its timeslot, was discontinued in favor of a half-hour 6:00 p.m. newscast on September 14, 2009. That program was expanded to one hour with the launch of an additional half-hour newscast at 6:30 p.m. on March 14, 2011, which competes against the national network newscasts airing in the timeslot on WBZ, WHDH and WCVB. On July 7, 2012, WFXT expanded the 6:00 p.m. newscast to Saturday and Sunday evenings; as is common with Fox stations that carry early evening newscasts on weekends, the newscast may be subject to delay or preemption due to network sports telecasts overrunning into the timeslot. On October 7, 2013, WFXT relaunched its 5:00 p.m. newscast after a four-year hiatus. Under Cox ownership, a number of significant changes began to occur within WFXT's news department. On November 13, 2014, Doug Goudie, who was well known for his commentary segments during the station's morning show, was released from the station; he stated that his presence did not align with Cox's "philosophy", since they "aren't big on opinions." The removal of "V.B." came as part of a retooling of the Morning News into a conventional newscast, rather than a morning show emphasizing light talk and interview segments (such as Goudie's "Heavy Hitters"). The station restored the weekend morning newscasts in September 2015. The station would also focus less on hard news in favor of a slightly softer format with an abundance of human interest stories, which the station's website termed as "uplifting" stories. In September 2021, the station laid off several staffers, including sports director Tom Leyden, as part of a series of cuts that also saw the cancellation of WFXT's 4:00 p.m. newscast (which had launched in 2016) and its Saturday evening newscasts. The cuts followed a period, following Apollo Global Management's acquisition of Cox Media Group, of reduced investment in the station (with an unnamed staffer telling the Boston Business Journal that half of the station's staff had turned over since 2019), as well as a cyberattack against Cox that June. WFXT airs half-hour In Depth news specials at 10:30 p.m. on Fridays. These are compilations of special reports often unified by a single theme. Notable current on-air staff Gene Lavanchy – anchor Butch Stearns – sports reporter Notable former on-air staff Jodi Applegate – anchor (2001–2004); later at WNYW and WPIX in New York City Chris Flanagan – anchor (2016–2022); now at WDCW in Washington,