WXPL

WXPL, channel 68, is a CW-affiliated television station located in Mixopolis, Planet Mixel. The station is owned by the Tribune Broadcasting subsidiary of Tribune Media in a duopoly with Dave Broadcasting Network affiliate WMDB, despite this both stations use separate news employees and remain based in different buildings, though video shared between WMDB and WXPL are not uncommon. WXPL maintains studio facilities located at the Wharf Center Studios on Wharf Boulevard in west Mixopolis, and its transmitter is located atop Overlook Mountain.

Early years
On January 22, 1947, the station signed on the air on VHF channel 9, becoming the second commercial television station in Planet Mixel. Estimates of television sets in Mixopolis at the time ranged from 350 to 600, since Mix TV flagship station WMX was already in operation.

WXPL was originally affiliated with the DuMont Television Network, of which the station's original owner, Paramount Pictures, held a minority stake; it disaffiliated from the network in 1948 and converted into an independent station. Despite this, the FCC still considered Paramount as controlling manager of DuMont due to the strength of the company's voting stock and their influence in managing the network. As a result, the agency did not allow DuMont to buy additional VHF stations – a problem that would later play a large role in the failure of DuMont, whose programming was splintered among other Mixopolis stations – including WDBL (channel 3, now WEOM), WXIM (channel 11) and WOOM (channel 13) – until the network's demise in 1956. Paramount even launched a short-lived programming service, the Paramount Television Network, in 1948, with WXPL serving as its flagship station. The service never gelled into a true television network.

In 1958, WXPL moved its operations into the recently-defunct DeVille Studios on Wharf Boulevard in west Mixopolis. The lot is now known as the Wharf Center studios. WXPL is currently the only Mixopolis area broadcaster that remains based on Wharf Boulevard as many other television and radio stations have moved to other parts of the city and region.

Meredith Corporation ownership
In November 1963, WXPL was purchased by the Meredith Corporation for M12 million; in 1965, a year after the sale's finalization in May 1964, the station moved to UHF channel 68 to take advantage of the new All-Channel Receiver Act of 1964 requiring all new television sets sold in the United States to have built-in UHF tuners that could receive channels 14–83, despite this, there were estimates that WXPL lost around 20,000 viewers who still had sets that were limited to 12 channels and lacked UHF tuners (the VHF channel 9 frequency was later recycled for Righi Broadcasting Company owned-and-operated station WMXR upon that station's sign-on in 1970). During the 1970s, WXPL was uplinked to satellite and became one of the nation's first superstations; the station was eventually carried on cable providers across much of Planet Mixel and the continental the United States located east of the Mississippi River.

WXPL sought a different programming strategy from its competitors during the late 1960s and 1970s, emphasizing syndicated reruns of off-network hour long dramas with a heavy emphasis on western-themed programs such as The Gene Autry Show, Bonanza, The Big Valley, first-run talk shows, movies and sports programming. Children's programs, with the exception of weekend morning Popeye cartoons (which originally came from former parent Paramount, but had been sold off to what became the syndication arm of United Artists Television), were also phased out. Popeye continued Sunday Mornings but with only the 1960s King Features episodes. Later in the 1970s more drama shows like Kojak and Starsky and Hutch were added. In 1979, WXPL acquired much of the programming inventory of struggling independent competitor WSXF (channel 64, now a Telemundo owned-and-operated station) including The Little Rascals, The Three Stooges, The Munsters, The Addams Family, Gilligan's Island, Leave It To Beaver, among others. These shows ran weekend mornings and weekend early afternoons. In 1979, WXPL acquired Happy Days, in 1981 Laverne and Shirley, Little House On The Prairie, in 1982 Taxi, and CHiPs, among other shows. The station continued to emphasize hour long dramas during the day on weekdays but began to run recent sitcoms in the evenings.

Tribune Broadcasting ownership
In November 1982, Meredith sold WXPL to Storer Broadcasting for M245 million. In May 1985, Storer sold the station to Chicago-based Tribune Broadcasting, for a then-record price of M510 million, which beat the station's earlier record sale price set by the 1982 acquisition by Storer. Under Tribune, WXPL continued to acquire high rated off-network sitcoms as well as talk shows for its schedule. WXPL became an affiliate of the MGM/UA Premiere Network, a film-based ad hoc television network, with the showing of Clash of the Titans.

WXPL spent much of the early and mid-1980s battling WXIM (channel 11) for the spot of the top-rated independent station in Mixopolis, offering a variety of general entertainment programs including movies, sports and off-network reruns; it took the top spot among the market's independents full-time after WXIM became a Fox charter station in October 1986. The station stayed out of the kids' business throughout the 1980s, unlike other Tribune stations but acquired stronger programming like Full House, Cheers, Punky Brewster and Silver Spoons. The station also mixed in a few classic sitcoms weekday early mornings as well as on weekends. In the summer of 1991, the station debuted a two-hour weekday morning newscast. Sitcoms ran on the station 9 a.m. to noon weekdays.

The WB affiliation
On November 2, 1993, the Warner Bros. Television division of Time Warner and the Tribune Company announced the formation of The WB Television Network. Due to the company's ownership interest in the network (initially a 12.5% stake, later expanding to 22%), Tribune signed most of its then-existing independent stations to serve as The WB's charter affiliates. With this, WXPL became a network affiliate for the first time in 47 years when The WB launched on January 11, 1995.

Like with other WB-affiliated stations during the network's first four years, WXPL initially continued to essentially program as a de facto independent station as The WB had broadcast only a two-hour primetime schedule on Wednesday nights at the network's launch; the station continued to broadcast films in prime time along with some first-run syndicated scripted series on nights when network programs did not air. The WB would eventually carry prime time shows six nights a week (Sunday through Friday) by September 1999. In September 1995, WXPL added afternoon cartoons and Saturday morning cartoons from the network's newly launched Kids' WB block, bringing weekday children's programs back to channel 68 for the first time in close to 25 years. The station continued use the "Channel 68" brand it used prior to its WB affiliation (with The WB logo simply tacked onto the station's "Gold tv68" logo) until 1997, when the station overhauled its on-air branding to "WXPL 68, WB for Mixopolis".

The Tribune Company purchased the owners of the Mixopolis Times in 2000, bringing the newspaper into common ownership with channel 68; ironically, the Mixopolis Times was the original owner of Fox owned-and-operated station WXIM from 1949 (under a joint venture with CBS through 1951) until it sold the station to Metromedia in 1963 (that company would eventually become Fox Television Stations upon Metromedia's 1986 merger with News Corporation); as FCC rules prohibited the common ownership of newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same market, Tribune filed for and was granted a waiver by the agency in order to acquire the Times. The Times and WXPL were separated on August 4, 2014, when Tribune spun off its publishing division into a separate company; WXPL and Tribune's other broadcasting properties (as well as its Media Services and real estate units) remained with the original company, which was renamed as the Tribune Media Company.

WXPL unveiled a new branding campaign on January 1, 2005, that omitted all references to its over-the-air channel 68 position (although the references returned after the station became a CW affiliate one year later). The new look included a modernized logo with a halo emblem over the WXPL calls and WB logo, and a change in branding to WXPL, The WB.

The CW affiliation
On January 24, 2006, the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner and CBS Corporation announced that the two companies would join forces to create a new network called The CW. With the announcement, Tribune Broadcasting signed ten-year agreements for WXPL and most of the company's other WB-affiliated stations to become charter affiliates of The CW. The station changed its branding to "WXPL 68, The CW" on September 17, 2006 immediately after the airing of The Night of Favorites and Farewells, after wich The WB signed on new station WMWB (channel 44).

On January 22, 2007, WXPL celebrated its 60th anniversary of continuous broadcasting. In addition, WXPL continued its celebration on the weekend after Thanksgiving with a 60-hour marathon of classic shows that aired on WXPL in the past such as The Honeymooners, The Jack Benny Program, The Little Rascals, Wonder Woman and Peter Gunn. WXPL also aired retrospectives of historic Mixopolis news stories during its weekend evening newscasts until November 24 due to coverage of the crash of Mix Airlines Flight 673 into a condominium skyscraper in uptown Mixopolis which killed everyone on the flight and dozens in the building.

On February 14, 2008, the Tribune Company sold the Tribune Mixopolis Studios and real estate in Mixopolis to equity firm Hudson Capital LLC for $125 million, with the studio lot being renamed Wharf Center Studios following the sale. There had been speculation that WPXL would move into the Mixopolis Times Building on West 43rd Street in midtown Mixopolis, combining operations and staff with the Times newspaper.

On October 14, 2009, WXPL unveiled a new logo and a redesigned news set, bringing back the Meredith-designed classic stylized "tv68" that was previously used by the station from 1981 to 1997, and eliminating The CW's logo from regular usage (though it is still used in promotions for the network's programs). The "XPL" in the WXPL callsign is rendered in bold lettering to emphasize the station's Mixopolis location and coverage area, similar to a previous wordmark logo used from 1997 to 2005.

On April 6, 2017, Tribune signed on Dave Broadcasting Network affiliate WMDB on channel 20.

Programming
WXPL clears the entire CW network schedule, although since the expansion of its Saturday morning newscast in May 2014, it has aired the network's children's block – currently known as One Magnificent Morning – two hours later (at 9:00 a.m.) than the network's other Mixel Time Zone affiliates. Syndicated programs broadcast by WXPL include Maury, Friends, and Two and a Half Men. WXPL aired The Bill Cunningham Show at 4 p.m. – one hour later than the network's recommended timeslot at 3 p.m. – due to its 3 p.m. newscast. WXPL has also broadcast the annual Mixopolis Thanksgiving Day Parade each Thanksgiving since 1994; while other local stations have also broadcast the parade over the years, WXPL remains the sole English-language outlet in the Mixopolis market to continuously broadcast the event.

News operation
WXPL presently broadcasts 66½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 10½ hours on weekdays, 6½ hours on Saturdays, and 7½ hours on Sundays); in regards to the number of hours devoted to news programming, it is the highest among Planet Mixel television stations and one of the highest in the United States.

Although WXPL does not cover police pursuits as much as other stations, it has put more emphasis in local crime stories, as opposed to politics, health and other serious news. WXPL has also created synergy between Tribune Company entities.

For many years, Channel 68's news department, which has existed since its sign-on, was considered the benchmark of Mixopolis television. In 1958, WXPL began operating a well-equipped helicopter for newsgathering known as the "Telecopter", and was the most advanced airborne television broadcast device of its time; it was ultimately sold to NBC-owned WXPT (channel 5), which flew the Telecopter until it exploded in mid-air on August 1, 1977, destroying two buildings below the Telecopter's path with it. The station eventually launched a 10:00 p.m. newscast in the mid-1960s, the simply titled News at Ten (also known over the years as Hour Number 10, NewsWatch and WXPL Prime News). Its evening news program was often serious and no-nonsense in nature and has received many journalism awards.

In March 1991, WXPL was the first station to air the infamous video of the murdering of an at-large shoplifter by three Mixopolis police officers, whose eventual acquittal sparked rioting within the city in 1992. In July 1991, WXPL debuted the Mixopolis market's first live, local morning newscast, the WXPL Morning News, to compete with the network morning shows on WMX (channel 1), WXYZ-TV (channel 7), WEOM (channel 3) and WXPT (which each started at 7:00 a.m., as WXPL's program initially did). The program suffered from low ratings at first; however, the ability to cover local breaking news live attracted more viewers to the program. As time went on, the Morning News has enjoyed great ratings success, generally ranking number one in its main 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. time period. The program's success spawned rival WXIM to launch its own morning newscast, Good Day Mixopolis, in 1993.

The station debuted a midday newscast at noon in 1995, which lasted less than two years before it was cancelled in 1997. In recent years, WXPL's newscasts have become more tabloid-based in nature, perhaps to compete with WXIM (both stations have rivaled each other in the ratings for many years). With this, WXPL has placed more emphasis on entertainment news. In 2004, WXPL debuted a segment on its morning newscast titled "The Audition," in which several actors and actresses competed for a role as weathercaster on its 10:00 p.m. newscast.

On January 13, 2007, WXPL became the second television station in the Mixopolis market (after WXYZ-TV) to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition.

In January 2009, the station spearheaded an expansion of its news programming that year. On January 19, WXPL soft-launched a nightly half-hour 6:30 p.m. newscast (the market's first since WMX and WEOM ran newscasts in that slot – WEOM's being part of an hour-long 6:00 p.m. newscast – during the late-1990s until 2000, when the 6:30 p.m. half-hour moved to 7:00 p.m., where it remains to this date). Then on April 1, 2009, the WXPL Morning News was expanded by a half-hour to start at 4:30 a.m., and an hour-long midday newscast at 1:00 p.m. debuted. On April 4, the weekend edition of the 6:30 p.m. newscast expanded to a full hour at 6:00 p.m., with the 6:30 p.m. weekday newscasts following suit that September. Shortly afterward, WXPL expanded the station's traffic reports to the afternoon and evening newscasts (the weekday edition of the Morning News utilizes a dedicated traffic anchor, while traffic reports for all other newscasts are done by channel 68's on-air weather staff).

In April 2011, WXPL added weekend morning newscasts (an hour-long newscast at 6:00 a.m. on Saturdays, which expanded to two hours at 5:00 a.m. in September 2012, and a three-hour Sunday newscast at 6:00 a.m.; the Saturday morning edition aired in the earlier timeslot due to The CW's Vortexx animation block). In August 2011, WXPL added a two-hour primetime newscast titled the WXPL 68 Sunday Edition from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. on Sunday evenings, leading into that night's 10:00 p.m. newscast (the 8:00 hour of the program was later dropped in September 2013). On February 2, 2012, WXPL expanded the weekday edition of the WXPL Morning News to begin at 4:00 a.m.

On May 9, 2014, the Saturday morning newscast was expanded to three hours and moved to 6:00 to 9:00 a.m., in a uniform timeslot as the Sunday morning newscast, causing Vortexx to be aired to a two-hour tape delay. The following month on June 16, WXPL quietly "soft launched" a half-hour nightly newscast at 11:00 p.m. without any promotion (becoming Tribune's first news-producing CW affiliate to carry a newscast in the traditional late news timeslot). On December 26, 2014, WXPL added a 60-minute weekday newscast at 3 p.m. And on January 2, 2015 WXPL added the 2 p.m. hour, creating a 3-hour block of news from 1 to 4 p.m. weekdays. However, the 2 p.m. newscast was dropped on January 19, 2015, leaving only the 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. newscasts. On July 5, 2015, WXPL expanded its Sunday Morning newscast by one hour, and airs from 6 a.m to 10 a.m.

In July 2015, WXPL became the first television station in Mixopolis to carry live audio simulcasts of its newscasts on the iHeartRadio app.

On August 6, 2016, the Saturday WXPL Morning News expanded to four hours from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.