Fort Myers Broadcasting Company
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Broadcasting |
| Founded | March 18, 1954 in Fort Myers, Florida, United States |
| Founder | McBride family (led by Mickey McBride) |
| Headquarters | Fort Myers , United States |
Area served | Southwest Florida |
| Owner | McBride family via Fort Myers Broadcasting Company |
| Website | www |
WINK-TV (channel 11) is a television broadcaster licensed to Fort Myers, Florida, serving as the CBS network affiliate for the Southwest Florida region. The station is owned by the McBride family via Fort Myers Broadcasting Company, making it one of the rare television stations still under local ownership. Fort Myers Broadcasting also operates three stations licensed to Naples through a shared services agreement with Sun Broadcasting: CW affiliate WXCW (channel 46), low-power Univision affiliate WUVF-LD (channel 2), and WANA-LD (channel 18). These stations share facilities on Palm Beach Boulevard in northeast Fort Myers, while WINK-TV’s transmitter is situated near the Charlotte–Lee county boundary.
History
WINK-TV commenced operations on March 18, 1954, established by the McBride family, headed by Mickey McBride, a taxicab entrepreneur and founder of the Cleveland Browns. It holds the distinction of being Southwest Florida’s inaugural television station and ranks as the fifth-oldest active station in Florida. Its callsign was derived from its radio counterpart and predates the adoption of the CBS Eye logo. Although originally airing content from CBS, NBC, ABC, and DuMont networks, WINK-TV has consistently maintained a primary affiliation with CBS.
The station discontinued DuMont programming in 1956 and encountered local competition beginning in 1968 when WBBH-TV assumed the NBC affiliation; ABC shows were shared locally until 1974 when WEVU-TV debuted. Audiences also received full ABC and NBC lineups through out-of-market stations from larger cities.
WINK-TV gained an advantage through the FCC’s VHF allocation strategy, obtaining the sole VHF license within a broad Southwest Florida "doughnut" zone bordered by established markets such as Miami–Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Tampa Bay. This unique VHF status allowed for superior signal coverage until cable television became widespread in the mid-1970s.
From the mid-1980s onward, WINK-TV has primarily promoted itself using its callsign, reflecting the high penetration of cable and satellite services in its market—among the highest nationwide—ensuring dependable viewer access.
On October 20, 2007, WINK-TV was the first station in Southwest Florida to broadcast in high definition. The following January, it modified its schedule to air CBS’s complete two-hour morning show as mandated by the network.
When Hurricane Ian struck on September 28, 2022, flooding caused by Billy Creek forced WINK-TV and its sister stations off the air. The station resumed transmission two days later from a temporary facility at its transmitter site, utilizing WXCW’s channel to broadcast its programming.
News operation
WINK-TV produces 46 hours of local newscasts each week—7½ hours on weekdays, 3½ on Saturdays, and five hours on Sundays. The McBride family’s substantial investment in news resources has enabled WINK-TV to deliver superior content within the Fort Myers market. Though WBBH briefly surpassed it during the 1970s, since the 1980s both stations have remained close competitors for market leadership.
Two news bureaus support WINK-TV’s coverage: one located in the Charlotte Sun newsroom in Charlotte Harbor serving Charlotte County, and another based in Naples covering Collier County. Since 1993, WINK-TV has collaborated with Boston’s WBZ-TV to cover Boston Red Sox spring training held in Fort Myers.
In 2011, WINK-TV expanded its news lineup by introducing a 4 p.m. newscast replacing The Oprah Winfrey Show, launching a weekend morning newscast lasting 90 minutes, and briefly airing a 10 a.m. newscast. By 2013, weekday morning news began at 4:30 a.m., with additional morning programming on WXCW from 7 to 10 a.m. In January 2015, weekend broadcasts of the 6:30 p.m. newscast were added on WXCW.
Prominent former on-air talent includes Hoda Kotb, Craig Sager, Trey Radel, Kerry Sanders, and Randy Scott.
Subchannels
The multiplexed broadcast of WINK-TV mainly carries its affiliated radio stations on several subchannels:
| Channel | Resolution | Aspect Ratio | Identifier | Content |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11.1 | 1080i | 16:9 | WINK HD | CBS network programming |
| 11.2 | 480i | 4:3 | MY NET | Primarily Antenna TV, with MyNetworkTV during select hours |
| 11.3 | Audio only | WHEL | 93.7 FM radio broadcast | |
| 11.4 | Audio only | WARO | 94.5 FM radio broadcast | |
| 11.5 | Audio only | WFSX-FM | 92.5 FM radio broadcast | |
| 11.6 | Audio only | WINK-FM | 96.9 FM radio broadcast | |
| 11.7 | Audio only | WTLQ-FM | 97.7 FM radio broadcast | |
| 11.8 | Audio only | WFFY-FM | 98.5 FM radio broadcast | |
On its DT2 subchannel, WINK-TV serves as the Antenna TV affiliate for the Naples–Fort Myers area, a role it assumed in place of a previous standard definition simulcast of the primary CBS channel since 2016. Prior to this, from 2012 until 2015, WINK-DT2 broadcast a continuous AccuWeather channel. Beginning in March 2019, MyNetworkTV programming was introduced on weeknights to WINK-DT2, with Antenna TV content filling other time periods. This arrangement reinstated local access to MyNetworkTV for Southwest Florida audiences after Comcast discontinued the cable-only MyNetworkTV/This TV outlet, WNFM-TV, in July 2015.
Transition from analog to digital
WINK ceased analog transmissions and switched exclusively to digital broadcasting on February 17, 2009. In mid-2011, the station relocated its digital signal to UHF channel 50, representing a significant upgrade consistent with evolving industry standards.
Cable availability beyond primary market
WINK-TV broadens its reach as one of two Fort Myers stations carried by Xfinity in the Venice and Wauchula areas. Additionally, it holds the distinction of being the sole Fort Myers station accessible to Southwest Florida viewers via Xfinity’s Sebring system, thereby expanding its regional presence.