WBFF
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Template:Infobox Broadcast WBFF, "FOX45" is the Fox affiliate in Baltimore, Maryland, broadcasting on channel 45 (digital channel 46). The station is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, for which it is the flagship station. WBFF is the sister station of WNUV, forming a duopoly owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.
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History
WBFF began broadcasting on April 11, 1971. The station was started by Jullian Smith, under a company known as Commercial Radio Institute. At that time, it was an average American independent station, airing old sitcoms and movies. The call letters stand for "We're Baltimore's Finest Features," and come from the fact that the station aired mostly old movies when it first signed on the air. Alternatively, the call letters might derive from or Baltimore Forty Five, the UHF channel number it airs on. The station also ran a number of classic sitcoms and a few cartoons, which were packaged in the afternoon in a show hosted by, and named for, Captain Chesapeake.
The station was a low budget operation, but also a very profitable one, which prompted Commercial Radio Institute to launch WPTT (now WCWB) in Pittsburgh. David Smith took a more prominent role in the operations of WBFF by the 1980s.
Most of the newer off-network sitcoms went to WBAL-TV, WJZ-TV or WMAR-TV, resulting in WBFF having a weaker programmming lineup even into the early 1980s. The station also began to receive more competition within the decade, with WNUV signing on in 1984 (and going full-time in 1986), and WJKL signing on in 1986 (although it became a Shop At Home station by the end of the year; it is now WUTB).
Commercial Radio Institute became Sinclair in 1985. When the Fox network was launched in 1986, WBFF became Baltimore's affiliate.
In 1991, Sinclair attempted to buy WMAR-TV with plans to move WBFF to that station, making Channel 2 Baltimore's Fox affiliate. However, those plans never materialized.
WNUV was sold by Abry to Eddie Edwards in 1993. Sinclair then began operating WNUV in tandem with WBFF under a local marketing agreement in 1994, though Edwards retained ownership of WNUV.
In November, 2002, Fox Television Stations Group, owner of WUTB, was considering moving Fox's programming to WUTB, which would have left WBFF to become a UPN affiliate. However, Sinclair signed a contract to keep Fox on channel 45 at least until mid-2005. WBFF Fox45 is currently the only television station in Baltimore that has not changed network affiliation, having been with FOX since the network was launched. It was speculated between January 24, 2006 and February 22, 2006 that WBFF might be losing its Fox affiliation due to Fox-owned WUTB losing its status as a UPN affiliate when The CW forms, however, this was confirmed not to be when Fox announced that WUTB will become an affiliate of their new My Network TV network, so Fox will remain on WBFF.
Newscasts
WBFF launched a 10pm newscast on June 1, 1991, then added a morning newscast in March 2000.
In February 2003, the station added an 11pm newscast sourced from News Central, Sinclair's centralized news service based in Hunt Valley. Newscasts at 5:30am and 5:30pm were subsequently added to WBFF in January 2005.
Tony Harris, later a CNN anchor, was once the station's lead anchor.
Trivia
The station was featured in an episode of the third season of The Simple Life. On that episode, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie took control of Fox 45's morning newscast, reading the weather forecast and messing with the teleprompter.
The late George Lewis was a staple of WBFF's afternoon lineup for many years, playing Captain Chesapeake and presenting the station's cartoon programs in the era before nationally provided Fox children's shows.