WZDX


WZDX, virtual channel 54, is a dual Fox/MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station licensed to Huntsville, Alabama, United States and serving North Alabama's Tennessee Valley. The station is owned by Tegna Inc. WZDX's studios are located on North Memorial Parkway in Huntsville, and its transmitter is located on Monte Sano Mountain in the Mountain Heights section of the city. The station is carried on channel 5 on most cable systems in the market.

History

WZDX first signed on April 19, 1985 as Northern Alabama's first independent station and the area's first new outlet to launch in nearly twenty years. The station originally broadcast in analog on channel 54. The inaugural program shown was an airing of the 1968 film Charly. The station's transmitter was on Green Mountain in Southeastern Huntsville while its studios were in the northwestern section of the city. During the first months after its beginning, WZDX used the slogan "We're Taking You to the Top!" and ran full page ads in The Huntsville Times with this tagline and with still pictures of old movies and syndicated TV shows that the station planned to air.
When the Fox network began service on October 9, 1986, WZDX initially abstained from affiliating with the network unlike many other independent TV stations across the country that had signed on with them. However, by December 5, 1987, the station started showing Fox's prime time schedule at the time, but didn't refer to themselves as a Fox affiliate until 1990. Also that year on March 29, WZDX became the first property owned by a new broadcasting group founded by Milton Grant.
In 2002, it launched the second digital signal of the market on UHF channel 41. A simulcast of cable-only WB affiliate "WAWB-TV" was then added to a second digital subchannel of WZDX. That offered non-cable viewers access to WB programming for the first time. In September 2003, the broadcast tower shared by WZDX and ABC affiliate WAAY-TV collapsed killing three men. Until it could be replaced, WZDX and WAAY temporarily aired from the nearby tower of CBS affiliate WHNT-TV.
On November 6, 2013, Nexstar Broadcasting Group announced that it would purchase the Grant stations, including WZDX, for $87.5 million. The sale was completed on December 1, 2014. WZDX is Nexstar's second station in Alabama; it already owned WDHN, the ABC affiliate in Dothan. On January 27, 2016, it was announced that Nexstar would buy Media General for $4.6 billion. WZDX, along with WDHN, will become part of "Nexstar Media Group" and join a cluster of stations Nexstar would own in Alabama including WIAT in Birmingham and WKRG-TV in Mobile, as well as WRBL in Columbus, Georgia, which covers much of east Alabama including Opelika and Auburn. All three of these stations are CBS affiliates.
On July 15, 2018, Nexstar agreed to acquire WHDF from Lockwood Broadcast Group for $2.25 million; Nexstar concurrently took over WHDF's operations through a time brokerage agreement. The sale was completed on November 9, creating a duopoly with WZDX.
On December 3, 2018, Nexstar announced it would acquire the assets of Chicago-based Tribune Media—which has owned CBS affiliate WHNT-TV since December 2013—for $6.4 billion in cash and debt. Nexstar was precluded from acquiring WHNT directly or indirectly while owning WZDX, as FCC regulations prohibit common ownership of more than two stations in the same media market, or two or more of the four highest-rated stations in the market. On March 20, 2019, Tysons, Virginia-based Tegna Inc. announced it would purchase WZDX from Nexstar upon consummation of the merger, as part of the company's sale of nineteen Nexstar- and Tribune-operated stations to Tegna and the E. W. Scripps Company in separate deals worth $1.32 billion; this would make WZDX the first television property in Alabama for Tegna and a sister station to NBC affiliate WBIR-TV in Knoxville and the duopoly of NBC affiliate WXIA-TV and MyNetworkTV affiliate WATL in Atlanta. WHDF was not included in the sale, with Nexstar intending to form a new duopoly involving WHNT. The sale was approved by the FCC on September 16 and was completed on September 19, 2019.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
ChannelVideoAspectPSIP Short NameProgramming
54.1720pWZDX-DTMain WZDX programming / Fox
54.2480iWAMY-DT"WAMY-TV" / MyNetworkTV
54.3480iMeTV-SDMeTV
54.4480iMysteryCourt TV Mystery

On April 17, 2012, WZDX launched a third digital subchannel on 54.3, that carries MeTV.
On June 15, 2016, Nexstar announced that it had entered into an affiliation agreement with Katz Broadcasting for the Escape, Laff, Grit, and Bounce TV networks, bringing one or more of the four networks to 81 stations owned and/or operated by Nexstar, including WZDX.

Analog-to-digital conversion

WZDX shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 54, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 41, using PSIP to display WZDX's virtual channel as 54 on digital television receivers, which was among the high band UHF channels that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition. In order to adequately serve its area, its effective radiated power was increased to 700 kW on July 2.

Programming

Syndicated programming on WZDX includes The Big Bang Theory, Dr. Phil, Mike & Molly, and Judge Mathis among others. Syndicated programming on WZDX-DT2 includes Everybody Loves Raymond, Seinfeld, Maury, and The Wendy Williams Show among others.

Newscasts

In January 2007, WZDX launched a 30-minute prime time newscast known as Fox 54 Nine O'Clock News. Airing every night except Saturday, it was produced by the Independent News Network through an outsourcing agreement with Grant Broadcasting. News anchors, meteorologists, and sports anchors were provided by INN and other personnel from the newscast production company would fill-in as needed. WZDX maintained two locally based news reporters which would contribute content to the show. It was taped in advance and then fed to the station through satellite.
The broadcasts originated from INN's facility on Tremont Avenue in Davenport, Iowa. In a report in the Macon, Georgia Telegraph, it was announced the Independent News Network filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and the company would end all news productions by January 9, 2009. However, all INN broadcasts would then be reinstated under ownership of Fusion Communications according to the newspaper. WZDX would not face local news competition until February 1, 2010 when WHNT added a nightly half-hour newscast at 9 to its Retro Television Network subchannel.
On September 20, WZDX terminated its outsourcing agreement with INN and entered into another news share arrangement with WAAY. This resulted in a local refocus of Fox 54 Nine O'Clock News which can now be seen every night from a secondary set at WAAY's studios on Monte Sano Boulevard Southeast. WZDX maintains separate news anchors and a meteorologist but they can report for and/or fill-in on WAAY. In addition to its main facility, the latter also operates bureaus in Decatur and The Shoals. Although the previous INN newscasts were in high definition in later years, the newscasts on WZDX reverted to pillarboxed standard definition when WAAY took over the production. WAAY upgraded to high definition newscasts on December 12, 2011 and the WZDX shows were included.
On December 4, 2015, Nexstar announced that WZDX would launch a standalone news operation on April 4, 2016. Concurrently, the station's newscast was extended to an hour.