WEPX-TV explained

Callsign:WEPX-TV
Branding:Ion
Digital:36 (UHF)
Virtual:38
Former Affiliations:MyNetworkTV (secondary, 2006–2009)
Location:Greenville, North Carolina
Country:United States
Callsign Meaning:"Eastern Carolina's Pax"
Owner:Ion Media
Licensee:Ion Television License, LLC
Erp:850 kW
Haat:2750NaN0
Facility Id:81508
Licensing Authority:FCC
Embed Header:Satellite station
Embedded:
Child:yes
Callsign:WPXU-TV
Digital:16 (UHF)
Virtual:35
Founded:September 20, 1994
Location:Jacksonville, North Carolina
Former Callsigns:WFXZ-TV (July–December 1999)
Erp:425 kW
Haat:218.40NaN0
Facility Id:37971
Coordinates:34.495°N -77.4883°W
Licensing Authority:FCC

WEPX-TV (channel 38) is a television station licensed to Greenville, North Carolina, United States, broadcasting the Ion Television network to Eastern North Carolina. Owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, the station maintains a transmitter northwest of New Bern, North Carolina.

WPXU-TV (channel 35) in Jacksonville, North Carolina, operates as a full-time satellite of WEPX-TV. WPXU covers areas of southeastern North Carolina that receive a marginal to non-existent over-the-air signal from WEPX, although there is significant overlap between the two stations' contours otherwise, including in Jacksonville proper. WPXU is a straight simulcast of WEPX; on-air references to WPXU are limited to Federal Communications Commission (FCC)-mandated hourly station identifications during programming. Aside from the transmitter, WPXU does not maintain any physical presence locally in Jacksonville.

WEPX and WPXU were affiliates of MyNetworkTV from September 5, 2006, until September 27, 2009, when MyNetworkTV's affiliation switched over to WITN-TV, prior to this, the stations were solely affiliates of Ion (then known as i: Independent Television and originally known as Pax TV).

Technical information

Subchannels

The stations' signals are multiplexed:

Channel! scope = "col" rowspan="2"
Res.AspectShort nameProgramming
38.1 35.1ION Ion Television
38.2 35.2CourtTV Court TV
38.3 35.3Grit Grit
38.4 35.4Laff Laff
38.5 35.5IONPlus Ion Plus
38.6 35.6SCRIPPS Scripps News
38.7 35.7Jewelry Jewelry TV
38.8 35.8HSN HSN
38.9 35.9QVC QVC

Analog-to-digital conversion

Because it was granted an original construction permit after the FCC finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997,[1] WEPX-TV did not initially receive a companion channel for a digital television station. WEPX was later assigned channel 51, and the digital signal signed on February 5, 2008. WEPX has filed a letter with the FCC requesting to move from channel 51 to channel 26. This was part of a larger move for the FCC to get TV stations off channel 51 to prevent interference with cell phone devices.

Out-of-market cable carriage

In recent years, WPXU has been carried on cable in Carolina Beach, which is within the Wilmington media market.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Final Digital TV (DTV) Channel Plan from FCC97-115. Transmitter.com. May 28, 1997. March 24, 2024.