WUPX-TV
WUPX-TV, virtual channel 67 (UHF digital channel 25), is an Ion Television owned-and-operated station serving Lexington, Kentucky, United States that is licensed to Richmond. The station is owned by West Palm Beach, Florida-based Ion Media Networks (the former Paxson Communications). WUPX-TV's transmitter is located on High Bridge Road north of Bryantsville, Kentucky. The station's main studio facilities for the purposes of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations are located in Knoxville, Tennessee with that market's Ion station, Jellico-licensed WPXK-TV (channel 54).[3]
| Richmond/Lexington, Kentucky United States | |
|---|---|
| City | Richmond, Kentucky |
| Channels | Digital: 25 (UHF) Virtual: 67 (PSIP) |
| Branding | Ion Television |
| Slogan | Positively Entertaining |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Ion Media Networks (sale to the E. W. Scripps Company pending; to be resold to INYO Broadcast Holdings thereafter) (Ion Media Lexington License, Inc.) |
| History | |
| Founded | October 1993 |
First air date | June 1, 1998 (in Morehead, Kentucky; license moved to Richmond in 2018[1]) |
Former call signs | WAOM (1998–2001) |
Former channel number(s) | Analog: 67 (UHF, 1998–2009) Digital: 21 (UHF, 2002–2019) |
| UPN (1998–2001) | |
Call sign meaning | KentUcky's PaX |
| Technical information | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 23128 |
| ERP | 465 kW[2] |
| HAAT | 354.11 m (1,162 ft)[2] |
| Transmitter coordinates | 37°47′18″N 84°40′49″W[2] |
| Links | |
Public license information | Profile LMS |
| Website | iontelevision |
History
A construction permit for WAOM was issued in October 1993.[4] Originally licensed to Morehead, Kentucky, the station signed on the air on June 1, 1998 as a repeater of low-powered UPN affiliate WBLU-LP, which broadcast on UHF channel 62. Both stations simulcast programming from UPN and The WB as well as infomercials until WAOM was sold off in 2001. After WAOM was sold, WBLU-LP lost both The WB and UPN in 2003 and 2004, respectively, to become independent, and at some point became affiliated with MyNetworkTV and RTV. WBLU-LP is no longer broadcasting as it went dark in 2009 after its parent company went bankrupt.
In 2001, WAOM-TV was sold to Paxson Communications, became a Pax TV owned-and-operated station and changed its callsign to the current WUPX-TV. Pax TV became i: Independent Television in 2005, and then Ion Television in 2007.
On December 11, 2018, the FCC granted WUPX-TV's petition to change its city of license from Morehead to Richmond, Kentucky. The move was conditioned upon the station providing continued service to Morehead.[1]
Possible sale to Scripps
On September 24, 2020, the Cincinnati-based E. W. Scripps Company announced that it would purchase Ion Media for $2.65 billion, with financing from Berkshire Hathaway. With this purchase, Scripps will divest 23 Ion-owned stations, but no announcement has been made as to which stations that Scripps will divest as part of the move. The proposed divestitures will allow the merged company to fully comply with the FCC local and national ownership regulations. Scripps has agreed to a transaction with an unnamed buyer, who has agreed to maintain Ion affiliations for the stations. If Scripps decides to keep WUPX-TV, this would make it a sister station to NBC affiliate WLEX-TV (channel 18).[5][6][7]
Digital television
Digital channels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
| Channel | Video | Aspect | PSIP Short Name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 67.1 | 720p | 16:9 | ION | Main Ion Television programming |
| 67.2 | 480i | qubo | Qubo | |
| 67.3 | IONPlus | Ion Plus | ||
| 67.4 | Shop | Ion Shop | ||
| 67.5 | LAFF | Laff | ||
| 67.6 | 4:3 | HSN | HSN |
Analog-to-digital conversion
WUPX-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 67, on June 12, 2009, the official date in 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 UHF channel 21.[9] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 67, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition.
References
- "Amendment of Section 73.622(i), Digital Television Broadcast Stations Morehead and Richmond, Kentucky" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. December 11, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
- "Amendment to a Modification of a DTV Station Construction Permit Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. February 15, 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
- "WUPX Station Information". Ion Media Networks. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
If your organization would like to be notified of such [job] vacancies, please contact the Station Operations Manager at 9000 Executive Park Drive, Bldg. D, Suite 210, Knoxville, Tennessee.
- WUPX-TV MOREHEAD, KY @ RabbitEars.Info
- http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2020/09/24/scripps-creates-national-television-networks-business-with-acquisition-of-ion-media-395300/20200924scripps01/
- Cimilluca, Dana. "E.W. Scripps Agrees to Buy ION Media for $2.65 billion in Berkshire-Backed Deal". Retrieved September 24, 2020.
- E.W. Scripps scales up with $2.65 billion Berkshire-backed deal for ION Media
- RabbitEars TV Query for WUPX
- "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
- http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=WUPX