User:CoolKatt number 99999/Draft 3

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WBPX-TV
Channels
BrandingPax 68
Programming
Affiliationsi
Ownership
OwnerPaxson Communications
History
FoundedWBPX: 1979
WPXG: 1984
Former call signs
WQTV (1979-1993)
WABU (1993-99)
WBPX: Independent (1979-91, 1993-99), Monitor Channel (1989-93)
WPXG: Independent (1984-88), CBS (1988-89)
Call sign meaning
"Boston's PAX"
Technical information[1]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID7692
Links
Public license information
Websitewww.paxboston.tv

WBPX, channel 68, is the i television station owned by Paxson Communications, serving the Boston market. The station primarily broadcasts infomercials before 5 PM daily, along with a daily Catholic Mass and other religious programming, with i network programming beginning at 5 PM. The station is also simulcast on two full-power and two low-power satellites each, WPXG channel 21 in Concord, New Hampshire, WDPX channel 58 on Cape Cod, WMPX-LP channel 33 in Dennis, Massachusetts, and W40BO, also in Boston.

History[edit]

WBPX[edit]

WBPX signed on in 1979 as WQTV, originally with programming from the Financial News Network, as well as public domain movies. The station was (at that time) owned by Arlington Broadcasting. A short time after it began to air programming, WQTV began running a subscription television service after 5 PM, which took up most of the broadcast day by 1980.

In 1983, WQTV flipped to a general entertainment format consisting of off network drama shows, old sitcoms, and several movies. The station also ran network shows that were preempted by WBZ-TV, WCVB-TV, and WNEV (now WHDH).

In 1984, WQTV overextended themselves by adding somewhat stronger programming, and early in 1986, Arlington Broadcasting (which also owned WTTO in Birmingham, Alabama, and WCGV in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) placed the station up for sale and turned the programming back to the syndicators.

From the end of 1985 to March 1987, WQTV ran five hours of preempted NBC, ABC, and CBS programming (from WBZ-TV. WCVB, and WNEV) a day, religious programming, and public domain movies from the 1930s and 40s. The station was sold to the Christian Science Monitor during the summer of 1986, and in the fall, WQTV began broadcasting Christian Science Monitor programming for thirty minutes a day.

In the spring of 1987, WQTV brought back several syndicated programs, including off network sitcoms, family dramas, made-for-TV movies, and FCC-required educational programming for children. The station also dropped preempted network programming, which would move to WHLL (now WUNI-TV). WQTV began to brand itself as "The New QTV 68", with an emphasis on family entertainment. In addition, the station expanded the time allotted for the Christian Science Monitor programs to two hours.

In the summer of 1989, WQTV condensed the entertainment programming into the late afternoon and evening hours, as the station began to focus on programs produced by the Monitor Channel, which consisted of cultural, religious, news, and information shows. By 1990, the station was down to a few hours of entertainment during the evening and overnights, and by 1992, the Monitor Channel was WQTV's only source of programming. However, in that year the Monitor Channel left the air, which left the station with reruns of the network's programming. In early 1993, the Monitor programs were finally dropped in favor of off network sitcoms and drama shows.

In the fall of 1993, Boston University bought the station and relaunched it as a commercial general entertainment station, with the new call letters of WABU. The station's broadcast schedule consisted of older cartoons, sitcoms, and family dramas, though the new station briefly ran a few preempted CBS shows from WHDH-TV. From 1996 to 1998, WABU was also the over-the-air flagship station of the Boston Red Sox, taking over from longtime Red Sox flagship station WSBK-TV.

From the beginning, WABU was planning to extend the reach of their programming. On November 30, 1993, not too long after BU acquired channel 68, the station announced that it was purchasing WNHT Concord, New Hampshire, which returned to the air as WNBU on September 1, 1995 [1]. Additionally, the station purchased WCVX Vineyard Haven in 1994 and turned the station back on as WZBU [2].

In 1999, Paxson Communications bought WABU and its satellites, and immediately mixed Pax programming into the WABU schedule, and changed the call letters of the stations to WBPX, WPXG, and WDPX (respectively) later that year. Eventually, the syndicated shows were dropped, leaving WBPX and its satellites as full Pax affiliates by 2000.

Pre-1993 WPXG[edit]

WPXG began broadcasting on April 16, 1984 as WNHT. At that time, the station was running a traditional independent format in direct competition with WNDS (now WZMY-TV) [3]. After just three months, the owners sold WNHT to The Flatley Company [4]. Its calls stood for "New Hampshire Television."

Unfortunately, the ratings were considerably low, so in an attempt to gain more viewers, the station added CBS programming on February 1, 1988, and a local newscast on May 28th of that year. However, the station failed to lure local CBS viewers away from WNEV (now WHDH-TV) and WGME (two established CBS stations in the area), so the station abruptly turned off its transmitter at midnight on March 31, 1989, following a Three's Company marathon that aired in place of the regular CBS lineup ([5], ([6]).

After a sale attempt to "Rogue Television Corporation" (a joint venture of Boston Phoenix owner and publisher Steve Mindich and WHRC (now WWDP) part-owner Michael C. Mooney) in 1990-91 fell through ([7]), the WNHT license was sold to Wilson Hickham's New England Television (no relation to the David Mugar company who, ironically, owned former compeditor WNEV/WHDH-TV) in 1991, and again to Boston University in 1993 (see above) ([8]).

External links[edit]



  1. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WBPX-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
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