WXPX-TV
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| Bradenton / Tampa / St. Petersburg / Sarasota, Florida | |
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| Branding | ION Television |
| Channels | Digital: 42 (UHF) |
| Subchannels | 66.1 - ion HD (720p) 66.2 - qubo (480i) 66.3 - ion Life (480i) |
| Affiliations | Ion Television |
| Owner | Ion Media Networks, Inc. (Ion Media License Company, LLC) |
| First air date | August 1, 1994 |
| Call letters' meaning | PaX TV |
| Former callsigns | WFCT (1994-1998) |
| Former channel number(s) | Analog: 66 (1994-2009) |
| Former affiliations | independent (1994-1998) inTV (1998) Pax TV (1998-2005) i (2005-2007) |
| Transmitter power | 257 kW (digital) |
| Height | 474 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 6601 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 27°49′10″N 82°15′39″W / 27.81944°N 82.26083°W (digital) |
| Website | www.ionline.tv |
WXPX-TV is a television station licensed to Bradenton, Florida. Operating on channel 66 (digital 42), it is an Ion Television affiliate, owned and operated by ION Media Networks (formerly Paxson Communications), which has owned the station since its founding in 1994.
Current programming on WXPX is virtually the same as other ION affiliates -- infomercials throughout the day and during the overnights, plus ION programming in the evenings.
The only local programming on WXPX is the public affairs program i on Tampa. The station once aired Miccosukee Magazine along with WPXM Miami and WPXP West Palm Beach, but no longer airs the program. WOPX in Orlando has picked up the show.
WXPX started in 1994 as WFCT, which featured infomercials at all hours under the "InTV" brand, plus "The Worship Network" religious programming in late-night. It also presented minor-league hockey featuring the now-defunct Atlanta Knights, which was affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Before the launch of Pax, Paxson also owned a chain of radio stations in Florida. Paxson's Tampa Bay area stations regularly got infomercial time on WFCT. This, of course, ended when Paxson sold off his radio and billboard businesses to fund Pax.
The station became WXPX in 1998, shortly before the launch of Pax, when it started using the moniker "Pax 66". It offered a variety of family-friendly programming throughout the day, plus "The Worship Network" at night. Later on, it started carrying newscasts from WFLA, dubbed News Channel 8 on PAX, on but unlike the other Pax stations (which used taped repeats of earlier newscasts), Pax 66's newscasts were live from WFLA, at 7PM and 10PM. In 2002, due to poor ratings of the live newscasts, Pax 66 switched to taped repeats at 7PM and 11:30PM. It would be another five years before WFLA attempted another 10PM newscast, this time on WTTA, in October 2007.
In July 2005, WFLA's newscasts on Pax 66 ended when Paxson dissolved its relationship with its partners nationwide (mostly NBC affiliates, like WFLA). In July 2005, when "i" was launched, Pax 66 simply became "i". The network again rebranded to Ion Television on January 29, 2007.
From 2004 to 2008, the Tampa Bay Rays (Devil Rays) aired a number of games on WXPX. It was also an affiliate of the Orlando Magic Television Network. WXPX no longer airs live sports events, as both teams have moved exclusively to Fox Sports Florida and Sun Sports.
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