Fox affiliates that don't have "Fox" in their channel branding

[AKA]

Most Fox affiliates across the country brand themselves as "Fox [Channel Number]." As far as I can tell, it's been this way since at least the early '90s (I'm sure this is a mandate from the network itself). There are a handful of stations, though, that get away with having their own unique branding with the word "Fox" nowhere to be found. Off the top of my head, there's:

KHON (Honolulu)
WSVN (Miami)
KTVU (San Franscisco)

Are there any others?

 

[wdb2003]

Fox Kansas KSAS TV Wichita KS

 

[TheRob]

I think WDRB in Louisville just refers to itself as WDRB.

 

[CleveFan]

I remember back in the early 90's in Cleveland, WOIO/19 - which used to be FOX before it became CBS - was known as "FOX nineteen" or "FOX 19." It became a huge identity for the station. So much that when it switched networks with WJW/8, it couldn't really match the success of the FOX years.

WJW is now as strong as ever as "FOX 8," whereas WOIO has struggled as "CBS 19," though things are starting to look up a little.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

I think WDRB in Louisville just refers to itself as WDRB.

This is correct, and it is a fairly recent development. WDRB rebranded itself last summer while Nexstar and FOX were renegotiating their contract. It was rumored that Nexstar threatened to remove WDRB's Fox affiliation, but they publicly denied that.

 

[EricStein]

I think WDRB in Louisville just refers to itself as WDRB.

This is correct, and it is a fairly recent development. WDRB rebranded itself last summer while Nexstar and FOX were renegotiating their contract. It was rumored that Nexstar threatened to remove WDRB's Fox affiliation, but they publicly denied that.

That is strange, since Nexstar doesn't own a station in Louisville. I was thinking more along the lines after WDRB owner Block Communications dropped FOX on its Boise station that it caused some friction between the network and the station.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Yes. I meant Block, not Nexstar.

 

[azumanga]

In Fargo and the Red River Valley region, KVRR and its satellites go simply as "Fox", with its local news "Fox News".

 

[johnnya2k6]

KTVU used to brand themselves as "Fox 2" for a time in the early 2000's, while KCPQ (Seattle) is still "Q-13".

 

[LKellerIII]

Correction on KTVU San Francisco (Oakland, actually). They still use "Fox 2" during network hours, and for all trailers for Fox shows no matter the time of day. Their promos for their syndicated afternoon and evening shows (Seinfeld, etc.) use the Fox voice-over guy, and I believe they also say "Fox 2."

But KTVU is very proud of their news department, which has been a high-class operation for decades, well before their affiliation with Fox. So during the news hours, it is always "KTVU Channel 2" without any mention of "Fox,"

 

[nomadcowatbk]

Correction on KTVU San Francisco (Oakland, actually). They still use "Fox 2" during network hours, and for all trailers for Fox shows no matter the time of day. Their promos for their syndicated afternoon and evening shows (Seinfeld, etc.) use the Fox voice-over guy, and I believe they also say "Fox 2."

But KTVU is very proud of their news department, which has been a high-class operation for decades, well before their affiliation with Fox. So during the news hours, it is always "KTVU Channel 2" without any mention of "Fox,"

Did they do this before FNC? Many news departments of Fox affiliates and even some O&Os distance themselves from the Fox News Channel

 

[LKellerIII]

Correction on KTVU San Francisco (Oakland, actually). They still use "Fox 2" during network hours, and for all trailers for Fox shows no matter the time of day. Their promos for their syndicated afternoon and evening shows (Seinfeld, etc.) use the Fox voice-over guy, and I believe they also say "Fox 2."

But KTVU is very proud of their news department, which has been a high-class operation for decades, well before their affiliation with Fox. So during the news hours, it is always "KTVU Channel 2" without any mention of "Fox,"

Did they do this before FNC? Many news departments of Fox affiliates and even some O&Os distance themselves from the Fox News Channel

That's too far back for me to remember. I can tell you that they never called it "Fox 2 News" or anything of that sort. Being in the liberal Bay Area, KTVU has nothing to gain and everything to lose by asociating themselves with FNC, which most Bay Area citizens consider biased toward the right-wing. KTVU does run reports from Fox News correspondents on their news programs. But of course, that includes none of the right-wing punditry or commentary, just straight reporting.

 

[recto101]

I know KTTV in 1987-1993 did ID themselves at 10pm as Fox News. Then around 1994 after the Northridge quake KTTV started to ID their news operations at Fox 11 News.

 

[recto101]

Correction on KTVU San Francisco (Oakland, actually). They still use "Fox 2" during network hours, and for all trailers for Fox shows no matter the time of day. Their promos for their syndicated afternoon and evening shows (Seinfeld, etc.) use the Fox voice-over guy, and I believe they also say "Fox 2."

But KTVU is very proud of their news department, which has been a high-class operation for decades, well before their affiliation with Fox. So during the news hours, it is always "KTVU Channel 2" without any mention of "Fox,"

Did they do this before FNC? Many news departments of Fox affiliates and even some O&Os distance themselves from the Fox News Channel

That's too far back for me to remember. I can tell you that they never called it "Fox 2 News" or anything of that sort. Being in the liberal Bay Area, KTVU has nothing to gain and everything to lose by asociating themselves with FNC, which most Bay Area citizens consider biased toward the right-wing. KTVU does run reports from Fox News correspondents on their news programs. But of course, that includes none of the right-wing punditry or commentary, just straight reporting.

In the case of KTVU they don't have to ID themselves as Fox 2 because of the fact that Cox owns KTVU and KICU.

 

[LKellerIII]

Correction on KTVU San Francisco (Oakland, actually). They still use "Fox 2" during network hours, and for all trailers for Fox shows no matter the time of day. Their promos for their syndicated afternoon and evening shows (Seinfeld, etc.) use the Fox voice-over guy, and I believe they also say "Fox 2."

But KTVU is very proud of their news department, which has been a high-class operation for decades, well before their affiliation with Fox. So during the news hours, it is always "KTVU Channel 2" without any mention of "Fox,"

Did they do this before FNC? Many news departments of Fox affiliates and even some O&Os distance themselves from the Fox News Channel

That's too far back for me to remember. I can tell you that they never called it "Fox 2 News" or anything of that sort. Being in the liberal Bay Area, KTVU has nothing to gain and everything to lose by asociating themselves with FNC, which most Bay Area citizens consider biased toward the right-wing. KTVU does run reports from Fox News correspondents on their news programs. But of course, that includes none of the right-wing punditry or commentary, just straight reporting.

In the case of KTVU they don't have to ID themselves as Fox 2 because of the fact that Cox owns KTVU and KICU.

If Fox waw-nted to, they could require Cox and KTVU to identify the station as "Fox 2" as part of their affiliation agreement. I know other networks have required this of affiliates in the past.

 

[TexasTom]

If Fox waw-nted to, they could require Cox and KTVU to identify the station as "Fox 2" as part of their affiliation agreement. I know other networks have required this of affiliates in the past.

If a station is a strong enough affiliate, they'll probably carve out an exception. KTVU gets excellent ratings, and I suspect that Fox would just as soon not drive them away such a mandate. I note the same thing with the older networks, where a handful of their stations still avoid the generic network IDs. Locally, WFAA-TV is a good example as they ID themselves as "WFAA-8" instead of "ABC 8". In Seattle, all of the major stations -- KOMO, KING, KIRO, and KCPQ -- avoid the generic network IDs, as well.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

There are lots of stations with the original 3 networks who don't call themselves "NBC 4."

That could be regional bias to me. But as I travel around Indiana, I find that there are very few stations that brand themselves with their network.

Indianapolis: "WISH-TV" (WISH-TV, CBS, 8); "RTV 6" (WRTV, ABC, 6); "WTHR, Channel 13" (WTHR, NBC, 13)
Terre Haute: "NBC 2" (WTWO, NBC, 2); "News 10" (WTHI-TV, CBS, 10); "WAVW" (WAVW, ABC, 38)
Fort Wayne: "WANE 15" (WANE-TV, CBS, 15); "21 Alive" (WPTA, ABC, 21); "NBC 33" (WISE-TV, NBC, 33)
Evansville: "WEHT Local" (WEHT, ABC, 25); "CBS 44 WEVV"; "14 WFIE" (WFIE, NBC, 14)

 

[wild949austin]

In my area, the big 3 stations from both cities (Austin/San Antonio) all use their call letters instead of their network ids.

Austin:
KVUE (ABC 24)
KXAN (NBC 36)
K-EYE (CBS 42)

San Antonio
4 WOAI (NBC 4)
KENS 5 (CBS 5)
KSAT 12 (ABC 12)

 

[kilamanjero]

The reason why you guys won't see much amongst stations these days pushing for network branding is because local branding is key these days.

On the case of WFAA-TV in Dallas-Fort Worth, they may not label themselves as "ABC 8" but they do make it a huge effort to include the ABC logo in everything they do with the exception of their news product. They even use ABC network themed graphics.

 

[e-dawg]

I know Seattle uses Q13 instead of FOX 13.