KPDX

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

KPDX is also the ICAO airport code for Portland International Airport.

KPDX
Vancouver, Washington / Portland, Oregon
Branding	PDX 49
Slogan	Totally Entertaining TV
Channels	49 (UHF) analog, 48 (UHF) digital
Translators	KUBN-LP ch 50 (UHF) Bend, K34HK ch 34 (UHF) Longview, Washington
Affiliations	MyNetworkTV
Owner	Meredith Corporation
Founded	1983
Call letters meaning	PDX = Portland's IATA airport code
Former callsigns	KLRK (CP only)
Former affiliations	Independent (1983-88), Fox (1988-2002), UPN (2002-2006)
Website	www.kpdx.com

KPDX is the My Network TV 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. KPDX is also simulcast in Longview, Washington on K34HK, channel 34.

Contents 1 History 2 Repeater stations 3 Logos 4 External links

[edit] History

KPDX signed on October 1, 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 was acquired by Meredith Corporation in 1998 after that company purchased First Media.

Meredith acquired KPTV in 2002. 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, My Network TV, 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, as a move to gear up for its new 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 two MyNetworkTV affiliates to not adopt the network's "blue TV" logo and branding style (the other being KAUT), and keep its current scheme and branding.

Locally, the station broadcasts some Portland LumberJax games.

[edit] Repeater stations

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
• K18EL channel 18 Newberg
• K16CB channel 16 Portland
• K20EH channel 20 Hood River
• K20DD channel 20 Albany
• K23DB channel 23 LaGrande
• K30EW channel 30 Monument
• K43FH channel 43 Heppner
• K44AH channel 44 Prineville
• K50CG channel 50 Salem
• K51FK channel 51 Nehalem
• K53EJ channel 53 Baker
• K57CH channel 57 Sunriver
• K60CH channel 60 Maupin
• K68DZ channel 68 Longview
• K69AH channel 69 The Dalles
• KUBN channel 50 Redmond

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 2002, after the FOX affiliation returned to KPTV.

[edit] Logos

Channel 49 logo under Fox affiliation.

KPDX's UPN logo.

KPDX's current logo.

[edit] External links

• KPDX Web Site
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KPDX
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KUBN
• Query the FCC's TV station database for K34HK