| KPXE-TV | |
|---|---|
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| Kansas City, Missouri | |
| Branding | ION Television |
| Channels | Digital: 51 (UHF) |
| Subchannels | 50.1 ION Television 50.2 qubo 50.3 ION Life 50.4 Worship |
| Affiliations | Ion Television |
| Owner | Ion Media Networks, Inc. (Ion Media Kansas City License, Inc.) |
| First air date | October 29, 1969 |
| Call letters’ meaning | PaXson Entertainment |
| Former callsigns | KCIT-TV (1969-1971) KYFC (1978-1997) KINB (1997-1998) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 50 (1969-1971, 1978-2009) |
| Former affiliations | independent (1969-1971, 1978-1998) ABC (third-party, 1969-1971) CBS (third-party, 1969-1971) NBC (third-party, 1969-1971) |
| Transmitter Power | 1000 kW (digital) |
| Height | 339 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 33337 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | 39°1′19.9″N 94°30′49.7″W / 39.022194°N 94.513806°W |
KPXE-TV is the Ion Television (formerly known as Pax TV and i) affiliate for the Kansas City television market. It is owned by ION Media Networks (formerly Paxson Communications). The station runs religious shows in the mornings, infomercials in the late afternoons, and family entertainment on weekends.
The station broadcasts its digital signal on UHF channel 51, using its former analog assignment of channel 50 as its virtual digital channel via PSIP.
History
The station originally began on October 29, 1969 as KCIT-TV (probably standing for Kansas City Independent Television), owned by Allied Broadcasting. It was the first independent station in the Kansas City market, and the first new commercial station in the area since short-lived DuMont Television Network affiliate KCTY (on channel 25) in the 1950s. KCIT filled its schedule mostly with programming that the network affiliates in the market (KCMO-TV, KMBC-TV, and WDAF-TV) turned down. However, in some cases, the network affiliates turned down so many shows that even KCIT couldn't air them all. It also managed to produce a few local programs. One of them was Torey and Friends, hosted by popular children's host Torey Southwick. Landing Southwick was a major coup for the station; he had been on KMBC-TV since 1960.
However, KCIT got competition at the start of the 1970-71 television season when KBMA-TV (now KSHB-TV) began broadcasting on channel 41. KBMA had wealthier owners and a stronger signal than channel 50; KCIT lost its early appeal as a result. Also, Allied Broadcasting had somehow gotten into severe financial straits. By late June, the station had bumped its sign-on time to 2:30 PM. By the end of the month, the station had finally decided to call it quits. For the last week in June and the first week of July, it was only on the air for two hours a day—the minimum to cover the license. The first version of Channel 50 pulled the plug for good on July 7, 1971. KBMA became the sole independent station in Kansas City for several years afterward.
The channel 50 license remained dormant for seven years; at the time, the FCC was not willing to delete UHF licenses. The station returned to the air on December 17, 1978 as KYFC-TV, a religious station named after its owner, Kansas City Youth For Christ. Its lineup remained largely religious through the 1980s, but a few "family-friendly" secular shows had been added to its schedule. The station ran newscasts from CNN Headline News at least once a day for several years, replacing the commercials with other announcements.
Pledges to support the commercial-free station declined during the 1990s. Station managers also grew concerned about the cost of converting to digital operations, something they were reluctant to pass on to their financial supporters.
In 1997, the station was sold to Paxson Communications, and began to air infomercials and Worship (Contemporary Christian) programming shortly thereafter, along with some religious shows. It also changed its call letters to KINB. In 1998, Pax TV programming was added to the lineup, and the station changed its callsign again, this time to KPXE.
Digital television
The station's digital channel is multiplexed:
| Virtual Channel |
Video | Aspect | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50.1 | 480i | 4:3 | Main KPXE programming |
| 50.2 | 480i | 4:3 | qubo |
| 50.3 | 480i | 4:3 | ION Life |
| 50.4 | 480i | 4:3 | Worship |
On June 12, 2009, KPXE has abandoned its former analog channel assignment of 50, and moved its digital signal to UHF channel 51. However, digital television receivers will continue to display KPXE's virtual channel as 50 using PSIP.
External links
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KPXE
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KPXE-TV
- David Johnson's history of the late, lamented KCIT-TV
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