KUPX
Encyclopedia
KUPX-TV is a full-service television station
licensed to Provo, Utah
and serving the Salt Lake City
market. It is owned and operated by ION Media Networks
, formerly Paxson Communications, and owners of the Ion Television network. The station broadcasts in digital
on UHF channel 29 and is rebroadcast on two translator stations in southern Idaho
.
granted an original construction permit to build a full-power television station on UHF channel 16 to serve the city of Provo, Utah, and the Salt Lake City television market. The new station, originally owned by Morro Rock Resources, Inc., was given the call letters KZAR-TV, then was sold to Royal Television of Utah, Inc. in October 1985. Royal Television had considerable difficulty in constructing the station, as evidenced by several applications to change transmitter location and several construction permit extensions, and even replacements of expired construction permits. In 1988, the station’s callsign was deleted, then restored four months later. In July 1990, Royal Television applied to replace the construction permit that was to expire the following month. The application was not granted until February 1996, more than five years later. In September 1995, Roberts Broadcasting agreed to buy the station from Royal Broadcasting, and the deal was consummated in May 1996. In February 1996, the same day that the FCC approved the sale of the station from Royal Television to Roberts Broadcasting, Paxson Communications sent a proposal to Roberts Broadcasting to acquire a 50% share in the station. The proposal was unsuccessful.
On August 22, 1997, ACME Communications agreed to acquire a 49% stake in KZAR-TV, with an agreement to purchase the other 51% once the television station was on the air. The CEO
and co-founder of ACME, Jamie Kellner
, was also co-founder and at the time, CEO of The WB Television Network
(The WB), so it was natural that KZAR-TV would affiliate with The WB. In February 1998, KZAR-TV changed its call letters KUWB in anticipation of the upcoming WB affiliation.
On April 20, 1998, Paxson entered into an agreement with Roberts Broadcasting and ACME Communications where each station would acquire the other's assets, but WB programming would remain on channel 30. http://sec.edgar-online.com/1999/05/17/08/0000892569-99-001431/Section15.asp To expedite the process, the parties immediately entered into Local Marketing Agreements (LMAs), whereby the stations would swap call signs and would begin to operate each other’s stations until the FCC could approve the assignments of license. The following day, the stations executed the LMAs. KUPX channel 30 of Ogden became KUWB 30 and KUWB channel 16 of Provo became KUPX 16. Roberts and ACME continued to own the Provo station, now KUPX, but operated the new Provo station, KUPX. Meanwhile, Roberts and ACME continued to own KUPX, but operated KUWB. Two days following the execution of the LMAs, KUPX applied for a license for channel 16 Provo and the station became operational. The license was approved by the FCC on May 29, 1998. Paxson and Roberts Broadcasting/ACME filed formal assignment of license applications in May 1998 and the FCC approved the swap in March 1999. ACME Communications followed through on its agreement to acquire the remaining 51% of KUPX in November 1998 and the deal was consummated in February 1999. ACME and Paxson consummated the station swap agreement in September 1999 and took full ownership of the stations that they had already been operating under the LMAs.
Originally, KUPX was an outlet for inTV, a shopping and infomercial network owned by Paxson Communications, but on August 28, 1998, Paxson launched a family network called Pax TV, and KUPX became a Pax TV station, airing network programming 14 hours per day on weekdays, 13 hours on Saturdays and ten hours on Sundays. KUPX aired programming from The Worship Network
during the overnight hours. The remainder of the non-network programming was devoted to infomercials and religious programs. The new network was not as successful as hoped for and in mid-1999, Pax TV ended an hour-long weekday morning show. A three-hour Saturday morning children’s and educational block disappeared in 2000. By 2002, the network had cut down to nine hours on weekdays and seven hours on weekends, and by 2004, network programming was six hours a day during the late afternoon and primetime, with the remainder of the programming day mostly given to infomercials.
By 2005, the network’s syndicated programming had gone over to other networks, and its first-run programming was ended. Later in 2005, Paxson Communications became ION Media Networks
and Pax TV became the i Network. Network programming shrunk to five hours a day, between 5PM and 10PM, and the rest of the programming day was infomercials and religious programming. The network again renamed itself to Ion Television on January 29, 2007.
, while the analog broadcast originally from Lake Mountain until the digital transition in June 2009. As of 2009, KUPX airs regular ION television programming on 16.1. On 16.2, the station airs programming from Qubo
. On 16.3, the station carries programming from the IonLife channel.
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
licensed to Provo, Utah
Provo, Utah
Provo is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the county seat of Utah County and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south...
and serving the Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
market. It is owned and operated by ION Media Networks
ION Media Networks
ION Media Networks is an American television broadcasting company that owns and operates over 60 television stations in most major American markets. It is now a privately owned company.-History:...
, formerly Paxson Communications, and owners of the Ion Television network. The station broadcasts in digital
ATSC
ATSC standards are a set of standards developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee for digital television transmission over terrestrial, cable, and satellite networks....
on UHF channel 29 and is rebroadcast on two translator stations in southern Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
.
History
There are two methods of accounting the station's history: by license and by "intellectual unit", which is the combination of a station's call letters, programming, network affiliation and staff. As the result of 1998 Local Marketing Agreements (LMAs), which launched a process that culminated in a station swap in 1999, the KUPX license history differs from the intellectual unit history prior to April 21, 1998.License history
On April 24, 1985, the FCCFederal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
granted an original construction permit to build a full-power television station on UHF channel 16 to serve the city of Provo, Utah, and the Salt Lake City television market. The new station, originally owned by Morro Rock Resources, Inc., was given the call letters KZAR-TV, then was sold to Royal Television of Utah, Inc. in October 1985. Royal Television had considerable difficulty in constructing the station, as evidenced by several applications to change transmitter location and several construction permit extensions, and even replacements of expired construction permits. In 1988, the station’s callsign was deleted, then restored four months later. In July 1990, Royal Television applied to replace the construction permit that was to expire the following month. The application was not granted until February 1996, more than five years later. In September 1995, Roberts Broadcasting agreed to buy the station from Royal Broadcasting, and the deal was consummated in May 1996. In February 1996, the same day that the FCC approved the sale of the station from Royal Television to Roberts Broadcasting, Paxson Communications sent a proposal to Roberts Broadcasting to acquire a 50% share in the station. The proposal was unsuccessful.
On August 22, 1997, ACME Communications agreed to acquire a 49% stake in KZAR-TV, with an agreement to purchase the other 51% once the television station was on the air. The CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
and co-founder of ACME, Jamie Kellner
Jamie Kellner
Jamie Kellner is an American television executive. He was chairman and chief executive officer of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a division of Time Warner which includes TBS, TNT, and Cartoon Network. Kellner took over the post in 2001 and handed over the company to Philip Kent in 2003...
, was also co-founder and at the time, CEO of The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
(The WB), so it was natural that KZAR-TV would affiliate with The WB. In February 1998, KZAR-TV changed its call letters KUWB in anticipation of the upcoming WB affiliation.
On April 20, 1998, Paxson entered into an agreement with Roberts Broadcasting and ACME Communications where each station would acquire the other's assets, but WB programming would remain on channel 30. http://sec.edgar-online.com/1999/05/17/08/0000892569-99-001431/Section15.asp To expedite the process, the parties immediately entered into Local Marketing Agreements (LMAs), whereby the stations would swap call signs and would begin to operate each other’s stations until the FCC could approve the assignments of license. The following day, the stations executed the LMAs. KUPX channel 30 of Ogden became KUWB 30 and KUWB channel 16 of Provo became KUPX 16. Roberts and ACME continued to own the Provo station, now KUPX, but operated the new Provo station, KUPX. Meanwhile, Roberts and ACME continued to own KUPX, but operated KUWB. Two days following the execution of the LMAs, KUPX applied for a license for channel 16 Provo and the station became operational. The license was approved by the FCC on May 29, 1998. Paxson and Roberts Broadcasting/ACME filed formal assignment of license applications in May 1998 and the FCC approved the swap in March 1999. ACME Communications followed through on its agreement to acquire the remaining 51% of KUPX in November 1998 and the deal was consummated in February 1999. ACME and Paxson consummated the station swap agreement in September 1999 and took full ownership of the stations that they had already been operating under the LMAs.
Originally, KUPX was an outlet for inTV, a shopping and infomercial network owned by Paxson Communications, but on August 28, 1998, Paxson launched a family network called Pax TV, and KUPX became a Pax TV station, airing network programming 14 hours per day on weekdays, 13 hours on Saturdays and ten hours on Sundays. KUPX aired programming from The Worship Network
The Worship Network
The Worship Network, or Worship, is a broadcast television service that provides alternative Christian worship-themed programming 24 hours a day, seven days a week...
during the overnight hours. The remainder of the non-network programming was devoted to infomercials and religious programs. The new network was not as successful as hoped for and in mid-1999, Pax TV ended an hour-long weekday morning show. A three-hour Saturday morning children’s and educational block disappeared in 2000. By 2002, the network had cut down to nine hours on weekdays and seven hours on weekends, and by 2004, network programming was six hours a day during the late afternoon and primetime, with the remainder of the programming day mostly given to infomercials.
By 2005, the network’s syndicated programming had gone over to other networks, and its first-run programming was ended. Later in 2005, Paxson Communications became ION Media Networks
ION Media Networks
ION Media Networks is an American television broadcasting company that owns and operates over 60 television stations in most major American markets. It is now a privately owned company.-History:...
and Pax TV became the i Network. Network programming shrunk to five hours a day, between 5PM and 10PM, and the rest of the programming day was infomercials and religious programming. The network again renamed itself to Ion Television on January 29, 2007.
KUPX intellectual unit history prior to the swap
The KUPX intellectual unit began September 6, 1996, when Paxson Communications agreed to acquire channel 30, then known as KOOG-TV, from Alpha & Omega Communications LLC. The station had previously been the WB affiliate in the Salt Lake City, and Paxson continued that affiliation, but also replaced HSN programming with Paxson’s infomercial network, inTV, and religious programming. KOOG-TV changed call letters to KUPX in February 1998, and the intellectual unit moved over to channel 16 in April 1998, when ACME Communications and Roberts Broadcasting, co-owners of channel 16, and Paxson Communications, owners of channel 30, agreed to allow each other to manage their stations leading up to the station swap, which was completed in September 1999.Programming
During the second half of 2006, the i Network has begun a transformation away from a network of mostly infomercials by adding new syndicated programming during primetime hours, however paid programming still dominates the KUPX schedule as of November 2006.Digital television
On April 3, 1997, the FCC adopted its Sixth Report and Order http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Orders/1997/fcc97115.pdf, establishing digital television service allotments http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Orders/1997/fc97115a.pdf. In the initial allotment, the FCC assigned UHF channel 29 for KOOG-DT, the companion channel to UHF channel 30 in Ogden, later to become KUPX-DT. In the station swap, which was initiated in April 1998, the allocation for KUPX-DT was treated as part of the KUPX intellectual unit, and became the companion channel for Provo UHF channel 16, although channel 29 was still officially assigned to Ogden in the Digital Table of Allotments. Paxson Communications filed an application for KUPX-DT in July 1998. As part of a significant reallocation of DTV stations approved by the FCC in May 2000 http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Mass_Media/Notices/1999/da990963.txt, the city of license for KUPX-DT officially moved from Ogden to Provo in the DTV Table of Allotments. The FCC granted a construction permit to build KUPX-DT in March 1999 and Paxson Communications applied for a license for the DTV station in May 2002, which the FCC granted on November 7, 2002. The digital portion of the station transmits from Farnsworth PeakFarnsworth Peak
Farnsworth Peak is a peak located on the northern end of the Oquirrh Mountain range, approximately south west of Salt Lake City, Utah. The mountain is named for Philo Farnsworth, the inventor of the first completely electronic television. It is used mainly for radio and television transmission,...
, while the analog broadcast originally from Lake Mountain until the digital transition in June 2009. As of 2009, KUPX airs regular ION television programming on 16.1. On 16.2, the station airs programming from Qubo
Qubo
Qubo is a multi-platform children's television specialty channel endeavor operated as a joint venture between ION Media Networks, NBCUniversal, Nelvana, Scholastic Corporation, and Classic Media...
. On 16.3, the station carries programming from the IonLife channel.
Translators
KUPX is rebroadcast on the following translator stations:| City | Malad City, Idaho Malad City, Idaho For the Mumbai, India Suburb, see Malad .Malad City is the only city in and the county seat of Oneida County, Idaho, United States. Its population was 2,158 at the 2000 census.... | K46IM |
|---|---|
| Soda Springs, Idaho Soda Springs, Idaho Soda Springs is a city in Caribou County, Idaho, United States. The population was 3,381 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Caribou County.... |
K33HO |