• My Account
  • Your Profile
  • Member Archives
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Cart / $0.00

No products in the cart.

Fybush.com
  • Home
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Store
    • Cart
    • Checkout
  • About/Contact
    • Scott Fybush
    • Copyright Information
    • Privacy Policy
  • Fybush Media
  • Links
No Result
View All Result
Fybush.com
  • Home
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Store
    • Cart
    • Checkout
  • About/Contact
    • Scott Fybush
    • Copyright Information
    • Privacy Policy
  • Fybush Media
  • Links

No products in the cart.

No Result
View All Result
Fybush.com
No Result
View All Result

NorthEast Radio Watch 9/20/2021: Cox Cuts Boston Newsroom

Scott Fybush by Scott Fybush
September 20, 2021
in Free Content, Northeast Radio Watch
2

In this week’s issue… Contraction at WFXT – Frequency change in VT – New format on Buffalo AM – More Auction 109 apps arrive

By SCOTT FYBUSH

Jump to: ME – NH – VT – MA – RI – CT – NY – NJ – PA – Canada

*It’s been one of the most competitive TV news ,markets in America for years, but how much longer can Boston survive as a five-newsroom town?

WFXTThe Cox-owned Fox affiliate, WFXT (Channel 25), cut more than a dozen newsroom staffers in recent weeks and has canceled several newscasts as it tries to find its niche in a marketplace that includes potent independent competitor WHDH (Channel 7), Hearst’s powerhouse ABC affiliate WCVB (Channel 5), CBS owned-and-operated WBZ-TV (Channel 4) and, since the start of 2017, NBC owned-and-operated WBTS (Channel 10) alongside its Comcast cable sister network, New England Cable News.

The addition of “NBC Boston” almost five years ago, after NBC pulled its affiliation from WHDH, took away a niche that WFXT had successfully filled for years – instead of having late-morning and 10 PM timeslots to itself, it found itself competing against WHDH’s expanded local news presence and often losing in the ratings, a problem compounded by the private equity buyout of the Cox TV stations and a perception of a lack of corporate support for the newsroom.

Cox isn’t saying much publicly about the cuts, but we know the weekday 4 PM newscast is now gone from WFXT, as are Saturday evening newcasts that had aired at 6 and 10. Sports director Tom Leyden was the most visible among the recent job losses, which also included an assignment editor, at least one videographer and several others behind the scenes.

Can a weakened WFXT survive in the cutthroat Boston media landscape? There’s only one other TV market in NERW-land that has five competitive English-language TV newsrooms, and that’s the much larger New York market, where all four networks own their outlets along with Nexstar’s WPIX.

If Cox can’t right the ship with its WFXT cutbacks (which apparently also include the departure of GM Joe Pomilla, there’s a big question that’s likely to resurface: how much patience will the Fox network (which once owned WFXT) have for an affiliate that’s struggling? (And with WHDH now in second-generation ownership after the death of Sunbeam founder Ed Ansin, will Ansin’s sons be more willing to talk about an affiliation deal if Fox were to come calling again?)

SPRING IS HERE…

And if you don’t have your Tower Site Calendar, now’s the time!

If you’ve been waiting for the price to come down, it’s now 30 percent off!

This year’s cover is a beauty — the 100,000-watt transmitter of the Voice Of America in Marathon, right in the heart of the Florida Keys. Both the towers and the landscape are gorgeous.

And did you see? Tower Site of the Week is back, featuring this VOA site as it faces an uncertain future. 

Other months feature some of our favorite images from years past, including some Canadian stations and several stations celebrating their centennials (buy the calendar to find out which ones!).

We still have a few of our own calendars left – as well as a handful of Radio Historian Calendars – and we are still shipping regularly.

The proceeds from the calendar help sustain the reporting that we do on the broadcast industry here at Fybush Media, so your purchases matter a lot to us here – and if that matters to you, now’s the time to show that support with an order of the Tower Site Calendar. (And we have the Broadcast Historian’s Calendar for 2025, too. Why not order both?) 

Visit the Fybush Media Store and place your order now for the new calendar, get a great discount on previous calendars, and check out our selection of books and videos, too! 

 

Log In

Join Now | Lost Password?

Share this:

  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • More
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
Tags: 103.3 Shelter Island94.5 SagaponackChris CrowleyCorey GarrisoniHeart AlbanyKristin DelaneyRobby BridgesRochelle GagnonRod LakinStephens Media WatertownWBHXWIPWTHTWWKBWWZYWXLQ
Previous Post

Site of the Week 9/17/2021: WBZ Turns 100

Next Post

Site of the Week 9/24/2021: A Day in Pittsburgh

Scott Fybush

Scott Fybush

Editor/Publisher, NorthEast Radio Watch and Tower Site of the Week

Related Posts

NorthEast Radio Watch 7/7/2025: Boston Mourns LB
Free Content

NorthEast Radio Watch 7/7/2025: Boston Mourns LB

In this week’s issue… Remembering Boston's Lyndon Byers - CRTC approves Rogers, Evanov spins - Towers come down in PA, and might go up in NY - More FM moves in Ontario

by Scott Fybush
July 7, 2025
NorthEast Radio Watch 6/23-30/2025: Another Great Day in Alpine
Free Content

NorthEast Radio Watch 6/23-30/2025: Another Great Day in Alpine

In this week’s issue… Honoring radio's greatest inventor - Maine morning vet retiring - Buffalo names new HOF inductees - PA's Loftus retires

by Scott Fybush
June 30, 2025
Top of the Tower Podcast #65: Back and Forth With PA’s Jason Togyer
Free Content

Top of the Tower Podcast #65: Back and Forth With PA’s Jason Togyer

In this week's episode - Top of the Tower is back with a new spring/summer season of conversations with some of the most interesting people in radio! This week, it's another joint episode, a two-way chat with my good friend Jason...

by Scott Fybush
June 22, 2025
NorthEast Radio Watch 6/16/2025: Townsquare, Corus Cut Deeper
Free Content

NorthEast Radio Watch 6/16/2025: Townsquare, Corus Cut Deeper

In this week’s issue… Oneonta signals go dark - Whiteoaks takes over in Niagara - Corus empties Ottawa studios - CBS-FM shuffles talent - Armstrong anniversary to be honored

by Scott Fybush
June 16, 2025
Next Post
Downtown Pittsburgh

Site of the Week 9/24/2021: A Day in Pittsburgh

Please login to join discussion

Log In

Join Now | Lost Password?

Get Fybush.com Updates

Get Fybush.com updates emailed directly to your inbox!

© 2025 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Store
    • Cart
    • Checkout
  • About/Contact
    • Scott Fybush
    • Copyright Information
    • Privacy Policy
  • Fybush Media
  • Links

© 2025 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.