Branding WGEM Fox First air date 1993 (1993) | Affiliations Fox Call letters' meaning see WGEM-TV | |
Channels Digital: WGEM-DT 10.3 (VHF)
Virtual: 10.3 (PSIP) Owner Quincy Media
(WGEM License, LLC) | ||
WGEM-DT3 is the Fox-affiliated television station for the Tri-States area of Western Illinois, Northeastern Missouri, and extreme Southeastern Iowa. It is a third digital subchannel of NBC affiliate WGEM-TV, which is owned by Quincy Media. Over-the-air, the station broadcasts a digital signal on VHF channel 10.3 from a transmitter east of the city on Cannonball Road near I-172. Known on-air as WGEM Fox, the station can also be seen on Mediacom channel 2 in Iowa, US Cable channel 12 in Missouri, and Comcast channel 18 in Illinois. It is offered in high definition on Comcast digital channel 383 and Mediacom digital channel 802. WGEM-DT3's parent station has studios in the Hotel Quincy on Hampshire Street in Downtown Quincy.
Contents
History
What is now WGEM-DT3 was established in 1993 by Continental Cablevision and WGEM to fill a void in a market where there was no local over-the-air Fox affiliate. Channel 10 had aired Fox programming in off-hours since 1990. It was originally known on-air with the fictional "CGEM" calls based after the "C" in Continental and "GEM" in WGEM. The station began to air on the third digital subchannel of WGEM-TV in 2007, and began to use the WGEM-DT3 call sign in an official manner in 2007; nonetheless, the "CGEM" branding was retained until 2010. The station still remains the only Fox station in the area, although Charter Communications in Hannibal also carries KTVI from St. Louis.
Local programming
WGEM once produced a weeknight 9 o'clock newscast for "CGEM", called CGEM News at 9. It debuted in April 2006, but was canceled in March 2007. The broadcast was anchored by Jake Miller with Chief Meteorologist Rich Cain and Sports Director Ben Marth.
At one point in time, WGEM-DT3 simulcast WGEM-FM's weekday morning show, WGEM Sunrise: Radio Edition, from 7 to 9. Today, "WGEM Fox" airs two WGEM-produced weekly public affair shows, City Desk and WGEM News This Week, along with two other locally-produced programs: Northland Adventures and WGEM Academic Challenge.
In addition to local programming, syndicated programming on the station includes: The Insider, Family Guy, Friends, and Everybody Loves Raymond.