WZPX
Encyclopedia
WZPX-TV is a television station affiliated with the Ion Television network (formerly PAX and i). It broadcasts on UHF
digital channel 44 in the Grand Rapids
and Lansing
/ Jackson, Michigan
markets. The station is licensed to Battle Creek, Michigan
and is owned by ION Media Networks
(formerly Paxson Communications).
The station airs on Comcast
channel 6 while the areas actual (virtual) channel 6, WLNS-TV
, is on cable channel 9.
s. The transmitter is in Vermontville Township
in western Eaton County
. Within a short period of time the station changed call letters to WILV. When the PAX network was launched in August 1998, the station took the call letters WZPX. For a time WZPX also carried programming from UPN
, but on August 31, 1999 UPN programming moved to WXSP-CA in Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo. On October 6 of that year, WZPX added The WB
to its programming, replacing its affiliation with UPN. UPN programming would later find a home in Lansing on WHTV 18
, on August 20, 2000. During this time, Detroit's WKBD 50 was available on cable television
.
programming on weekdays, WZPX had a scheduling conflict during its UPN & WB days.It carried the ION programs on the same days and times as other stations, and the UPN/WB programs 22 hours later than other UPN/WB affiliates. For example, UPN/WB primetime programs aired on Tuesdays at 8pm in other markets are aired on Wednesdays at 6pm on WZPX; promotional spots for these programs announced their local time slots. The station carried a brief announcement when switching from one network's programming to the other's. Disney's One Too/UPN Kids ran weekday mornings while Kids WB were run weekday afternoons. The Pax programming bumped from the afternoon slot simply moved earlier in the day where infomercials would have aired. In part because the station had the added draw of UPN/WB programming, WZPX was at one point one of Pax TV's highest rated affiliates.
Due to the closure of The WB on September 17, 2006 and the station's failure to acquire either The CW or MyNetworkTV
, WZPX is now solely an Ion affiliate. Those two networks each opted a digital sub-channel from another full powered station.
Digital channel 44, a multiplexed signal (43.1 main signal/43.2 Qubo
/43.3 ION Life
/43.4 Worship Network
), signed on November 1, 2008. (The Worship Network was removed from all Ion-owned stations, including WZPX, on February 1, 2010.)
is actually closer to Lansing and Jackson than to Detroit. However, WZPX's transmitter is in Vermontville Township
in western Eaton County
, which is within the Lansing broadcast market, and federal "must-carry
" rules require Comcast
cable systems in Lansing and Jackson to carry WZPX instead of WPXD. (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=TV234408.html, http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=TV529039.html)
began broadcasting in Fall 2006; the network was the result of the merger of the WB and UPN
networks. It was announced on April 4, 2006 that CBS affiliate WWMT
(Channel 3) would carry the CW on digital subchannel
3.2, making WZPX an Ion-only station http://www.thefutoncritic.com/cgi/pr.cgi?id=20060404cw01. WXSP-CA
will carry programming from Fox's new television service, My Network TV http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6328421.html?display=Breaking+News.
When Paxson bought WPXD, WZPX was spun off to DP Media because of duopoly
rules in effect at that time. Paxson repurchased the station after duopolies were legalized.
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...
digital channel 44 in the Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Grand Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located on the Grand River about 40 miles east of Lake Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 188,040. In 2010, the Grand Rapids metropolitan area had a population of 774,160 and a combined statistical area, Grand...
and Lansing
Lansing, Michigan
Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...
/ Jackson, Michigan
Jackson, Michigan
Jackson is a city located along Interstate 94 in the south central area of the U.S. state of Michigan, about west of Ann Arbor and south of Lansing. It is the county seat of Jackson County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534...
markets. The station is licensed to Battle Creek, Michigan
Battle Creek, Michigan
Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek Rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area , which encompasses all of Calhoun county...
and 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:...
(formerly Paxson Communications).
The station airs on Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
channel 6 while the areas actual (virtual) channel 6, WLNS-TV
WLNS-TV
WLNS-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Central Michigan licensed to Lansing. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 36 from a transmitter on Van Atta Road in Meridian. The station can also be seen on Comcast channel 6 and Broadstripe channel 13...
, is on cable channel 9.
History
WZPX went on the air on October 11, 1996 under the call letters of WJUE, carrying infomercialInfomercial
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...
s. The transmitter is in Vermontville Township
Vermontville Township, Michigan
Vermontville Township is a civil township of Eaton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,100 at the 2000 census.The Village of Vermontville is located within the township....
in western Eaton County
Eaton County, Michigan
Eaton County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the population was 107,759. The county seat is Charlotte. Eaton County was named for John Eaton, who was Secretary of War under U.S. President Andrew Jackson, making it one of Michigan's Cabinet counties...
. Within a short period of time the station changed call letters to WILV. When the PAX network was launched in August 1998, the station took the call letters WZPX. For a time WZPX also carried programming from UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
, but on August 31, 1999 UPN programming moved to WXSP-CA in Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo. On October 6 of that year, WZPX added The WB
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...
to its programming, replacing its affiliation with UPN. UPN programming would later find a home in Lansing on WHTV 18
WHTV
WHTV is the MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Central Michigan that is licensed to Jackson, Michigan. It broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 18 from a transmitter in Okemos. Owned by Venture Technologies Group, the station is operated through a joint sales...
, on August 20, 2000. During this time, Detroit's WKBD 50 was available on cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
.
Programming
As the UPN, WB and ION networks all offered prime timePrime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
programming on weekdays, WZPX had a scheduling conflict during its UPN & WB days.It carried the ION programs on the same days and times as other stations, and the UPN/WB programs 22 hours later than other UPN/WB affiliates. For example, UPN/WB primetime programs aired on Tuesdays at 8pm in other markets are aired on Wednesdays at 6pm on WZPX; promotional spots for these programs announced their local time slots. The station carried a brief announcement when switching from one network's programming to the other's. Disney's One Too/UPN Kids ran weekday mornings while Kids WB were run weekday afternoons. The Pax programming bumped from the afternoon slot simply moved earlier in the day where infomercials would have aired. In part because the station had the added draw of UPN/WB programming, WZPX was at one point one of Pax TV's highest rated affiliates.
Due to the closure of The WB on September 17, 2006 and the station's failure to acquire either The CW or MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
, WZPX is now solely an Ion affiliate. Those two networks each opted a digital sub-channel from another full powered station.
Digital channel 44, a multiplexed signal (43.1 main signal/43.2 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...
/43.3 ION 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...
/43.4 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...
), signed on November 1, 2008. (The Worship Network was removed from all Ion-owned stations, including WZPX, on February 1, 2010.)
Lansing and Jackson
Lansing and Jackson are within coverage of two ION stations: WZPX and Ann Arbor's WPXD-TV, which also serves Detroit. WPXD's transmitter in northwestern Washtenaw CountyWashtenaw County, Michigan
Washtenaw County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the population was 344,791. Its county seat is Ann Arbor. The United States Office of Management and Budget defines the county as part of the Detroit–Warren–Flint Combined Statistical Area...
is actually closer to Lansing and Jackson than to Detroit. However, WZPX's transmitter is in Vermontville Township
Vermontville Township, Michigan
Vermontville Township is a civil township of Eaton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,100 at the 2000 census.The Village of Vermontville is located within the township....
in western Eaton County
Eaton County, Michigan
Eaton County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the population was 107,759. The county seat is Charlotte. Eaton County was named for John Eaton, who was Secretary of War under U.S. President Andrew Jackson, making it one of Michigan's Cabinet counties...
, which is within the Lansing broadcast market, and federal "must-carry
Must-carry
In cable television, governments apply a must-carry regulation stating that locally-licensed television stations must be carried on a cable provider's system.- Canada :...
" rules require Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
cable systems in Lansing and Jackson to carry WZPX instead of WPXD. (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=TV234408.html, http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=TV529039.html)
The CW/My Network TV
The CW Television NetworkThe CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
began broadcasting in Fall 2006; the network was the result of the merger of the WB and UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
networks. It was announced on April 4, 2006 that CBS affiliate WWMT
WWMT
WWMT is the CBS-affiliated television station for West Michigan licensed to Kalamazoo. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 from a transmitter on Chief Noonday Road/M-179, northwest of Yankee Springs Township, along the Barry and Allegan County line. The station can also...
(Channel 3) would carry the CW on digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
3.2, making WZPX an Ion-only station http://www.thefutoncritic.com/cgi/pr.cgi?id=20060404cw01. WXSP-CA
WXSP-CA
WXSP-CD is the Class A MyNetworkTV-affiliated television station for Southwestern Michigan, licensed to Grand Rapids. It broadcasts a standard definition digital signal on UHF channel 15 from a transmitter in Walker along Interstate 96. The station can also be seen on Charter channel 15 and Comcast...
will carry programming from Fox's new television service, My Network TV http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6328421.html?display=Breaking+News.
Ownership
WZPX's original licensee was Horizon Broadcasting Corp, which Paxson Communications acquired before the station's sign on.When Paxson bought WPXD, WZPX was spun off to DP Media because of duopoly
Duopoly (broadcasting)
In United States broadcast television and radio, duopoly is a term used to describe a single company which owns two or more stations in the same city or community....
rules in effect at that time. Paxson repurchased the station after duopolies were legalized.