WFXT

WFXT
Company type	Television station
Industry	Broadcasting
Founded	October 10, 1977; 49 years ago
Headquarters	Dedham, Massachusetts, United States
Area served	Boston metropolitan area
Owner	Cox Media Group

WFXT (channel 25) operates as a television station based in Boston, Massachusetts, affiliated with the Fox network and owned by Cox Media Group. Its production facilities are located on Fox Drive in Dedham, while its transmitter is situated in Needham. WFXT holds the distinction of being the largest Fox affiliate by market size that is not directly owned and operated by Fox, although the network previously owned the station twice (from 1987 to 1990 and again from 1995 to 2014).

Initial phase (1977–1986)

The station commenced broadcasting on October 10, 1977, under the call sign WXNE-TV ("Christ (X) in New England"), initially functioning as an independent station established by the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). Despite obtaining its FCC construction permit in June 1972, launch delays extended over five years. WXNE-TV’s programming slate was aimed at family viewers, featuring older syndicated reruns alongside approximately six hours of daily religious programming, including CBN's The 700 Club, hosted by founder Pat Robertson. The station also broadcast daily and Sunday Mass services from the Boston Catholic Television Center. Its secular offerings comprised westerns, classic films, family-oriented dramas, and vintage TV series. During this era, Tim Robertson, son of Pat Robertson, held the role of program director.

In the early part of the 1980s, WXNE expanded its content to include cartoons, made-for-television movies, sitcoms, and family dramas. In 1980, it assumed production of the weekday bowling program Candlepins for Cash from CBS affiliate WNAC-TV (channel 7). This show was relocated to Wal-Lex Lanes in Waltham and hosted by Bob Gamere until it concluded in 1983. Throughout this period, WXNE adopted the branding "Boston 25," cementing its status as a genuine independent station. Although its cable distribution was limited to Greater Boston, it ranked third among local independent stations behind WSBK-TV (channel 38) and WLVI-TV (channel 56), placing sixth overall in market ratings.

In April 1986, CBN announced plans to sell WXNE along with its other stations. By August of that year, News Corporation revealed intentions to acquire channel 25 with the goal of converting it into a Fox owned-and-operated station. Initially, Fox had sought affiliations with WSBK or WLVI but eventually discontinued those negotiations. When Fox launched on October 9, 1986, WXNE did not broadcast its debut program or The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers due to CBN's content restrictions. Instead, Fox arranged for Boston radio station WMRE (1510 AM) to transmit the show's audio until ownership transitioned.

Transition to WFXT (1987–present)

Following News Corporation’s acquisition completion on December 31, 1986, WXNE-TV was rebranded as WFXT on January 19, 1987. This marked it as the seventh Fox-owned station and the first purchased independently from News Corp's 1986 Metromedia acquisition. The station revised its programming by scaling back The 700 Club to a single daily airing, rescheduling the Roman Catholic Mass earlier in the day, and incorporating Fox-produced tabloid magazine A Current Affair on weeknights—making WFXT the second station after Fox flagship WNYW to carry this show. Announcer Chris Clausen from WXNE was replaced by Beau Weaver, a prominent voiceover artist for Fox affiliates who remained with WFXT and Fox Television Stations for over ten years. Apart from discontinuing some older sitcoms later adopted by WQTV (now WBPX-TV), the schedule largely remained consistent. The Sunday religious programming block ended on April 5, 1987—coinciding with Fox’s initial prime time broadcasts—which began exclusively on Sundays before expanding to Saturdays in July. Importantly, WFXT has maintained continuous affiliation with Fox since joining the network.

In later years, WFXT faced challenges acquiring top-tier syndicated shows and often filled its schedule with programs declined by competitors such as WSBK, WLVI, and major network affiliates. Its lineup predominantly featured low-budget first-run syndicated content and cartoons alongside Fox network programming. Nevertheless, in 1988 WFXT secured two popular weekday syndicated titles from WNEV—Hollywood Squares (John Davidson version) and Entertainment Tonight—after these were dropped by the CBS affiliate due to scheduling conflicts. The station aired Squares until its cancellation in 1989 and broadcast ET weeknights at 7 p.m., serving as a lead-in to A Current Affair, before selling ET back to WHDH-TV (formerly WNEV) in 1990. The program returned to WFXT’s schedule in 2015.

Sale to the Boston Celtics

Because of FCC regulations prohibiting common ownership of a television station and a newspaper within the same market, News Corporation needed a temporary exemption to maintain control of both WFXT and the Boston Herald. On April 21, 1988, Rupert Murdoch revealed intentions to divest WFXT. In 1989, Fox planned to place WFXT into a trust designed to facilitate its sale at an asking price of $35 million; however, the FCC required that the trust completely sever all connections with Fox, including its network affiliation. By September of that year, Fox agreed to sell WFXT to the ownership group of the Boston Celtics for $20 million, with the transaction concluding on May 11, 1990. News Corporation kept the right to repurchase a 37.5% share.

Following acquisition by the Celtics, WFXT became the NBA franchise's flagship station beginning with the 1990–91 season after their contract with WLVI-TV ended. Simultaneously, the Celtics also took ownership of radio station WEEI. Despite limited broadcast infrastructure under Celtics management, WFXT secured improved programming and competed more effectively against rivals WSBK and WLVI. In 1990, WFXT acquired rights to prominent syndicated shows such as The Cosby Show, which it began airing on weekdays in fall 1990. This represented a notable upgrade in content and established The Cosby Show as a mainstay for over ten years, except for brief interruptions between 1994 and 1996.

Return to Fox ownership

By 1992, numerous cable providers throughout New England carried WFXT in areas without a local Fox affiliate. Locally, it ranked third in viewership behind WSBK and WLVI. Under Celtics control, WFXT faced potential loss of its Fox affiliation. By March 1993, Fox was exploring reacquiring a Boston station and initiated discussions with Boston Celtics Communications; Fox cautioned that it might withdraw affiliation if the Celtics acquired another local asset. Holding a 25% convertible interest, Fox aimed to increase its stake. In October 1993, Fox obtained a decade-long option to repurchase WFXT as soon as 1995 and declared it would not pursue an ownership waiver for channel 25 alongside the Boston Herald. News Corporation sold the Herald in February 1994, removing obstacles for Fox’s purchase. Due to scheduling conflicts with Fox programming, the Celtics shifted their game broadcasts to WSBK-TV under a five-year agreement starting in the 1993–94 season.

During 1994 and amid Fox’s affiliation agreement with New World Communications, WHDH-TV contemplated switching to Fox but ultimately affiliated with NBC after WBZ-TV aligned with CBS. This decision preserved WFXT’s status as a Fox affiliate. On October 5, 1994, Fox exercised its option to reacquire WFXT. Although NBC raised objections citing FCC ownership restrictions and News Corporation’s connections, these concerns were withdrawn by February 1995. Control of channel 25 reverted to Fox on July 7, 1995.

Throughout the late 1990s, WFXT broadened its lineup with talk shows and reality programming while continuing weekday cartoons (including Fox Kids) and evening sitcoms. It served as the Boston Red Sox flagship station from 2000 through 2002; otherwise, it broadcast only nationally televised Red Sox games produced by Fox, including those during their World Series championships in 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018.

After WPXT lost its Fox affiliation in Portland, Maine in 2001 due to a dispute, WFXT became the default Fox affiliate for New Hampshire viewers within that market until WPFO assumed Fox affiliation in April 2003; meanwhile, viewers in Maine received Foxnet.

In 2006, WFXT considered airing News Corporation's MyNetworkTV weekday schedule if no Boston-based affiliate emerged. Instead, Derry-based WZMY-TV launched as the market’s MyNetworkTV affiliate; after several changes in affiliation, CBS-owned WSBK took over MyNetworkTV programming in 2011. Prior to MyNetworkTV transitioning exclusively to rerun content, WFXT occasionally promoted its shows.

Comcast blocked access to WFXT’s prime time and sports broadcasts in Bristol County beginning October 2007 due to FCC network non-duplication rules invoked by Providence’s WNAC-TV; subsequently, Charter Communications implemented similar blackouts in Westport in July 2008, resulting in WFXT’s removal from that system by September.

Exchange with Cox Media Group

On June 24, 2014, Fox revealed a station swap deal with Cox Media Group, trading WFXT and its Memphis counterpart WHBQ-TV in exchange for Cox’s San Francisco stations: Fox affiliate KTVU and independent KICU-TV. This transaction was completed on October 8, 2014. After the trade, CBS-owned WBZ-TV along with Telemundo’s WNEU briefly stood as the sole network-owned stations in Boston until NBC Boston launched in 2017. Consequently, WFXT became the largest Fox affiliate not directly owned by the network, a distinction previously held by KTVU. Shortly after the acquisition, contract disputes led to WFXT being temporarily removed from Verizon FiOS in the Boston area.

On October 27, 2015, WFXT abandoned its Fox O&O-style branding and introduced a refreshed logo and on-air presentation featuring an italicized Helvetica typeface without the traditional Fox network emblem. This rebranding attracted criticism and national notice when Chicago’s WGN-TV anchor Larry Potash speculated that it was an attempt to regain viewers lost following longtime anchor Maria Stephanos’ departure in 2015 (she moved to WCVB-TV in 2016). Ahead of Super Bowl LI in February 2017, the station further downplayed the Fox brand in its marketing, promoting its news division simply as "25 News," adopting a style reminiscent of Australia’s Seven Network.

On April 13, 2017, WFXT announced that its newscasts would be rebranded as Boston 25 News starting April 24; the "Fox 25" name was retained solely for entertainment programming and promotional materials. This approach echoed Cox Media Group’s earlier strategy with KTVU’s news broadcasts (1986–2014), which minimized local references to the Fox network. General manager Tom Raponi explained to The Boston Globe that this shift aimed to address perceptions of conservative bias associated with Fox News Channel—an audience survey from 2015 found that 41% of local viewers linked WFXT’s newscasts more closely with Fox News than with the Fox broadcast network. WFXT’s relationship with Fox News is limited to mandatory content sharing via Fox News Edge for potential inclusion in local news segments. In February 2018, WFXT fully removed "Fox 25" from all branding and promotions, adopting "Boston 25" exclusively—making it one of the few Fox affiliates to omit "Fox" from its brand identity.

Acquisition by Apollo Global Management

In February 2019, Apollo Global Management announced its intent to purchase Cox Media Group alongside Northwest Broadcasting’s stations. Initially planned under the Terrier Media name, Apollo expanded the deal in June 2019 to encompass Cox’s radio and advertising divisions while preserving the Cox Media Group brand. The approximately $3.1 billion acquisition was finalized on December 17, 2019.

Terminated sale to Standard General

On February 22, 2022, amid Standard General’s acquisition of Tegna Inc. and Cox Media Group’s purchase of four Standard Media television stations—including WFAA, KMPX, KVUE, KHOU, and KTBU—Cox declared intentions to sell WFXT to an affiliate of Standard General. Nevertheless, this agreement was canceled on May 22, 2023, due to financing difficulties.

Sports programming

WFXT generally broadcasts two New England Patriots games each year through NFL on Fox, predominantly when the Patriots host an NFC team at Gillette Stadium. The introduction of the NFL's 2014 cross-flex policy combined with Fox securing the rights to Thursday Night Football in 2018 has led to an increase in the number of Patriots games aired by WFXT. The station has covered five of the Patriots' appearances in the Super Bowl, including their championship victories in XXXVI, XXXIX, and LI.

In addition, WFXT carries Boston Red Sox games featured in Fox's Major League Baseball coverage, broadcasting every Red Sox World Series title since 2000 (2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018). From 2000 to 2002, it served as the team's principal over-the-air broadcaster and also televised weekday afternoon Red Sox spring training contests produced by NESN during 2018 and 2019. In earlier years, specifically the early 1990s, WFXT aired Boston Celtics games while under team ownership.

During Fox’s NHL broadcast tenure in the United States from 1995 to 1999, WFXT featured select Boston Bruins matchups.

News operation

Currently, WFXT produces a total of 64½ hours of locally focused news content weekly—comprising 10½ hours on weekdays, 5½ hours on Saturdays, and 6½ hours on Sundays—ranking it among the region’s most prolific news providers until WHDH-TV overtook this output in 2017. Weather reporting incorporates live radar feeds supplied by the National Weather Service office located in Norton, Massachusetts.

While owned by the Boston Celtics, WFXT collaborated with regional cable outlet NECN to debut a prime-time newscast at 10 p.m. on September 7, 1993. NECN also produced a midday broadcast for WFXT beginning in 1994, which was later discontinued. By 1995, WFXT terminated its partnership with NECN to establish its own news division; NECN subsequently transferred its newscast to WSBK.

Fox Television Stations then launched an internal news department, introducing a 10 p.m. newscast on September 9, 1996. Initially known as Fox News Boston, it reverted to the Fox 25 News brand the following year. After discontinuing Sports Sunday on Fox in 2004, the station expanded its Sunday newscast to a full hour.

On June 4, 2001, WFXT pioneered a 4:30 p.m. newscast aimed primarily at female viewers; this was later shifted to a 5 p.m. slot and extended to one hour by 2003. Simultaneously, a three-hour weekday morning newscast (6–9 a.m.) was launched featuring anchors Jodi Applegate and Gene Lavanchy; Applegate was succeeded by Kim Carrigan in 2004. That same year saw the unveiling of a state-of-the-art newsroom and the opening of a Beacon Hill bureau near the Massachusetts State House.

A Sunday morning newscast began airing in September 2004 but was canceled by July 2009. In May of that year, WFXT entered into a Local News Service agreement with WBZ-TV/WSBK-TV to share video footage and helicopter resources; however, their jointly used helicopter was retired in 2013 following involvement in a fatal accident unrelated to Boston operations.

WFXT transitioned to high-definition news broadcasts on June 14, 2009. It introduced an 11 p.m. newscast in November 2007 and expanded its weekday morning news block to six hours (4–10 a.m.) by July 2012. The station replaced an underperforming 5 p.m. newscast with a half-hour program at 6 p.m. in September 2009, later extending it to a full hour plus an additional half-hour at 6:30 p.m. by March 2011—placing it in competition with network evening news shows—and added weekend evening editions starting July 2012. The original 5 p.m. newscast returned on October 7, 2013.

Following Cox Media Group’s acquisition of WFXT, significant changes were made to its news format: Doug Goudie was dismissed in November 2014 as part of a move away from opinion-based segments toward more traditional news coverage. Weekend morning newscasts resumed in September 2015 with a renewed emphasis on uplifting human-interest stories.

In September 2021, after Apollo Global Management took ownership of Cox Media Group, WFXT underwent staff reductions—including sports director Tom Leyden—and discontinued its 4 p.m. and Saturday evening newscasts due to decreased funding and impacts from an earlier cyberattack that year.

WFXT airs half-hour In Depth specials at 10:30 p.m. on Fridays featuring compilations of investigative reports centered around specific themes.

Current prominent on-air personnel

Gene Lavanchy: lead anchor
Butch Stearns: sports correspondent

Former notable on-air personnel

Jodi Applegate: anchor (2001–2004)
Chris Flanagan: anchor (2016–2022)

Digital subchannels

The station's broadcast is multiplexed as follows:

WFXT subchannel lineup
Channel	Resolution	Aspect ratio	Identifier	Content
25.1	720p	16:9	WFXT	Fox
25.2	480i		Comet	Comet
25.3	480i		LAFF	Laff
66.2	480i	16:9	MSGold	MovieSphere Gold (WUNI)
66.3	480i	16:9	GetTV	get (WUNI)

The Fox programming subchannel is transmitted in the ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) standard via the transmitter located at WUNI.

Transition from analog to digital

On November 1, 2008, WFXT's analog broadcast encountered issues caused by a deteriorating transmission line, resulting in reduced power and significantly limiting its over-the-air reach by December 2008, primarily confining viewership to cable, satellite, or digital platforms. The station indicated it might discontinue its analog broadcast ahead of the original February 17, 2009 deadline for the nationwide digital switchover. Although the federal deadline was postponed until June 12, 2009, persistent transmission line problems compelled WFXT to terminate analog transmissions on UHF channel 25 on February 27, 2009, making it unique among Fox-owned stations for ending analog service prior to the mandated date.

Meanwhile, the station maintained its digital broadcasts on pre-transition UHF channel 31 while retaining virtual channel designation 25. Early reports of reception difficulties were attributed to lower transmitter output and antenna positioning beneath the Candelabra tower's tines in Needham. Initially targeting full-power digital operation by August 2009, WFXT completed necessary upgrades—including a new antenna and transmission feedline—by April 2009, thereby achieving signal strength comparable to other Boston area stations. The station filed its license to cover these improvements on April 23, 2009.

External links