- United States
- United States
Franklin, Tennessee
Ion
- 28.1: Ion Television
- for others, see § Subchannels
- (Ion Media License Company, LLC)
July 28, 1986
January 23, 1989 (in Cookeville, Tennessee; license moved to Franklin in 2019[1])
- WMTT (1989–1993)
- WKZX (1993–1998)
- Analog: 28 (UHF, 1989–2009)
- Digital: 36 (UHF, 2009–2019)
- Independent (1989–1995)
- The WB (1995–1998)
"Nashville Pax"
28468
364.8 m (1,197 ft)[3]
History[edit]
As an independent station[edit]
The station was signed on by Dove Broadcasting on January 23, 1989, as WMTT, an independent station serving Cookeville. On March 17, 1989, it was sold to Steven J. Sweeney.[4] The station would sign on with a general-entertainment format featuring cartoons, sitcoms, movies, religious programming, and infomercials. InaVision Broadcasting purchased WMTT in 1993,[5] and changed its call sign to WKZX that year.
As a WB affiliate[edit]
WKZX became a charter affiliate of The WB in 1995, and would later share the WB affiliation with WNAB (channel 58), which also served Nashville and was signed on two months later. The network also aired on cable via the superstation feed of Chicago-based WGN-TV, later branded WGN America. In 1995, WKZX launched a nightly newscast at 6:30 pm (and repeated at 10 p.m.) branded as News 28.[6] In 1997, InaVision Broadcasting sold the station to Roberts Broadcasting, a company based in St. Louis.[7][8]
As a Pax/Ion O&O[edit]
In 1998, Roberts Broadcasting sold WKZX to Paxson Communications,[9] who shut down the station's news operation. Paxson also moved and upgraded WKZX's transmitter to begin focusing the channel on the Nashville market. The station's call sign was changed to WNPX-TV. On August 31, the station ended its affiliation with The WB and began airing programming from the then-new upstart television network Pax TV, the forerunner of Ion Television.[10][11][12]
The WB would continue airing on WNAB along with the cable superstation feed of WGN. However, a year later, on January 27, 1999, network co-owners Time Warner and Tribune mutually agreed that as of September, they would cease the stopgap WB programming relay over the WGN superstation feed. As a result, WNAB became the sole WB affiliate in the Nashville market.[13][14][15][16][17]
Sometime in 2019, WNPX's city of license was changed from Cookeville to Franklin.
Technical information[edit]
Subchannels[edit]
The station's signal is multiplexed:
Out-of-market coverage[edit]
Until September 2023, WNPX also served as the de facto Ion outlet for the Bowling Green, Kentucky, media market, as that area did not have an Ion station of its own. Even with WNKY-LD (channel 35) serving as a local Ion affiliate, WNPX still provides grade B quality signal coverage in the southwestern half of the Bowling Green DMA.