WVPX-TV

"WAKR-TV" redirects here. Not to be confused with WKAR-TV.
WVPX-TV
CityAkron, Ohio
Channels
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
Owner
  • Inyo Broadcast Holdings
  • (Inyo Broadcast Licenses LLC)
WDLI-TV
History
First air date
June 7, 1953
(71 years ago) (1953-06-07)
Former call signs
  • WAKR-TV (1953–1986)
  • WAKC-TV (1986–1998)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog: 49 (UHF, 1953–1967), 23 (UHF, 1967–2009)
  • Digital: 59 (UHF, until 2009), 23 (UHF, 2009–2019)
  • ABC (1953–1997)
  • inTV (1997–1998)
Call sign meaning
Pax TV[2]
Technical information[3]
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID70491
ERP950 kW
HAAT290.32 m (952 ft)
Transmitter coordinates41°3′20″N 81°35′37″W / 41.05556°N 81.59361°W / 41.05556; -81.59361
Links
Public license information
Websiteiontelevision.com

WVPX-TV (channel 23) is a television station licensed to Akron, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland area as an affiliate of Ion Television. Owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings, it is jointly operated with Canton-licensed Grit affiliate WDLI-TV (channel 17), which transmits using WVPX-TV's full-power spectrum via a channel sharing agreement.[1]

Built and signed on by S. Bernard Berk's Summit Radio Corporation, this station originally was WAKR-TV—the television extension of WAKR—and positioned itself with a focus primarily on Akron even as it also covered the Greater Cleveland television market.[4] From their 1953 establishment until 1996, the station was one of two primary ABC-TV affiliates within the Cleveland market, current primary affiliate WEWS-TV being the other.[5] Denied what would have originally been a VHF license, WAKR-TV's competitiveness was negatively impacted throughout this era by financial shortfalls and continuous ratings issues,[6] even with a move from channel 49 to channel 23 in 1967,[7] and eventual market-wide carriage on cable systems.[8] Becoming WAKC-TV in 1986 after WAKR was sold,[9] the station remained in the hands of the Berk family until 1994, when it was sold to home-shopping broadcast chain ValueVision, but retained the ABC affiliation and local programming.[10] A subsequent sale to Paxson Communications (now Ion Media) resulted in all newscast production ceasing immediately upon consummation on February 28, 1996,[11] and disaffiliation from ABC at years' end;[12] these moves made Akron the largest city in Ohio without a traditional television network affiliate or commercial television newscast.[13]

Renamed WVPX-TV, the station has been an affiliate of Ion Television since it launched under the Pax TV name on August 31, 1998,[14] and was owned and operated by the network until 2021.[15] WKYC owner Gannett operated the station from 2001 until 2005, producing a daily half-hour Akron newscast during this period. WVPX-TV and WDLI-TV currently share studios on Renaissance Parkway in Warrensville Heights and transmitter facilities on Ohio SR 261 in Norton, Ohio.[16]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference WDLI WVPX Share was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference WAKC to WVPX was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Facility Technical Data for WVPX-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference WAKR Shadows was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference WAKC ABC Choice was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference VHF For Akron was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference WAKR Tower of Power was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference WAKR Wins Cable was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference WAKC Meaning was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference WAKC VVI Takeover was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference WAKC News Ceases was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Akron TV station withers was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference ABJ TV News Editorial was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference WVPX Pax Begins was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Balderston, Michael (January 7, 2021). "Scripps Finalizes Ion Media Acquisition". TVTechnology. Future US Inc. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  16. ^ "Stations Sharing This Tower... ASRN: 1063363". RabbitEars.Info. Archived from the original on August 13, 2020. Retrieved January 17, 2021.