WWPX-TV

Last updated

WWPX-TV
City Martinsburg, West Virginia
Channels
BrandingIon
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
WPXW-TV, WMAR-TV
History
FoundedMay 21, 1990
First air date
October 1, 1991(33 years ago) (1991-10-01)
Former call signs
  • WYVN (1991–1996)
  • WSHE-TV (1996–1998)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 60 (UHF, 1991–2009)
  • Digital: 12 (VHF, 2000–2020)
Call sign meaning
West Virginia's Pax; satellite of WPXW-TV
Technical information [1]
Licensing authority
 FCC
Facility ID 23264
ERP 4.2 kW
HAAT 327.5 m (1,074 ft)
Transmitter coordinates 39°14′21″N77°46′16″W / 39.23917°N 77.77111°W / 39.23917; -77.77111
Links
Public license information
Website iontelevision.com

WWPX-TV (channel 60) is a television station licensed to Martinsburg, West Virginia, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the northwestern portion of the Washington, D.C., television market. [2] Owned and operated by Ion Media, the station maintains transmitter facilities on Blue Ridge Mountain east of Charles Town, West Virginia.

Contents

WWPX-TV operates as a full-time satellite of the main Ion station for the Washington area, Manassas, Virginia–licensed WPXW-TV (channel 66), whose offices are located in Fairfax Station, Virginia. WWPX covers areas of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, northern Virginia, central Maryland and south-central Pennsylvania that receive a marginal to non-existent over-the-air signal from WPXW, although there is significant overlap between the two stations' contours otherwise. WWPX is a straight simulcast of WPXW; on-air references to WWPX are limited to Federal Communications Commission (FCC)-mandated hourly station identifications during programming. Aside from the transmitter, WWPX does not maintain any physical presence locally in Martinsburg.

History

Channel 60 signed on October 1, 1991, as WYVN ("Your Valley News"), with studios located in a renovated barn on Discovery Place in Martinsburg. WYVN was the second Fox affiliate in West Virginia, behind Charleston's WVAH-TV (now a Catchy Comedy affiliate). Unusually for Fox stations in the network's early years, WYVN made a commitment from the beginning to local news and public affairs programming. [3] However, owner Flying A Communications found itself in financial trouble due to the cost of the local news operation and poor ratings from competition with Washington, D.C.-based stations. Flying A Communications filed for bankruptcy in October 1992, and the station suspended newscasts in May 1993. [4]

WYVN was forced off the air when Flying A went into receivership on September 17, 1993. A sale to WUSQ-FM owner Benchmark Communications, who would have converted the station to CBS affiliate WUSQ-TV, was worked out and approved by the station's bankruptcy trustee, but fell through at the last minute; the license was instead sold to Green River Broadcasting, who returned the station to air on September 24 while it worked out a financing plan. [5] [6] Having lost its Fox affiliation, WYVN soldiered on as an independent, and briefly attempted a return of local news from January through February 1994. [7] [8] The station remained unable to emerge from bankruptcy; the studio and equipment were sold to its creditors on April 1, 1994, and they locked out the staff and suspended broadcasting. [6] Paxson Communications acquired the license out of bankruptcy for $1.9 million in late 1994. [9]

The station returned again on September 1, 1996, as WSHE-TV, a Paxson station that aired the company's standard infomercial format, with religious programming in some dayparts. The change was made as a clean break with the troubled history of WYVN, but also to "park" a heritage call sign that Paxson had recently removed from one of its FM stations in Miami (now WMIB). [10] The station changed its call letters to WWPX at the beginning of 1998 and became a charter member of Pax TV along with most of Paxson's other stations on August 31 of that year. It has remained with the network, later known as i: Independent Television and now known as Ion Television, ever since.

WWPX was originally a full affiliate of Pax. In 2002, it converted to a satellite of WPXW. The station could no longer afford its own staff of five master-control operators, and becoming a satellite allowed it to carry only the legal minimum of one manager and one engineer. [11]

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WWPX-TV [12]
Channel Res. Aspect Short nameProgramming
60.1 720p 16:9 ION Ion Television
60.2Bounce Bounce TV
60.3 480i CourtTV Court TV
60.4Laff Laff
60.5Defy TV Ion Plus [13]
60.6Scripps Scripps News
60.7Jewelry Jewelry TV
60.8HSN HSN

Analog-to-digital conversion

WWPX-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 60, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition VHF channel 12, using virtual channel 60. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ion Television</span> American television network

Ion Television is an American broadcast television network and FAST television channel owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998, as Pax TV, focusing primarily on family-oriented entertainment programming. It rebranded as i: Independent Television on July 1, 2005, converting into a general entertainment network featuring recent and older acquired programs. The network adopted its identity as Ion Television on January 29, 2007.

WPXH-TV is a television station licensed to Hoover, Alabama, United States, serving the Birmingham area as an affiliate of Ion Television. The station is owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings, and maintains offices on Golden Crest Drive in Birmingham and a transmitter atop Red Mountain, near the city's southern edge.

WPXW-TV is a television station licensed to Manassas, Virginia, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the Washington, D.C. area. The station is owned by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, and maintains business offices in Fairfax Station, Virginia; its transmitter is located on River Road in Bethesda, Maryland. The Ion network is also broadcast in the region from WWPX-TV in Martinsburg, West Virginia, which shares the same subchannels as WPXW-TV, and on a subchannel of Scripps-owned ABC affiliate WMAR-TV in Baltimore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBDT</span> CW TV station in Springfield, Ohio

WBDT is a television station licensed to Springfield, Ohio, United States, serving the Dayton area as a de facto owned-and-operated station of The CW. It is owned by Vaughan Media, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Nexstar Media Group, owner of NBC affiliate WDTN and majority owner of The CW, for the provision of certain services. The two stations share studios on South Dixie Drive in Moraine, Ohio. Through a channel sharing agreement, WBDT, along with Richmond, Indiana–licensed Ion Television O&O WKOI-TV, share WDTN's digital channel from WDTN's transmitter facility on Frytown Road in southwest Dayton.

WOPX-TV is a television station licensed to Melbourne, Florida, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the Orlando area. Owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, the station maintains offices on Grand National Drive in Orlando, and its transmitter is located on Nova Road east of St. Cloud.

WPXL-TV is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network. It is owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, and maintains offices on Veterans Memorial Boulevard and Cleary Avenue in Metairie; its transmitter is located off Paris Road near the Orleans–St. Bernard parish line.

WIPX-TV is a television station licensed to Bloomington, Indiana, United States, serving the Indianapolis area as an affiliate of Ion Television. It is owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings alongside Scripps News affiliate WCLJ-TV. WIPX-TV and WCLJ-TV share offices on Production Drive in southwestern Indianapolis; through a channel sharing agreement, the two stations transmit using WIPX-TV's spectrum from an antenna on SR 252 in Trafalgar, Indiana.

KOPX-TV is a television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, affiliated with Ion Television. Owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings, the station maintains offices on Railway Drive in north Oklahoma City, and its transmitter is located near 122nd Street on the city's northeast side.

WGPX-TV is a television station licensed to Burlington, North Carolina, United States, serving the Piedmont Triad region as an affiliate of Ion Television. The station is owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings, and maintains offices on North O'Henry Boulevard in Greensboro; its transmitter is located in Randleman, North Carolina.

WWDP is a television station licensed to Norwell, Massachusetts, United States, serving the Boston area as an affiliate of Binge TV. It is owned by WRNN-TV Associates alongside Foxborough-licensed WMFP. Through a channel sharing agreement, the two stations transmit using WWDP's spectrum from a tower off Pleasant Street in West Bridgewater. WWDP's studios are located on Bert Drive, also in West Bridgewater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WNEU</span> Telemundo TV station in Merrimack, New Hampshire

WNEU is a television station licensed to Merrimack, New Hampshire, United States, serving as the Boston-area outlet for the Spanish-language network Telemundo. It is owned and operated by NBCUniversal's Telemundo Station Group alongside Nashua, New Hampshire–licensed Class A NBC station WBTS-CD, which shares spectrum with Boston-based PBS member station WGBX-TV to provide full-market coverage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ion Media</span> American television broadcast company

Ion Media, LLC is a subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company that operates the linear broadcast networks Ion Television and Ion Plus. Prior to its acquisition by Scripps, the company owned and operated over 71 television stations in most major American markets, and also operated Qubo and Ion Shop. After being operated as a private company since it entered and emerged from bankruptcy in 2009, it was acquired by the E. W. Scripps Company and merged with its Katz Broadcasting subsidiary on January 7, 2021, creating the new Scripps Networks division to manage those assets separately from its traditional broadcast network-affiliated television stations.

KFPX-TV is a television station licensed to Newton, Iowa, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the Des Moines area. Owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, the station maintains offices on 114th Street in Urbandale, and its transmitter is located in Alleman, Iowa.

WXPX-TV is a television station licensed to Bradenton, Florida, United States, serving as the Tampa Bay area's Ion Television outlet. It is owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Tampa-licensed ABC affiliate WFTS-TV. WXPX-TV's studios are located on 66th Street North in Clearwater, and its transmitter is located in Riverview, Florida.

KPXB-TV is a television station licensed to Conroe, Texas, United States, serving as the Houston area outlet for the Ion Television network. It is owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, and maintains a transmitter near Missouri City, in unincorporated northeastern Fort Bend County.

WQPX-TV is a television station licensed to Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to Northeastern Pennsylvania. Owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, the station has offices on Lackawanna Avenue in downtown Scranton, and its transmitter is located on Bald Mountain, northwest of Scranton and I-476.

WPXR-TV is a television station licensed to Roanoke, Virginia, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the Roanoke–Lynchburg market. The station is owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, and maintains a transmitter atop Poor Mountain in unincorporated southwestern Roanoke County.

WPXV-TV is a television station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, United States, serving as the Ion Television affiliate for the Hampton Roads area. Owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings, the station has studios on Nansemond Parkway in Suffolk, Virginia, adjacent to the transmitter tower it shares with ABC affiliate WVEC.

WDPX-TV is a television station licensed to Woburn, Massachusetts, United States, broadcasting the digital multicast network Grit to the Boston area. It is owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Ion Television station WBPX-TV, channel 68. WDPX-TV and WBPX-TV share studios on Soldiers Field Road in Boston's Allston neighborhood; through a channel sharing agreement, the two stations transmit using WBPX-TV's spectrum from a tower on Parmenter Road in Hudson, Massachusetts.

References

  1. ↑ "Facility Technical Data for WWPX-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ↑ Hughes, Dave. "Washington DC/Baltimore Area TV Stations". dcrtv.com. Archived from the original on May 19, 2006. Retrieved May 21, 2006.
  3. ↑ "Martinsburg gets new TV station". Frederick News-Post. Associated Press. October 2, 1991. p. D-7.
  4. ↑ "W.Va. Judge Approves Sale of TV Station to Kentucky Company". Associated Press News. October 11, 1993.
  5. ↑ "Trustee recommends WYVN-TV sale". Frederick News-Post. Associated Press. September 2, 1993. p. B-2.
  6. 1 2 "Lights out at Martinsburg, W. Va., TV station". Frederick News-Post. Associated Press. April 6, 1994. p. B-7.
  7. ↑ "WWPX-TV Facility Data". FCCData.
  8. ↑ "West Virginia Station Suspends News Programming". Associated Press News. February 16, 1994.
  9. ↑ "TV station purchased". Cumberland Times-News. Associated Press. November 29, 1994. p. 2B. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  10. ↑ Foreman, David (March 13, 1997). "inTV Now On TV". The Winchester Star. pp. C1, C3 . Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  11. ↑ Greene, Julie (February 1, 2002). "Financial woes hit area TV stations". Hagerstown Herald-Mail. Archived from the original on April 26, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  12. ↑ "RabbitEars TV Query for WWPX". Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  13. ↑ Keys, Matthew (June 28, 2024). "Scripps replacing Defy TV with Ion Plus on broadcast TV". TheDesk.net. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  14. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designation for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.