KFJX


KFJX, virtual channel 14, is a dual Fox/CW+-affiliated television station licensed to Pittsburg, Kansas, United States and also serving Joplin, Missouri. Owned by SagamoreHill Broadcasting, it is operated under joint sales and shared services agreements by Morgan Murphy Media, making it a sister station to CBS affiliate KOAM-TV. The two stations share studios and transmitter facilities on US 69 south of Pittsburg, with a secondary studio and news bureau on South Range Line Road in Joplin. There is no separate website for KFJX; instead, it is integrated with that of sister station KOAM-TV.
Although KFJX broadcasts a digital signal of its own, it is simulcast in high definition on KOAM-TV's second digital subchannel from the same transmitter site due to the fact that the KFJX signal is weaker. On cable, KFJX is carried on Suddenlink channel 6 and on Mediacom channel 11, and on channel 14 on other cable systems in the area.

History

The station signed on the air on October 18, 2003; the station was launched primarily to bring a Fox affiliate to the area, since the closest Fox affiliates were located in Kansas City, Springfield and Tulsa, as well as the cable service Foxnet, all of which were carried on most cable providers within the Joplin area. KFJX may have also been launched in response to the Nexstar Broadcasting Group KODE-TV/KSNF duopoly, which began in 2002 when KODE-TV was acquired by Mission Broadcasting through its acquisition of Quorum Broadcasting.
Because it was granted an original construction permit after the FCC finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997, the station did not receive a companion channel for a digital television station and would have originally had to make a "flash cut" turning off its analog transmitter and turning on its digital transmitter. Instead, on February 17, 2009, KFJX began broadcasting a digital signal on channel 13, which was the former digital assignment of KOAM, after receiving FCC permission to do so. Until the new June 12, 2009 digital conversion deadline, KFJX continued to broadcast its analog signal on channel 14 before signing it off permanently.
In June 2010, the DirecTV satellite system added Joplin locals to their channel lineup. Initially, KFJX and sister station KOAM were unable to come to an agreement with DirecTV to have the stations carried.
KFJX is the only Joplin–Pittsburg commercial television station that never has changed its affiliation, having been a Fox affiliate since signing on.
On August 3, 2018, a 720p HD feed of The CW's national CW Plus service was added to subchannel 14.2, succeeding cable-only "KSXF" as the CW Plus affiliate for the Joplin–Pittsburg television market. However, some cable companies choose to stay with the same programming as "KSXF" and it is currently not carried on satellite.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
ChannelVideoAspectPSIP Short NameProgramming
14.1720pKFJX-HDMain KFJX programming / Fox
14.2720pKFJX-CWThe 4-States CW
14.3480iStartStart TV
14.4480iDablDabl

Programming

KFJX clears the complete Fox network schedule in pattern, including Weekend Marketplace on Saturday mornings, and Xploration Station Sunday mornings. Syndicated programming on KFJX includes Right This Minute, Family Feud, Funny You Should Ask, 25 Words or Less, The Doctors, AgDay, Hot Bench, and Judge Judy.

Newscasts

The station airs a nightly 9 p.m. newscast, produced by KOAM, that debuted on April 5, 2004, and expanded to include a weekend edition in the fall of 2005. On June 1, 2010, the weekday edition of Fox 14 News at Nine expanded to an hour. In the spring of 2012, KFJX began airing a rebroadcast of the KOAM Morning News starting at 7 a.m. It was briefly discontinued, but was brought back on January 28, 2019 under the new brand KOAM Morning News on Fox 14. On April 1, 2019, the 9 p.m. newscast was rebranded as KOAM News at Nine on Fox 14.