WPXR-TV


WPXR-TV, virtual channel 38, is an Ion Television owned-and-operated station licensed to Roanoke, Virginia, United States and also serving Lynchburg. The station is owned by West Palm Beach, Florida-based Ion Media Networks. WPXR-TV's transmitter is located atop Poor Mountain in unincorporated southwestern Roanoke County.

History

The station signed on January 3, 1986 as WEFC, a religious station owned by Evangel Foursquare Church. It was the first new station to sign on in Roanoke in 31 years.
Paxson Communications bought the station in 1997 and made it part of the all-infomercial inTV network. It joined Pax TV on the network's launch in 1998.

Digital television

Analog-to-digital conversion

WPXR-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 38, 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 36, using PSIP to display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 38.

Newscasts

From September 1996 until August 1997, WDBJ produced a 10 p.m. newscast, News 7 Primetime, for WEFC; the newscast was canceled due to low ratings. From 2000 to 2005, WPXR aired rebroadcasts of WSLS-TV's newscasts as part of a joint sales agreement between Paxson Communications and WSLS owner Media General.