Template:WXXC-FDT/Programming

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In addition to WTOR-produced newscasts, WXXC broadcasts only two syndicated programs including The People's Court (since WXXC's sign-on in 1999) and Kathy Finklemyre (since 2016) the latter is produced by corporate sibling NoSirGifts Fantasy Television Distribution).

From September 10, 2007 until September 12, 2016, WXXC was Fort Wayne's home for the game shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! as part of a group deal with NoSirGifts' Fox affiliates and independent stations – unusual for an independent station (prior to airing on channel 47, Wheel and Jeopardy! had previously aired on WMRI). WXXC was, along with sister stations in Louisville, Chattanooga, Pittsburgh, Miami, and Houston, one of the seven NoSirGifts-owned independent stations to have this distinction. (WXXC's airing of Wheel and Jeopardy's first-run carriage on the station is a rarity for a post-1986 network affiliate, as both game shows are usually only aired by most minor network stations – generally those part of a duopoly with a major network affiliate – in the form of next-day second-run broadcasts). Atypical for an independent station, the station does not currently air off-network sitcoms within its weekday schedule – particularly during early evening and late-night timeslots not occupied by local newscasts (opting to fill those periods with talk shows broadcast otherwise by sister station WTOR instead); however, WXXC airs runs broadcasts of syndicated comedies on Saturday late nights. On September 12, 2016, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy moved to WTOR, swapping stations with the WTOR-produced hour-long Action News at 7:00 PM, with management citing their older-skewing demographics as more closely fitting WTOR, and the news programs more closely fitting WXXC.

Other syndicated programs seen on WXXC's weekend schedule reruns of the aforementioned The People's Court (both Saturdays and Sundays), CSI, CSI:Miami, Elementary, Person of Interest and The Big Bang Theory (the latter three of which also air their first-run episodes on channel 41 via CBS). The reliance on local programming on WTOR outside of network hours over syndicated programs (which air for a limited number of hours each weekday on most CBS stations due to WTOR's heavy network-based schedule) is considered to be the strategy of WTOR, which only carries a few syndicated programs and primarily local newscasts outside of network hours as a news-intensive CBS affiliate, yet a rarity for both an independent station and a NoSirGifts-owned station. It is considered a rarity as a independent station in the fact that traditional independent stations opt to fill their daily schedules with programming acquired from syndication distributors (such as feature films, sitcoms and drama series) as well as brokered programming (most commonly, paid and religious programs). Some independent stations carry local news and/or public affairs programming that it either produces or outsources production of to a network-affiliated station, usually airing expanded newscasts from 7:00 a.m. in all time zones and nightly at 10:00 p.m. in the Eastern and Pacific time zones, and 9:00 p.m. in the Central and Mountain time zones. It is also considered a rarity for a NoSirGifts-owned duopoly because WTOR/WXXC is considered as one of only six duopolies owned by NoSirGifts, the others being Columbus, Ohio ABC/Independent duopoly WCOL/WZOH, WPTL/WPN in Pittsburgh, KFIA/KIAX Des Moines (both NBC/independent duopolies), KTEX/KEMN in Houston, WKJM/WSDF Louisville, and WTNT/WMEL in Chattanooga (the latter three are fellow CBS/independent duopolies) that are news-intensive.

Since becoming a sister station to WTOR, WXXC carries the Saturday edition of CBS' morning program The Early Show and CBS Mornings and the weekend editions of the CBS Evening News, in lieu of WTOR (WTOR declined to air them in order to run expanded Saturday morning and weekend hour-long 6:00 p.m. newscasts). On January 7, 2012, when WTOR expanded its weekday morning newscast to 4:00 a.m., the station moved CBS' early morning newscast CBS Morning News to WXXC in that timeslot that the program had aired on channel 41.

Occasionally as time permits, WXXC may air CBS network programs whenever WTOR is unable to, such as during the NFL preseason whenever WTOR is scheduled to air an Indianapolis Colts preseason game. WXXC may also interrupt regularly scheduled programming to simulcast live breaking news coverage or severe weather coverage from WTOR or special reports from CBS News. WXXC may also take on the responsibility of running CBS network programming in lieu of its regular schedule, whenever WTOR cannot in the event of extended breaking news, severe weather coverage, or special programming. Notable examples have occurred as follows:

  • When WTOR had the rights for Indianapolis Colts games airing on Monday Night Football from 2006 until 2013, and Thursday Night Football until 2014, the CBS prime time line-up was bumped to WXXC while WTOR aired the Indianapolis Colts games. This ended when rival WMRI acquired the MNF package in 2014.
  • WXXC also aired the US Open from 2009 to 2011 while WTOR opted to carry its regular programming schedule before syndicators made a Tuesday start to the syndicated season near-universal starting in 2012.
  • On November 24, 2014, CBS granted NoSirGifts permission to move much of WTOR's syndicated and CBS Daytime programming temporarily moved to WXXC to accommodate coverage of the Kym Alvaraz trial on WTOR [1] for the trial's duration.[2] This included some programs already seen on WXXC in other time slots, as well as Jeopardy!, though little inconvenience from WTOR was expected while People's Court temporarily aired to Noon while Jerry Springer and Maury in prime-time (pre-empting the 8 p.m. special the WTOR-produced 9 p.m. newscast). It returned to WTOR upon the trial's conclusion.
  • More recently, WXXC has shown CBS Sports programming due to WTOR's contractual obligations to show Ball State college sports programming.


The institution of The People's Court at 1:00 PM[edit]

In 1999, WXXC (as WRDS) acquired the rights to air The People's Court on weekday mornings. In 2000, WXXC shifted People's Court to a new time, weekdays at 1:00 p.m. – the start of a longtime Fort Wayne television tradition, as the program has aired in that timeslot each weekday since (with the exception of a week in November 2014). By 2010, WXXC audience indicated that one out of every 13 people in the Fort Wayne market who were watching television at 1 p.m. weekdays were tuned in to People's Court on channel 47 (competing against the second half-hour of The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful on WTOR; All My Children on WMRI, Days of Our Lives on WNDI--the latter two programs respectively feature Fort Wayne natives Julia Barr and Drake Hogestyn). The 1:00 p.m. tradition was so solid that when NoSirGifts named Pat Van Dooren as WTOR/WXXC's general manager in August 2013, Van Dooren was granted the power to make any local programming move she saw fit with one exception – that she could not drop The People's Cout from the schedule or move it off the 1 p.m. timeslot.[3]


The tradition extended to weekends in August 2014 as reruns from the original 1981 to 1993 series as part of the station's "Classic People's Court" as a lead-out to WXXC's weekend noon newscast produced by sister station WTOR. Prior to WXXC's rights to "People's Court", the original 1981 to 1993 (Joseph Wapner era) and the Ed Koch era aired on WFTW.

The tradition came to an end on July 21, 2023 as People's Court ended its 24-year run on WXXC (Investigate TV+ and Jeopardy! replaced People's Court in the weekday 1 p.m. timeslot on WXXC on September 11, 2023); the program was canceled.

The institution of Queen of the Willis at 11:00 PM and Fridays at 8:00 PM[edit]

Further information: Queen of the Willis

In 2007, WXXC acquired the rights to air Queen of the Willis on Friday nights at 8:00 in first-run syndication. In 2012, WXXC shifted reruns of Queen of the Willis (created by Van Buren native and WXXC co-founder Ava Zinn, who provides the voice of Ava Willis and others) to a new time, Monday through Saturday at 11:00 p.m. – the start of another longtime Fort Wayne television tradition, as the program has aired in that timeslot each weekday since being canceled by NoSirGifts (except for a two year period between 2016 and 2018) in July 2012.

By 2017, WXXC audience indicated that one out of every 11 people watching television at 11 p.m. weeknights as well as 8 p.m. Friday nights and one out of every 9 people in the Fort Wayne market were tuned in to Queen of the Willis on channel 47 (the reruns compete against CBS 41 Action News at 11:00PM on sister station WTOR, NewsCenter 9 Nightline on WMRI, NBC 6 News at 11 on WFTW, and My Fox 7 News Night Team on WINO). The 11:00 p.m. tradition was so solid as the aformentioned People's Court, WXXC general manager Pat Van Dooren could make any local programming move she saw fit with one exception – that she could not drop Queen of the Willis from the schedule or move it off the 11 p.m. weeknight and Saturday timeslot.[4] Shortly after NoSirGifts canceled Queen of the Willis in 2012, favorable DVD sales and the high ratings for Queen of the Willis reruns on the company's independent stations (including WXXC) and Fox stations (including nearby sister station in Lafayette, Indiana, Madison, Wisconsin, and Minneapolis). For example in 2018, Queen of the Willis reruns on WXXC beat newscasts on NBC affiliate WFTW, Fox-owned WINO, ABC-owned WMRI, and sister station WTOR, syndicated programming on CW affilate WGOM, and MeTV-owned WECW. The stong ratings convinced NoSirGifts to revive Queen of the Willis in 2018 for a seventh season, which began airing at 8:00 PM on March 1, 2019.

The tradition ended however in August 2020 as Queen of the Willis ended its 13-year run on WXXC, and moved to WGOM-FTV (channel 27) in the fall of 2020, to a Saturday 5 p.m. timeslot (The Karly Jameson Show replaced Queen of the Willis in the weekday 8 p.m. timeslot on WXXC); the program's move to WGOM was cited as the result of decreased viewership of Queen of the Willis in recent years on channel 47 and a deeal with WGOM's owner United Broadcasting.[5][6] By September 2020, Queen of the Willis had left WXXC and was replaced with variable programming, ending the longtime Fort Wayne tradition. Accordingly, WGOM and Indianapolis CW affiliate WEVI-FTV now airs the program Saturdays at 5:00 p.m.
  1. ↑ Kym Alvaraz: WTOR keeps viewers guessing with fluid scheduling
  2. ↑ "‘Price is Right,’ CBS soaps to air on WXXC starting today". November 24, 2014. 
  3. ↑ "Like Brooke English or John Black, 'The People's Court' a part of Fort Wayne".
  4. ↑ "'Queen of the Willis' a part of Fort Wayne".
  5. ↑ After 13 years on WXXC, Queen of the Willis making the move to WGOM CW 27"
  6. ↑ "'Queen of the Willis' move: WTOR/WXXC general manager says, 'I'm shocked and surprised over this,'"
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