WVPX
Encyclopedia
WVPX-TV is the Cleveland, Ohio
affiliate of the Ion Television network (formerly known as Pax TV and i). It is licensed
to Akron
, with a transmitter located on the west side of Akron just north of Rolling Acres Mall
.
The station is owned by Ion Media Networks
(the former Paxson Communications) broadcasting its signal on UHF channel 23, and is the only full power Ion station in the state of Ohio.
The schedule is that of the standard Ion station, airing infomercials, children's programming from qubo
, and religious programming before 1 p.m.; and sitcoms, dramas, and movies after 1 p.m.
in Akron on channel 49. The station was licensed to Summit Radio Corporation, the family-owned business of S. Bernard Berk, which also owned WAKR radio (AM 1590
and FM 97.5, now WONE-FM
). Summit had applied to the Federal Communications Commission
in 1947 for a television license to operate on channel 11, the only channel allocated to Akron.
However, before the license was issued, the FCC implemented a freeze on further television licenses while it undertook a study of what to do with the VHF
spectrum. After the release of the FCC's Sixth Report and Order lifted the freeze in 1952, the Commission decided to collapse Akron and Canton into the Cleveland market. It limited the number of VHF channels in the Cleveland area to three—channels 3, 5 and 8 (changed from 4, 5 and 9) and to grant licenses to further stations only in the UHF
spectrum. Summit was able to secure a license to operate on channel 49.
Being a UHF television station in a predominantly VHF market was extremely difficult in the 1950s. Almost all television sets sold were not capable of tuning UHF stations, and special converters and antennas were required to receive the station's signal. Even with a converter, picture quality was marginal at best. About half of the UHF stations in the country that started in the 1950s failed. The FCC did not require television sets to include UHF capability until 1964.
, which had some problems in the early 1950s obtaining clearances for its full schedule on its two secondary affiliates in Cleveland: WJW-TV (channel 8), which was also a DuMont
affiliate; and WEWS (channel 5), which was also a CBS
affiliate.
WAKR-TV also focused on Akron area programming to distinguish itself from the Cleveland stations. It boasted the only newscast focused on Akron and Canton news, using resources shared with WAKR radio and the Akron Beacon Journal
(a part owner of the WAKR stations until the 1970s).
The going got more difficult, however, when WEWS became a full ABC affiliate in 1955. WAKR-TV left with lower-rated syndicated programming (especially a large amount of country music
and religious shows, aimed perhaps toward the area's large population of Southern
expatriates), as most of the more popular shows went to the bigger Cleveland stations. In 1961 Summit Radio declared that channel 49 had from the beginning "suffered very substantial operating losses."
The situation got only marginally better after the FCC required all-channel tuning, and didn't improve much more after the station moved to the stronger channel 23 in 1967. It tried to focus on its unique local programming including its Akron-based newscasts. "Our local programming is geared to giving Akron what it wants—news, advertising, announcements and local shows all about Akron," then-station manager Bob Bostian said as WAKR-TV marked its 25th anniversary in 1978
. The station struggled, however, and Summit had to rely for its profitability on its very successful AM station.
When WAKR-TV signed on, it was Akron's only network affiliate. Had even one more network station opened up around the same time, or even a network affiliate in Canton, the two cities may well have broken off from Cleveland and formed their own market. This market would have been among the top 100 markets in the country and would have probably served much of east-central and north-central Ohio, where the Cleveland stations have poor reception.
An Akron-Canton market would have been in the same situation as Baltimore
, a major market in its own right even though it is only 45 minutes from Washington, D.C.
Other analogous situations would have been Topeka, Kansas
, which is its own market even though the Kansas City
stations reach it fairly easily; and Saint Joseph, Missouri
, which is served by one commercial station of its own, ABC affiliate KQTV
, and the Kansas City stations.
Within WAKR-TV's home state of Ohio, similar situations existed in Dayton
, where stations from Cincinnati and Columbus
can be received; in Youngstown
, where residents of that city can receive most Cleveland (including channel 23) and Pittsburgh stations despite having its own network affiliates; Toledo
, where most of the Detroit stations can be received fairly well, and in Zanesville
, which is approximately sixty miles outside of Columbus and is home to only one station, NBC affiliate WHIZ-TV
, which competes with Columbus' NBC station WCMH-TV
.
As it was, WAKR-TV was forced to compete with the Cleveland stations with the odds stacked heavily against it, especially since it was in the shadow of WEWS, one of ABC's strongest affiliates. It was also in constant jeopardy of losing its ABC affiliation. WEWS' owner, E.W. Scripps Company, often tried to pressure ABC into pulling its affiliation from WAKR-TV, so that WEWS did not have to compete with another ABC affiliate in the same market.
, a company specializing in home-shopping programming, bought WAKC. Immediately speculation arose that the station would drop its newscasts. ValueVision kept the newscasts, and had WAKC re-branded as "The North Ohio News Station," though the quality was uneven at best. The station then started to identify itself as serving Akron/Cleveland but news coverage was still focused on the Akron/Canton area for the most part. With the launch of the new branding, the station expanded their 6pm news to an hour, but dropped weekend newscasts. In the fall of 1995, the station launched a 5pm newscast called "Your News".
Finally, in 1996, Paxson Communications—another specialist in home-shopping shows, though of the infomercial
variety (and whose founder
also launched the Home Shopping Network
) -- purchased WAKC. The station abruptly dropped all local news programming that March. Later that fall, the station adopted "ABC 23" as their branding, even though the ABC affiliation ended on December 31, 1996 after the last prime time program aired. For the next year and a half, WAKC adopted Paxson's InTV format of infomercials. The station assumed its current calls on January 13, 1998 after Paxson changed most of their stations' call letters to include "PX" in them. WVPX became part of Paxson's new Pax TV network launched in 1998 and carried the entire Pax network schedule, with practically no local programming.
An Akron-based newscast was briefly resurrected in June 2001 when Paxson entered a local marketing agreement
with Cleveland's NBC affiliate, WKYC-TV
(channel 3), as part of an overall corporate deal between Paxson and NBC. WKYC opened an Akron studio and produced a 6:30 and 10:00 p.m. newscast nightly (as Pax 23 News), featuring WKYC reporters assigned to stories in the Akron/Canton area. Weather reports were supplied by WKYC's meteorologists in their Cleveland studio. The newscasts were anchored by WKYC Akron bureau chief Eric Mansfield, who had been a reporter for the old WAKC newscasts from 1992 to 1994.
When the Pax TV network rebranded as "i" on June 30, 2005, WVPX dropped the newscasts. What became Akron/Canton News migrated to Time Warner Cable
's Akron/Canton area system, where it aired until May 30, 2008.
On April 20, 2010, WVPX started broadcasting the main ION feed (23.1) in high-definition
.
The station's digital feed is multiplexed.
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
affiliate of the Ion Television network (formerly known as Pax TV and i). It is licensed
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
to Akron
Akron, Ohio
Akron , is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Summit County. It is located in the Great Lakes region approximately south of Lake Erie along the Little Cuyahoga River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 199,110. The Akron Metropolitan...
, with a transmitter located on the west side of Akron just north of Rolling Acres Mall
Rolling Acres Mall
Rolling Acres Mall was a retail mall located in the Rolling Acres area of Akron, Ohio, United States. Built in 1975 and expanded several times in its history, it once comprised more than 140 stores, including five anchor stores, a movie theater and a food court. The mall was closed off in 2008,...
.
The station is owned 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:...
(the former Paxson Communications) broadcasting its signal on UHF channel 23, and is the only full power Ion station in the state of Ohio.
The schedule is that of the standard Ion station, airing infomercials, children's 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...
, and religious programming before 1 p.m.; and sitcoms, dramas, and movies after 1 p.m.
Origins of WAKR-TV
The station signed on air for the first time in 1953 as WAKR-TV, broadcasting from a transmitter located on the First National TowerFirstMerit Tower
FirstMerit Tower, also known as the First National Bank Building or the First Central Trust Building, is a skyscraper in Akron, Ohio that has remained the tallest building in that city since its completion in 1931. The building is art deco in style and is covered in glazed architectural...
in Akron on channel 49. The station was licensed to Summit Radio Corporation, the family-owned business of S. Bernard Berk, which also owned WAKR radio (AM 1590
WAKR
WAKR — branded 1590 WAKR — is a commercial radio station in Akron, Ohio. It is owned by Rubber City Radio Group, Inc. which also owns Akron's WONE-FM and WQMX...
and FM 97.5, now WONE-FM
WONE-FM
WONE-FM — branded 97.5 WONE — is a commercial album-oriented rock radio station licensed to Akron, Ohio that primarily serves the Akron radio market. Owned by Rubber City Radio Group, Inc. which also owns Akron's WAKR and WQMX...
). Summit had applied to the Federal Communications Commission
Federal 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...
in 1947 for a television license to operate on channel 11, the only channel allocated to Akron.
However, before the license was issued, the FCC implemented a freeze on further television licenses while it undertook a study of what to do with the VHF
Very high frequency
Very high frequency is the radio frequency range from 30 MHz to 300 MHz. Frequencies immediately below VHF are denoted High frequency , and the next higher frequencies are known as Ultra high frequency...
spectrum. After the release of the FCC's Sixth Report and Order lifted the freeze in 1952, the Commission decided to collapse Akron and Canton into the Cleveland market. It limited the number of VHF channels in the Cleveland area to three—channels 3, 5 and 8 (changed from 4, 5 and 9) and to grant licenses to further stations only in the UHF
Ultra high frequency
Ultra-High Frequency designates the ITU Radio frequency range of electromagnetic waves between 300 MHz and 3 GHz , also known as the decimetre band or decimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ten decimetres...
spectrum. Summit was able to secure a license to operate on channel 49.
Being a UHF television station in a predominantly VHF market was extremely difficult in the 1950s. Almost all television sets sold were not capable of tuning UHF stations, and special converters and antennas were required to receive the station's signal. Even with a converter, picture quality was marginal at best. About half of the UHF stations in the country that started in the 1950s failed. The FCC did not require television sets to include UHF capability until 1964.
Early years
WAKR-TV was fortunate to obtain an affiliation with ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, which had some problems in the early 1950s obtaining clearances for its full schedule on its two secondary affiliates in Cleveland: WJW-TV (channel 8), which was also a DuMont
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
affiliate; and WEWS (channel 5), which was also a CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate.
WAKR-TV also focused on Akron area programming to distinguish itself from the Cleveland stations. It boasted the only newscast focused on Akron and Canton news, using resources shared with WAKR radio and the Akron Beacon Journal
Akron Beacon Journal
The Akron Beacon Journal is a four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning morning newspaper in Akron, Ohio, United States, and published by Black Press Ltd.. It is the sole daily newspaper in Akron and is distributed throughout Northeast Ohio. The paper places a strong emphasis on local news and business...
(a part owner of the WAKR stations until the 1970s).
The going got more difficult, however, when WEWS became a full ABC affiliate in 1955. WAKR-TV left with lower-rated syndicated programming (especially a large amount of country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
and religious shows, aimed perhaps toward the area's large population of Southern
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
expatriates), as most of the more popular shows went to the bigger Cleveland stations. In 1961 Summit Radio declared that channel 49 had from the beginning "suffered very substantial operating losses."
The situation got only marginally better after the FCC required all-channel tuning, and didn't improve much more after the station moved to the stronger channel 23 in 1967. It tried to focus on its unique local programming including its Akron-based newscasts. "Our local programming is geared to giving Akron what it wants—news, advertising, announcements and local shows all about Akron," then-station manager Bob Bostian said as WAKR-TV marked its 25th anniversary in 1978
. The station struggled, however, and Summit had to rely for its profitability on its very successful AM station.
Cleveland TV vs. Akron TV
The station also suffered from overall low ratings because it operated in the shadow of the Cleveland market. Several studies indicated that even when viewers watched WAKR, they assumed they were watching WEWS, since both stations had a large amount of common programming from ABC. Furthermore, Akron was not a separate market for ratings purposes, but was only a small part of the Cleveland market. Although WAKR's overall ratings were very poor in the Cleveland market as a whole, it trounced the Cleveland stations in Akron and Canton.When WAKR-TV signed on, it was Akron's only network affiliate. Had even one more network station opened up around the same time, or even a network affiliate in Canton, the two cities may well have broken off from Cleveland and formed their own market. This market would have been among the top 100 markets in the country and would have probably served much of east-central and north-central Ohio, where the Cleveland stations have poor reception.
An Akron-Canton market would have been in the same situation as Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, a major market in its own right even though it is only 45 minutes from Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Other analogous situations would have been Topeka, Kansas
Topeka, Kansas
Topeka |Kansa]]: Tó Pee Kuh) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
, which is its own market even though the Kansas City
Kansas City Metropolitan Area
The Kansas City Metropolitan Area is a fifteen-county metropolitan area that is anchored by Kansas City, Missouri and is bisected by the border between the states of Missouri and Kansas. As of the 2010 Census, the metropolitan area has a population of 2,035,334. The metropolitan area is the...
stations reach it fairly easily; and Saint Joseph, Missouri
Saint Joseph, Missouri
Saint Joseph is the second largest city in northwest Missouri, only second to Kansas City in size, serving as the county seat for Buchanan County. As of the 2010 census, Saint Joseph had a total population of 76,780, making it the eighth largest city in the state. The St...
, which is served by one commercial station of its own, ABC affiliate KQTV
KQTV
KQTV, digital channel 7 , is the ABC-affiliated television station in St. Joseph, Missouri. Owned by the Nexstar Broadcasting Group, it is the only local commercial broadcast television station serving the St. Joseph area; though TBN affiliate KTAJ , which primarily serves the northern portion of...
, and the Kansas City stations.
Within WAKR-TV's home state of Ohio, similar situations existed in Dayton
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
, where stations from Cincinnati and Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
can be received; in Youngstown
Youngstown, Ohio
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County; it also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is situated on the Mahoning River, approximately southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
, where residents of that city can receive most Cleveland (including channel 23) and Pittsburgh stations despite having its own network affiliates; Toledo
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
, where most of the Detroit stations can be received fairly well, and in Zanesville
Zanesville, Ohio
Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. The population was 25,586 at the 2000 census.Zanesville was named after Ebenezer Zane, who had constructed Zane's Trace, a pioneer road through present-day Ohio...
, which is approximately sixty miles outside of Columbus and is home to only one station, NBC affiliate WHIZ-TV
WHIZ-TV
WHIZ-TV is the NBC affiliate in Zanesville, Ohio and its media market. Although this station is somewhat overshadowed by network affiliates in the nearby Columbus, Ohio market such as WCMH-TV, WHIZ-TV provides local news to its limited local area. In addition, WHIZ-TV provides local sports...
, which competes with Columbus' NBC station WCMH-TV
WCMH-TV
WCMH-TV, channel 4, is a television station in Columbus, Ohio, affiliated with the NBC television network and owned by Media General. The station's studios and transmitter are located in Columbus. NBC-4 broadcasts from its studio and office complex near the Ohio State University on Olentangy River...
.
As it was, WAKR-TV was forced to compete with the Cleveland stations with the odds stacked heavily against it, especially since it was in the shadow of WEWS, one of ABC's strongest affiliates. It was also in constant jeopardy of losing its ABC affiliation. WEWS' owner, E.W. Scripps Company, often tried to pressure ABC into pulling its affiliation from WAKR-TV, so that WEWS did not have to compete with another ABC affiliate in the same market.
Later years
Summit Radio was reorganized as Group One Broadcasting in 1965. In 1986, Group One sold off its radio stations, but kept the TV station and changed the calls to WAKC (for AKron-Canton) on November 3, 1986. In 1993 ValueVisionShopNBC
ShopNBC is an American broadcast and cable home shopping network, owned and operated by ValueVision Media, which is in turn 30% owned by GE Equity and NBC Universal...
, a company specializing in home-shopping programming, bought WAKC. Immediately speculation arose that the station would drop its newscasts. ValueVision kept the newscasts, and had WAKC re-branded as "The North Ohio News Station," though the quality was uneven at best. The station then started to identify itself as serving Akron/Cleveland but news coverage was still focused on the Akron/Canton area for the most part. With the launch of the new branding, the station expanded their 6pm news to an hour, but dropped weekend newscasts. In the fall of 1995, the station launched a 5pm newscast called "Your News".
Finally, in 1996, Paxson Communications—another specialist in home-shopping shows, though of the infomercial
Infomercial
Infomercials are direct response television commercials which generally include a phone number or website. There are long-form infomercials, which are typically between 15 and 30 minutes in length, and short-form infomercials, which are typically 30 seconds to 120 seconds in length. Infomercials...
variety (and whose founder
Bud Paxson
Lowell W. "Bud" Paxson is an American media executive.A native of Florida, Paxson began his career at a little 500 watt radio station in upstate New York, and later as the owner of a small AM radio station, WWQT 1470 AM, in Clearwater, Florida. There, in 1977, an advertiser had plenty of product...
also launched the Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network
Home Shopping Network or HSN began in 1977 as a 24-hour/7 day a week home shopping television network televised via cable, satellite, and some terrestrial channels in the Philippines. HSN can also be shopped online at hsn.com...
) -- purchased WAKC. The station abruptly dropped all local news programming that March. Later that fall, the station adopted "ABC 23" as their branding, even though the ABC affiliation ended on December 31, 1996 after the last prime time program aired. For the next year and a half, WAKC adopted Paxson's InTV format of infomercials. The station assumed its current calls on January 13, 1998 after Paxson changed most of their stations' call letters to include "PX" in them. WVPX became part of Paxson's new Pax TV network launched in 1998 and carried the entire Pax network schedule, with practically no local programming.
An Akron-based newscast was briefly resurrected in June 2001 when Paxson entered a local marketing agreement
Local marketing agreement
In U.S. and Canadian broadcasting, a local marketing agreement is an agreement in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another licensee...
with Cleveland's NBC affiliate, WKYC-TV
WKYC-TV
WKYC, virtual channel 3 , is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Cleveland, Ohio, owned by the Gannett Company. Its studio is located on the shores of Lake Erie, while its transmitter is located in Parma, Ohio....
(channel 3), as part of an overall corporate deal between Paxson and NBC. WKYC opened an Akron studio and produced a 6:30 and 10:00 p.m. newscast nightly (as Pax 23 News), featuring WKYC reporters assigned to stories in the Akron/Canton area. Weather reports were supplied by WKYC's meteorologists in their Cleveland studio. The newscasts were anchored by WKYC Akron bureau chief Eric Mansfield, who had been a reporter for the old WAKC newscasts from 1992 to 1994.
When the Pax TV network rebranded as "i" on June 30, 2005, WVPX dropped the newscasts. What became Akron/Canton News migrated to Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
's Akron/Canton area system, where it aired until May 30, 2008.
Digital TV
WVPX flash-cut from analog to digital on June 12, 2009 on channel 23.On April 20, 2010, WVPX started broadcasting the main ION feed (23.1) in high-definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
.
The station's digital feed is multiplexed.
| Virtual Channel |
Video | Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23.1 | 720p 720p 720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
ION Television |
| 23.2 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | 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... |
| 23.3 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | Life ION Life ION Life is a digital television network carried by ION Television affiliates, airing lifestyle programming during the day, and movies in the evening. It was launched February 19, 2007... |