMBD's facilities. Its studios were then converted into a Twin Cities Bureau containing sales and news operations for both channels. In August 2005, a similar agreement would be established between Nexstar's WROC-TV and Sinclair's WUHF in Rochester, New York.
In May 2006, Sinclair and Fox finalized a six-year affiliation contract extension for the company's nineteen affiliates including WYZZ. Its affiliation contract now expires in March 2012. [1] WYZZ broadcasts digitally on UHF channel 28 and (like most Sinclair-owned stations) has been digital-only since February 17, 2009. [2] According to a post on The Peoria Chronicle, WYZZ and WMBD were planning on terminating the local marketing agreement between the two effective April 1, 2010. [3] It now appears this was not followed through with.
Newscasts
WMBD produces a nightly half-hour prime time newscast for WYZZ called Fox 43 News at 9. This broadcast competes with a weeknight show seen on MyNetworkTV affiliate WAOE (produced by NBC affiliate WEEK-TV).
- Meg Marshall - weeknight news
- TBD - weekend news
- Marcus Bailey - Chief Meteorologist seen weeknights
- Brandon Arnold - weekend meteorologist
- Kurt Pegler - Sports Director seen weeknights
- Kyle Dierking - weekend sports and sports reporter
- Jacob Long - Twin Cities Bureau Chief
- Maria Chandler - news reporter
- Kim Behrens - news reporter
Station slogans
- "TV 43, We Bring Home the Fun!" (1980s)
- "Your Place to Be" (general, 2008-present)
- "An Hour Earlier and Never Too Late" (news, 2008-present)
References
External links
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1Owned by Tennessee Broadcasting. Sinclair (SBGI) is seeking an FCC "failing station" waiver to purchase this station.
2Nominally owned by Cunningham Broadcasting and operated by SBGI under an LMA. However, trusts belonging to members of SBGI's founding Smith family control almost all of Cunningham's stock.
3Operated by Nexstar under an LMA.
4Owned by Second Generation Ltd. and managed by SBGI. SBGI is seeking an FCC "failing station" waiver to purchase the station's license.
5Owned by Bay Television and managed by Sinclair.
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| Annual Revenue: $1.24 billion USD (2004) · Employees: Unknown at this time. · Stock Symbol: NASDAQ: SBGI · Website: sbgi.net |
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| v · d · Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc. |
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| Corporate Staff |
Perry A. Sook (President & CEO) · Tim Busch (Exec. VP & Co-COO) · Brian Jones (Exec. VP & Co-COO) · Tom Carter (Chief Financial Officer) · Rick Rogala (Sr. VP, Regional Mgr.) · Adrian Giuhat (Sr. VP, CTO) · Blake Russell (Sr. VP, Station Operations) · Marc Montoya (Sr. VP, eMedia Sales & Operations) · Shirley E. Green (VP, Controller) · Elizabeth Hammond (VP & General Counsel) · Rick Stolpe (Vp, Director of Engineering)
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| Annual Revenue: $226.1 million USD (2005) · Employees: Unknown at this time. · Stock Symbol: NASDAQ: NXST · Website: nexstarbroadcasting.com |
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