branding 14 wfie general 14 news newscasts metv on dt2 grit on dt3 slogan the tri state s news & weather leader channels digital 46 uhf virtual 14 psip subchannels 14.1 nbc 14.2 metv 14.3 grit affiliations nbc secondary through 1956 owner raycom media wfie license subsidiary llc first air date november 15 1953 1953 11 15 call letters meaning we re first in evansville or fine from fine family former callsigns wfie tv 1953 2003 former channel number s analog 62 uhf 1953 1961 14 uhf 1961 2009 former affiliations all secondary dumont 1953 1956 abc 1953 1956 pten 1993 1997 dt2 nbc weather plus 2005 2008 14xtra 2008 2014 dt3 the tube 2006 2007 this tv 2009 2013 movies 2013 2014 metv 2014 transmitter power 250 kw height 311 m facility id 13991 transmitter coordinates 37 53 14.3 n 87 31 7.7 w 37.887306 n 87.518806 w 37.887306 ; 87.518806 licensing authority fcc public license information profile cdbs website www.14news.com wfie is the nbc afifliated television station for the tri state area of southwestern indiana northwestern kentucky and southeastern illinois that s licensed to evansville indiana . it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on uhf channel 46 mapping to virtual channel 14 via psip from a transmitter in the wolf hills section of henderson kentucky . owned by raycom media the station has studios on mount auburn road in evansville . syndicated programming on wfie includes jeopardy wheel of fortune and america now . contents 1 history 2 digital television 2.1 digital channels 2.2 analog to digital conversion 3 news operation 4 references 5 external links history edit wfie was granted a construction permit on june 10 1953 and began broadcasting on november 15 1953 on analog uhf channel 62 . the station indiana s sixth was originally co owned by jesse isadore and oscar fine . wfie was the first station to be based in evansville while weht s studios then as now were located across the ohio river in henderson kentucky though it is licensed to evansville . wfie was originally a primary nbc outlet with secondary abc shared with weht and dumont affiliations . 1 both of those networks were dropped in august 1956 with the launch of wtvw which took abc and the shutdown of dumont . this left wfie as a full time nbc affiliate . it is the only station in the market to have never changed its primary affiliation ; as such wfie has the distinction of being the longest tenured nbc affiliate in the state of indiana . also in 1956 wfie became the area s first station to telecast color programming by virtue of its nbc affiliation . the wfie viewing area ; counties where the station s signal reaches either over the air on cable or satellite are shown in light red . the fine family sold the station to the george norton family of louisville kentucky owners of fellow nbc affiliate wave tv in 1956 . the nortons broadcasting holdings would eventually become known as orion broadcasting . with fcc approval it moved to channel 14 in august 1961 . it was the first station in evansville to telecast live and local color programs beginning on march 10 1966 . in october 1981 orion merged with cosmos broadcasting corporation a subsidiary of insurance and broadcasting conglomerate liberty corporation . wfie became the first television station in the market to broadcast in stereo in september 1985 . liberty bowed out of the insurance business in 2000 bringing wfie directly under the company banner . in may 2002 the station began broadcasting digitally on channel 46 . on february 1 2006 the liberty corporation merged with raycom media . in november 2006 wfie added the tube a 24 hour music video channel similar to the early years of mtv on digital channel 14.3 in accordance with many raycom media stations . in summer 2007 the tube shut down from the lack of advertiser support and this station ceased programming on 14.3 for the time . wfie along with many raycom media stations added this tv to 14.3 on february 4 2009 . on november 1 2013 this tv ceased programming on 14.3 after tribune broadcasting bought out weigel broadcasting s ownership of the network . wfie along with some other stations added movies to 14.3 on november 1 2013 . when wtsn cd discontinued the metv affiliation on october 23 2014 with heroes and icons from 20.2 replacing the 20.1 subchannel . wfie replaced its movies affiliation on 14.3 that same day with metv to have it kept in the area . on october 28 2014 at 12 00 pm 14xtra was replaced with the metv affiliation from the 14.3 subchannel . at the same time metv from 14.3 was replaced with a free to air movie network called grit meaning that there will be no more weather channels that are on broadcast tv in the area . secondary affiliations on 14.2 are college basketball on early saturday afternoons from the acc network which is owned by raycom media for its airings at that time which was the same since the change . digital television edit digital channels edit the station s digital signal is multiplexed channel video aspect psip short name programming 2 14.1 1080i 16 9 wfie dt main wfie programming nbc 14.2 480i 4 3 metv metv 14.3 grit grit analog to digital conversion edit wfie discontinued regular programming on its analog signal over uhf channel 14 on june 12 2009 the official date in which full power television stations in the united states transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate . the station s digital signal remained on its pre transition uhf channel 46 3 using psip to display the station s virtual channel as its former uhf analog channel 14 . news operation edit the station currently carries 32 hours of local newscasts per week with six hours on weekdays and one hour each on saturdays and sundays ; in addition the station produces a half hour weeknight only newscast for its second digital subchannel bringing the total amount to 34 hours per week . as a result of the merger of the news operations of wtvw and weht on december 1 2011 wfie and cbs affiliate wevv tv are now the only independent local news operations in the evansville market . in august 1977 the station became first in evansville to remotely broadcast local news sports and weather outside its studios . it was the second station in indiana first in evansville to build its own doppler weather radar system located adjacent to the studios in february 1988 . in fall 2005 it launched a 24 hour local weather channel on digital channel 14.2 . known as first alert weather now it was part of nbc weather plus and featured continuous weather and news information with local and national forecasts as well as metro evansville and regional traffic updates . with the shutdown of the national service in 2008 wfie dt2 remained as a local weather channel until october 28 2014 . on april 3 2006 wfie abandoned 615 music s popular news one theme music in favor of nbc flagship as part of the nbc collection by gari communications . this marked the station s first theme change since 1996 . in early august 2006 it began branding its newscasts as 14 news dropping the newswatch 14 identity . in a further transition the station rebranded the weather department under the first alert label on september 22 2006 . this is a departure from the storm team brand used since the mid 1990s . on april 16 2007 wfie introduced dual doppler to the market with the debut of a second weather radar in owensboro kentucky atop the owensboro medical health system hospital main building on east parrish avenue ky 54 . in addition to its main studios the station operates western kentucky newsrooms in owensboro and madisonville . it is the only channel in the area to have a weekday morning show that begins at 4 30 . wfie dt2 also airs a prime time newscast weeknights at 9 p.m. which competes with an hour long show on cw affiliate wtvw . on july 11 2011 wfie began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition during the station s 5 p.m. newscast becoming the first station in the evansville market to begin offering local newscasts in high definition . on september 12 2011 wfie debuted a 4 p.m. newscast that competes against the 4 p.m. newscast on abc affiliate weht ; jackie monroe currently the anchor of the station s 10 p.m. newscast and the 9 p.m. newscast seen on digital channel 14.2 serves as anchor of the new late afternoon newscast which lasted until 2013 . 4 wfie maintains a sister station relationship with a television station in the western ukraine city of ternopil . references edit the history of wfie tv . the boneyard . retrieved 2007 02 12 . rabbitears tv query for wfie dtv tentative channel designations for the first and the second rounds pdf . retrieved 2012 03 24 . 14wfie planning hd news launch on july 11 will add new 4pm newscast beginning sept. 12 jake s dtv blog june 28 2011 . external links edit wfie channel 46 query the fcc s tv station database for wfie v t e broadcast television in the illinois indiana kentucky tri state area including evansville in and owensboro ky reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television . all stations are in evansville except where noted . local stations wtvw 7.1 the cw 7.2 bounce tv 7.3 escape wnin tv 9.1 pbs 9.2 create in channel 9.3 wnin fm audio wfie 14.1 nbc 14.2 me tv 14.3 grit weht 25.1 abc 25.2 laff wevv tv 44.1 cbs hd 44.2 fox mntv sd weev ld 47.1 fox mntv via wevv dt2 low power stations wyyw cd 15.1 telemundo 15.2 family ch . 15.3 retro tv waze lp 17 ion wtsn cd 20.1 heroes & icons 20.2 antenna tv w23bv d 23.1 3abn 23.2 3abn proclaim 23.3 3abn dare to dream 23.4 3abn latino w27dh d 27.1 silent future station w33cu d 33.1 silent future station wein ld 40.1 escape 40.2 laff weev ld 47.1 fox mntv hd outlying areas owensboro ky wkoh 31.1 pbs ket 31.2 ket2 pbs encore 31.3 ky channel madisonville ky wkma tv 35.1 pbs ket 35.2 ket2 pbs encore 35.3 ky channel jasper indiana wjts cd 15.1 youtoo america cable only evansville cn 2 acestv owensboro cn 2 octv 71 adjacent locals olney il wusi tv 16.1 pbs 16.2 world 16.3 create 16.4 wsiu fm audio terre haute wvut 22.1 pbs 22.2 create vincennes louisville ky wdrb 41.1 fox 41.2 antenna tv bowling green ky wbko 13.1 abc 13.2 fox 13.3 the cw defunct or silent evansville wjps lp 4 anc the wb cw waze wiky lp 5 wb cw via waze wcjt lp 12 ind. w38bk 38 tbn w56dn 56 ind. w63bt 63 ind. tri state sports net . w67cb 67 anc upn via w52az waze lp madisonville henderson wlcn wwaz tv waze tv 19 ind. wb cw owensboro w12bj 12 edu . ind. w42bm 42 ind. wroz tv 61 ind. kentucky broadcast television areas by city bowling green charleston wv cincinnati oh evansville in knoxville tn lexington louisville paducah see also st louis tv springfield tv memphis tv indianapolis tv v t e nbc network affiliates in the state of indiana wtwo 2 terre haute wthr 13 indianapolis wfie 14 evansville wndu 16 south bend wpta dt 21.2 fort wayne see also abc cbs cw fox ion mynetworktv nbc pbs other stations in indiana v t e nbc network affiliates in the commonwealth of kentucky wave 3 louisville wpsd 6 paducah wfie 14 owensboro henderson wlex 18 lexington wnky 40 bowling green