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111-444: WDAY-TV (channel 6) is a television station in Fargo, North Dakota , United States, affiliated with ABC . It serves as the flagship television property of locally based Forum Communications Company , which also owns WDAY radio (970 AM) and The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead . The television and radio stations share studios on South 8th Street in downtown Fargo, while WDAY-TV's transmitter

222-470: A MyNetworkTV affiliate) since 1996; Cleveland NBC affiliate WKYC-TV produced evening newscasts for WVPX-TV that focused primarily on that O&O's city of license, nearby Akron ). In some cities, a major network affiliate also provided some engineering and other back office services for the PAX station. In an effort to increase revenue due to low viewership and other financial issues, PAX gradually increased

333-559: A barter in some cases. 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 31, 1998, as Pax TV , focusing primarily on family-oriented entertainment programming. It rebranded as i: Independent Television (commonly referred to as "i") on July 1, 2005, converting into

444-582: A children's program block called "Cloud Nine" on Saturdays from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and Sundays from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 am. Central. In addition, the network aired religious programming through time-lease agreements with The Worship Network (which aired its overnight programming on PAX seven nights a week) and Praise TV (featuring Contemporary Christian music and other faith-based programs aimed at teenagers and young adults, which aired on Friday and Saturday late-nights from 11:00 p.m. to 2:00 am. Central until 2000). The remainder of

555-418: A children's programming block, as part of a partnership with NBCUniversal and Scholastic Entertainment. On January 29, 2007, the network changed its name again to Ion Television (as a result of its parent company's renaming to Ion Media Networks ). Days after the rebrand, California-based entertainment group Positive Ions, Inc. filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Ion Media Networks, claiming that

666-496: A comparably small fraction of the paid programming schedule it aired in the past. Ion owned-and-operated stations and affiliates formerly also provide limited local programming on weekday mornings to fulfill public affairs guidelines, which ranged from entirely local productions to Ion Life-sourced programs within which commercial slots are instead devoted to local physicians or experts giving locality-specific health advice or advertising their services. This programming has ended as

777-403: A considerably more conservative programming content policy than the major commercial television networks, restricting profanity , violence and sexual content; accordingly, many of the network's acquired programs were edited to remove sexual and overt violent content, while profane language was muted . Most of the network's initial affiliates were Paxson Communications-owned affiliate stations of

888-531: A controlling stake in Ion to Citadel, in exchange for Citadel investing $ 100 million into Ion's growth and digital plans. Ion Television's programming, for the most part, remained unchanged upon the rebrand; the network continued to feature programming from the content deals it signed while under the i brand (such as Who's the Boss? , Mama's Family , Growing Pains , and The Wonder Years ). The network also aired

999-452: A dual reference to its founder and corporate parent, and the Latin word for " peace " – shortly before its launch. Paxson, who felt that television programs aired by other broadcast networks were too raunchy and not family-friendly enough, had decided to create a network that he perceived as an alternative. Since the new network would focus on programming tailored to family audiences, PAX maintained

1110-450: A forced divestiture of either i or Spanish network Telemundo , which NBC had acquired in April 2002 (prior to its merger with Vivendi Universal ), along with the divested network's O&Os due to FCC rules that prohibit broadcasters from owning more than two television stations in the same market unless there are either a minimum of 20 full-power stations in the market or one of the stations

1221-713: A fourth digital subchannel of local i owned-and-operated stations and affiliates until the network was dropped in January 2010; in addition, Tomorrow's Weather Tonight and rebroadcasts of network affiliate newscasts were discontinued the day prior to the rebrand on June 30, 2005 (though a few stations not owned by the network's parent company retained news share agreements with major network stations after that date, such as WBNA in Louisville, Kentucky , which continued to air newscasts from NBC affiliate WAVE ). The network shifted its format almost entirely to reruns of television series from

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1332-404: A general entertainment network featuring recent and older acquired programs. The network adopted its identity as Ion Television on January 29, 2007. For many years, Ion has focused primarily on off-network reruns of existing series, with most of its current schedule devoted to marathon blocks of procedural dramas , along with occasional broadcasts of films (including television films during

1443-527: A half-hour prime time newscast on its second and third subchannels called WDAY Xtra News at 9 . It is simulcast on WDAZ's subchannels in Grand Forks, as well as KBMY/KMCY's subchannels in the Bismarck–Minot market. On September 11, 2017, WDAY-TV launched a 4 p.m. weekday newscast that is simulcast on sister station WDAZ. It was the first afternoon newscast ever to air in the market. On November 30, 2018, it

1554-433: A late afternoon sitcom block called "Laugh Attack", which featured reruns of comedy series targeted at African American audiences (originally consisting of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper and The Wayans Bros. , the latter of which was later replaced by The Steve Harvey Show ). In January 2008, Ion Media and Comcast reached a carriage agreement to continue carrying Ion Television, while also adding Qubo and Ion Life to

1665-548: A major commercial broadcast network until 2010). On January 4, 2015, the Qubo block on Ion was relaunched as the "Qubo Kids Corner", concurrent with the block's move to Sunday mornings. As mentioned above, Scripps now purchases syndicated programming to meet Ion Television's E/I requirements with its wind-down of Qubo. The network has previously broadcast certain sporting events, including Conference USA college football games (produced by College Sports Television ), soccer matches from

1776-415: A much shorter wavelength, and thus requires a shorter antenna, but also higher power. North American stations can go up to 5000 kW ERP for video and 500 kW audio, or 1000 kW digital. Low channels travel further than high ones at the same power, but UHF does not suffer from as much electromagnetic interference and background "noise" as VHF, making it much more desirable for TV. Despite this, in

1887-414: A news bureau and sales office in Grand Forks. On September 5, 2021, WDAY-TV launched a Sunday morning newscast that is simulcast on sister stations WDAZ and KBMY/KMCY. It was the first Sunday morning newscast to air in the market. The station's signal is multiplexed : WDAY-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 6, on June 12, 2009, the official date on which full-power television stations in

1998-527: A news share agreement with another local station – to produce Tomorrow's Weather Tonight , a five-minute national forecast segment that aired Monday through Friday nights at the conclusion of PAX's entertainment schedule. Starting in 2000, many PAX stations also entered into news share agreements with a local major network affiliate (mostly involving NBC-affiliated stations, though some involved an affiliate of ABC , CBS, or Fox ) to air tape-delayed broadcasts of evening, and in some markets, morning newscasts from

2109-596: A one-year delay from their original syndication broadcast) and, due to its alliance with NBC, The Weakest Link (both from the Anne Robinson -hosted network run and the George Gray -hosted syndicated version) as well as the 2000 revival of Twenty-One . In September 1999, NBC purchased a 32% share of Paxson Communications for $ 415 million in convertible stock, with an option to expand its interest to 49% by February 2002, pending changes in ownership regulations set by

2220-476: A partnership between Ion Media Networks , NBC Universal , the Nelvana unit of Corus Entertainment , Scholastic Media , Classic Media , and its subsidiary Big Idea Productions . The Qubo block originally debuted on NBC and Telemundo on September 9, 2006, with NBC's Qubo block initially being rebroadcast on Ion Television on Friday afternoons (making it the last weekday afternoon children's block to be carried by

2331-528: A petition on Change.org demanding that Forum restore the local 5 p.m. news to WDAZ. On February 22, 2012, WDAY-TV began broadcasting its local newscasts in high definition. KBMY and KMCY began airing some of WDAY's newscasts in 2014. WDAY-TV signs off briefly in the overnight hours; as a result, ABC's overnight news program, World News Now , is not broadcast. The station goes off the air at 3:37 a.m. and signs on again at 4 a.m. to broadcast America This Morning . In August 2016, WDAY-TV launched

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2442-515: A statement on its website, DirecTV (which ironically had, and still has, multiple networks made up of full-time paid programming) planned to terminate its carriage agreement with i on February 28, 2006. The satellite provider cited that "most of [ i Network's] programming consists of infomercials and other promotional shows", despite an earlier promise by network executives that it "would consist of general, family-oriented entertainment". At its peak, infomercial time stretched across eighteen hours of

2553-691: A tentpole of the network with Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) games occupying weekly slots in the programming lineup and to launch a refresh of their brand identity and new year-long brand campaign based on the new tagline from the new branding being "Ion. It's On", replacing "Positively Entertaining" after 16 years. Sister channels Ion Mystery and Ion Plus would also be rebranded with similar graphics based on Ion's branding. As of April 2024, Ion provides general entertainment programming to owned-and-operated and affiliated stations every day from 6:00 am. to 2:00 am. Eastern Time (except Fridays outside of

2664-505: A trio of winged teenage angels that hosted the wraparound segments that bridged breaks during the block's shows, which were mostly sourced from the DIC library. "Cloud Nine" was discontinued in the spring of 1999, and was replaced by a new block under the title "Pax Kids." Pax TV discontinued the "Pax Kids" block in September 2001, as a result, it became the first major commercial broadcast network in

2775-425: A variety of ways to generate revenue from television commercials . They may be an independent station or part of a broadcasting network , or some other structure. They can produce some or all of their programs or buy some broadcast syndication programming for or all of it from other stations or independent production companies. Many stations have some sort of television studio , which on major-network stations

2886-402: A week of each other, and another that among other things would bring original programming to Ion Television's lineup. On June 27, 2006, Ion Media announced a comprehensive programming deal with Warner Bros. Television Distribution , which gave it the broadcast rights to movies and television series owned by the company. One week later on July 5, 2006, Ion announced a similar deal that resulted in

2997-644: A year later when seven series made it to PAX's 2004–05 schedule. On June 28, 2005, Paxson Communications announced that it would rebrand PAX as i: Independent Television , to reflect a new strategy of "providing an independent broadcast platform for producers and syndicators who desire to reach a national audience." The network used a lowercase letter "i" for its branding and other items such as its electronic program guide listings. The rebranding also resulted in several changes to its programming lineup: paid programming replaced overnight programming from The Worship Network, which began to carry its full 24-hour schedule on

3108-496: Is non-commercial educational (NCE) and considered public broadcasting . To avoid concentration of media ownership of television stations, government regulations in most countries generally limit the ownership of television stations by television networks or other media operators, but these regulations vary considerably. Some countries have set up nationwide television networks, in which individual television stations act as mere repeaters of nationwide programs . In those countries,

3219-447: Is a satellite ). As part of the agreement, Lowell Paxson stepped down from his position as chairman of Paxson Communications. In April 2006, published reports surfaced that i owed more than US$ 250 million to creditors. Standard & Poor's reported a much higher debt in March 2008, owing $ 867 million to creditors and having a bond rating of CCC+/Outlook Negative. According to

3330-412: Is a semi-satellite of KBMY. WDAZ-TV (channel 8), serving Grand Forks and licensed to Devils Lake , operates as a semi-satellite of WDAY-TV. As such, it simulcasts all network and syndicated programming as provided through WDAY-TV, and the two stations share a website. However, WDAZ-TV airs separate legal identifications and commercial inserts targeting the Grand Forks metro and northern portion of

3441-546: Is able to circumvent the legal limit of covering 39% of the population because all of its stations operate on the UHF television band, which is subject to a discount in regard to that limit. In the digital age, the restoration of the UHF discount has proven controversial with other broadcast groups and FCC rulings between presidential administrations, though as the network's parent company mainly acquired low-performing stations and stations on

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3552-489: Is available throughout most of the United States through its group of 44 owned-and-operated stations and 20 network affiliates , as well as through distribution on pay-TV providers and streaming services; since 2014, the network has also increased affiliate distribution in several markets through the digital subchannels of local television stations owned by companies such as Gray Television and Nexstar Media Group where

3663-470: Is broadcast via terrestrial radio waves. A group of television stations with common ownership or affiliation are known as a TV network and an individual station within the network is referred to as O&O or affiliate , respectively. Because television station signals use the electromagnetic spectrum, which in the past has been a common, scarce resource, governments often claim authority to regulate them. Broadcast television systems standards vary around

3774-770: Is carried on all cable providers in the coverage area. WDAY X (as WDAY Xtra) became available in HD in 2014, and in 2016, MyNetworkTV programming began airing in prime time, although on KBMY and KMCY only (in Bismarck and Minot respectively) but not on WDAY or WDAZ; KRDK-TV in Valley City serves as Fargo's MyNetworkTV affiliate. WDAY-TV presently broadcasts 36 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours of locally produced newscasts and other programming each week (with 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours each weekday, 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours on Saturdays, and two hours on Sundays). WDAY's newscasts have traditionally led

3885-693: Is located near Amenia . WDAY-TV serves one of the largest geographic viewing areas of any station in the United States. It consists of all of North Dakota as well as northwestern Minnesota , northern South Dakota , eastern Montana , southern Manitoba , Canada including Winnipeg , and far western Ontario , Canada including Kenora . It covers this region with a network of three full-power semi-satellites : WDAZ-TV (channel 8) in Grand Forks , KBMY (channel 17) in Bismarck , and KMCY (channel 14) in Minot , which itself

3996-792: Is often used for newscasts or other local programming . There is usually a news department , where journalists gather information. There is also a section where electronic news-gathering (ENG) operations are based, receiving remote broadcasts via remote pickup unit or satellite TV . Outside broadcasting vans, production trucks , or SUVs with electronic field production (EFP) equipment are sent out with reporters , who may also bring back news stories on video tape rather than sending them back live . To keep pace with technology United States television stations have been replacing operators with broadcast automation systems to increase profits in recent years. Some stations (known as repeaters or translators ) only simulcast another, usually

4107-530: The 720p format, announcing they would do so on January 28, 2009, with an original launch date of February 16, 2009, but delayed to March 16, 2009, after the passage of the DTV Delay Act , which pushed the national digital television transition to June 12, 2009. Most Ion stations began to switch their main signals from 480i standard definition to 720p HD in late February; an early decision to pillarbox 4:3 programming with blue rather than black pillarboxing

4218-466: The Christmas season). In the past, Ion had acquired first-run airings of Canadian series not picked up by other U.S. networks, and had also been infamous for devoting much of its schedule to infomercials . Under Scripps ownership, Ion has increasingly added national sports programming from the newly-established Scripps Sports division, beginning with packages of WNBA basketball and NWSL soccer. Ion

4329-621: The Dallas Cowboys . The series was not renewed for the fall 2008 season. Ion also obtained rights to televise games from the American Indoor Football Association , which were slated to begin airing in March 2008. However, the game's producers did not provide a live broadcast and the agreement was terminated. On December 28, 2010, Ion Television signed a deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship to air

4440-600: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that would allow it to acquire additional television stations. NBC later sold its share in the network back to Paxson in November 2003. In lieu of a national news program, in 2000, Paxson Communications signed an agreement with Jackson, Mississippi -based WeatherVision – which mainly produces weather forecast inserts for television stations in certain markets that do not operate an in-house news department or maintain

4551-474: The Infomall TV Network (inTV), a network launched by Paxson in 1995 that relied mainly on infomercials and other brokered programming . During the late spring and summer of 1998, a half-hour preview special hosted by former Waltons star Richard Thomas , featuring interviews with Lowell Paxson about PAX's development and initial programming, aired on inTV stations slated to become charter outlets of

WDAY-TV - Misplaced Pages Continue

4662-586: The National Women's Soccer League announced Scripps Sports as a rightsholder beginning in the 2024 season, with Ion to air Saturday night doubleheaders. Ion will also air the 2024 NWSL Draft . As of October 2020 , Ion has 64 owned-and-operated stations, and current and pending affiliation agreements with nine additional television stations encompassing 36 states and the District of Columbia . The network has an estimated national reach of 60.63% of all households in

4773-670: The Women's United Soccer Association , Real Pro Wrestling (which more resembles the amateur form than the theatrically-based ring sport), the Champions Tour of golf, the Paralympic Games and a weekly mixed martial arts program from BodogFight . In its home state of Florida, the network's stations had served as a statewide chain to carry play-by-play coverage of a number of games for Major League Baseball 's Tampa Bay Rays and Florida Marlins (demarcated by each team's territories) until

4884-405: The broadcast range , or geographic area, that the station is limited to, allocates the broadcast frequency of the radio spectrum for that station's transmissions, sets limits on what types of television programs can be programmed for broadcast and requires a station to broadcast a minimum amount of certain programs types, such as public affairs messages . Another form of television station

4995-423: The daytime and late fringe/early graveyard periods over a five-year span (however, this resulted in the network increasing its reliance on regularly scheduled marathon -style blocks of a relatively small inventory of programs in lieu of acquiring a much larger lineup of series to fill out the schedule). More recent theatrically released feature films were also added to the lineup, alongside older movie releases from

5106-534: The electricity bill and emergency backup generators . In North America , full-power stations on band I (channels 2 to 6) are generally limited to 100 kW analog video ( VSB ) and 10 kW analog audio ( FM ), or 45 kW digital ( 8VSB ) ERP. Stations on band III (channels 7 to 13) can go up by 5 dB to 316 kW video, 31.6 kW audio, or 160 kW digital. Low-VHF stations are often subject to long-distance reception just as with FM. There are no stations on Channel 1 . UHF , by comparison, has

5217-415: The "Ion Lounge", a lifestyle segment used mainly to advertise a company's product within the featured program's commercial breaks. In the recent past, Ion Television has aired a limited number of comedy or comedy-drama series that were cycled on-and-off the schedule such as Monk , Psych and Married... with Children , with half-hour sitcoms used on certain occasions to fill scheduling gaps prior to

5328-929: The "Ion Television at the Movies" block. Ion's method of running predominantly syndicated programming is very similar to the international model of broadcasting used in Europe, Canada, Latin America, Asia and Australia, which mixes imported and syndicated shows with original programming – a model used only in United States broadcast television by digital multicast services (particularly those that specialize in acquired programs such as MeTV and Antenna TV ), smaller English language entertainment-based networks (such as America One ), PBS member stations, and networks broadcasting in languages other than English (such as Univision , UniMás , and Telemundo ). The major commercial broadcast networks in

5439-422: The 1960s to the 1990s (such as Green Acres , Amen , and Pax holdover Diagnosis: Murder ) and feature films, reruns of former Pax TV series (such as Doc ) and first-run episodes (and later reruns) of Pax holdover series America's Most Talented Kids were also included as part of the schedule. In turn, the network adapted its programming content standards to those similar to other broadcast networks. During

5550-464: The 1980s and 1990s. In April 2009, it was announced that Ion Media Networks was once again facing balance sheet problems. The company disclosed that it was in discussions with lenders on "a comprehensive recapitalization" of its balance sheet , translating to an effort to restructure its considerable debt, which, according to The Wall Street Journal , stood at $ 2.7 billion as of April 2009. The network launched high definition operations in

5661-453: The 2005–06 season, the network launched only one new series that met the network's new mission of being an 'independent broadcast platform', the teen drama Palmetto Pointe , which only lasted five episodes and was criticized as a poor imitation of Dawson's Creek and One Tree Hill ; the network went entirely to a lineup of reruns with limited original programming for the 2006–07 season (except for Health Report and specials branded under

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5772-467: The Canadian drama The Listener for broadcast in 2012, with an option for future seasons through an agreement with Shaw Media (parent of the show's originating broadcaster, Global ); the series would not join Ion's schedule until March 2014, by which time Ion Television had entered into a co-production arrangement for the program. A similar deal reached in September 2014 with Entertainment One gave Ion

5883-443: The Canadian drama series Flashpoint , which gave it first-run rights to the fourth season's final 11 episodes, after CBS aired that season's first eight episodes, as well as rights to air reruns of all episodes produced to date and thereafter; Ion (along with the show's originating Canadian broadcaster, CTV) also renewed the series for a fifth and final season that aired during the fall of 2012. In July 2011, Ion Television acquired

5994-500: The Cover , Balderdash , Dirty Rotten Cheater , a 2002 revival of Beat the Clock , Hollywood Showdown (in conjunction with Game Show Network , which also aired the show) and reruns of Born Lucky . The network would later carry reruns of the syndicated revival of Family Feud (consisting of episodes from Louie Anderson , Richard Karn and John O'Hurley 's tenures as host, airing on

6105-598: The Fargo area and 8.3 in the Grand Forks area. WDAY-DT4 returned to the air in 2017 as an affiliate of Ion Television . WDAY-TV is one of the westernmost stations in the country whose call sign begins with W. Most stations west of the Mississippi River begin with K; however, WDAY radio signed on in 1922, a year before the U.S. government moved the K-W boundary from the state borders between 102 and 104 degrees West longitude (including

6216-650: The Fargo–Grand Forks market . Local newscasts, produced by WDAY-TV, are simulcast on both stations. The two stations are counted as a single unit for ratings purposes. KBMY (channel 17) in Bismarck, and KMCY (channel 14) in Minot, clear all network programming as provided through WDAY-TV and simulcast WDAY-TV's newscasts, but airs a separate offering of syndicated programming; there are also separate commercial inserts and legal station identifications. Internal operations are based at WDAY-TV's studios in Fargo. WDAY-TV went on

6327-674: The Holiday season which start at 7:00 am. ET; awhile the entertainment programming schedule starts at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 1:00 a.m. from Christmas to New Year's Day), with paid programming filling the remaining vacated hours. A children's programming block of Science Max (one past Qubo series), and Xploration Station from Steve Rotfeld Productions – which features programs compliant with FCC educational programming requirements – airs for three hours each Friday at 7:00 am. Eastern Time. Four hours overnight are programmed with compensated religious or commercial paid programming ,

6438-585: The Main Studio Rule repeal by the FCC in 2019 freed Ion stations from this requirement. Ion also served as the over-the-air broadcast distribution point for TiVo 's Teleworld Paid Program , a weekly 30-minute compilation program – usually carried during the overnight on Wednesdays or Thursdays within the network's designated paid programming time – it was specifically coded to distribute program previews and device tutorials for TiVo's digital video recorders ; in 2011,

6549-755: The North Dakota–Montana border) to the Mississippi River. WDAY X is a digital subchannel carried on WDAY 6.3, WDAZ 8.3, KBMY 17.3, and KMCY 14.3, airing as a primary affiliate of MyNetworkTV on KBMY and KMCY and as an independent station on WDAY-TV and WDAZ-TV. This subchannel airs syndicated programming, North Dakota and Minnesota high school sports, North Dakota high school state tournaments, Minnesota State University Moorhead athletics, and select North Dakota State University athletic events. It airs Doppler weather radar and "Storm Tracker" weather loop with easy listening music during overnights. WDAY X

6660-537: The U.S. rights to the medical drama Saving Hope (which made its U.S. debut on NBC in the summer of 2012); Ion began airing first-run episodes and repeats of the series in October 2015. In December 2011, Ion Television acquired the syndication rights to Cold Case , which debuted in 2012. On June 25, 2012, Ion Television entered into a deal with WWE to air a new hour-long series titled WWE Main Event on Wednesday nights;

6771-492: The U.S. that did not supply children's programming, and later one of only two until it restored a children's block in 2006 ( UPN eventually joined it in this distinction after it dropped its Disney's One Too block in August 2003, following the termination of a programming agreement with Buena Vista Television ). On September 15, 2006, Ion Television debuted a weekly children's program block called " Qubo on Ion Television", through

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6882-486: The U.S. – ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox – carry first-run programs produced for the network, while leaving the responsibility of acquiring shows from the syndication market to their owned-and-operated stations and affiliates to fill time not allotted to network and, where applicable, locally produced programs ( The CW and MyNetworkTV , which are somewhat similar to Ion Television in their formats, mixes elements of both models as acquired programs are supplied both during prime time by

6993-552: The U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is taking another large portion of this band (channels 52 to 69) away, in contrast to the rest of the world, which has been taking VHF instead. This means that some stations left on VHF are harder to receive after the analog shutdown . Since at least 1974, there are no stations on channel 37 in North America for radio astronomy purposes. Most television stations are commercial broadcasting enterprises which are structured in

7104-462: The United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 21, using virtual channel 6. Television station The Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow ( TV Station Paul Nipkow ) in Berlin , Germany , was the first regular television service in the world. It was on the air from 22 March 1935, until it

7215-545: The United States (or 189,453,097 Americans with at least one television set). Ion Television has the most owned-and-operated stations of any commercial broadcast network in the United States, reaching 65.1% of the United States (well above the Federal Communications Commission's coverage-based national ownership limit of 39% ); it is also the only American commercial broadcast network whose stations almost exclusively consist of network-owned stations, similar to

7326-455: The acquisition of broadcast rights to films and series distributed by Sony Pictures Television (now Sony Pictures Television Studios ). Starting in September of that year, series and feature films from both libraries were incorporated onto the network's prime time schedule (including Who's the Boss? , Designing Women , Mama's Family , Growing Pains , Green Acres , and The Wonder Years ). However, these older series were later dropped when

7437-589: The air for the first time on June 1, 1953, as the second television station in North Dakota (after KCJB-TV, now KXMC-TV , in Minot) and the first in Fargo and the eastern part of the state. It was owned by a group of Fargo investors led by Norman Black, owner and publisher of The Forum . It took its call letters from WDAY radio, which has been owned by The Forum since 1935. Black bought the remaining shares in 1958. It originally carried programming from all four networks of

7548-534: The amount of paid programming content on its schedule throughout the early 2000s, at the expense of its general entertainment programming. Infomercials and other types of brokered programs ultimately became the dominant form of programming during the network's broadcast day; by January 2005, the time that PAX had allocated to entertainment programs had been reduced to six hours on weekdays (from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 pm) and five hours on weekends (from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 pm. Central Time). Original programming

7659-504: The broadcast television rights to six films produced by Starz Media (now Lionsgate ) as part of its weekend film block (then branded as the "Big Movie Weekend"); the films started airing on the network in November of that year. Ion also acquired the syndication rights to the USA Network series Psych and Monk from NBCUniversal; the two series respectively began airing in late 2011 and early 2012. House , also from NBCUniversal, joined

7770-528: The cable provider's channel lineups. On May 1, 2008, Ion Television held an upfront presentation announcing its programming for the 2008–09 season at the New York Public Library in Manhattan . In addition to the announcement of its programming acquisitions, the network unveiled a new logo (a wordmark that incorporated a positive ion symbol as a pseudo-period next to the "ion" typeface) and slogan for

7881-449: The day– CBS , NBC , ABC and DuMont . However, it was a primary NBC affiliate owing to its radio sister's long affiliation with NBC radio. It lost CBS to KXJB-TV (channel 4) in 1954, lost DuMont later in 1955 as that network was winding up operations, and lost ABC in 1959 when KXGO-TV (channel 11, now KVLY-TV ) signed on. In 1983, WDAY-TV swapped affiliations with channel 11, then known as KTHI-TV, and became an ABC affiliate. Although it

7992-446: The entirety of its $ 2.7 billion legacy debt and preferred stock, and recapitalize the company with a $ 150 million new funding commitment. On July 15, 2009, RHI Entertainment entered into a settlement agreement to resolve a dispute with Ion Media Networks, which resulted in the termination of a programming distribution agreement between RHI and Ion. In November 2010, Ion Television began airing its first made-for-TV movies, in

8103-442: The films are produced by independent film and television studios such as Reel One Entertainment, Hybrid, LLC, The Cartel, and Vancouver -based MarVista Entertainment without the network's financial involvement (Ion does not maintain exclusivity to most of the films, which are also distributed via syndicated film packages or carried by other networks); the network extended these themed made-for-TV movies to other holidays in 2015, with

8214-547: The first national sports broadcast carried by Ion since 2011, and marks the first ever television contract for Scripps Sports, which was founded by the E. W. Scripps Company in December 2022 to acquire sports events for Ion and the group's local television stations. The agreement also grants local rights to selected Ion O&Os for games involving regional WNBA teams, which stations may carry in early- or late-evening broadcast windows depending on tip-off time. On November 9, 2023,

8325-428: The form of Christmas-themed films that air between the weekend after Thanksgiving (airing the weekend before that holiday in 2013) and Christmas Day, with up to five films premiering each year on the network, although they are advertised as "original movies" in on-air promotions (the 2012 film Anything But Christmas is the only movie aired to date in which Ion Television had actually held a production interest), most of

8436-486: The fringes of markets which targeted lower-profile cities in the analog age, it has not been an issue with Ion Media itself. The network was launched by Bud Paxson , co-founder of the Home Shopping Network and chairman of parent company Paxson Communications (the forerunner to Ion Media). It was originally to be called Pax Net , but was renamed Pax TV (often referred to as simply "Pax"; stylized as "PAX") –

8547-420: The highest point available in the transmission area, such as on a summit , the top of a high skyscraper , or on a tall radio tower . To get a signal from the master control room to the transmitter, a studio/transmitter link (STL) is used. The link can be either by radio or T1 / E1 . A transmitter/studio link (TSL) may also send telemetry back to the station, but this may be embedded in subcarriers of

8658-614: The late 2000s, when cable's Fox Sports Florida and Sun (now Bally Sports Florida and Sun ) acquired the exclusive rights to both teams. Ion Television aired NFL Films ' weekly highlight program, the NFL Films Game of the Week on Saturday evenings from September 16, 2007, to January 5, 2008, with its initial broadcast focusing on the September 9, 2007 game between the New York Giants and

8769-575: The latter of which moved to the network following the revival series' cancellation by CBS earlier in 1998). The network also produced some original drama series such as Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye , Doc , Mysterious Ways (which originated on NBC ), Hope Island and Twice in a Lifetime through its programming division, Paxson Entertainment. PAX also aired many game shows including first-run revivals of established games that originated on cable networks such as Supermarket Sweep and Shop 'til You Drop , along with some original game shows such as On

8880-400: The local television station has no station identification and, from a consumer's point of view, there is no practical distinction between a network and a station, with only small regional changes in programming, such as local television news . To broadcast its programs, a television station requires operators to operate equipment, a transmitter or radio antenna , which is often located at

8991-419: The main broadcast. Stations which retransmit or simulcast another may simply pick-up that station over-the-air , or via STL or satellite. The license usually specifies which other station it is allowed to carry. VHF stations often have very tall antennas due to their long wavelength , but require much less effective radiated power (ERP), and therefore use much less transmitter power output , also saving on

9102-586: The name iHealth). At one point in this era, the network programmed eighteen hours of paid programming per day, ⅔ of the network's broadcast day, with the network only programming the early fringe and prime time periods with traditional programming. In November 2005, NBCUniversal was granted a transferable option to purchase a controlling stake in Paxson Communications. Had this option been exercised, NBC would have acquired approximately 63 i owned-and-operated stations (though this could have resulted in

9213-462: The network in September 2012. In September 2011, Ion Television acquired the syndication rights to George Lopez and Leverage . George Lopez began airing on September 29, while Leverage debuted in July 2012, the former has since been dropped from the network, while the latter has been cycled on-and-off the schedule. On October 4, 2011, Ion Television acquired the rights to the first two seasons of

9324-435: The network is unable to maintain a main channel affiliation with or own a standalone station, for the same purpose as the distribution of Ion's main network feed via pay-TV providers and streaming services. The network's stations cover all of the top 20 U.S. markets and 37 of the top 50 markets. Ion's owned-and-operated stations cover 64.8% of the United States population, by far the most of any U.S. station ownership group; it

9435-463: The network shifted its programming to feature extended blocks of its acquired series (which consist mostly of drama series, with sitcoms becoming an increasingly less integral part of the schedule); it also began a gradual expansion of the number of hours devoted to entertainment shows, starting with the addition of a two-hour block of programming in the late afternoon (from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 pm. Central) in January 2008, and expanding further into

9546-461: The network shifted towards more recent series. Ion also struck a library content deal with NBCUniversal , which gave it access to shows such as Law & Order . In September 2008, Ion Television reached a multi-year film rights agreement with Warner Bros. Television Distribution to broadcast more recent movies from Warner Bros. and its related studios. Meanwhile, three series from CBS Television Distribution (now CBS Media Ventures ) were added to

9657-418: The network stole the "Ion" branding. Positive Ions had registered trademarks on the word "Ion" and had used the mark commercially since 1999. On May 14, 2007, Positive Ions filed for an injunction that, if granted, would have required Ion Media Networks to change its name once again. On May 4, 2007, Ion, Citadel Investment Group , and NBC Universal announced a deal to transfer NBC Universal's rights to purchase

9768-466: The network's Sunday afternoon and evening schedule ( holiday -themed made-for-TV films are also broadcast under the banner throughout the entertainment programming day on weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas, as well as on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day regardless of where either holiday falls during the calendar week). Ion Television occasionally airs short hosted segments during its prime time lineup – particularly during film presentations – known as

9879-480: The network's broadcast day, or 126 hours of a 168-hour broadcast week. To appease DirecTV management, the network launched a secondary feed of the network for providers adverse to its over-the-air programming direction, replacing paid programming time with older public domain programs and cancelled Pax TV original series. DirecTV and Paxson then reached a new carriage agreement in May 2006. In September 2006, i launched Qubo,

9990-413: The network's format is predominantly devoted to marathon blocks of hour-long drama series, with consecutive episodes of a given series airing between two and 16 hours a day (depending on the day's schedule, with fewer hours in the morning and late fringe). The network broadcasts feature films released between the 1980s and the 2000s under the banner "Ion Television at the Movies", which fill the majority of

10101-437: The network, "Positively Entertaining" (a form of wordplay, as ions are atoms or molecules that have a positive or negative electrical charge). With the September 8, 2008, rebrand, the network also retooled its focus, emphasizing the key demographic of adults between ages of 18 and 49, and airing more recent acquired programming aimed at young adults (such as Boston Legal , NCIS , and Criminal Minds ). By this point,

10212-435: The new network. PAX launched on August 31, 1998, with the network's initial schedule being much larger in scope than it would be in later years. At launch, Pax aired general entertainment programming on weekdays from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and weekends from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 pm. Central Time. Through an agreement with then- Disney owned animation studio DIC Productions L.P. , its schedule also included

10323-537: The northern part of the market. To solve this problem, it signed on WDAZ-TV in 1967 as a semi-satellite for the northern portion of the market. WDAY-TV and WDAZ-TV began operating cable-only WB affiliate "WBFG" in 1998. WDAY/WDAZ replaced The CW Plus successor of "WBFG" with the Justice Network (which moved from 6.4) on new digital broadcast subchannels WDAY 6.2 and WDAZ 8.2 on September 12, 2016, and WDAY'Z Xtra (which launched in 2013) on digital subchannel 6.3 in

10434-462: The partner station; in a few cases, the agreement partner produced live newscasts for the PAX station (as examples of the latter, NBC affiliate WTHR in Indianapolis produced a prime time newscast for PAX O&O WIPX-TV from February to June 2005, after CBS affiliate WISH-TV (now a CW affiliate) took over production of the newscast that WTHR had been producing for UPN affiliate WNDY-TV (now

10545-548: The preliminary fights to the January 1 pay-per-view event UFC 125 . Ion also aired the preliminary fights for UFC 127 and UFC 140 later in 2011, before the organization signed an exclusive programming agreement with Fox . On April 20, 2023, Ion Television, through Scripps Sports , signed a multi-year deal with the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) to air a 15-week slate of doubleheader games on Friday nights (branded as WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION ), beginning with that year's regular season . It will be

10656-641: The premieres of the romance films Meet My Valentine (which aired as part of the network's Valentine's Day programming slate) and You Cast a Spell on Me (which aired as part of its "Wicked Week" Halloween block). On September 24, 2020, E. W. Scripps Company agreed to buy Ion Media for $ 2.65 billion. The transaction, which closed on January 7, 2021, saw Ion Television and its sister networks absorbed into Scripps' Katz Broadcasting subsidiary, which already operates five specialty networks , most notably Bounce TV and Court TV . In regards to Ion Television's programming, Scripps indicated it would maintain

10767-476: The programmes seen on its owner's flagship station, and have no television studio or production facilities of their own. This is common in developing countries . Low-power stations typically also fall into this category worldwide. Most stations which are not simulcast produce their own station identifications . TV stations may also advertise on or provide weather (or news) services to local radio stations , particularly co-owned sister stations . This may be

10878-467: The ratings in the Fargo–Grand Forks market. WDAZ once had a larger news presence, as it aired separate 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 10 p.m., and weekend newscasts, with the only WDAY newscast airing being the morning First News . WDAZ's weekend news was taken over by WDAY in 2011 and its 5 p.m. weekday newscast was taken over in July 2014. The decision to replace the 5 p.m. broadcast was met with an immediate backlash from viewers, including those who circulated

10989-472: The schedule was filled by paid programming. Initial programming on PAX consisted of first-run shows (such as the true story profile series It's a Miracle , game show The Reel to Reel Picture Show , and talk shows Woman's Day and Great Day America ), along with reruns of older programming (including Highway to Heaven , Here's Lucy , The Hogan Family , Dave's World , Touched by an Angel , and new episodes and older reruns of Candid Camera ,

11100-535: The schedule: NCIS joined the lineup in September 2008, while Criminal Minds and Ghost Whisperer were added to the Ion Television lineup in 2009. In January 2009, the network announced that it had acquired the broadcast rights to the Canadian television drama series Durham County ; that show aired on the network for less than a year. On January 21, 2011, Ion Television acquired the U.S. television rights to

11211-414: The series debuted on October 3, 2012 and ran until April 2, 2014. Prior to Ion Television's original launch as Pax TV in 1998, the network had reached an agreement with DIC Entertainment to produce a five-hour children's programming block called Freddy's Firehouse , to air on Saturday and Sunday mornings. The block of animated series was instead launched on September 5, 1998, as "Cloud Nine", featuring

11322-449: The services and by their stations at all other times). A limited number of non-Ion-owned stations that are merely affiliated with the network (such as former Louisville outlet WBNA ) do carry additional local or syndicated programming that, in some instances, pre-empts certain programs within the Ion master schedule. In 2006, Ion Media Networks reached several programming deals, two with major programming suppliers that were announced within

11433-401: The status quo, with no plans at the time to invest in original content or deviate from the channel's off-network programming approach. To get FCC approval for the transaction, 23 Ion Television stations were sold by Scripps to Inyo Broadcast Holdings . On April 8, 2024, Scripps announced that they would reposition Ion into a general entertainment channel, turning live sports broadcasting as

11544-419: The telecast of its late-morning film presentations (usually in the 10:00 am. Central Time half-hour, if the succeeding film ran for at least 2 1 ⁄ 2 hours) because of their erratic scheduling; the network shifted to a more exclusive focus on dramas as part of its series content in January 2015, although the network continued to carry comedic programming in the form of select feature films aired within

11655-884: The time was used in early September to preview the pilot of Fox 's new sitcom New Girl , before its actual Fox premiere on September 20. TiVo discontinued the program in 2016 as broadband had become commonplace enough to end it. Most programs broadcast by Ion Television are distributed by either NBCUniversal Syndication Studios , Disney–ABC Domestic Television , CBS Media Ventures , or Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution . Ion Television also maintains film distribution deals with Universal Pictures , Paramount Pictures , 20th Century Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures . Series broadcast by Ion Television (as of October 2015 ) are mostly dramas such as Criminal Minds , Law & Order , Law & Order: Special Victims Unit , Law & Order: Criminal Intent , Numb3rs , Bones , Blue Bloods , and The Listener . As of 2014,

11766-399: The world. Television stations broadcasting over an analog system were typically limited to one television channel , but digital television enables broadcasting via subchannels as well. Television stations usually require a broadcast license from a government agency which sets the requirements and limitations on the station. In the United States, for example, a television license defines

11877-430: Was also affected by the network's programming changes; PAX was originally offering five or six new series each season. However, in 2003, the number of new series that aired on PAX dwindled to just two: Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye , which was cancelled in 2005, and Doc , which was cancelled in 2004 after PAX's international backer, Canadian broadcast network CTV , pulled out of producing the shows. The network seemingly recovered

11988-473: Was announced that WDAZ would merge its news department with that of WDAY-TV, resulting in the cancellation of WDAZ's separate 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts, effective December 21. General manager Joshua Roher cited "changes to distribution of television, emerging technologies and economic factors in our area" as reasons for the consolidation, in a statement to the Grand Forks Herald . WDAY-TV continues to maintain

12099-410: Was apparent that Fargo and Grand Forks were going to be a single market, channel 6 did not cover the northern portion of this vast market very well. It was required to conform its signal to protect CBC Television 's Winnipeg station, CBWT , which took to the air on channel 6 a year after WDAY-TV signed on. As a result, it was barely viewable in northern Grand Forks and could not be seen at all in much of

12210-481: Was eventually abandoned as black coloring became the industry norm. Some Ion-owned and affiliate stations which carry the network as a multicast offering continue to carry the network in 480i widescreen over-the-air. On May 19, 2009, Ion Media Networks filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection , putting the Ion network under bankruptcy for the second time in its history; it had reached an agreement with holders of 60% of its first lien secured debt that would extinguish

12321-570: Was shut down in 1944. The station was named after Paul Gottlieb Nipkow , the inventor of the Nipkow disk . Most often the term "television station" refers to a station which broadcasts structured content to an audience or it refers to the organization that operates the station. A terrestrial television transmission can occur via analog television signals or, more recently, via digital television signals. Television stations are differentiated from cable television or other video providers as their content

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