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Fox 25 News tired of getting crap about Fox News, so dropping the Fox part of its name
By adamg on Mon, 12/12/2016 - 6:28pm
New England One reports that the news crew at Channel 25, now owned by Cox, not Fox, is ditching the "Fox" part of its name, and will likely go by just "25 News" or maybe "Action News 25," in part because of angry people who keep confusing it with the national Fox News, in part because, what the heck, maybe that'll help stop a ratings slide that's been going on since Cox took over in 2014 and Maria Stephanos left. A motivational speaker seems not to have done the trick.
Just last night, the station had to answer a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan demanding to know why Fox Sports wasn't showing the Bucs game.
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Comments
Why did they keep the Fox name?
It never made sense to me. Why would Cox want to keep the name, and why would Fox let them?
They're still a Fox affiliate
They're still a Fox affiliate.
NFL
In all fairness, Fox National should've switched to the Bucs-Saints it was a competitive game compared to GB-Seattle
Fox's transmission
Fox's transmission infrastructure, even 22 years after they started broadcasting the NFL, is sufficiently limited that they basically can't switch away from blowouts. CBS on the other hand has the capacity to have multiple feeds of every game (i.e. a fixed feed that will stay with a blowout and a floating feed that can be switched).
In any event, the NFL rule is that broadcasters can't switch games until there's at least an 18 point lead in the second half.
In any event, the NFL rule is
The continued idiocy of the League and their rules never ceases to amaze me.
It's all Heidi's fault
In case you have forgotten this historical tidbit....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_Game
How about
Cox 25!
Better yet
"25 Cox"
In a row???
/clerks
What would Dr. Seuss do?
I am trying not to imagine a NSFW version of that Dr. Seuss classic "Fox on Cox."
Are they rebranding the whole station?
Will it still be called "Fox 25", or something else now?
You're kidding, right?
Part of the answer is in the damn headline; "...dropping the Fox part of its name".
Though it's not confirmed what the "official" name will be, it should be obvious it will not be called "Fox 25".
No, my question stands
Are they rebranding the whole station or just the news department? One reason to call a station "Fox 25" is so that people know where to find The Simpsons.
How about
Cox 25!
FWIW
I know some of the engineering people at the station who have said many times how much better Cox is to the staff. (More station investment, better management, etc.) It's always nice to hear a happy story about things improving from the employee's point of view.
I'm sure...
I'm sure the employees will be pleased as punch when the layoffs come after the rating slide causes ad revenue to fall...
I have a better name
I have a better name...
NBC Boston.
Cox should just sell the sagging in ratings station to NBC and then the Fox affiliation can go to WHDH.
Reception Problem Solved!
And really, Adam? "Action News"? I know it's a real TV News format, but seriously.. this isn't Anchorman :-) (which I know you love all too much)
Speaking of NBC Boston
latest news is that they're adding yet another obscure low-power high-UHF subchannel, attached to WMFP-62 and yet numbered "60,5", to try to plug the huge Boston-sized hole in their service area.
NBCBoston
Actually, WMFP transmits 1000 KW ERP (1 million watts) from about 1000 feet on one of the Needham towers, and the real broadcast channel is 18. By comparison, WCVB runs only 625 KW, WSBK 135 KW. WMFP has one of the largest coverage areas of any Boston station.
There is huge amount of incomplete and just plain wrong info about the whole subject of NBCBoston, which is very complex. It involves the FCC-led Spectrum Auction, and it's related freeze, which is intended to take many TV channels away from broadcast TV and re-assign them as new cell phone channels. The long multi-year auction process involves rounds of bidding between Telco's and the TV station owners. The freeze prohibits addition of new transmitters or major changes to existing ones. (The license for what is now WBTS was granted before the freeze.)
Virtual (digital) channel numbers are only labels - they represent nothing more. In few cases is the digital number the actual transmission channel. For example, WCVB (virtual ch 5.1) broadcasts on real ch 20. WBZ (virtual ch 4.1) broadcasts on real ch 30. It is not necessary for all of the virtual numbers on a station to be in the same series or even remain permanently on the same real channel - apparently NBC will be using 60.5 on WMFP, joining 62.1, 62.3, and 62.4 on the same transmitter.
NBC Comcast probably has wanted to buy WMFP all along, but the owner of WMFP (NRJ) has stated they will turn in their license and shut down, if paid enough in the Spectrum Auction. The Spectrum Auction is not coming anywhere near close to the original expected bids, and WMFP may well sell to NBC Comcast, eventually.
Confused about numbering
If WMFP is going to pick up NBC Boston signal, at least for a while, why will they call it 60.5 as opposed to 62.5? WMFP is 62.1,62.2,62.3, and 62.4, whereas the 60 channel is WNEU, currently with Telemundo, supposedly owned by NBC Universal now, and with transmitter in New Hampshire. Your explanation was the clearest of anyone's so far, so I thought I'd ask if you could explain that last bit of unclear info. BTW, I live in a part of Brookline, MA which is actually quite close to the Needham transmitters, and I have no problem getting any of the WMFP 62 channels, but for whatever reason, I get nothing on any of the channel 8 frequencies that NBC Boston will be using and is testing on now, whereas others I know in Brookline are able to pick up them all up. Hopefully, all will be find come January 1, but who knows???
If it's 60.5, will it be HDTV (16:9) or standard-def'n (4;3) ?
Are subchannels capable of transmitting 16:9 HDTV, or are they limited to 4:3 standard-definition TV?
HDTV
The subchannels have the same capability as the first channel. The problem is that the available bandwidth is spread among all of those, and HD uses up much more "space" than SD. 2 HD channels is about the maximum that can be on one station, with several SD channels. WBTS and WNEU are doing exactly that - NBCBoston and Telemundo are in full HD, Cozi and TeleXo are in SD. WNAC in Providence does it also - Fox and MyNetworkTV are both HD. Crowding too much into one channel results in pixelating (random blocking and smearing) when there is a lot of motion.
NBC Boston
To add more detail - one of many deals that NBC could work out with WMFP is to swap licenses and transmitters with WNEU. NBC needs the over-the-air coverage, WMFP owner NRJ doesn't care if SonLife (ch 62.1) is available over the air, or just on cable. The real value of WMFP is in the potential sale price.
At the start of the Spectrum Auction, the FCC compiled data on the target value of every station. A few of the initial projected prices:
WMFP $437 million
WCVB $472 million
WNEU $303 million
These values are actually much lower now, since the Telcos are not coming close to the bid levels that were expected. Anyway NRJ might be happy with less than $50 million to swap transmitters and licenses. If that were to happen - this is what would probably be next:
SonLife (62.1), TheWorks (62.3), and Comet (62.4) would be moved from the WMFP transmitter in Needham to the WNEU transmitter in NH. Probably under the deal, Telemundo (60.1) and NBCBoston (60.2) would remain on the NH transmitter to provide NH over-the-air coverage, while Cozi (60.3) and TeleXo (60.4) would join NBCBoston (60.5) on the Needham, former WMFP, transmitter.
Have you tried rescanning, on more than one TV? WBTS should have a very good signal in Brookline.
Makes sense
The local affiliates really are divorced from the national news department. I'm sure some around this website scoff when Channel 25's news in noted for something, but they are a lot better than Channel 7 when it comes to sensational reporting.
How about Balls 25?
How about Balls 25?
Lipstick on a pig. Fox25 will
Lipstick on a pig. Fox25 will always be the Hooters of local news... tacky and ignorant, but hey the wings are good, right?? smh.
Name change
What kind of educated idiots are making the decisions at FOX25? Now they get rid of the 'Fox' name?? How's your ratings doing?? What a bunch of total bafoons you people are! Fox morning news was the BEST and you've idiots have sent it to the bottom. How STUPID can you be.