Early years
Fort Pierce had previously had a television station, WTVI (channel 19), in two separate stints from 1960 to 1962. It had been a money-loser and had failed twice for financial reasons. However, one of the minority owners of WTVI thought the venture was worth trying again in the wake of the All-Channel Receiver Act mandating UHF tuning in television sets. In April 1965, Indian River Television, a company owned by J. Patrick Beacom (mayor of St. Lucie Village) and Bill Minshall, filed to build a new television station on channel 19 in Fort Pierce,[1] which the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted on July 28 of that year.[2] The application had been amended to specify channel 34 when the FCC overhauled UHF allotments nationwide that summer.
Indian River then spent $50,000 to acquire the studio and transmitter site along US 1 just south of the St. Lucie–Indian River county line, built for WTVI in 1960, from that station's founder, Gene Dyer.[3] Indian River reinstalled equipment after the structure had been stripped several years prior.[4]
WTVX went on the air on April 5, 1966, after broadcasting a test pattern since March 24.[5] It immediately affiliated with CBS; previously, cable companies had imported Miami CBS affiliate WTVJ (channel 4).[6] However, WTVX could not air every CBS show immediately because some sponsors withheld their programs from the new station.[7] The new station's 26 kW of effective radiated power did not reach past Martin County.[8] Due to WTVX's weak signal, WTVJ continued to claim the Palm Beaches as part of its primary coverage area; when that station opened a news bureau in West Palm Beach in 1970, 12.4 percent of its audience was said to come from Palm Beach County.[9]
After a sale announcement in 1970 was later labeled "premature",[10][11] the Minshall and Koblegard families—which by this point owned the entirety of the station—reached a deal in 1977 to sell WTVX to Frank Spain, owner of WTWV in Tupelo, Mississippi.[12] However, a federal investigation into station practices was sparked when Edward Trent, an employee who had been fired the previous year, told the FCC that WTVX engaged in an illegal practice known as "clipping", replacing commercials and short credits sequences from network programs with local commercials.[13] The commission proceeded to designate the renewal of WTVX's broadcast license for hearing on the matter.[14] WTVX admitted to carrying out clipping in June 1978, claiming it had done so because it had oversold ad time;[15] the station ultimately had its license renewed and paid a $10,000 fine.
Palm Beach expansion and blackout lawsuit
Spain launched a major capital campaign to improve the station's facilities. More than $5 million was put into WTVX, including newer and larger Fort Pierce studios on North 25th Street (SR 615)[18] and the commissioning of a 1549 ft tower after some early county opposition.[19] It featured the most powerful UHF transmitter in Florida, operating at the UHF maximum of 5 million watts. The station finally had a signal capable of reaching the Palm Beaches, filling what had been something of a donut hole in CBS coverage.[20] In addition, the more powerful WTVX began appearing on Palm Beach County cable systems that had not previously carried it, further extending its reach.[21]
Although the station came to dominate the Treasure Coast with its improved facilities,[23] the upgraded signal brought an end to a special arrangement.
Loss of CBS affiliation and independence
In 1987, a series of events began in Miami that would culminate in WTVX being left without a network affiliation.
That January, NBC bought WTVJ, which was contracted to be a CBS affiliate through the end of 1988. CBS then affiliated with and bought WCIX (channel 6), Miami's Fox affiliate, to carry its programming beginning at the start of 1989. Technical limitations stemming from the addition of channel 6 to Miami several years after the other VHF assignments and the need to maintain spacing to channel 6 in Orlando meant that WCIX's transmitter was sited further south than the other Miami stations. This left key areas of Broward County having to rely on translator stations or cable to watch WCIX. CBS feared a loss of service in Broward, and WTVX's signal did not reach this area.[28] After contacting both of the VHF stations in West Palm Beach—NBC affiliate WPTV-TV (channel 5) and ABC affiliate WPEC (channel 12)[29]—it reached a deal with WPEC.
Krypton, which also owned WNFT in Jacksonville and WABM in Birmingham, Alabama, soon found itself in financial trouble. In January 1992, Krypton missed a payment on a $19 million loan it had received two years prior from Dutch bank Internationale Nederlanden Bank N.V., and in June, the bank sued, seeking its money.[49] While attempting to buy a fourth station, WQTV in Boston, in 1993,[50] several program suppliers asked a federal court to order WNFT and WTVX into bankruptcy.[51] By August 1993, 26 cases had been filed against Feltner for debts owed, ranging from the 1990 loan to $1,300 in condominium association fees.[52] WTVX owed $3.3 million to program distributors including Columbia Pictures
Paramount/Viacom/CBS ownership
Paxson Communications Corporation's businesses were rapidly shifting in the mid-1990s. Most notable was the development of a chain of major-market UHF television stations that primarily broadcast infomercials, Infomall TV (inTV). The ownership of network-affiliated WPBF and operation of WTVX did not fit this mold. In order to concentrate on Infomall TV and its Florida radio properties, Paxson retained an advisor in July 1996 to help it analyze a potential sale of the stations.[69] Rumors ran hot about potential buyers for the pair, including The Walt Disney Company, which had just purchased ABC.[70]
After Paxson decided to shop the two stations to separate acquirers, WTVX was the first to find a buyer: the Paramount Stations Group, which paid $34.3 million.[71] (Because of an overlapping contour with WBFS-TV in Miami, which it owned, the license assets were assigned to another company, Straightline Communications, which then leased them to Paramount along with those of WLWC in New Bedford, Massachusetts
Four Points and Sinclair ownership
CBS agreed to sell a package of smaller-market TV stations, including WTVX, WTCN-CA, and WWHB-CA, in February 2007 to Cerberus Capital Management for $185 million.[82] Cerberus formed a new holding company for the stations, Four Points Media Group, and closed on the deal on January 10, 2008.[83] On March 20, 2009, Nexstar Broadcasting Group took over the management of Four Points under a three-year outsourcing agreement.[84] On September 8, 2011, the Sinclair Broadcast Group announced its intent to purchase Four Points from Cerberus Capital Management for $200 million. Sinclair then began managing the stations (including WTVX, WTCN, WWHB, and WLWC) under local marketing agreements following antitrust approval by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).[85] Within months of announcing the Four Points deal, Sinclair moved to acquire the television station division of Freedom Communications
