WXIX-TV
 
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Newport, Kentucky - Cincinnati, Ohio United States |
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| City | Newport, Kentucky |
| Branding | Fox 19 Now |
| Slogan | It's About Time |
| Channels |
Digital: 29 (UHF) Virtual: 19 () |
| Affiliations | |
| Owner |
Raycom Media (WXIX License Subsidiary, LLC) |
| First air date | August 1, 1968 |
| Call letters' meaning | XIX is "19" in Roman numerals |
| Former channel number(s) |
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| Former affiliations | Independent (1968–1986) |
| Transmitter power | 227 kW |
| Height | 290 m (951 ft) |
| Facility ID | 39738 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 39°7′19″N 84°32′52″W / 39.12194°N 84.54778°W |
| Licensing authority | FCC |
| Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
| Website | www.fox19.com/ |
WXIX-TV, channel 19, is a Fox-affiliated television station licensed to Newport, Kentucky, USA and serving the Cincinnati, Ohio television market. WXIX-TV is owned by Raycom Media, and maintains studios on Seventh Street in downtown Cincinnati; its transmitter is located in the South Fairmount neighborhood on the northwest side of Cincinnati.
WXIX-TV began operation as an independent station on August 1, 1968; it was founded by U.S. Communications Corporation, which also owned UHF independent stations in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and San Francisco. WXIX-TV was the first new commercial station in the market since 1949, and the second UHF station in the area (behind PBS member station WCET, channel 48). The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had allocated one full-power commercial UHF station to Cincinnati – channel 65 (later 64, now occupied by WSTR-TV). However, when U.S. Communications found out that the FCC had dropped in a channel 19 allocation across the river in Newport, it sought a license for that allocation instead. The lower channel number not only allowed WXIX to provide wider signal coverage at less cost, but was also thought to be more marketable.
While WXIX was running test transmissions before its inaugural broadcast, the station intermittently aired "mini-shows" featuring The Larry Smith Puppets that promoted the sale of UHF converters for use with pre-1964 television sets which were only equipped to receive VHF signals at the time. Larry Smith and his puppets (a witch named "Battie Hattie from Cincinnati" and her dog "Snarfy" among other characters) later hosted a daytime children's program in the weekday afternoons for several years. Afterward, "The Cool Ghoul" – played by Dick VonHoene, known for his weekend late night sci-fi/monster movie program "Scream-In" – also hosted a weekday afternoon children's program. There was an afternoon show called "Kimberly's Cartoon Capers", an afternoon cartoon variety hour hosted by Kimberly, a 13-year-old teenage girl.
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Wikipedia