circulating Nexstar would establish a combined news department for WFXV as well as sister stations WUTR and WPNY in order to take on longtime dominant WKTV. Actual progress was not made until March 31, 2011, when the company announced it would launch a news operation for the three outlets by mid-September. Nexstar invested $1 million for new equipment and the hiring of twelve employees. The company's initial press release indicated this station would feature separate news anchors from WUTR and be presented in a more fast-paced format to attract Fox's younger viewers. In a later press release in August, however, indications mentioned only one anchor team was hired for both stations. The debut of WFXV 33 Eyewitness News at 10 occurred September 12, 2011, making WFXV the second station in the Utica area (behind WUTR, which launched its newscast four hours earlier) to broadcast local news in true high definition. WKTV would not switch to true high-definition until January 29, 2015. The newscast competes against a similar broadcast airing on WKTV's third digital subchannel. Throughout the process of building a local news operation from scratch, WFXV consulted with viewers and businesses for input in developing the final product. Right now, there is no sports department at the operation's inception. WFXV added a simulcast of Bill Keeler's radio show, which originates from radio station WIBX, in 2015. The simulcast was temporarily dropped due to new 2016 requirements from the FCC requiring local real-time closed captioning on January 4, 2016; it returned on May 9, 2016, with captioning. Keeler's show was finally dropped from WFXV in 2022 when it began simulcasting Morning in America from corporate sibling NewsNation. Technical information Subchannels The station's digital signal is multiplexed: Former translator WFXV was previously relayed on analog repeater W31BP (channel 31) in the Town of Burlington from a transmitter on Clock Hill Road. W31BP's license was surrendered to the FCC and canceled on August 3, 2021. References External links Television channels and stations established in 1986 1986 establishments in New York (state) FXV Fox network affiliates Ion Mystery affiliates Laff (TV network) affiliates Nexstar Media Group