The Fox network has a new home.
Columbus-based WCBI has secured the local Fox affiliation, which was previously held by West Point-based WLOV.
“It is a natural fit for us,” WCBI General Manager Derek Rogers said. “Having CBS, Fox pairs very well because of the areas in which we can do extra newscasts and having more local programming. The fit was perfect for us.”
Only the network affiliations are changing, Rogers said. The stations did not change ownership or merge.
“We did not buy WLOV,” he said. “You can’t own two stations with major affiliations in the same market. We just flip-flopped affiliations.”
This shift in network affiliation has caused a shuffle in channel listings for customers who still take their TV over the airwaves via antenna,” Rogers said.
“There are many, many, many (antenna users) in our market,” Rogers told The Dispatch on Saturday.
As of Feb. 2, Fox is now located on WCBI 4.2, replacing the My Network Channel. In turn, My Mississippi moved to WCBI 4.3, the slot that was previously occupied by the North Mississippi CW.
The CW affiliation has been taken over by WLOV, and is airing there on the WLOV 27.1 primary channel, Rogers said. Defy TV and True Crime Network have also moved to WLOV as 27.3 and 27.4.
MeTV has stayed on 27.2, Rogers said.
“All those positions are really only important to those viewers who use an antenna,” Rogers said. “On cable and satellite, as best I have been able to track so far, the networks are where they were previously. The cable viewers, especially, won’t notice a change.”
On DirectTV, Fox and the CW have flip-flopped, Rogers said. CW will be on channel 27 and Fox on channel 5. On Dish Network channel placement has not been determined.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 46 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
