WPXN-TV
Owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company, the station maintains offices on Seventh Avenue in Midtown Manhattan[2] and transmits from atop One World Trade Center.
The City of New York, which was one of the United States' first municipalities to enter into broadcasting with the 1924 sign-on of WNYC radio, was granted a construction permit to build a new commercial television station in 1954.
[4][5] Some of the early programming on WUHF included simulcasts of New York's existing commercial VHF stations; educational films produced by WNYC's Television Film Unit, established in 1949; college-level distance education telecourses; and, reportedly, a nightly rundown of the New York City Police Department's "wanted" criminals list.
The experiment was carried out through the installation of UHF receivers in several hundred test homes, public schools and businesses, with reception monitored by FCC and City engineers.
In 1979, Mayor Ed Koch considered selling the WNYC stations to other interests due to a municipal fiscal crisis.
In the 1980s, among the largest providers of foreign programming were Japan's Fujisankei Communications Group, which aired a morning show on weekdays, and RAI, the Italian public broadcaster which programmed two hours on weeknights, and five hours on Sunday mornings, a period which included airings of Italian soccer games.
Giuliani said that broadcasting was no longer essential as a municipal entity, and that any financial compensation would be used to help the City cover budget shortfalls.
Foreign broadcasters complained, as they now found themselves without an outlet for their programming, and individual financial contributors criticized the Giuliani administration for selling the station to the highest commercial bidder, rather than to the WNYC Foundation.
The sale took nearly a year to become official, as licensing troubles with the FCC and the aforementioned complaints from foreign broadcasters would ultimately delay the transaction.
[12] Twelve hours later, at noon on July 1, channel 31 reappeared as WBIS (branded as S+), carrying programming from the Classic Sports Network most of the day, and infomercials in overnights.
[13] The launch of the new format was beset by many difficulties: initially planned for that fall, it would be ultimately delayed, as business, editorial and creative differences between both partners concerned many station employees.
[13] The launch was accompanied with a big budget ad campaign focusing on the station's slogan, "Sports, money, and, oh yeah, life," developed by Ryan Drossman & Partners (now part of MARC USA),[13] which included outdoor advertising featuring Knicks star Larry Johnson.
That spring, the consumer and lifestyle talk show Money/Style/Power was canceled due to low ratings, with the station opting for reruns until disappearing altogether from the schedule.
[13] Dow Jones continued to run the station alone, but within weeks decided it could no longer support the losses, as the company was losing money thanks to the decline of its Telerate division,[22] and looked to sell out.
WBIS would sign-off permanently on June 30, 1997, after airing a video sequence of the station's employees saying farewell, accompanied by Bachman–Turner Overdrive's song "Lookin' Out for #1."
When WPXN-TV returned to the air days later, channel 31 was broadcasting at low power from a temporary facility in West Orange, New Jersey.
On December 15, 2014, Ion reached a deal to donate WPXU-LD to Word of God Fellowship, parent company of the Daystar network.
