Ion Television
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| Type | Broadcast, cable, satellite, and digital television network |
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| Country | United States |
| Founded | July 10, 1998; 18 years ago by Lowell 'Bud' Paxson |
| Slogan | Positively Entertaining |
| Headquarters | West Palm Beach, Florida |
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Broadcast area
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Nationwide |
| Owner | Ion Media Networks |
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Key people
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R. Brandon Burgess (Chairman/CEO, Ion Media Networks) Gordon Lavalette (CFO, Ion Media Networks) Marc Zand (President of Programming Acquisitions, Ion Media Networks) |
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Launch date
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August 31, 1998; 18 years ago (as Pax TV) July 1, 2005; 11 years ago (as i: Independent Television) January 29, 2007; 9 years ago (as Ion Television) |
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Former names
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Pax TV (1998–2005) i: Independent Television (2005–2007) |
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Picture format
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720p (HDTV) 480i (SDTV) |
| Affiliates |
List of Ion affiliates List of Ion O&Os |
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Official website
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www |
Ion Television is an American broadcast, cable, and satellite television network that is owned by Ion Media Networks. The network first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998 as Pax TV, focusing primarily on family-oriented entertainment programming; it rebranded as i: Independent Television on July 1, 2005, converting into a general entertainment network featuring mainly recent and older acquired programs; the network adopted its current identity as Ion Television on January 29, 2007.
Ion Television is available throughout most of the United States through its group of 60+ owned-and-operated and affiliated stations, as well as through distribution on cable and satellite providers; since 2014, the network has also increased affiliate distribution in several markets through the digital subchannels of local television stations owned by companies such as NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations and Media General where the network is unable to maintain a main channel affiliation with or own a standalone station, for the same purpose as the distribution of Ion's main network feed via cable and satellite. The network's stations cover all of the top 20 U.S. markets and 37 of the top 50 markets.
The network was originally founded by Lowell "Bud" Paxson, co-founder of the Home Shopping Network and chairman of parent company Paxson Communications (the forerunner to the current Ion Media Networks). It was originally to be called Pax Net, but was renamed Pax TV (often referred to as simply "Pax") – a dual reference to its founder and corporate parent, and the Latin word for "" – shortly before its launch. Paxson, who felt that television programs aired by other broadcast networks were too raunchy and not family-friendly enough, had decided to create a network that he perceived as an alternative. Since the new network would focus on programming tailored to family audiences, Pax TV maintained a considerably more conservative programming content policy than the major commercial television networks, restricting profanity, violence and sexual content; accordingly, many of the network's acquired programs were edited to remove sexual and overt violent content, while profane language was muted.
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