WIFR
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Freeport / Rockford, Illinois United States |
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| Branding | 23 WIFR (general) 23 News (newscasts) |
| Slogan | The Next Generation of News |
| Channels |
Digital: 41 (UHF) Virtual: 23 (PSIP) |
| Subchannels | 23.1 CBS 23.2 Antenna TV 23.3 Justice Network |
| Affiliations | CBS |
| Owner |
Gray Television (Gray Television Licensee, LLC) |
| First air date | September 12, 1965 |
| Call letters' meaning |
Wisconsin/Illinois Freeport/Rockford |
| Sister station(s) | KCRG, KWQC, WMTV, WNDU, WEAU |
| Former callsigns | WCEE-TV (1965–1977) WIFR-TV (1977–1991) |
| Former channel number(s) |
Analog: 23 (UHF, 1965–2009) |
| Transmitter power | 170 kW |
| Height | 219.7 m |
| Facility ID | 4689 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 42°17′48″N 89°10′15″W / 42.29667°N 89.17083°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
| Website | www.wifr.com |
WIFR, virtual channel 23, is the CBS television affiliate based in Rockford, Illinois and licensed to nearby Freeport. It broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 41 from a transmitter at its studios on North Meridian Road in Rockford. though it formerly broadcast its analog signal on channel 23, which it continues to use as its virtual digital channel via PSIP. It is currently owned by Gray Television. WIFR is the only television station in the Rockford market to retain the same network affiliation since it first signed-on.
The station went on the air as WCEE-TV on September 12, 1965. It was originally owned by Rock River Television Corporation. The area's previous CBS affiliate, WREX-TV, switched to NBC full-time, sending CBS to WCEE. It has been with CBS ever since, and is the only station in the market to have never switched affiliations. The call letters were changed to the present WIFR in 1977 and stand for "Wisconsin-Illinois-Freeport-Rockford." General Media sold the station to Worrell Newspapers of Charlottesville, Virginia in September of that year. Worrell sold all three stations WIFR, WHSV-TV in Harrisonburg, Virginia and now-defunct WBNB-TV in Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands to Benedek Broadcasting in 1986. When Benedek went bankrupt in 2002, WIFR and WHSV were acquired by current owner Gray Television.
On the morning of July 5, 2003, a severe wind storm swept through Rockford. WIFR's transmitter tower, located behind the studio and office building at 2523 North Meridian Road in Rockford, collapsed. Pieces of the tower fell onto a field behind the station's headquarters. No one was injured or killed. Nearly four months later, a new tower was erected and WIFR's signal was back to full power once again.
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