WAWS
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| WAWS | |
|---|---|
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| Jacksonville, FL | |
| Branding | FOX30 |
| Channels | 30 (UHF) analog, 32 (UHF) digital |
| Affiliations | Fox My Network TV (currently as secondary; to be on DT2 in late 2006 or early 2007) |
| Owner | Clear Channel Communications (sale pending) |
| Founded | January 10, 1981 |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1981-1987) UPN (secondary affiliation, 2002-2006) |
| Website | www.fox30online.com/ |
WAWS is the Fox affiliate station in Jacksonville, Florida owned by Clear Channel Communications. Its transmitter is located in Jacksonville.
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[edit] History
WAWS first signed on the air on January 10, 1981 as an independent station. WAWS was the first independent station in the Jacksonville area. The original owners of the station were Malrite Television. Initially the station had a general entertainment format of cartoons, movies, sitcoms, and drama shows. In 1986, WAWS became one of the charter affiliates of the newly-launched Fox Broadcasting Company.
In 1989, Malrite sold WAWS to Clear Channel Communications, a fast-growing broadcasting conglomerate based in San Antonio, Texas. Clear Channel had earlier purchased the first independent station in the nearby Pensacola-Moblie market, WPMI-TV (now an NBC affiliate), which was Clear Channel's first TV station. As was the trend for many Fox affiliates throughout the mid to late-1990s, WAWS began moving toward talk and reality shows and away from classic sitcoms. In 1993, Clear Channel began managing rival station WNFT (channel 47, now WTEV-TV) under a local marketing agreement in which the two stations pooled programming and resources, running the strongest shows on WAWS. WNFT became a UPN affiliate in 1995, and Clear Channel bought the station outright in 2001.
In 2002, WJXT, the longtime CBS affiliate in Jacksonville, decided to end its long relationship with the network after a squabble between CBS and WJXT's owners, Post-Newsweek Stations over an affiliation contract. WAWS then added the UPN secondary affiliation, running that network's programming from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., as WTEV decided to drop its UPN affiliation so it could become the new CBS affiliate.
On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation (owner of UPN) and Time Warner (majority owner of the WB Television Network) announced plans to merge those two networks to form a new network, the CW Television Network. In March of 2006, it was announced that WB affiliate WJWB would become the CW affiliate for Jacksonville, and change its call letters to WCWJ. WAWS's over-the-air analog signal reverted to carrying programming only from the Fox network. On July 12, 2006, it was confirmed that WAWS would carry Fox's second network, My Network TV, on its digital subchannel instead of as a secondary affiliation. However, on WAWS's website, its lists MyNetworkTV programming as airing at 11 PM after the WTEV-produced newscast at 10. [1] This temporary arrangement is to end in late 2006 or early 2007, the time its DT2 signal goes on the air.
On November 16, 2006, Clear Channel announced its intention to sell off all of its television stations, including WAWS,[1] after the company was bought out by a private equity firm.
[edit] Newscasts
WAWS's first venture into local news was through a 10 PM weeknight newscast produced by then-ABC affiliate WJKS in the early 1990s. The newscast, branded FOX 30 First Coast News, would cease production in 1996 after the shutdown of WJKS's news department and eventual loss of its ABC affiliation. WAWS established its own news department, and began producing 10 and 11 PM newscasts a day after the final WJKS-produced newscast aired.
WAWS later moved the 11 PM newscast to 10:30. Through the years, more local newscasts were added at 6:30 PM (on sister-station WTEV), mornings, and at 4 PM. Following WTEV's affiliation change to CBS, the WAWS morning newscast was effectively 'moved' over to WTEV, and the 6:30pm newscast was cancelled.
While WAWS and WTEV share a news department, WAWS maintains separate anchor teams for the 4 PM weekday and 10 PM weeknight broadcasts, as well as different production elements such as a separate news sets, graphics, and music.
Today, WAWS airs newscasts during the following time periods:
- FOX 30 News at 4 (4-4:30 PM weekdays)
- FOX 30 News at 4:30 (4:30-5 PM weekdays)
- FOX 30 News at 10 (10-10:30 PM daily)
- FOX 30 News at 10:30 (10:30-11 PM daily)
[edit] Trivia
WAWS is Jacksonville's only TV station to retain the same network affiliation.
[edit] References
- ^ "Clear Channel agrees to sale", The Cincinnati Enquirer, Gannett Company, 2006-11-16. Retrieved on 2006-11-17.
[edit] External links
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WJXT 4 (Ind.) - WJCT 7 (PBS) - WXGA 8 (PBS/GPB) - WTLV 12 (NBC) - WCWJ 17 (The CW) - WPXC 21 (i) - WJXX 25 (ABC) - WWRJ 27 (Rel.) - WAWS 30 (Fox) (MNTV on DT2) - W54CS 36 (AS) - WBXJ 43 (MTV2) - WTEV 47 (CBS) - WJEB 59 (TBN) |
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| Gainesville / Ocala channels serving portions of the Jacksonville market | ||
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WUFT 5 (PBS) - WCJB 20 (ABC) (The CW on DT2) - WOGX 51 (Fox) |
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| Fox Network Affiliates in the state of Florida | |
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WSVN 7 (Miami) - WTVT 13 (Tampa) - WPGX 28 (Panama City) - WFLX 29 (West Palm Beach) - WAWS 30 (Jacksonville) - WOFL 35 (Orlando) - WFTX 36 (Cape Coral) - WTLH 49 (Bainbridge / Tallahassee) - WOGX 51 (Ocala / Gainesville) |
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| See also: ABC, CBS, CW, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS, Religious, Spanish and Other stations in the state of Florida | |
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WEVU-CA 4 / WBSP-CA 7 / "WNFM" 8 (Fort Myers / Naples) - WJHG-DT 8.3 (Panama City) - |
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| See also: ABC, CBS, CW, Fox, NBC, PBS, Religious, Spanish and Other stations in Florida | |
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