Channel 25 began broadcasting in February 1987 as just the second local station on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It affiliated with Fox two months after signing on the air. After an early history that was financially turbulent, including a bankruptcy filing in order to stave off a public auction, the station stabilized under owners Prime Cities Broadcasting in the 1990s. Morris acquired WXXV in 1997 and debuted its first local newscast, which ran from 1999 to 2001 before being shelved for economic reasons. In the digital era, WXXV has used digital subchannels to add NBC and The CW to its lineup. As part of the addition of NBC, in 2013, the station returned to producing local newscasts and has expanded to provide full-day coverage on the Fox and NBC channels.
History
Construction and early years
In July 1982, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) received three applications for channel 25 on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, all fighting to be just the area's second local station (after ABC affiliate WLOX). The firms were Payvision Communications of Knoxville, Tennessee; Hightower Communications, owner of WPMI-TV in Mobile, Alabama; and Four-O Inc. of Brandon, Mississippi.[2] Four-O won the permit and selected the call sign WXXV, but it had yet to choose by September 1983 whether channel 25 would be a network affiliate or an independent station.[3] It elected to run the station as an independent outlet, and construction was under way on the station's studios in Lyman by March 1986.[4] However, work on the tower at McHenry was considerably delayed, and station officials repeatedly pushed back WXXV's projected sign-on.[5]
WXXV-TV made its first broadcast on February 8, 1987; owing to technical difficulties on start-up, it then left the air and began full-time broadcasting on February 14.[6][7] Its programs included brief local news updates, live sports, and other syndicated shows,[8] which were broadcast as far north as Hattiesburg.[9] In April, channel 25 joined the Fox network, picking up its weekend prime time and late-night programming.[10]
Financial difficulties and Prime Cities ownership
Within months of signing on, the station encountered financial difficulties. In the construction process, Four-O had become the managing general partner in the station's licensee, Gulf Coast Television. The station sought new limited partners, only to put the round on hold; it owed money to several large creditors, most notably AmSouth Bank of Birmingham, Alabama.[11] During this time, in January 1988, WXXV debuted a call-in public affairs program, 25 Live.[12]
AmSouth moved to put WXXV-TV up for public auction in September 1988, with the station having fallen several months behind on its loan repayments.[13] Days before the auction was to take place, Gulf Coast Television preempted the action by filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[14] A year later, the bankruptcy case was resolved in a settlement that transferred the station to AmSouth.[15] The new management grappled with WXXV's reputation as a station that did not pay its bills; to earn their trust, the station paid syndicators earlier for programming.[16]
The bank, through its realty division, put channel 25 on the market a year later;[17] it was acquired by Prime Cities Broadcasting, a partnership of Dick Shively and Jim Tupper. Shively had been serving as consultant to WXXV since AmSouth took control.[18] Under Prime Cities ownership, WXXV-TV began airing the ABC drama series NYPD Blue; WLOX, along with all other ABC affiliates in Mississippi, refused to air it when it debuted in 1993, and channel 25 picked it up beginning with the second season.[19]
Morris ownership and digital expansion
By 1996, Prime Cities was shopping WXXV to potential buyers,[20] including the owners of WWTV and WWUP in northern Michigan.[21] Prime Cities announced the sale of WXXV to Morris Network for $17.5 million in February 1997, with the new owners taking over in June.[22][23] In the 2000s, WXXV switched from analog to digital broadcasting, launching its digital signal before going digital-only on February 17, 2009.[24]
Morris announced in March 2012 that it would add NBC to a subchannel of WXXV, displacing MyNetworkTV, that July; in addition, it would expand the studios in Lyman and start a news operation to support the Fox and NBC channels.[25] The move coincided with WLOX, its competitor with an 80 percent share of market revenue,[25] adding a CBS subchannel, giving the four major networks in-market affiliates on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.[26] On January 1, 2015, WXXV added a subchannel for The CW, replacing MyNetworkTV, which began running in late nights on WXXV–Fox.[27]
News operation
Channel 25 picked up its first long-form local news program when the station began airing Mississippi News Tonight, a 9 p.m. newscast produced in Jackson, in January 1992. Mississippi News Tonight was produced by Love Communications, a venture from the same family as the then-owners of WLOX, Love Broadcasting.[28] The program only aired for three months on WXXV before being canceled altogether on April 4.[29]
While station management considered producing full-length local news to debut sometime in 1993 or early 1994 following the discontinuation of MNT,[16] general manager Bill Ritchie opted against expanding beyond news breaks because of the management hassle and expense the endeavor would incur.[23] Morris demonstrated more interest in producing a newscast and launched Fox 25 News at Nine in March 1999.[30] The news department was not an economic success and was discontinued on January 6, 2001, for financial reasons.[31]
After obtaining the NBC affiliation, Morris announced its plans to expand the Lyman studios to support a news operation. On September 30, 2013, the newscasts launched on the Fox and NBC subchannels; the station hired 15 personnel to staff the startup operation.[25][32] The original newscast lineup included 9 p.m. news on WXXV–Fox and 5:30 and 10 p.m. newscasts on WXXV–NBC, both only airing on weeknights.[33] In 2015, the news lineup was expanded with News 25 Today, initially airing for two hours total across the NBC and Fox channels, and Sunday night newscasts.[34] Since then, the station has added noon (on NBC, in 2016)[35] and 5 p.m. (on Fox, in 2017) newscasts; it also extended its morning news to four hours and its 9 p.m. news to a full hour.[36][37] The 5:30 p.m. newscast moved to 6 p.m. in 2023.[38]
^Cauchon, Dennis (September 10, 1982). "Battle for new Coast TV station begins". The Sun. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. A-14. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Dockins, Metric (February 9, 1987). "WXXV goes on air with few problems". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. pp. C-1, C-2. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Williams, M.E. (February 8, 1987). "Station WXXV signs on today". Hattiesburg American. Hattiesburg, Mississippi. p. 6D. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Reynolds, Harold (April 5, 1987). "Channel 25 weds Fox Broadcasting". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. F-5. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Creel, Vincent (February 1, 1988). "'25 Live' expands to four days". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. B-1. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Falkner, Morgan (September 23, 1988). "Bankruptcy action halts WXXV auction". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. 1B. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Lammons, George (September 22, 1989). "Court settlement gives WXXV to bank". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. B-1. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Lott, Bruce (August 14, 1990). "WXXV owner looking to sell". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. pp. A-1, A-10. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Lacy, Mike (January 24, 1996). "Word is out: WXXV may be for sale". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. C-8. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Michigan station checks out WXXV". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. May 22, 1996. p. B-6. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Alexander, Greg (May 23, 1999). "More news is good news at Fox 25". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. TV Week 2. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Gulfport TV station axes news coverage". The Greenwood Commonwealth. Greenwood, Mississippi. Associated Press. January 9, 2001. p. 5. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^Skrmetta, James (September 17, 2015). "WXXV morning show will debut next week". Sun Herald. Biloxi, Mississippi. p. 2A. Retrieved December 6, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
