WPXR-TV

Ion Television station in Roanoke, Virginia

37°11′56″N 80°9′0″W / 37.19889°N 80.15000°W / 37.19889; -80.15000[2]Links
Public license information
  • Public file
  • LMS
Websiteiontelevision.com

WPXR-TV (channel 38) 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.

History

The station signed on January 3, 1986, as WEFC, a religious station owned by Evangel Foursquare Church (hence the call letters). It was the first non-network affiliated station in Roanoke, and the first new UHF station in the market to sign on following the demise of WRLU channel 27 nearly 11 years earlier. Coincidentally, a new channel 27, under the calls of WVFT, would sign on two months after WEFC, carrying a similar format.

Paxson Communications bought the station in 1997 and made it part of the all-infomercial inTV network. It joined Pax TV (later i: Independent Television and now Ion Television) on the network's launch in 1998.

Newscasts

From September 1996 until August 1997, WDBJ produced a 10 p.m. newscast, News 7 Primetime, for WEFC; the newscast was canceled due to low ratings.[3] From 2000 to 2005, WPXR aired rebroadcasts of WSLS-TV's newscasts as part of a joint sales agreement between Paxson Communications and WSLS owner Media General.[4]

Technical information

Subchannels

The station's signal is multiplexed:

Subchannels of WPXR-TV[5]
Channel Res. Aspect Short name Programming
38.1 720p 16:9 ION Ion Television
38.2 480i CourtTV Court TV
38.3 Laff Laff
38.4 Mystery Ion Mystery
38.5 Defy TV Defy TV
38.6 SCRIPPS Scripps News
38.7 Jewelry Jewelry TV
38.8 HSN HSN
38.9 QVC QVC

Analog-to-digital conversion

WPXR-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 38, 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 UHF channel 36,[6] using virtual channel 38.

References

  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WPXR-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  2. ^ a b c "Modification of a DTV Station Construction Permit Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. March 4, 2019. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  3. ^ "Channel 7 cancels WEFC 10 p.m. news". The Roanoke Times. August 8, 1997. p. B4. Archived from the original on September 15, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
  4. ^ "PAX TV Signs Strategic Agreement With Media General's NBC-Affiliated Stations in Tampa & Roanoke". Online Media Daily. November 3, 2000. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2012.
  5. ^ RabbitEars TV Query for WPXR
  6. ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.

External links

  • Official website
  • Site of the Week – Roanoke, Virginia – discusses WPXR's antennas
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Reception may vary by location and some stations may only be viewable with cable television
Roanoke
WDBJ (7.1 CBS, 7.2 The365, 7.3 H&I, 7.4 Crime)
WSLS-TV (10.1 NBC, 10.2 Get, 10.3 MeTV, 10.4 Start, 10.5 Movies!)
W05AA-D (13.1 ABC, 13.2 Charge!, 13.3 Comet, 13.4 TBD)
WBRA-TV (15.1 PBS, 15.2 World/PBS Encore, 15.3 PBS Kids, 15.4 Create, 15.5 Echo)
WZBJ (24.1 MNTV, 24.2 Dabl)
WFXR (27.1 Fox, 27.2 CW, 27.3 Bounce TV, 27.4 Quest)
WPXR-TV (38.1 Ion, 38.2 Court, 38.3 Laff, 38.4 Mystery, 38.5 Defy, 38.6 Scripps News, 38.7 JTV, 38.8 HSN, 38.9 QVC)
Lynchburg
WSET-TV (13.1 ABC, 13.2 Charge!, 13.3 Comet, 13.4 TBD)
WWCW (21.1 CW, 21.2 Fox, 21.3 REW, 21.4 Grit)
WZBJ-CD (24.1 MNTV, 24.2 Cozi, 24.3 Catchy, 24.4 Dabl)
Danville
WMDV-LD (23.1 Ind., 23.2 Ind.)
Martinsville
WYAT-LD (40.1 This)
ATSC 3.0Defunct stations
WDRG-LP 2 (TBN)
WRFT-TV/WRLU 27 (ABC, Roanoke)
WROV-TV 27 (Ind, Roanoke)
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