PORTLAND, Ore.—The WNBA’s Portland Fire and NWSL’s Portland Thorns announced a multi-year media rights deal establishing Gray Media’s KPDX (Fox 12 Plus) as the regional broadcast home for the two professional women’s sports teams in Portland.

Additionally, the Portland Fire WNBA expansion team announced that they have signed a deal with Kiswe to offer a direct-to-consumer service that will give fan access to live games, original programming, and in-depth team storytelling on a newly-branded Portland Fire streaming platform.

“The partnerships with Gray and Kiswe represent an important step in continuing to cement Portland as the global epicenter of women’s sports,” said Michael Whitehead, sports marketing director at RAJ Sports, which owns the two teams. “These partnerships are designed to put fans and accessibility first and will set a new standard for how women’s sports can be enjoyed.”

“Our goal is to ensure all fans have the opportunity to view free over-the-air games and support our local professional athletes,” added Gray Local Media regional vice president and general manager, Corey Hanson. “Fox 12 Plus is honored to provide the space to highlight women’s sports, giving them the visibility they’ve earned and inspiring the next generation of athletes.”

Fox 12 Plus will serve as the exclusive local broadcast home of the Portland Fire, with all available games airing on Fox 12 Plus and select games simulcast on Fox 12 (KPTV).

Game broadcasts will be produced in partnership with Raycom Sports, a subsidiary of Gray Media.

The Portland Thorns will continue their local broadcast presence on Fox 12 Plus with expanded match clearance, shared weekly storytelling segments, and inclusion across original women’s sports programming.

In addition to linear broadcast coverage, the Portland Fire will debut a branded direct-to-consumer streaming platform built and operated in partnership with Kiswe featuring interactive live game streaming, exclusive bonus content, and innovative fan experiences built to bring all Fire fans together.

“At Kiswe, we believe that fans want more than just a place to watch a game, they’re looking for community,” said Kiswe CEO Glenn Booth. “Our partnership with the Portland Fire is about far more than powering another streaming service. It is about building a dedicated digital destination where the team and its fans can connect. By combining interactive livestreaming with exclusive content and engaging fan experiences, we are creating a community-centric platform that reflects the passion of Portland and ensures every Fire fan is part of the action, no matter where they are.”

The new partnership also includes original studio programming focused on both teams, community initiatives, and athlete storytelling, including coverage highlighting the upcoming Kaiser Permanente Performance Center – a first-of-its-kind, dual-purpose professional soccer and basketball complex from RAJ Sports designed around the needs of women athletes. Content will be distributed across broadcast, digital, and connected TV platforms, including a dedicated Fox 12 CTV experience.

“This landmark partnership underscores a shared commitment by RAJ Sports, Gray Media, Raycom Sports, and Kiswe to build an innovative multiplatform media model that expands access and celebrates women’s sports,” said president & CEO of LHB Sports, Entertainment & Media, Inc., Lee H. Berke, who advised RAJ Sports on these transactions.

BURLINGTON, Vt.—WCAX-TV and WPTZ-TV have been off the air for traditional over-the-air services since Tuesday, Nov. 19, following a fire on the WCAX-owned transmission tower atop Mount Mansfield in Vermont.

The remote tower hosts antenna for both WCAX, the local CBS affiliate, and WPTZ, an NBC affiliate, as well as Vermont Public Radio and Vox AM/FM. However, only the television antenna for WCAX and WPTZ appeared to have been damaged.

The fire was extinguished by 6 p.m. on Nov. 19. No injuries were reported and the cause of fire has not yet been determined.

As of the time of publish, both WCAX and WPTZ are still off-air.

When TV Technology reached out to WCAX for an update, we were directed to a recording that said the following:

“Currently WCAX is off the air due to the failure of our main antenna at our transmission site at Mt. Mansfield. WCAX engineers and crews from across the U.S. and Canada have been brought in to address the situation. In the meantime, we are working to reestablish connections from WCAX to cable and satellite operators across the viewing area so you can watch WCAX like normal.”

The recording continued to share ways that WCAX viewers could continue to watch, including streaming for free through the station’s website and mobile apps, as well as through paid digital streamers like CBS All Access, YouTube TV and Hulu.

WPTZ offered its own update on its website, in which it said that a tower crew was on-site at Mount Mansfield inspecting the damager and working to restore television service, “though it’s not currently clear when that will be,” the post said. WPTZ informed its viewers that it can still be accessed on Comcast, Xfinity and Charter cable systems, as well as Dish and DirecTV satellite services, as well as through streamed through its website and mobile apps.

TORONTO—A fire broke out in the early hours of Wednesday morning inside the broadcasting antenna at the CN Tower in Toronto, but has been extinguished by the Toronto Fire Department. However, over-the-air television feeds and radio channels may be affected by the antenna outage.

The fire began around 4:15 a.m. in the morning. Around 30 firefighters responded to the scene. Though the cause of the fire is not yet known, Toronto Fire District Chief Stephan Powell was quoted by CBC News as saying that one of the conduits that feed the various antenna feeds may have started to smoulder or burn.

No injuries were reported.

The antenna atop CN Tower is above the lookout and restaurant levels, consists of 44 pieces and is 102 meters high, per the tower’s website. One cable within the antenna was reported down, though it is not clear at the time of the report which broadcaster was affected by the outage. The mast was de-energized and the power shut off to the antenna to prevent the risk of other wiring catching fire.

The antenna is responsible for broadcasting more than 30 television and FM radio signals across southern Ontario.