WTXF-TV

WTXF-TV

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania United States
Channels	Digital: 31 (UHF) Virtual: 29
Branding	Fox 29
Programming
Affiliations	29.1: Fox for others, see § Subchannels
Ownership
Owner	Fox Television Stations, LLC
History
First air date	May 16, 1965 (59 years ago) (1965-05-16)
Former call signs	WIBF-TV (1965–1969) WTAF-TV (1969–1988)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 29 (UHF, 1965–2009) Digital: 42 (UHF, 1998–2019)
Former affiliations	Independent (1965–1986)
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority	FCC
Facility ID	51568
ERP	1,000 kW
HAAT	336 m (1,102 ft)
Transmitter coordinates	40°2′26″N 75°14′18″W / 40.04056°N 75.23833°W / 40.04056; -75.23833
Repeater(s)	25 (UHF) Allentown
Links
Public license information	Public file LMS
Website	www.fox29.com

WTXF-TV (channel 29) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, serving as the market's Fox network outlet. Owned and operated by the Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains studios on Market Street in Center City and a primary transmitter on the Roxborough tower farm, with a secondary transmitter on South Mountain in Allentown.

Channel 29 is the longest continuously operated Philadelphia UHF station, since May 16, 1965, as WIBF-TV from studios in the suburb of Jenkintown. WIBF-TV was owned by the Fox family alongside WIBF-FM 103.9. It was the first of three new commercial UHF outlets that year, broadcasting as an independent station focusing on community and sports programming. Taft Broadcasting purchased channel 29 in 1969 and renamed it WTAF-TV. Under Taft, the station slowly emerged as the leading independent station in the Philadelphia market with popular sports coverage, movies, and syndicated programs. The station was the broadcast outlet for the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team between 1971 and 1985 and for the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team from 1983 to 1992. The latter deal came after Taft Broadcasting purchased 47 percent of the team. In early 1986, WTAF-TV began producing a 10 p.m. local newscast. Later that year, it became affiliated with the new Fox television network.

Ownership of channel 29 shifted to TVX Broadcast Group in 1987 as part of its purchase of Taft's five large-market independent stations; the call sign was changed to WTXF-TV the next year. The deal left TVX highly leveraged and ultimately led to the station's sale in two parts between 1989 and 1991 to Paramount Pictures. Paramount nearly lost the station's Fox affiliation when Fox tried to buy another Philadelphia station in 1993. That purchase fell through, and Fox ultimately purchased WTXF-TV itself in a deal approved in 1995. Fox expanded the news department, first with a morning show—Good Day Philadelphia—and later with additional early evening and other newscasts.