WEVV-TV

WEVV-TV (channel 44) is a television station in Evansville, Indiana, United States, affiliated with CBS, Fox, and MyNetworkTV. Owned by Allen Media Group, the station maintains studios on Carpenter and Bond streets in downtown Evansville and a transmitter at John James Audubon State Park in Henderson, Kentucky.

WEVV-TV began broadcasting on November 17, 1983, as an independent station. Put on the air by local investors, it was owned from 1985 to 1999 by Ralph C. Wilson Industries. The station became affiliated with Fox in 1986, moved to new downtown studio facilities in 1990, and launched a local news department in 1992, initially providing the market's first 9 p.m. local newscast. In 1995, a three-station affiliation switch resulted in WEVV becoming a CBS affiliate. Wilson sold the station to Communications Corporation of America (ComCorp) in 1999; it was ComCorp's only broadcast property outside of Texas and Louisiana. The news department was shuttered due to low ratings in July 2001.

In 2011, an affiliation dispute led to WEVV becoming the Fox affiliate again, this time on its 44.2 subchannel. After Bayou City Broadcasting acquired WEVV in 2014, it moved the station into its present facilities and relaunched local news in August 2015. Allen acquired the station in 2019. WEVV produces local newscasts for air on its CBS and Fox subchannels.

Early years

Construction and launch

South Central Broadcasting, the owner of Evansville radio station WIKY, applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in November 1978 for authority to build a new commercial TV station in Evansville on channel 44.[1] South Central planned an independent station heavy on sports coverage and possibly featuring a news department.[2] However, as the owner of an existing radio station, South Central needed a waiver to own a UHF TV station and a radio station in the same market.[3] At the deadline in May 1979, Family TV, Inc. applied for the channel. They proposed a family-oriented station emphasizing programming free of sex and violence as well as sports.[4] Though one of its organizers was a reverend, the proposed Family TV station would not be religious in character.[5] Believing it would have a hard time at comparative hearing because of its need to seek a waiver in a costly proceeding, South Central withdrew its application in November 1980.[6]

Family TV had not built the station by July 1982, when Dick Shively was hired to help start the operation. Shively's extensive experience in broadcasting, including in Evansville, was deemed necessary because lenders were unwilling to lend capital to the company due to its lack of track record.[7] In early 1983, Shively and two other investors acquired 49 percent of the construction permit, which then bore the call sign WAFV ("American Family Viewing"[8]). With its new investors, channel 44 secured the rights to telecast Evansville Purple Aces athletic events, beating out NBC affiliate WFIE (channel 14) by offering to air more basketball games.[9] Shively also arranged for the call sign to be changed to WEVV, over the objections of WEHT.[10][11] The transfer of partial ownership and a loan agreement were not timely notified to the FCC, resulting in a fine assessed in 1984.

After the first attempt to sign on November 10 was scrapped due to moisture in the transmission line,[13] WEVV debuted on November 17, 1983.[14] It had offices in the Executive Inn in Evansville[15] and a transmitter site south of the Ohio River 5 mi east of U.S. 41 in Kentucky.[16] Its programming consisted of cartoons, syndicated programs, and movies.[17]

Ralph Wilson ownership, Fox affiliation and news launch

After receiving several offers, ownership sold WEVV to Ralph C. Wilson Industries of Detroit, the owner of the Buffalo Bills of the NFL, for $4.36 million in a deal announced in 1985.[18][19] After Wilson closed on the purchase in February 1986,[20] the station began airing newer movies and updated its image alongside acquiring new equipment. However, that same year, WEVV lost the bidding for Purple Aces athletics to WFIE.[21] The station affiliated with the Fox network upon its October 1986 launch.

From the moment Wilson purchased WEVV, the company sought to build studios in a high-visibility area of Evansville to raise channel 44's profile alongside increased community involvement.[22] The company scouted several sites before choosing a downtown property at Main Street and Riverside Drive.[23] Plans were approved in February 1989, in spite of a consultant report that riverfront development be more engaging with the waterfront than WEVV planned.[24] The station moved into the studios at 44 Main Street in January 1990.[25] Station management hoped that the new, 14000 ft2 facility would help the station capture more commercial production business.[26]

The new studio facility was also home to a major expansion. General manager Skip Simms, who had desired to add news since he assumed the position in 1989 and had tried to do so sooner,[27] announced in October 1991 that the station would produce an hour-long 9 p.m. local newscast on weeknights.[28] At the time, nearby large-market Fox affiliates in Indianapolis (WXIN) and Louisville (WDRB) had both started newscasts in recent years.[29] Fox 44 News at 9 debuted on February 23, 1992. WEVV, with the first new local news department in Evansville since WTVW (channel 7) began broadcasting in 1956, aimed to deliver longer-form, more detail-oriented stories on local news and issues.[30] In April 1993, WEVV expanded to Sunday night news; the 30-minute program was higher-rated, leading the station to change its weeknight newscasts to a half-hour two months later.[31]

WEVV expanded in 1993 by starting a new low-power TV station with programming focused on sports: W63BT "TSN", specializing in sports programming.[32][33]

As a CBS affiliate

Switch to CBS

In May 1995, Banam Broadcasting, a subsidiary of BankAmerica, sold WTVW to Petracom Broadcasting.[34] Fox then acquired a 20% equity stake in Petracom.[35] Even though WEVV's Fox affiliation agreement did not expire until December 1998,[36] an affiliation switch was underway. WEHT, the CBS affiliate, moved to acquire the ABC affiliation vacated by WTVW. That left CBS without an affiliate in the market[37] until it signed an affiliation agreement with WEVV at the end of June.[38]

The switch took place December 4, 1995.[39] However, some CBS programs moved to channel 44 earlier as WEHT dropped them to pick up ABC programming dropped by WTVW. Programs including The Price Is Right, The Late Late Show, and CBS This Morning moved to channel 44 earlier than other CBS shows.[40][41] Many syndicated programs channel 44 no longer had time to air with its commitments to CBS's larger program lineup were moved to TSN.[42]

Switching to CBS also brought changes to the news department. The station did not air a 6 p.m. newscast, presenting an early report at 5 p.m. and counterprogramming the other stations with reruns of The Simpsons. The early news-and-interviews program, known as 44 at 5, fared poorly in the ratings and was converted to a regular 5 p.m. newscast in July 1996.[43] From 1995 to 1998, WEVV and Owensboro, Kentucky–based Century Communications collaborated on a 9 p.m., cable-only newscast covering Owensboro news.[44]

ComCorp ownership and news department shutdown

With a market bearing high prices for television stations, Ralph C. Wilson hired a broker to analyze the sale of WEVV in September 1998.[45] Communications Corporation of America (ComCorp) acquired the station in February 1999 for $27.5 million, marking the company's only broadcast holding outside the states of Texas and Louisiana[46]

WEVV-TV shut down its news department on the afternoon of July 17, 2001. ComCorp management found that the ratings performance for news had fallen below the entertainment programming the station offered: ComCorp spokesman Tim Lynch told the Evansville Courier & Press, "It was just a decision we made, and it's kind of a situation where the viewing public in Evansville has said that they love our entertainment programming. They did not like our news." Forty employees were dismissed, some of them having an inkling that the news department was receiving fewer and fewer resources.[47]

ComCorp put its stations on the market in 2005 ahead of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection the next year, unable to reach debt repayment deals with its lenders.[48]

callsign	WEVV-TV
branding	44News 44.1: CBS44 44.2: Fox44
digital	28 (UHF)
virtual	44
translators	WEEV-LD 47.1 Evansville (44.2)
affiliations	44.1: CBS 44.2: Fox/MyNetworkTV for others, see
owner	Allen Media Group (sale to Gray Media pending)
licensee	BCBE License Subsidiary, LLC
location	Evansville, Indiana
country	United States
airdate	November 17, 1983
callsign meaning	Evansville ("EVV" is also the IATA code for Evansville Regional Airport)
former channel numbers	Analog: 44 (UHF, 1983–2009) Digital: 45 (UHF, 2006–2019)
former affiliations	Independent (1983–1986) Fox (1986–1995)
erp	243 kW
haat	310.7 m
facility id	72041
coordinates	37.88811°N, -87.54361°W
licensing authority	FCC
website	www.wevv.com

Early years

Construction and launch

Ralph Wilson ownership, Fox affiliation and news launch

As a CBS affiliate

Switch to CBS

ComCorp ownership and news department shutdown

As a dual affiliate

Bayou City Broadcasting ownership and news relaunch

Notable former on-air staff

Subchannels

External links

References

Allen Media Group ownership; pending sale to Gray Media