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WPXW-TV (channel 66) is a
television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's s ...
licensed to
Manassas, Virginia Manassas (), formerly Manassas Junction, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. The population was 42,772 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of ...
, United States, broadcasting the
Ion Television Ion Television (referred to on-air as simply Ion) is an American broadcast television network and FAST television channel owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August ...
network to the
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
area. The station is owned by the
Ion Media Ion Media, LLC (formerly known as Paxson Communications Corporation and Ion Media Networks) is a subsidiary of the E.W. Scripps Company that operates the linear broadcast networks Ion Television, Ion Mystery, and Ion Plus. Prior to its acquis ...
subsidiary of the
E. W. Scripps Company The E. W. Scripps Company, also known as Scripps, is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglom ...
, and maintains business offices in
Fairfax Station, Virginia Fairfax Station is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 12,420 at the 2020 census. Located in Northern Virginia, its center is located southwest of Washington, D.C. History Establishe ...
; its transmitter is located on River Road in
Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...
. The Ion network is also broadcast in the region from
WWPX-TV WWPX-TV (channel 60) is a television station licensed to Martinsburg, West Virginia, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to the northwestern portion of the Washington, D.C., television market. Owned and operated by Ion Media, t ...
(channel 60) in
Martinsburg, West Virginia Martinsburg is a city in Berkeley County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. The population was 18,773 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making Martinsburg the largest city in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia a ...
, which shares the same subchannels as WPXW-TV, and on a subchannel of Scripps-owned ABC affiliate
WMAR-TV WMAR-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios and offices are located on York Road ( Maryland Route 45) in Towson north o ...
(channel 2) in
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
. Channel 66 went on the air April 2, 1978, as WTKK ("Witnessing the King of Kings"), a Christian station owned by Manassas-based National Capital Christian Broadcasting. The station's programming consisted of local and national religious shows, though in the 1980s it broadened its format to include some classic TV series. National Capital Christian Broadcasting sold channel 66 to home shopping network
ValueVision ShopHQ (formerly ValueVision, ShopNBC, Evine Live, and Evine) was an American cable, satellite and broadcast home shopping television network and multi-channel video retailer owned by iMedia Brands Inc., whose assets were acquired by IV Media on ...
in 1994, though the seller would continue to be investigated for fraud and misrepresentations to investors. The station had the call sign WVVI under ValueVision. Paxson Communications Corporation, forerunner to Ion Media, acquired WVVI-TV and incorporated it into its Infomall TV network, broadcasting infomercials and paid programs, in 1997; these stations formed the core of the Pax network, predecessor to Ion, in 1998.


History


National Capital Christian Broadcasting ownership

In 1974, National Capital Christian Broadcasting (NCCB) began organizing to build a Christian- and family-oriented television station in Manassas, which would serve greater Washington. This required petitioning the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
(FCC) to allot channel 66 to Manassas. Activity accelerated in 1977, when NCCB applied for the
construction permit Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to bu ...
after having channel 66 approved to operate in Manassas. Raker bought a former school and church and converted it into a television studio. The FCC granted the permit on October 3, 1977, and WTKK ("Witnessing the
King of Kings King of Kings, ''Mepet mepe''; , group="n" was a ruling title employed primarily by monarchs based in the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. Commonly associated with History of Iran, Iran (historically known as name of Iran, Persia ...
") began broadcasting on April 2, 1978—
Easter Sunday Easter, also called Pascha (Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek language, Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, de ...
. The fledgling station's finances were unsteady: within a year, it was described by program host Ken Connolly as "in a fight for life". Connolly's program marked the bulk of WTKK's local programming in 1979, alongside a children's show known as ''Beyond the Blue'' and a newscast. Raker—described financially by the head of the National Association of Religious Broadcasters as a "loner" compared to other similar ventures—was able to beg for equipment and money, including a used set and studio lights belonging to ''
Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
'' and a lease of the abandoned Baptist church, complete with an organ and stained glass windows. In 1982, the station increased its power to a full five million watts and moved its transmitter from Independent Hill to a new site in
Fairfax Station Fairfax Station is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 12,420 at the 2020 census. Located in Northern Virginia, its center is located southwest of Washington, D.C. History Establishe ...
; it was off the air for three months to make the move. In 1983, channel 66 began to experiment with an increased secular programming schedule, as its all-religious lineup failed to attract viewers. With the addition of shows like ''
The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in a ...
'', ''
Green Acres ''Green Acres'' is an American television absurdist sitcom starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm. Produced by Filmways as a sister show to ''Petticoat Junction'', the series was first br ...
'', and ''
Mister Ed ''Mister Ed'' is an American television sitcom produced by Filmways that aired in syndication from January 5 to July 2, 1961, and then on CBS from October 1, 1961, to February 6, 1966. The show's title character is a talking horse which orig ...
'', WTKK's ratings soared 1,000 percent from a 0.2 share to a 2.5 share in the span of a year. The station also had to hire advertising sales representatives to handle its increasing business. In November 1984, National Capital Christian Broadcasting expanded by starting WTLL (channel 63, "Witnessing the Lord of Lords") in
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
; it was able to borrow money to start the Richmond station because of a land donation made by real estate developer Cecil D. Hylton. WTKK and WTLL shared some programming that was produced in Manassas, including the religious talk show ''Capital Life'' and an exercise program, ''Beverly Exercise''. However, with continued money losses among independent TV stations, NCCB sold the Richmond station to Sudbrink Broadcasting in 1986.


ValueVision and Pax/Ion ownership

In 1994, WTKK was purchased by a subsidiary of
ValueVision ShopHQ (formerly ValueVision, ShopNBC, Evine Live, and Evine) was an American cable, satellite and broadcast home shopping television network and multi-channel video retailer owned by iMedia Brands Inc., whose assets were acquired by IV Media on ...
, a
home shopping Home shopping is the electronic retailing and home shopping channels industry, which includes such billion dollar television-based and e-commerce companies as Shop LC, HSN, Gemporia, TJC, QVC, eBay, ShopHQ, Rakuten.com and Amazon.com, ...
network, for $5.4 million. ValueVision at the same time acquired two other stations: WTWS-TV in
New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the outlet of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The cit ...
, and KRTW in
Baytown, Texas Baytown is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Harris County, Texas, Harris and Chambers County, Texas, Chambers counties. Located in the Greater Houston, Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area, it lies on the nor ...
. On June 6, 1994, the call letters were changed to WVVI; it was one of as many as four company-owned stations. After National Capital Christian Broadcasting sold channel 66, it came under state government scrutiny for its methods of attracting investors. The Commonwealth's Attorney for Prince William County solicited a
Virginia State Police The Virginia State Police, officially the Virginia Department of State Police, conceived in 1919 and established in 1932, is the state police force for the U.S. state of Virginia. The agency originated out of the Virginia Department of Motor Ve ...
investigation of NCCB in November 1996 after more than a dozen investors sued the company seeking the return of their investments over misrepresentations. The company filed for bankruptcy with assets of $430,000 and liabilities exceeding $9 million. Many of these investors had provided funds for expansions that never were undertaken. By 1998, a Virginia State Police agent had written in court filings that "as of this date, this investigator doesn't know how the ValueVision
ale Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...
proceeds finally were used". Paxson Communications agreed to acquire WVVI in 1996; the deal was for a $30 million purchase price plus another $10 million if the
Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
upheld must carry regulations that required Washington's cable systems to air the station in their lineups. Paxson closed on the deal on August 1, 1997, and replaced ValueVision's home shopping programming with its inTV infomercial service. On January 13, 1998, the call letters were changed to the current WPXW in advance of the launch of the Pax network later that year. The station aired
Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...
games in 2005, the first year that they shared the market with the
Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...
. After changing its name to i: Independent Television in 2005, the network became known as Ion Television in 2007.


Technical information


Subchannels


Analog-to-digital conversion

WPXW-TV shut down its analog signal, over
UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...
channel 66, 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 moved from its pre-transition UHF channel 43 to channel 34, using
virtual channel In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered as digits on a receiver's ...
66. WPXW-TV relocated its signal from channel 34 to channel 35 on August 2, 2019, as a result of the
2016 United States wireless spectrum auction The 2016 United States wireless spectrum auction, officially known as Auction 1001, allocated approximately 100 MHz of the United States Ultra High Frequency (UHF) spectrum formerly allocated to UHF television in the 600 MHz band. The sp ...
.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wpxw-Tv 1978 establishments in Virginia Bounce TV affiliates Court TV affiliates E. W. Scripps Company television stations Ion Mystery affiliates Ion Plus affiliates Ion Television affiliates Laff (TV network) affiliates Manassas, Virginia Television channels and stations established in 1978 PXW-TV