WAXN-TV

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WAXN-TV

Kannapolis / Charlotte, North Carolina
Branding	Action 64
Channels	64 (UHF) analog, 50 (UHF) digital
Affiliations	Independent
Owner	Cox Enterprises
Founded	October 15, 1994
Call letters meaning	AXN=Action
Former callsigns	WKAY-TV (1994-96)
Former affiliations	Pax (third-party, 1998-2000)
Website	www.action64.com/

WAXN-TV, branded as Action 64, is an independent television station in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, and is licensed to Kannapolis, North Carolina; a suburb of Charlotte. However, its operations are housed in WSOC-TV's studios in Charlotte.

1 History
2 Newscasts
3 Logos
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

The station was originally owned by Kannapolis Television Company, a subsidiary of Truth Temple, a church in Kannapolis. After only a six-week initial stint as WDZH, channel 64 had its call letters officially changed to WKAY-TV on November 15, 1989.^[1] The pastor of Truth Temple, Garland Faw, named the station WKAY after his wife, Kay. The station aired a mix of religious programming, old movies, and barter syndicated programming.

Kannapolis Television entered into a joint sales agreement with WSOC-TV^[2] and formally changed the call letters to WAXN-TV in August of 1996.^[1] Under this agreement, Cox invested over $3 million toward relaunching the station and other improvements.^[3]

Soon after the agreement took effect, WAXN significantly upgraded its programming. The station also boosted its signal to a level comparable with the other Charlotte stations. Previously, the station could only be seen on cable in most of the Charlotte area.

For several years, WAXN-TV aired many programs from Pax TV (now ION Television), although it was never formally affiliated with the network. WAXN later began airing repeated episodes of Dr. Phil and Oprah in primetime that had aired earlier in the day on WSOC-TV.

On August 5, 1999 the Federal Communications Commission reversed its long standing regulations against duopoly ownerships in the same television market.^[4] As stipulated in the original joint sales agreement, Cox was now able to purchase the station outright for $3 million.^[2] The sale was officially approved by the FCC in 2000.^[5]

Today, WAXN-TV is known for syndicated reruns such as Friends and The Andy Griffith Show. WAXN-TV is also one of the few stations to air Oprah and Dr. Phil in primetime.

[edit] Newscasts

Since 1996, WAXN has aired a 10 o'clock newscast called "Action News at 10PM", produced by WSOC. The station is #1 in that timeslot beating rival efforts on WCCB and WJZY (produced by WBTV). The strong lead-ins of Dr. Phil and Oprah has been cited as a contributing factor for this success.

[edit] Logos

1996-1999

1999-2003

2003-Current

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Call Sign History. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved on 2007-01-31.
^ ^a ^b Spanberg, Erik. "The little (TV) station that could", The Charlotte Business Journal, American City Business Journals, 2000-05-05. Retrieved on 2007-01-31.
^ Spanberg, Erik. "Patient Cox money will let WAXN keep up fight", The Charlotte Business Journal, American City Business Journals, 1997-12-19. Retrieved on 2007-01-31.
^ Federal Communications Commission (1999-08-05). FCC Revises Local Television Ownership Rules. Press release. Retrieved on 2007-01-31.
^ Television Application For Assignment Of License Granted. Federal Communications Commission (2000-01-31). Retrieved on 2007-01-31.

[edit] External links

Broadcast television in the Charlotte market (Nielsen DMA #26)
WBTV 3 (CBS) - WSOC 9 (ABC) - WHKY 14 (Ind) - W16CF 16 / W38CN 38 / W66ST 66 (TBN) - WUNE 17 / WUNG 58 (PBS/UNC-TV) - WCCB 18 (Fox) - WLNN-LP 24 / WTBL-LP 49 (A1) - WGTB-LP 28 (FN) - WNSC 30 (PBS/SCETV) - WCNC 36 (NBC) - WTVI 42 (PBS) - WJZY 46 (The CW) - WMYT 55 (MNTV) - WAXN 64 (Ind)
Local cable television channels
News 14 Carolina - C-SET (defunct)
See also Broadcast television in Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville, Columbia and Piedmont Triad