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WFTX-TV, virtual channel 36 (UHF digital channel 35), is a Fox-affiliated television station serving Fort Myers and Naples, Florida, United States that is licensed to Cape Coral. The station is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. WFTX maintains studio facilities located on Southwest Pine Island Road (SR 78) in Cape Coral, and its transmitter is located in Punta Gorda (east of I-75/SR 93) near the Charlotte and Lee County line. Known on-air as "''Fox 4''", the branding is derived from WFTX's primary cable position in the market on Comcast Xfinity and most other cable providers in the area. This practice stems in part from the area's exceptionally high cable penetration rate, which is one of the highest in the United States. Comcast also carries the station's high definition feed on digital channel 434. ==History== The station first signed on the air on October 14, 1985, operating as an independent station; the station was originally owned by Family Group Broadcasting, which had previously owned WFTS-TV in Tampa, from which the WFTX call letters are derived. WFTX became a charter affiliate of Fox on October 9, 1986. Family Group Broadcasting sold the station to Terre Haute, Indiana-based Wabash Valley Broadcasting, controlled by the family of Tony Hulman, that December. Under Wabash Valley Broadcasting, elements of the station closely paralleled that of Wabash Valley's flagship station in Terre Haute, WTHI-TV; the two stations used the same voice-over announcer and identical logos, and one of WTHI's news anchors subsequently transferred to WFTX. The station changed hands again in 1998, when Emmis Communications purchased the assets of Wabash Valley Broadcasting. From 2001 to 2005, WFTX's master control and other internal operations were operated from WKCF, its sister station in Orlando, as its studios in Lake Mary served as a centralcasting location for Emmis' stations in the Southeastern United States. From WKCF's facilities, Emmis maintained broadcast capabilities during several major hurricanes, including Hurricane Charley in 2004, that impacted WFTX and WKCF. The arrangement was discontinued in 2005, when Emmis decided to sell off its television stations; that August, WFTX and two of its sister stations were sold to the Journal Broadcast Group. Journal introduced a new logo known as the "big red 4", which is generally used along with the Fox logo, but excludes any Fox reference during local newscasts. In March 2007, WFTX redesigned its website with a new look and began offering more interactive content to viewers. On July 30, 2014, it was announced that the E. W. Scripps Company would acquire Journal Communications in an all-stock transaction. The combined firm will retain their broadcast properties, including WFTX, and spin off their print assets as Journal Media Group. The deal will make WFTX a sister station once again to WFTS and also NBC affiliate WPTV in West Palm Beach; WPTV also currently provides newscasts and services to West Palm Beach Fox affiliate WFLX, which is owned by Raycom Media and is based inside WPTV's facilities. The FCC approved the deal on December 12, 2014. It was approved by shareholders on March 11, 2015, closing on April 1. In October 2015, the station redesigned its website again, due to them being owned by Scripps now, matching sisters WFTS' and WPTV's websites. The only apparent effects of the merger currently are a new web domain to host the station's website, and a Scripps logo closing the station's newscasts. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「WFTX-TV」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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