TV Repack Leads A FOX Affiliate To Nix Relocation Redo

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The saga of a FOX affiliate in the Peach State that saw its previous owner seek a move back to the channel it received the FCC’s permission to move from has ended.


It’s all thanks to the 39-month post-spectrum auction station repack that will see some 1,000 TV stations make a move to a new frequency.

Southern Media Holdings, the former licensee of WFXG-54 in Augusta, Ga., tied to American Spirit Media in 2008 filed a petition for rulemaking requesting that WFXG relocate from digital channel 51 to digital channel 31.

The FCC granted the request, and the move was made.

SMH had second thoughts about the move, and subsequently requested that the Commission change WFXG back to digital channel 31. The FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and it was contested.

Meanwhile, WFXG License Subsidiary in August 2011 became the licensee of WFXG; the station’s owner is Raycom Media.

Then came the FCC’s spectrum auction, which reached its conclusion earlier this year.

On April 28, SMH filed a letter with the FCC formally withdrawing its pending request to substitute channel 51 for channel 31.

In the letter, SMH explained that WFXG was reassigned to channel 36 in connection with the post-incentive auction repacking of the broadcast television spectrum—making the petition moot.

This terminated the proceeding, allowing WFXG to continue as is, under Raycom ownership.