WTXF - 2003 - The End of Fox Philadelphia

The open to the final WTXF newscast as "Fox Philadelphia", from April 26, 2003. Beginning the next day, the station would revive its old "Fox 29" moniker with a brand new look and feel. George Mallet, Karen Thomas, and Billy Vargus present their segments from different locations with varying degrees of dinginess while the main set was reworked. The music is interesting, but I'll elaborate on that in a future post.
Two promos precede this newscast; one is branded Fox Philadelphia, the other is branded Fox 29. That new name was phased in over the course of a week or so, until everything was redone.
In 1995, just around when Fox bought WTXF, the station decided to change its identity to "Fox Philadelphia"; the number 29 was dropped from all on-air usage. Station management, led by Roger LaMay, pinned the reason for the new name on cable. He was right in that regard, as I've seen WTXF on 2, 5, 15, and others depending on the cable system... any channel except for 29. Newscasts were collectively titled "Fox News", but more often promoted under the specific program name, i.e. "Fox Ten O'Clock News".
This remains the case (actually it's worse now; I get to watch it in HD on 234), but WTXF switched back to "Fox 29" in 2003. The abrupt switch was never really explained, although there are a couple of plausible reasons. LaMay left the station a few months prior to the name change. Fox was pushing a more standard look and logo for their O&Os. And, of course, there wasn't a Fox News Channel in 1995. My gut feeling is that it had more to do with the departure of LaMay than anything.

[@Mrtraveler01]

I liked the homage to Monty Python in the first promo.

[@arhuxtable]

WTAF-WTXF operated on a non-cable basis on the UHF(Ultra High Frequency) Channel 29 and still does. My Suburban Cablevision carried the station on Channel 15 through September 30,1988. The following day,the launching of Turner Network Television took the old WTXF slot and to this day,I sorely miss the Philadelphia-based station.

[@drewandjeffers5695]

The theme song from the WTXF FOX 29 GOOD DAY PHILADELPHIA promo was "FOX 5 NEWS 2002", morning theme, by Andy Zulla. It was heard on WNYW FOX 5 GOOD DAY NY in 2001-2004 then the main theme was updated in 2004-2006 and it was also heard on WTXF FOX 29 GOOD DAY PHILADELPHIA from 2003-2006.

[@jwgreek8606]

Good thing it's wtxf fox 29 again!

[@jordanc9584]

Oh my god! Kerri-Lee Mayland has but hasn't changed much between 2003 and 2016 but now she works at NBC Connecticut!

[@UnrelatedArchives]

Just before they switched to WNYW's theme. Their package must've debuted that Monday?

[@jhoyscherzinger29]

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