KPDX
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- KPDX is also the ICAO airport code for Portland International Airport.
| KPDX | |
|---|---|
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| Vancouver, Washington/Portland, Oregon | |
| Branding | PDX 49 |
| Slogan | Totally Entertaining TV |
| Channels | Analog: 49 (UHF) |
| Translators | KUBN-LP 50 Bend (for others see article) |
| Affiliations | MyNetworkTV Fox (alternate) |
| Owner | Meredith Corporation |
| First air date | October 9, 1983 |
| Call letters’ meaning | PDX = Portland's IATA airport code |
| Sister station(s) | KPTV |
| Former affiliations | independent (1983-1988) Fox (1988-2002) UPN (2002-2006) |
| Transmitter Power | 2950 kW (analog) 1000 kW (digital) |
| Height | 527 m (analog) 530 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 35460 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | www.kpdx.com |
KPDX is the MyNetworkTV affiliate serving the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. It broadcasts its analog signal on UHF channel 49, and its digital signal on UHF channel 48. In addition, it is seen on channel 13 on most local cable systems. Its transmitter is located in Portland.
The station is currently owned by Meredith Corporation, and is licensed to Vancouver, Washington. It runs a general entertainment format with sitcoms, talk shows, reality shows, court shows, cartoons, movies, and first-run shows.
KPDX' signal is simulcast in Bend on KUBN-LP, channel 50, making the station available in about two-thirds of the state.
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[edit] History
KPDX signed on October 9, 1983 (the station was to have used the call letters KLRK, but changed to the present calls prior to launch). As a general entertainment station, airing a number of cartoons, sitcoms, old movies, drama shows, and religious shows. The station was bought by First Media in the mid-1980s. Even though then-rival KPTV was easily the leading independent station, KPDX still received decent ratings.
After KPTV disaffiliated from the young FOX network in 1988, the Fox affiliation ended up on KPDX. The station began to add more talk and children's programs in the 1990s. For a while, KPDX ran a 10pm newscast produced by KOIN. The partnership with KOIN later ended, and in 2000, KPDX launched its own news operation, producing its own 10pm newscast. The station, along with WHNS in Asheville, NC, was acquired by Meredith Corporation in 1997.
Meredith acquired KPTV in 2002 in a station swap with Fox Television Stations, Inc for WOFL and WOGX in Orlando, FL. This resulted in the first "duopoly" operation in the Portland TV market, and precipitated an affiliation switch in which the market's FOX affiliation went to KPTV (the higher-rated station of the two), and the UPN affiliation went to KPDX. KPDX's news operation was merged into KPTV's newsroom (although KPTV's operation actually moved into KPDX's newer facility, located in Beaverton), and KPDX's existing 10pm newscast was cancelled. However, Fox's Saturday morning lineup remained on KPDX, where it continues to air today under the title 4Kids TV.
On January 24, 2006, the UPN and WB networks announced they would merge into a new network, to be called The CW. The merger would take effect on-the-air in September 2006, and WB station KWBP, owned by the Tribune Company, became the CW's Portland affiliate. One month later, Fox announced that it would form a new network, MyNetworkTV, and on March 9, 2006, it was announced that KPDX would switch affiliations to the new network.
KPDX dropped the UPN branding on April 1, 2006. It changed its name from UPN 49 to PDX 49, along with its logo. This change of branding had been in the planning stages before the shutdown of the UPN network was announced, but the timing of the change was convenient for the upcoming affiliation. KPDX's move mirrored those implemented at future My Network TV stations WDCA in Washington, D.C. (DCA 20) and KUTP in Phoenix (PHX 45), which began using the station's last three letters as station branding. KPDX is one of three MyNetworkTV affiliates to not adopt the network's "blue TV" logo and branding style (the others being KAUT and KJZZ), and keep its current scheme and branding. Since joining MyNetworkTV, KPDX has become responsible for carrying Fox network programs whenever KPTV cannot in the event of an emergency.
Sports programing includes the Portland LumberJax and the Oakland Raiders.
[edit] Digital Television
In 2009, KPDX will move to channel 30 when the analog to digital conversion is complete.[1]
[edit] Repeater stations
KPDX is rebroadcast on the following network of translator stations.
- K20EH Channel 20 Hood River
- K20DD Channel 20 Albany
- K23DB Channel 23 La Grande
- K30EW Channel 30 Pendleton
- K34HK Channel 34 Longview, Washington
- K41CP Channel 41 Elgin
- K43FH Channel 43 Wasco
- K50GG Channel 50 Salem
- K51FK Channel 51 Rockaway Beach
- K53EJ Channel 53 Baker City (Moving to Ch. 51)
- K62EI Channel 62 Maupin
- K69AH Channel 69 The Dalles (Moving to Ch. 22)
Bend area translators.
- K44AH Channel 44 Prineville
- K57CH Channel 57 Sunriver (Moving to Ch. 24)
Portland area translators.
When KPDX became a FOX affiliate in 1988, the station's signal was spotty in several areas around Portland. For KPDX to provide better signal coverage in these areas, several translator stations were activated.
- K14HN Channel 14 Vancouver, Washington
- K18EL Channel 18 Newberg
- K16CB Channel 16 Portland (Discontinued)
The channel 14 and 18 translators signed on the air May 1, 1994. The channel 16 translator began in 1992 as an independent LPTV station, owned by Kenneth J. Seymour carrying programming from Main Street Television and The Opportunity Channel. Later in 1992 the station was acquired by KPDX, and became KPDX's translator. It was shut down in 1999 due to the loss of its transmitter site lease and duplication of signal by channel 14 in Camas. The license was returned to the FCC in 2002.
[edit] Trivia
KPDX is one of a few stations to have been affiliated with both News Corporation-owned networks, Fox and My Network TV.
[edit] Logos
 Channel 49 logo under Fox affiliation. |
 KPDX's UPN logo. |
[edit] External links
- KPDX Website
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KPDX
- Query the FCC's TV station database for KUBN
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KPDX-TV
[edit] References
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