WLAX: Difference between revisions

{{Use mdy dates|date=JanuaryApril 2024}}

| callsign = WLAX

| owner = [[Nexstar Media Group]]

| licensee = Nexstar Media Inc.

| embed_headerembedded = {{Infobox = Satellitetelevision station

| erp = 600 kW

| haat = {{convert|225.5|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}

| facility_id = 2709

| coordinates = {{nowrap|{{coord|44|57|24|N|91|40|4|W|type:landmark_scale:2000|name=WEUX}}}}

| licensing_authority = FCC

'''WLAX''' (channel 25), islicensed ato [[televisionLa stationCrosse, Wisconsin]], United States, and '''WEUX''' (channel 48), licensed to [[LaChippewa CrosseFalls, Wisconsin]], Unitedare States,two serving[[television asstation]]s theaffiliated with [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] affiliatenetwork for the La Crosse–[[Eau Claire, Wisconsin|Eau Claire]] [[media market|market]]. It operates a full-time satellite, '''WEUX''' (channel 48), licensed to [[Chippewa Falls]] and serving the Eau Claire area. The stations are owned by [[Nexstar Media Group]]. WLAX maintains studios at Interchange Place in La Crosse and a transmitter in [[La Crescent, Minnesota]], while WEUX has offices on [[WIS 93]] in Eau Claire and a transmitter southeast of [[Colfax, Wisconsin|Colfax]].

WLAX in La Crosse went on the air in November 1986, after two sales of the permit, as the original [[independent station]] in the market. It joined Fox shortly afterward. [[Family Group Broadcasting]], which put the station on the air, attempted to build the Eau Claire station as a satellite of WEUX, but fell into bankruptcy before it could do so. Aries Telecommunications of [[Green Bay, Wisconsin|Green Bay]] bought WLAX and the then-unbuilt WEUX in 1991, with WEUX beginning broadcasting in 1993. [[Grant Broadcasting]] acquired the pair in 1996, and Nexstar acquired Grant's stations in 2014. The stations air a 9 p.m. local newscast produced by local [[NBC]] affiliate [[WEAU]].

The addition of a channel 48 station at [[Chippewa Falls]] had been planned since the mid-1980s. Pat Bushland of Bushland Radio Specialties, owner of radio station [[WCFW]], was first to apply for the station in 1984.<ref name="Chip841115">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104121959/bushland-applies-for-chippewa-falls-tele/ |date=November 15, 1984 |page=1A |first=Rod |last=Stetzer |title=Bushland applies for Chippewa Falls television station |newspaper=Chippewa Herald-Telegram |location=Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=June 20, 2022 |archive-date=June 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220620231516/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104121959/bushland-applies-for-chippewa-falls/ |url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu --> Family Group Broadcasting then also filed for the channel in September 1986;<ref name="Chip870218">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104122090/florida-company-wants-to-put-tv-station/ |date=February 18, 1987 |page=1A |first=John |last=Matthews |title=Florida company wants to put TV station in Chippewa Falls |newspaper=Chippewa Herald-Telegram |location=Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=June 20, 2022 |archive-date=June 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220620231516/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104122090/florida-company-wants-to-put-tv-station/ |url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Wed --> helped by its favorable [[comparative hearing]] status as not already owning a station in Chippewa Falls, it prevailed in a settlement with Bushland in 1987 and announced plans to build it as a satellite of WLAX for the market's northern portion.<ref name="Lead870324">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104122263/settlement-reached-for-tv-station/|date=March 24, 1987|page=3A|title=Settlement reached for TV station license|newspaper=Leader-Telegram|location=Eau Claire, Wisconsin|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=February 17, 2023|archive-date=February 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217064230/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104122263/settlement-reached-for-tv-station/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Tue --> Family Group struggled to find an antenna site. In 1988, the company switched to a proposed location near [[Colfax, Wisconsin|Colfax]] only to face rejection from the [[Federal Aviation Administration]]. Meanwhile, the company's finances were unraveling. In 1989, the company filed for [[Chapter 7, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 7]] bankruptcy. Two attempts, one before and one after the bankruptcy, to sell the station group to Krypton Broadcasting fell through. In February 1990, Aries Telecommunications agreed to buy part of the company: WLAX, the WEUX construction permit, and WGBA-TV (the former WLRE-TV). However, the sale took most of the year to be completed after one of Family Group's creditors, television programming supplier [[MCA Television]], objected to the repayment plan only to be overruled by a bankruptcy judge.<ref name="Lead901130">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104123180/fcc-considers-chippewa-tv-station/|date=November 30, 1990|page=4D|first=Rod|last=Stetzer|title=FCC considers Chippewa TV station|newspaper=Leader-Telegram|location=Eau Claire, Wisconsin|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=February 17, 2023|archive-date=February 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230217064231/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104123180/fcc-considers-chippewa-tv-station/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri --><ref name="Lead910705">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104123246/antenna-for-independent-tv-station-appro/|date=July 5, 1991|page=1B|first=Rod|last=Stetzer|title=Antenna for independent TV station approved: But picture still isn't clear concerning when, or if, WEUX-TV will sign on|newspaper=Leader-Telegram|location=|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=February 17, 2023|archive-date=February 18, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218054205/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104123246/antenna-for-independent-tv-station/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri -->

WLAX and WEUX broadcast two shared channels (Fox and [[Antenna TV]]) as well as two unique [[digital multicast television network|diginets]] each from [[Scripps Networks]]. In 2016, when Nexstar reached a group deal for carriage of the then-Katz Broadcasting diginets,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/currency/bounce-tv-grit-escape-laff-multicast-deal-covers-81-stations-54-markets/157330|title=Bounce TV, Grit, Escape, Laff Multicast Deal Covers 81 Stations, 54 Markets|last=Lafayette|first=Jon|date=June 16, 2016|work=Broadcasting and Cable|access-date=June 19, 2016|archive-date=June 18, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160618015453/http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/currency/bounce-tv-grit-escape-laff-multicast-deal-covers-81-stations-54-markets/157330|url-status=live}}</ref> separate offerings were launched from each transmitter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wiproud.com/news/local-news/fox-25-48-announces-four-new-channels_20160826031802|title=FOX 25/48 Announces Four New Channels|date=August 26, 2016|website=wiproud.com|access-date=April 20, 2018|archive-date=September 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919054240/http://www.wiproud.com/news/local-news/fox-25-48-announces-four-new-channels_20160826031802|url-status=live}}</ref>