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WPXA-TV

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Coordinates: 34°18′48″N 84°38′55″W / 34.31333°N 84.64861°W / 34.31333; -84.64861
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"WAWA-TV" redirects here. For other uses, see Wawa.

WPXA-TV
CityRome, Georgia
Channels
BrandingIon
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
History
First air date
February 29, 1988; 36 years ago (1988-02-29)
Former call signs
  • WAWA-TV (1988–1990)
  • WTLK-TV (1990–1998)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 14 (UHF, 1988–2009)
  • Digital: 51 (UHF, 2002–2015), 31 (UHF, 2015–2019)
Call sign meaning
Pax TV Atlanta
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID51969
ERP687 kW
HAAT596 m (1,955 ft)
Transmitter coordinates34°18′48″N 84°38′55″W / 34.31333°N 84.64861°W / 34.31333; -84.64861
Links
Public license information
Websiteiontelevision.com

WPXA-TV (channel 14) is a television station licensed to Rome, Georgia, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the Atlanta area. The station is owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, and maintains offices on North Cobb Parkway (US 41) in Marietta; its transmitter is located on Bear Mountain, near the Cherokee–Bartow county line.

Channel 14 went on the air February 29, 1988, as WAWA-TV. The station was built by Sudbrink Broadcasting, which had acquired the permit from American Communications & Television prior to launch. After operating for two and a half years as a general-entertainment independent station with local news for the Rome area, Sudbrink moved the station into the Atlanta market with a new transmitter facility, new WTLK-TV call letters, and a prime time lineup of local and national talk shows. Neal Boortz, Suzette Charles, and Hosea Williams were among WTLK-TV's lineup of hosts. The station suffered from an inability to gain channel space on Atlanta's cable systems and by 1993 was mostly airing reruns and country music videos. It was acquired by Paxson Communications, forerunner to Ion Media, in 1994 and became an infomercial station; these stations formed the core of the Pax network, predecessor to Ion, in 1998.

History

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WAWA-TV: Construction

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In March 1984, after an agreement among four applicants with the channel, American Communications & Television (AC&T) of Gainesville, Florida, won the construction permit to build channel 14 in Rome, the city's first station since what was then WROM-TV on channel 9 moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, as WTVC in 1957.[2] AC&T selected the call sign WZGA and proposed a conventional general-entertainment independent station, but it prioritized constructing KOOG-TV in Ogden, Utah, deferring the construction to late 1985 after deciding to move the tower from Mount Alto to a site on Vineyard's Mountain in Bartow County so the station to extend its signal into Cobb County.[3][4] AC&T sold the construction permit to Sudbrink Broadcasting of West Palm Beach, Florida, in 1986.[4] Sudbrink elected to proceed with the original Mount Alto site; in November 1987, Sudbrink bought a building on Shorter Avenue to house the station's studios.[5]

Channel 14 began telecasting as WAWA-TV on February 29, 1988.[6] The station offered talk shows, movies, sitcoms, and two local newscasts each day.[7]

WTLK-TV: Talk TV for Atlanta

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Soon after launching, Sudbrink sought to move WAWA-TV into the much larger Atlanta television market. On February 1, 1990, zoning officials in Cherokee County approved the construction of a new tower on Pine Log (or Bear) Mountain, northwest of Canton;[8] Sudbrink also planned to build a second studio in Cherokee County, in Woodstock;[9] its later decision not to do so led to a lawsuit with the county zoning board.[10] The new transmitter facility, constructed at a cost of $2 million, was activated in December 1990. Shortly prior, the station changed its call sign to WTLK-TV ahead of its plan to implement a 24-hour talk-show format.[11][10]

In March 1991, WTLK-TV signed a lease for studio facilities in Marietta,[12] en route to a planned June 1 launch of its all-talk format, and picked up two NBC game shows not aired by local affiliate WXIA-TV.[13] It also announced that it would discontinue its Rome-area local newscasts but retain the Shorter Avenue studios and offices.[14] The initial phase was intended to bring talk programming to prime time during the week with planned expansion later.[12]

The new local talk shows debuted on June 17, 1991. Five nights a week, the station presented Talk of the Town with former Miss America Suzette Charles and Michael Young, previously of ESPN, as well as Talk at Nite, hosted by WGST's Brian Wilson. Two other shows alternated: The Mike Roberts Show, hosted by WVEE's morning host, and Boortz!, hosted by Neal Boortz (then also of WGST). The prime time lineup was finished out with two national syndicated shows: Phil Donahue and Sally Jessy Raphael.[15][16] In debuting its ambitious new programming, WTLK-TV immediately ran into a major problem. Must-carry rules for local stations on cable systems were not then in effect, and Atlanta cable providers were not adding WTLK to their lineups.[15] After failing to land a slot on any local cable system, Sudbrink conducted a round of layoffs in September 1991, including Young.[17] Suzette Charles departed effective December 1, finding the operation "not up to my professional standards".[18] At one point, Boortz was telling his radio listeners that WTLK would end all of its talk shows on January 17, 1992, with no cable slot in sight.[19] Boortz departed in March 1992, and the next month, Wilson lost his job hosting Talk at Nite when he engaged in an on-air tirade prompted by technical miscues.[20] Hosea Williams came aboard as a weekly shot host after their departures.[21] That August, WTLK added CBS This Morning, which local CBS affiliate WAGA-TV was preempting to air a local morning show.[22]

By 1993, WTLK-TV's schedule consisted mostly of CBS This Morning, country music videos, and reruns.[23] That year, Joel Babbit almost bought the station with plans to expand its talk lineup to 24 hours, with a broader topic mix including home improvement and gardening shows and a model of selling a sponsorship for each talk hour.[24] Babbit abandoned the plan when he became an executive at Whittle Communications less than two months later.[25]

Paxson/Ion ownership

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In 1994, Sudbrink sold WTLK-TV to Paxson Communications Corporation, which initially proposed a Christian format.[26] It was Paxson's second television station that it owned, after WPBF serving West Palm Beach, and alongside a station it managed in Miami.[27] Shortly after the acquisition, Atlanta's major cable systems finally added WTLK to their lineups; previously, it had only been on some smaller suburban systems.[28] During this time, the station became the new television home of Atlanta Knights minor-league hockey.[29] Paxson announced the creation of its Infomall TV infomercial network in January 1995 and included WTLK-TV among its first stations.[30]

On August 31, 1998, the Paxson-owned stations formed the nucleus for the new Pax TV network.[31] The station's call sign had been changed that January to WPXA-TV.[32] In the early 2000s, WPXA-TV entered into a joint sales agreement with WXIA-TV, under which the latter station sold channel 14's local advertising and WPXA rebroadcast two of WXIA-TV's newscasts.[33] WPXA also aired the Atlanta Falcons coach's show as part of WXIA-TV's partnership with the NFL team.[34] After changing its name to i: Independent Television in 2005, the network became known as Ion Television in 2007.[35]

Technical information

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Subchannels

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The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WPXA-TV[36]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
14.1 720p 16:9 ION Ion Television
14.2 480i CourtTV Court TV
14.3 Laff Laff
14.4 Mystery Ion Mystery
14.5 IONPlus Ion Plus
14.6 Grit Grit
14.7 Jewelry Jewelry TV
14.8 HSN2 HSN2

WPXA-TV began digital broadcasts on channel 51 on January 5, 2002.[37] The digital signal remained on channel 51 until 2014, when its channel was changed to 31 to eliminate interference with wireless communications service on adjacent frequencies.[38] In September 2019, WPXA-TV moved from channel 31 to 16 as a result of the spectrum incentive auction.[39]

After Scripps News ceased terrestrial operations and converted to free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) streaming on November 16, 2024, WPXA replaced the network on its sixth subchannel with the Western-oriented diginet Grit.

References

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  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WPXA-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ Anderson, Wayne (March 22, 1984). "Florida firm granted permit to construct Rome TV station". Rome News-Tribune. pp. 1A, 5A.
  3. ^ Marks, Paul (January 20, 1985). "Rome TV a little late but still on". Rome News-Tribune. pp. 1A, 2A.
  4. ^ a b Marks, Paul (August 8, 1986). "Ruling helps fine-tune TV plan here". Rome News-Tribune. p. 1A.
  5. ^ Tanner, Gary (November 11, 1987). "Television station buys Shorter Avenue building". Rome News-Tribune. p. 3A.
  6. ^ "Television signal beaming through Roman airwaves". Rome News-Tribune. February 29, 1988. p. 1A.
  7. ^ Tanner, Gary (March 1, 1988). "TV can sometimes be the newsmaker". Rome News-Tribune. p. Progress Edition 8.
  8. ^ "WAWA: Station says Rome's home despite move to Cherokee". Rome News-Tribune. February 7, 1990. p. 1A.
  9. ^ "In Senoia, some seeing red over green light for raceway". The Atlanta Journal and Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. September 27, 1990. p. E-3. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b Willis, John M. (December 2, 1990). "WTLK to reach over 1 million homes". Rome News-Tribune. p. 6A.
  11. ^ Yandel, Gerry (November 26, 1990). "Rome station enters Atlanta TV market". The Atlanta Journal and Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. p. B-6. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b Warren, Reid (March 28, 1991). "Newcomer TV station plans to be the talk of the town". The Atlanta Journal. Atlanta, Georgia. pp. G1, G2. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Yandel, Gerry (March 18, 1991). "Rome's Channel 14 adds studios and programming". The Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. p. E9. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Willis, John M. (March 19, 1991). "WTLK-TV to be all talk in prime time by June 1". Rome News-Tribune. p. 3.
  15. ^ a b Kloer, Phil (June 17, 1991). "Channel 14 begins talkfest tonight, but not on cable". The Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. p. B7. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Curtright, Guy (June 16, 1991). "Channel 14 lines up talk, talk, talk". The Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. p. TV 4. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Yandel, Gerry (September 26, 1991). "Still without a cable home, WTLK begins layoffs". The Atlanta Journal. Atlanta, Georgia. p. E4. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ Yandel, Gerry (November 6, 1991). "Exits from Channel 14 are the talk of the town". The Atlanta Journal. Atlanta, Georgia. p. C7. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Yandel, Gerry (December 20, 1991). "No room on the dial for WTLK/Channel 14?". The Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. p. E17. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Yandel, Gerry (April 30, 1992). "WTLK talk host rants, loses his late-night gig". The Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. p. E9. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Yandel, Gerry (May 18, 1992). "Hosea is everywhere on the air in Atlanta". The Atlanta Journal. Atlanta, Georgia. p. D7. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Yandel, Gerry (August 31, 1992). "Spurned 'Morning' finds new home on Channel 14". The Atlanta Journal. Atlanta, Georgia. p. C7. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Kloer, Phil (June 3, 1993). "WTLK is caught in battle of titans". The Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. p. D8. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ Kloer, Phil (June 4, 1993). "Joel Babbit plans to buy WTLK; will turn it into 24 hours of talk". The Atlanta Journal. Atlanta, Georgia. pp. D1, D7. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ Blackmon, Douglas A. (July 24, 1993). "Click! Channel 1 appears on Babbit's career screen". The Atlanta Journal. Atlanta, Georgia. p. A1. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "WTLK-TV being sold to Paxson Communications". The Atlanta Journal. Atlanta, Georgia. April 6, 1994. p. F3. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ LoMartire, Paul (July 1, 1994). "WPBF boss says he'll bring focus to No. 3 station". The Palm Beach Post. West Palm Beach, Florida. pp. 1B, 3B. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "WTLK finally gets big-time cable break". The Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. August 2, 1994. p. C8. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ Rogers, Prentis (October 7, 1994). "FSU-Miami could draw more interest than Tech, Georgia telecasts". The Atlanta Journal. Atlanta, Georgia. p. E2. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ Abercrombie, Paul (January 19, 1995). "Paxson plans buying spree to build infomercial network". St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. p. 6E. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ Gray, Ellen (August 31, 1998). "Paxson could clean up with G-rated programs". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 42. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ "For the Record: Call-Sign Actions". Broadcasting & Cable. February 16, 1998. pp. 55–56. ProQuest 1016952604.
  33. ^ Davis Hudson, Eileen (October 1, 2001). "Atlanta". Mediaweek. pp. 16–22. ProQuest 213627587.
  34. ^ Tierney, Mike (March 28, 2002). "Falcons getting a new TV deal". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia. p. H2. Retrieved November 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ "i Is Now ION Television". Multichannel News. January 24, 2007. Archived from the original on August 1, 2022. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  36. ^ "Digital TV Market Listing for WPXA". RabbitEars. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
  37. ^ "WPXA-DT". Television & Cable Factbook. Warren Communications News. 2006. p. A-651.
  38. ^ "Report and Order". Federal Communications Commission. October 30, 2014.
  39. ^ "FCC TV Spectrum Phase Assignment Table" (CSV). Federal Communications Commission. April 13, 2017. Archived from the original on April 17, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
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