Bradenton/Tampa/St. Petersburg/Sarasota, Florida United States |
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City | Bradenton, Florida |
Branding | Ion Television |
Slogan | Positively Entertaining |
Channels |
Digital: 42 (UHF) Virtual: 66 () |
Subchannels | 66.1 - Ion HD (720p) 66.2 - qubo (480i) 66.3 - Ion Life (480i) 66.4 - Ion Shop (480i) 66.5 - QVC 66.6 - HSN |
Affiliations | Ion Television |
Owner |
Ion Media Networks (Ion Media License Company, LLC) |
First air date | August 1, 1994 |
Call letters' meaning | PaX TV |
Former callsigns | WFCT (1994–1998) |
Former channel number(s) |
Analog: 66 (UHF, 1994–2009) |
Former affiliations |
Independent (1994–1998) inTV (1998) |
Transmitter power | 257 kW |
Height | 474 m |
Facility ID | 6601 |
Transmitter coordinates | 27°49′10″N 82°15′39″W / 27.81944°N 82.26083°WCoordinates: 27°49′10″N 82°15′39″W / 27.81944°N 82.26083°W |
Licensing authority | FCC |
Public license information: |
Profile CDBS |
Website | www.iontelevision.com |
WXPX-TV, virtual channel 66 (UHF digital channel 42), is a Ion Television owned-and-operated television station serving Tampa and St. Petersburg, Florida, United States that is licensed to Bradenton, Florida. It is owned by Ion Media Networks. WXPX maintains studio facilities located on 66th Street North in Clearwater, Florida, and its transmitter is located in Riverview, Florida.
The station first signed on the air on August 1, 1994 as WFCT; the station was founded by Paxson Communications, which was renamed Ion Media Networks in 2007. It originally ran an all-infomercial format as an affiliate of the Paxson-owned Infomail TV Network (or inTV), and also carried programming from The Worship Network during the overnight hours. The station also broadcast games from the now-defunct Atlanta Knights minor league hockey franchise, which was affiliated with the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning. At the time, Paxson also owned a chain of radio stations in Florida. Paxson's Tampa Bay radio clusted regularly received commercial time on WFCT; this ended when Paxson sold off his radio and billboard businesses to fund start up operations for the Pax TV network.