Fox's WDCA Washington Is Adopting a New Image

The Fox station group is making changes at WDCA, the MyNetwork affiliate in Washington, to more closely align it with its primary D.C. station, WTTG.

Starting July 17, WDCA will be branded Fox 5 Plus, a tie-in to the name WTTG goes by – Fox 5.

WDCA also will be home to a nightly 8 p.m. newscast called Fox 5 News on the Plus, anchored by WTTG’s Tony Perkins and Shawn Yancy. The station will add breaking news updates when pertinent, Fox said.

“Given Fox 5’s brand recognition, this extension gives us the ability to build upon our strength in the marketplace and provide our viewers with additional opportunities to watch Fox 5 News,” VP and general manager Patrick Paolini said.

WDCA’s syndicated MyNetwork programming, including Judge Judy, Big Bang Theory and Dr. Oz, will continue to air.

The change comes as Fox prepares to move its programming from ch. 20 WDCA to WTTG's spectrum (it is on ch. 5). Fox sold WDCA's spectrum in the broadcast incentive auction for $119 million. Stations will have 39 months to give up their spectrum and, as in the case of WDCA and most stations in the auction, start sharing spectrum with a station in the market with which a sharing agreement has been struck.