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WXXV-TV
CityGulfport, Mississippi
Channels
Branding
  • WXXV Fox 25
  • WXXV NBC 25 (25.2)
  • News 25
  • Gulf Coast CW (25.3)
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
February 14, 1987 (37 years ago) (1987-02-14)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 25 (UHF, 1987–2009)
  • Digital: 48 (UHF, until 2019)
Call sign meaning
"XXV" is 25 Roman numerals
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID53517
ERP190 kW
HAAT483 m (1,585 ft)
Transmitter coordinates30°44′49″N 89°3′30″W / 30.74694°N 89.05833°W / 30.74694; -89.05833
Links
Public license information
Websitewxxv25.com

WXXV-TV (channel 25) is a television station licensed to Gulfport, Mississippi, United States, serving the Mississippi Gulf Coast as an affiliate of Fox, MyNetworkTV, NBC and The CW Plus. The station is owned by Morris Multimedia, and maintains studios on US 49 in Lyman (with a Gulfport postal address); its transmitter is located on Wire Road East, in unincorporated Stone County, northeast of McHenry.

Channel 25 began broadcasting in February 1987 as just the second local station on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It affiliated with Fox two months after signing on the air. After an early history that was financially turbulent, including a bankruptcy filing in order to stave off a public auction, the station stabilized under owners Prime Cities Broadcasting in the 1990s. Morris acquired WXXV in 1997 and debuted its first local newscast, which ran from 1999 to 2001 before being shelved for economic reasons. In the digital era, WXXV has used digital subchannels to add NBC and The CW to its lineup. As part of the addition of NBC, in 2013, the station returned to producing local newscasts and has expanded to provide full-day coverage on the Fox and NBC channels.

History

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Construction and early years

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In July 1982, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) received three applications for channel 25 on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, all fighting to be just the area's second local station (after ABC affiliate WLOX). The firms were Payvision Communications of Knoxville, Tennessee; Hightower Communications, owner of WPMI-TV in Mobile, Alabama; and Four-O Inc. of Brandon, Mississippi.[2] Four-O won the permit and selected the call sign WXXV, but it had yet to choose by September 1983 whether channel 25 would be a network affiliate or an independent station.[3] It elected to run the station as an independent outlet, and construction was under way on the station's studios in Lyman by March 1986.[4] However, work on the tower at McHenry was considerably delayed, and station officials repeatedly pushed back WXXV's projected sign-on.[5]

WXXV-TV made its first broadcast on February 8, 1987; owing to technical difficulties on start-up, it then left the air and began full-time broadcasting on February 14.[6][7] Its programs included brief local news updates, live sports, and other syndicated shows,[8] which were broadcast as far north as Hattiesburg.[9] In April, channel 25 joined the Fox network, picking up its weekend prime time and late-night programming.[10]

Financial difficulties and Prime Cities ownership

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Within months of signing on, the station encountered financial difficulties. In the construction process, Four-O had become the managing general partner in the station's licensee, Gulf Coast Television. The station sought new limited partners, only to put the round on hold; it owed money to several large creditors, most notably AmSouth Bank of Birmingham, Alabama.[11] During this time, in January 1988, WXXV debuted a call-in public affairs program, 25 Live.[12]

AmSouth moved to put WXXV-TV up for public auction in September 1988, with the station having fallen several months behind on its loan repayments.[13] Days before the auction was to take place, Gulf Coast Television preempted the action by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[14] A year later, the bankruptcy case was resolved in a settlement that transferred the station to AmSouth.[15] The new management grappled with WXXV's reputation as a station that did not pay its bills; to earn their trust, the station paid syndicators earlier for programming.[16]

The bank, through its realty division, put channel 25 on the market a year later;[17] it was acquired by Prime Cities Broadcasting, a partnership of Dick Shively and Jim Tupper. Shively had been serving as consultant to WXXV since AmSouth took control.[18] Under Prime Cities ownership, WXXV-TV began airing the ABC drama series NYPD Blue; WLOX, along with all other ABC affiliates in Mississippi, refused to air it when it debuted in 1993, and channel 25 picked it up beginning with the second season.[19]

Morris ownership and digital expansion

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By 1996, Prime Cities was shopping WXXV to potential buyers,[20] including the owners of WWTV and WWUP in northern Michigan.[21] Prime Cities announced the sale of WXXV to Morris Network for $17.5 million in February 1997, with the new owners taking over in June.[22][23] In the 2000s, WXXV switched from analog to digital broadcasting, launching its digital signal before going digital-only on February 17, 2009.[24]

Morris announced in March 2012 that it would add NBC to a subchannel of WXXV, displacing MyNetworkTV, that July; in addition, it would expand the studios in Lyman and start a news operation to support the Fox and NBC channels.[25] The move coincided with WLOX, its competitor with an 80 percent share of market revenue,[25] adding a CBS subchannel, giving the four major networks in-market affiliates on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.[26] On January 1, 2015, WXXV added a subchannel for The CW, replacing MyNetworkTV, which began running in late nights on WXXV–Fox.[27]

News operation

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Channel 25 picked up its first long-form local news program when the station began airing Mississippi News Tonight, a 9 p.m. newscast produced in Jackson, in January 1992. Mississippi News Tonight was produced by Love Communications, a venture from the same family as the then-owners of WLOX, Love Broadcasting.[28] The program only aired for three months on WXXV before being canceled altogether on April 4.[29]

While station management considered producing full-length local news to debut sometime in 1993 or early 1994 following the discontinuation of MNT,[16] general manager Bill Ritchie opted against expanding beyond news breaks because of the management hassle and expense the endeavor would incur.[23] Morris demonstrated more interest in producing a newscast and launched Fox 25 News at Nine in March 1999.[30] The news department was not an economic success and was discontinued on January 6, 2001, for financial reasons.[31]

After obtaining the NBC affiliation, Morris announced its plans to expand the Lyman studios to support a news operation. On September 30, 2013, the newscasts launched on the Fox and NBC subchannels; the station hired 15 personnel to staff the startup operation.[25][32] The original newscast lineup included 9 p.m. news on WXXV–Fox and 5:30 and 10 p.m. newscasts on WXXV–NBC, both only airing on weeknights.[33] In 2015, the news lineup was expanded with News 25 Today, initially airing for two hours total across the NBC and Fox channels, and Sunday night newscasts.[34] Since then, the station has added noon (on NBC, in 2016)[35] and 5 p.m. (on Fox, in 2017) newscasts; it also extended its morning news to four hours and its 9 p.m. news to a full hour.[36][37] The 5:30 p.m. newscast moved to 6 p.m. in 2023.[38]

Subchannels

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The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WXXV-TV[39]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
25.1 720p 16:9 WXXVFOX Fox & MyNetworkTV
25.2 WXXVNBC NBC
25.3 480i 4:3 WXXVCW+ Gulf Coast CW
25.4 16:9 WXXVION Ion Plus
25.5 WXXVGRT Grit

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WXXV-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ Cauchon, Dennis (September 10, 1982). "Battle for new Coast TV station begins". The Sun. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. A-14. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Cauchon, Dennis (December 16, 1983). "New television operations to vie for viewers". The Daily Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. A-7. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Cassreino, Terry R. (March 14, 1986). "New TV station prepares to broadcast to Coast". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. C-1. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Hopper says WXXV-TV to hit air in January". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. October 28, 1986. p. A-3. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Dockins, Metric (February 9, 1987). "WXXV goes on air with few problems". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. pp. C-1, C-2. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Williams, M.E. (February 10, 1987). "Technical difficulties delay WXXV-TV's broadcast plans". Hattiesburg American. Hattiesburg, Mississippi. p. 3A. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Don't touch that dial: Channel hopes to 'sign on'". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. February 8, 1987. pp. B-1, B-2. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Williams, M.E. (February 8, 1987). "Station WXXV signs on today". Hattiesburg American. Hattiesburg, Mississippi. p. 6D. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Reynolds, Harold (April 5, 1987). "Channel 25 weds Fox Broadcasting". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. F-5. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Channel 25 owners look to stabilize finances". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. Associated Press. September 25, 1987. p. C-2. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Creel, Vincent (February 1, 1988). "'25 Live' expands to four days". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. B-1. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Falkner, Morgan (September 3, 1988). "Birmingham bank puts WXXV-TV on auction block: Independent station fails to make loan payments". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. A-1. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Falkner, Morgan (September 23, 1988). "Bankruptcy action halts WXXV auction". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. 1B. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Lammons, George (September 22, 1989). "Court settlement gives WXXV to bank". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. B-1. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ a b Lacy, Mike (September 20, 1992). "WXXV has own definition of family values". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. pp. F-1, F-2. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Lott, Bruce (August 14, 1990). "WXXV owner looking to sell". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. pp. A-1, A-10. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Creel, Vincent (March 17, 1991). "WXXV-TV 25 sold for more than $3 million". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. pp. C-1, C-3. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Pettus, Gary (October 25, 1994). "Slippery questions / It's 'NYPD Blank' in Mississippi". Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, Mississippi. pp. 1D, 2D. Archived from the original on July 16, 2023. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Lacy, Mike (January 24, 1996). "Word is out: WXXV may be for sale". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. C-8. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Michigan station checks out WXXV". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. May 22, 1996. p. B-6. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Pender, Geoff (February 12, 1997). "Morris group buys WXXV-TV: Company to keep present staff and Fox affiliation". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. D-6. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ a b Lacy, Mike (June 11, 1997). "WXXV-TV's Ritchie retires again as GM". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. B-6. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ Jones, Terry L. (February 17, 2009). "Some stations already making digital switch". Hattiesburg American. Hattiesburg, Mississippi. pp. 1A, 10A. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ a b c Malone, Michael (March 22, 2012). "Exclusive: NBC Signs Affiliate For Biloxi". Broadcasting & Cable. Archived from the original on October 2, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  26. ^ Nelson, Karen (March 23, 2012). "Cable One vows not to drop channels: WLOX adding CBS affiliate; WXXV will add NBC". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. pp. 1A, 9A. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Sun Herald". Archived from the original on December 30, 2014. Retrieved December 25, 2014.
  28. ^ Creel, Vincent (January 12, 1992). "Love's 'Mississippi News Tonight' to air on Coast". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. pp. C-1, C-5. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ Myers, Leslie R. (April 4, 1992). "Low ratings, revenues cancel state news network: Friday's broadcast was the last for the prime-time news program". Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, Mississippi. p. 1A. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ Alexander, Greg (May 23, 1999). "More news is good news at Fox 25". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. TV Week 2. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "Gulfport TV station axes news coverage". The Greenwood Commonwealth. Greenwood, Mississippi. Associated Press. January 9, 2001. p. 5. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ "Local News to Debut on WXXV Tonight". TVSpy. September 30, 2013. Archived from the original on October 5, 2013.
  33. ^ Scallan, Melissa M. (May 25, 2013). "WXXV-TV in South Mississippi will begin local newscasts this fall". Sun Herald. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  34. ^ Skrmetta, James (September 17, 2015). "WXXV morning show will debut next week". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. 2A. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ Clark, Jeff (January 29, 2016). "WXXV will launch noon newscast on Monday". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. 6D. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. ^ "WXXV is expanding its newscasts". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. October 14, 2017. p. 9A. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  37. ^ Vicory, Justin (October 11, 2016). "WXXV plans to expand daily news broadcasts". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. 9A. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. ^ WXXV Staff (April 22, 2024). "Grant Chighizola's new chapter at WXXV". WXXV25.com. WXXV News 25. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
  39. ^ "TV query for WXXV-TV". RabbitEars. Archived from the original on July 30, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
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