ION Media Networks

ION Media Networks, Inc.

Type	Private
Industry	Broadcast
Founded	1991 (as Paxson Communications Corporation)
Headquarters	West Palm Beach, Florida
Key people	R. Brandon Burgess (Chairman & CEO)
Products	Ion Media Television Ion Television Network-produced programming (through Ion Media Entertainment, Ion Media Networks's in-house production unit) Ion Life Qubo
Revenue	US$415 million (2014)
Owner	Media Holdco L.P. (Black Diamond Capital) (Majority - 85%) Senior lenders from previous rounds of financing (Minority - 15%)
Number of employees	433 (2005)
Website	www.ionmedianetworks.com

Ion Media Networks, Inc. (formerly known as Paxson Communications Corporation) is an American broadcasting company that owns and operates over 60 television stations in most major American markets (through its television stations group, Ion Media Television), as well as a digital sub-channel through that group & a major commercial television network. It is now a privately owned company.

The company was founded in 1988 by Lowell W. "Bud" Paxson in Florida. The company purchased radio stations and a couple television stations, eventually becoming Florida's largest radio group. The radio stations ranged from rock to contemporary hit radio to adult contemporary to news and talk. The television stations were network affiliates of ABC and NBC. In 1993 the company began to purchase stations on the outer fringes of large television markets.

The company divested itself of both the radio group and major-network affiliated television stations in 1998, focusing on building its own independent TV network, "PAX TV". The company focused on acquiring UHF television stations. Some of these stations are out-of-market stations, such as WPXD in Ann Arbor, Michigan (45 miles (72 km) from Detroit), KXLI in St. Cloud, Minnesota (60 miles (97 km) from Minneapolis), WTLK in Rome, Georgia (45 miles (72 km) from Atlanta), WPXJ in Pavilion, New York (45 miles (72 km) from both Buffalo, New York and Rochester, New York), and WAYK in Melbourne, Florida (60 miles (97 km) from Orlando). Still in some markets the company bought low rated stations that had the same type of signals as established stations with medium to high ratings. These stations included WCFC in Chicago (religious), WTGI in Wilmington, Delaware (brokered), WAKC in Akron, Ohio (Cleveland's secondary ABC affiliate), and channel 35 in Miami (Shopping), among others. In the fall of 1997, a tentative lineup was announced, and it included a family entertainment lineup of drama shows, movies, first run shows, wildlife shows, sitcoms, and talk shows. The most expensive station acquisition was WBIS in New York City. The city government had sold this station to Dow Jones and ITT in 1996 for nearly US$200 million. In January 1997, Dow Jones launched a business format called S+ during the day and a sports channel after 7 pm and on weekends. Dow Jones/ITT lost money on the operation, sold the station for about $225 million in May 1997, and shut down S+ that June in favor of Bloomberg Business News, Fox Sports Net and a block previewing new networks, IntroTV. Channel 31 was renamed WPXN with plans to be the flagship station of PAX TV in the fall of 1998.