WOFL
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| WOFL | |
|---|---|
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| Orlando, Florida | |
| Branding | FOX35 |
| Slogan | First on Fox/The Most Powerful Name in Local News |
| Channels | 35 (UHF) analog, 22 (UHF) digital |
| Affiliations | FOX |
| Owner | Fox Television Stations Group |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Call letters meaning | Orlando, FL (Florida) |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1979 - Oct. 1986) |
| Website | myfoxorlando.com |
WOFL, "FOX35", is the FOX owned-and-operated television station serving the Orlando, Florida metropolitan area. It is licensed to Orlando, with studios located in Lake Mary. It broadcasts its analog signal on UHF channel 35, and its digital signal on UHF channel 22.
Its transmitter is located in Bithlo, Florida. Its Digital TV transmitter has a power of 1,000kW. Its Analog TV transmitter has a power of 2,570kW.
WOFL and sister station WTVT of the bordering Tampa market commonly share reporters and footage, as other station groups do.
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[edit] History
The channel 35 frequency in Orlando was first occupied by WSWB, which went on air in the early 1970s. It was owned by Sun World Broadcasters, hence the callsign. Its original studio was on East Colonial Drive, now the home of WMFE. However, Sun World was in major financial troubles, and as a result, the station went off the air.
Then-unknown media mogul Ted Turner made an attempt to buy the station, however, it failed because of ensuing legal actions. In fact, for a brief time, the station’s 44-acre transmission site was owned by Turner, while the tower and broadcasting equipment were tied up in a judgment claim held by Pat Robertson, owner of the Christian Broadcasting Network. Because of this mess, channel 35 remained off the air until the license was granted to a group of investors known as The Omega Group, with the Meredith Corporation holding an option to eventually buy out the other partners. The station signed back on the air in 1979. Channel 35 then received a new set of call letters, WOFL. The WSWB call letters are now used on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre affiliate of The CW.
Meredith Corporation exercised its full purchase option from Omega in 1982, and the station eventually moved to a new studio building in Lake Mary in 1986, a major change from the prior studios located in a converted bank building in the middle of Orlando's South Orange Blossom Trail adult-entertainment district.
At the inception of the Fox Broadcasting Company in 1986, WOFL became one of that network's charter affiliates. WOFL was frequently ranked as one of the country's leading Fox affiliates during the network's early years, achieving a number one ranking on several occasions through the early 1990's. It was also the most profitable station in Meredith's multi-station group, despite being the only UHF "independent" station at that time. In the mid-1990s, WOFL took over the operations of Gainesville's Fox affiliate, Ocala-based WOGX channel 51. WOFL began expanded news operations in March 1998, as Fox was pushing for its affiliates to have news. 6 months later, Pokémon made its debut in Orlando on WOFL. The newscasts were simulcast on WOGX. It launched its digital TV signal on channel 22 in January 2000, and began broadcasting in widescreen format in January 2002.
In 2002, Meredith traded WOFL and WOGX to News Corporation's Fox Television Stations Group, and, in return, Meredith received KPTV in Portland, Oregon. This made WOFL a Fox owned-and-operated station (O&O), and sister station to UPN affiliate WRBW channel 65. Fox had acquired WRBW and KPTV several months earlier when they acquired the stations of the United Television group. This tradeoff protected WOFL as the Fox affiliate. WOFL was the only network O&O in the Orlando-Daytona Beach market until UPN and the WB were folded into The CW (which is shown on WKCF). In response, Fox formed My Network TV, which airs on the former Fox-owned UPN stations, including WRBW.
WOFL began broadcasting in 720p HDTV format in September 2004.
Most of WOFL's programming, including Fox programming, was originally seen in Citrus County on W49AI in the 1980s. The station did nor air WOFL's late-night programming however, as it signed off at Midnight. This arrangement continued until WOGX became a Fox affiliate in 1991.
In early 2007, WOFL and most Fox owned and operated stations will get a new logo, modeled after that of sister station WTVT in Tampa Bay. Ironically, the channel number font harkens back to a WOFL logo from the mid-1980s. WOFL will also get a new news set, new news music, and a new weather center, as well as a slogan change (from "First on Fox" to "The Most Powerful Name in Local News", reflecting the national Fox News slogan).
[edit] Newscasts
Weekdays
- Fox 35 Morning News - 5AM-9AM
- Anchors: Tom Johnson (5AM-9AM), Trei Johnson (5AM-7AM), and Heidi Hatch (7AM-9AM)
- Weather: Jim Van Fleet
- Traffic: Ken Smith
- Fox at 5 - 5PM-6PM
- Anchor: Amy Kaufeldt
- Weather: Glenn Richards
- Fox 35 News at Ten - 10PM-11PM
- Anchors: Cale Ramaker and Corrina Sullivan
- Weather: Glenn Richards
- Sports: Thomas Forester
Weekends
- Fox at 5 - 5PM-6PM
- Anchors: Keith Landry and Laverne McGee
- Weather: Kristi Powers
- Fox 35 News at Ten - 10PM-11PM
- Anchors: Keith Landry and Laverne McGee
- Weather: Kristi Powers
- Sports: Thomas Forester
WOFL's sister station in Ocala, WOGX Fox 51 airs FOX 35 Morning News and FOX 35 News at 10:00 as well.
The station premiered FOX 35 News at 10:00 in 1998, and became the first independently produced newscast in the Orlando market outside of the major-network affiliates; WESH, NBC Channel 2; WKMG, CBS Channel 6; and WFTV, ABC Channel 9. It did not begin competing with the major network affiliates in the 5pm time slot until March 2006 with the debut of FOX at 5.
[edit] Personalities
[edit] News Anchors
- Cale Ramaker, anchor of Fox 35 News at Ten (10PM-11PM, Mon-Fri)
- Corrina Sullivan, anchor of Fox 35 News at Ten (10PM-11PM, Mon-Fri)
- Amy Kaufeldt, anchor of Fox at 5 (5PM-6PM, Mon-Fri)
- Tom Johnson, anchor of Fox 35 Morning News (5AM-9AM, Mon-Fri)
- Heidi Hatch, anchor of Fox 35 Morning News (7AM-9AM, Mon-Fri)
- Trei Johnson, anchor of Fox 35 Morning News (5AM-7AM, Mon-Fri)
- Keith Landry, anchor of Fox at 5 & Fox 35 News at Ten (5PM-6PM & 10PM-11PM, Sat-Sun)
- Laverne McGee, anchor of Fox at 5 & Fox 35 News at Ten (5PM-6PM & 10PM-11PM, Sat-Sun)
[edit] Meteorologists
- Glenn Richards, chief meteorologist (5PM-6PM & 10PM-11PM, Mon-Fri)
- Jim Van Fleet, morning meteorologist (5AM-9AM, Mon-Fri)
- Kristi Powers, weekend meteorologist (5PM-6PM & 10PM-11PM, Sat-Sun)
[edit] Sports Anchors
- Thomas Forester, sports anchor (all week)
[edit] News Reporters
- Christine van Blokland, morning features reporter
- Elizabeth Alvarez, general assignment reporter
- Shannon Butler, general assignment reporter
- Steve Gehlbach, general assignment reporter
- Kelly Joyce, general assignment reporter
- Lauren LaPonzina, general assignment reporter
- David Martin, general assignment reporter
- Cheryl Getuiza, general assignment reporter
- Ken Smith, SkyFox reporter
- Tom Sussi, consumer investigator
- Alexis Brito, general assignment reporter
[edit] Newscast Timeline
- 1998: Fox 35 News at 10, a 30 minute newscast premieres
- Fall 1999: Fox 35 News at 10 expands to 1 hour
- September 2000: Fox 35 Morning News launchs as Good Day Orlando
- 2002: Added 6am Newscast, later moved to 5am
- March 2006: Fox at 5 Debuts
- Fall 2006: Fox at 5 expands to 7 days a week, except for if there is Fox Sports games on that day.
[edit] External links
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WESH 2 (NBC) - WKMG 6 (CBS) - WFTV 9 (ABC) - WTMO 15 (TEL) - WCEU 15 (PBS) - WKCF 18 (The CW) - W21AU 21 (AZA) - WMFE 24 (PBS) - WVEN 26 (UNI) - WRDQ 27 (Ind) - WRCF 29 (A1) - WOFL 35 (Fox) - WZXZ 36 (MTV2) - WOTF 43 (TFU) - WLCB 45 (TLN / Faith TV) - WTGL 52 (TBN) - WOPX 56 (ION) - WRBW 65 (MNTV) - WBCC 68 (PBS) |
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| Local digital television channels | |||
| Stations serving Ocala, part of the Orlando market | |||
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Ocala: W07BP 7 (Edu.) - WOGX 51 (Fox) |
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| Local cable television channels | |||
| 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 | |
