WPXQ-TV


WPXQ-TV, virtual channel 69, is an Ion Television owned-and-operated station serving Providence, Rhode Island and New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States that is licensed to Newport, Rhode Island. The station is owned by West Palm Beach, Florida-based Ion Media Networks, as part of a duopoly with New Bedford-licensed Ion Plus owned-and-operated station WLWC. The two stations share transmitter facilities on Champlin Hill in Hopkinton, Rhode Island. Their main studio facilities for the purposes of Federal Communications Commission regulations are located in New London, Connecticut with the Hartford–New Haven market's Ion station, WHPX-TV.
Despite originally being licensed to Block Island, Rhode Island, WPXQ was never carried by former cable operator Block Island Cable TV.

History

The FCC was persuaded to allocate channel 69 to Block Island by Ted Robinson, an island resident, who claimed during the allocation filing process in 1984–85 that an independent TV station providing niche programming from there would serve the public interest better. Robinson subsequently ran into local opposition to tower siting, and sold out his interest to Ray Yorke, who obtained the initial construction permit. The station began broadcasting a few hours of old movies daily in 1992 using the callsign WOST-TV. By 1996, the station was owned by Paxson Communications, which had implemented their infomercials and religious programming. The station became WPXQ in 1998, and in August of that year began to run programming from the Pax TV network.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:
ChannelVideoAspectPSIP Short NameProgramming
69.1720pIONMain WPXQ-TV programming / Ion Television
69.2480iquboQubo
69.3480iShopIon Shop
69.5480iQVCQVC
69.6480iHSNHSN

Analog-to-digital conversion

WPXQ-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 69, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 17, using PSIP to display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 69, which was among the high band UHF channels that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition.