KPPX

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = KPPX
city =
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding = ION Television
analog = 51 (UHF)
digital = 52 (UHF)
subchannels = 51.1 ION TV 51.2 qubo 51.3 Ion Life
51.4 Worship
other_chs =
affiliations = ION Television
network =
founded =
airdate = February 15, 1999
location = Tolleson / Phoenix, Arizona
callsign_meaning = Phoenix's PaX TV
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers =
owner = ION Media Networks, Inc.
licensee = America 51, LP
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = Pax TV (1999-2005)
i (2005-2007)
effective_radiated_power = 4900 kW (analog)
200 kW (digital)
HAAT = 533 m (analog)
546 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 26655
coordinates = coord|33|20|2.7|N|112|3|40.7|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.iontelevision.com/ www.iontelevision.com]

KPPX is a full-service television station licensed to Tolleson, Arizona and serving the Phoenix metropolitan area from its transmitter on South Mountain. The station broadcasts on channel 51 (analog) and channel 52 (digital), and is an affiliate of the Ion Television network (formerly PAX TV and i). Founded December 21, 1988, the station is owned by Phoenix 51, L.P., a subsidiary of ION Media Networks.

History

On December 21, 1988, the Federal Communications Commission granted a construction permit to Hector Garcia Salvatierra of Phoenix to build a full-service television station serving Tolleson and the Phoenix metropolitan area on channel 51. The station was originally identified by its application number, 850215LB. The construction permit remained inactive for over six years until January 1995, when Salvatierra secured a site license to build facilities on South Mountain and the station took the call letters KAJW.

In July 1996, Salvatierra entered into an agreement with Paxson Communications (now ion Media Networks) to sell a 49% interest of his company to Paxson and to transfer the construction permit and site license to Paxson to build the television station under the new owner entity America 51 L.P. [http://sec.edgar-online.com/1996/11/14/00/0000950144-96-008111/Section16.asp] The station changed its call letters to KPPX in March 1998 to reflect the new Pax network, and in February 1999, KPPX went on the air, broadcasting under Program Test Authority until its license was granted on April 20, 2000. Salvatierra sold the remaining interest in the company to Paxson Communications in January 2001.

On March 12, 2007, during a 9pm airing of Ion Life, which was showing a rebroadcast of an NBC special hosted by Tom Brokaw regarding the "State of U.S. Health Care", a station employee inserted between 1-10 minutes (sources on the exact amount shown vary) of a pornographic film into the broadcast. Local station viewers then registered complaints with the station, the network offices in West Palm Beach, Florida, local cable provider Cox Communications, and the FCC about the indecent content [http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0314B1-update0314.html] . KPPX promised a thorough investigation to find the person responsible, and on March 20, the employee found to be responsible was fired, and most likely will face further legal actions from ION Television and the FCC [http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/weird_news/16941304.htm] .

Digital television

The FCC granted a construction permit to build digital facilities on March 1, 2001, to operate on UHF channel 52. Facilities were completed and licensed on December 20, 2002. Because the digital channel is outside the range of core frequencies designated by the FCC (channels 2-51), KPPX has chosen channel 51 for its permanent digital television operations.

Other Phoenix stations on channel 51

In the early 1990s, while the construction permit for the full-service channel 51 station languished, the FCC granted a construction permit to build a low-power television station on channel 51. On March 12, 1993, a permit for station K51EI was granted to Community Service Television Company of San Bernardino, California, but the station was never completed. In January 1995, the construction permit for the full-service station was reactivated, and the permit for the low-power station was ended. The K51EI callsign was deleted in February 1996.

External links

* [http://www.iontelevision.com/ ION Television]
*TVQ|KPPX
*BIA|KPPX|TV|TV