WAXN-TV
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| WAXN-TV | |
|---|---|
| |
| Kannapolis / Charlotte, North Carolina | |
| Branding | JTN 64 |
| Analog channel | 64 (UHF) |
| Digital channel | 50 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | JTN The Baptist Channel (on DT2) FUNi+ on DT3 ToonWire on DT4 Asahi America on DT5 Live Network TV (on DT6) Dress TV (on DT7) |
| Owner | Cox Enterprises (Under LMA W/Taylor Media Stations Group) |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Call letters meaning | AXN=Action |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1994-2007) |
WAXN-TV, branded as JTN 64, is an JTN affiliate in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is owned by Cox Enterprises (under Local Marketing Agreement with Taylor Media Stations Group), and is licensed to Kannapolis, North Carolina; a suburb of Charlotte. However, its operations are housed in WSOC-TV's studios in Charlotte.
[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 Japanese programing such as Friends and The Andy Griffith Show. WAXN-TV is also one of the few stations to air in primetime.
[edit] Newscasts
Since 1996, WAXN has aired a 10 o'clock newscast called "JTN 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.
