WPXH

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WPXH
Gadsden / Birmingham / Anniston / Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Branding	i
Channels	44 (UHF) analog, 45 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	i
Owner	ION Media Networks
Founded	1986
Call letters meaning	W PaX BirmingHam
Former callsigns	WNAL-TV (1986-98)
Former affiliations	Fox (1986-96), The WB (1996, secondary) CBS (1996-99) Independent (1999)
Website	http://www.paxbirmingham.tv/

WPXH-44 is the i network affiliate of Birmingham/Anniston/Tuscaloosa market. The station's city of license is Gadsden. The station is owned by ion Media Networks (formerly Paxson Communications).

[edit] History

The station originally began in 1986 as WNAL-TV, the Fox affiliate for the Gadsden/Anniston area, simulcasting with WDBB from Tuscaloosa. The two stations combined were intended to serve Birmingham. Despite the stations' relatively strong program lineup, independent station WTTO had stronger ratings. Additionally, neither WNAL nor WDBB were able to get a good signal into Birmingham, and several Birmingham cable companies declined to carry the stations. As a result, WNAL was not profitable.

In 1991, Fox moved its Birmingham affiliation to WTTO, and shortly afterwards WNAL and WDBB started to simulcast the station. The WTTO/WNAL/WDBB combo eventually became one of the leading Fox affiliates in ratings. In 1995, both WNAL and WDBB began airing separate daytime schedules. Fant Broadcasting bought WNAL in the same year.

In a complicated move, Citicasters sold longtime ABC affiliate WBRC to Fox in 1995, forcing affiliation changes for six stations in central Alabama the next year. At that time, WBRC became the Fox affiliate for central Alabama, while WJSU-TV, the CBS affiliate for northeast Alabama, became part of the Birmingham market’s new ABC affiliate. WNAL, which prior to the massive affiliation switch had been a secondary affiliate of WB, became the CBS affiliate for northeast Alabama.

In 1998, the Birmingham, Anniston/Gadsden, and Tuscaloosa television markets were combined into one market; of which the official CBS affiliate would be Birmingham’s WBMG (now WIAT). Around this time, Paxson Communications (now ION Media Networks) purchased WNAL with the intent of making the station the Pax TV (now i) affiliate for Birmingham. Soon afterwards, the station changed its call letters to WPXH. However, Channel 44 remained a CBS affiliate, and had an agreement to air simulcasts of WBMG/WIAT's 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. newscasts. In May 1999, WPXH dropped its CBS affiliation and the WIAT news simulcasts, and briefly became an independent station targeting Anniston and surrounding areas. In August 1999, the station finally affiliated with Pax.

For several years until 2005, WPXH rebroadcast the 6:00 and 10:00 newscasts of WVTM-TV, the local NBC affiliate.

[edit] External links

• Schedule page on ionline.tv
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WPXH

Broadcast television in the Central Alabama (Birmingham / Anniston / Tuscaloosa) market  (Nielsen DMA #40)
WBXA-CA 2 (MTV2) - WBRC 6 (Fox) - WVUA-CA 7 (i/A1/ShopNBC) - WCIQ 7 / WBIQ 10 (PBS/APT) - WVTM 13 (NBC) - WOTM-LP 19 (Ind) - WTTO 21 / WDBB 17 (The CW) - WUOA 23 (i/A1) - WJXS 24 (FamNet) - WBUN-CA 28 (Daystar) - WCFT 33 (ABC) - W34BI 34 (HSC) - WJSU 40 (ABC) - WIAT 42 (CBS) - WPXH 44 (i) - W49AY 47 (Ind/Rel.) - WOIL-LP 47 (Daystar)- WBMA 58 (ABC) - WTJP 60 (TBN) - WABM 68 (MNTV)