WPXE-TV
![]() | This article needs to be updated.(June 2021) |
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HAAT | 316 m (1,037 ft) |
Transmitter coordinates | 43°5′26″N 87°53′50″W / 43.09056°N 87.89722°W |
Links | |
Public license information | |
Website | iontelevision |
WPXE-TV (channel 55) is a
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/21/WPXE_Logo.png)
The station first signed on the air on June 1, 1988, as WHKE (for "World Harvest Kenosha Evangelism"), operating as a
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d6/WEZYWPXE.jpg/265px-WEZYWPXE.jpg)
In the late 1990s after its purchase by Paxson, the station moved its transmitter to a tower in northern
At times during summer due to tropospheric propagation in the analog era, WHKE/WPXE would receive heavy interference a few times and even have its signal overwhelmed by that of another distant station on channel 55, WBNX-TV from Cleveland, which broadcast at a stronger power and had its signal brought over Lake Michigan into Wisconsin due to Lake Erie's heavy "trop effect" amplifying their signal across northern Indiana and lower Michigan.
Until 2021, the station's studios were located on North Flint Road, straddling the city line between Milwaukee and Glendale, and the same facility was also the studio for WTPX-TV, the Ion station in the Wausau market. In October of that year with the 2019 repeal of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s Main Studio Rule, Ion Media officially registered its studio facility (along with most Ion-owned stations) as the Scripps Center in Cincinnati. The same month, Green Bay sister station WGBA-TV launched Ion as its fifth subchannel, with the affiliation moving from WBAY-TV.
Purchase by Scripps
On September 24, 2020, it was announced that the Cincinnati-based E. W. Scripps Company, owner of NBC affiliate WTMJ-TV (channel 4), would purchase Ion Media for $2.65 billion, with financing from Berkshire Hathaway. With this purchase, Scripps divested 23 Ion-owned stations, with WPXE-TV kept and becoming a sister station to WTMJ-TV, as there were no regulatory complications within the Milwaukee market which prevented such a duopoly.[3][4][5] The sale was completed on January 7, 2021.
Programming
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/43/Wpxedtkenosha.jpg/165px-Wpxedtkenosha.jpg)
The station had a past
WPXE airs the entire Ion schedule and since the repeal of the Main Studio Rule, it carries the network without any local content outside of an hourly on-screen station identification; the station is also not currently used by WTMJ to carry preempted NBC and syndicated programming.
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
55.1 | 720p | 16:9 |
ION | Ion Television |
55.2 | Bounce | Bounce TV | ||
55.3 | 480i | CourtTV | Court TV | |
55.4 | Grit | Grit | ||
55.5 | IONPlus | Ion Plus[7] | ||
55.6 | SCRIPPS | Scripps News | ||
55.7 | Jewelry | Jewelry Television | ||
55.8 | QVC | QVC |
Analog-to-digital conversion
WPXE-TV shut down its analog signal, over
On February 2, 2009, the station converted its main digital signal to air high definition content in the 720p format, ahead of Ion's eventual launch of its high definition program schedule. After various tests, however, Ion decided to wait on a full transition and switched back to 480i in April 2009 due to its concerns about a seamless digital transition (as days before February 2, the national transition date was moved by Congress from February 17 to June 12). Full permanent HD service for WPXE launched on April 28, 2010, with the station also receiving HD cable coverage via digital channel 1015 on Time Warner Cable and digital channel 615 on Charter Communications.
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WPXE-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ "WPXE-TV Kenosha WI". fccdata.org. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
- ^ "Scripps Creates National Television Networks Business with Acquisition of ION Media". The Futon Critic. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
- ^ Cimilluca, Dana. "E.W. Scripps Agrees to Buy ION Media for $2.65 billion in Berkshire-Backed Deal". Retrieved September 24, 2020.
- ^ E.W. Scripps scales up with $2.65 billion Berkshire-backed deal for ION Media
- RabbitEars.info. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
- ^ Keys, Matthew (June 28, 2024). "Scripps replacing Defy TV with Ion Plus on broadcast TV". TheDesk.net. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
- ^ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
- ^ "Re: WPZA238, Chicago, IL - ULS File No. 0002786987" (TXT). Retrieved September 18, 2023.