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WVPX-TV (channel 23) is a television station licensed to Akron, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland area as an affiliate of Ion Television. It is owned by Inyo Broadcast Holdings alongside Canton-licensed Bounce TV affiliate WDLI-TV (channel 17), which transmits using WVPX-TV's full-power spectrum via a channel sharing agreement. The two stations share studios on Renaissance Parkway in Warrensville Heights and transmitter facilities on Ohio SR 261 in Norton, Ohio.
This station was signed on by S. Bernard Berk's Summit Radio Corporation as WAKR-TV, the television extension of WAKR. WAKR-TV positioned itself with a focus primarily on Akron even as it also covered the Greater Cleveland television market. From their 1953 establishment until 1996, the station was one of two primary ABC affiliates within the Cleveland market, current primary affiliate WEWS-TV being the other. Denied what would have originally been a VHF license, WAKR-TV's competitiveness was negatively impacted throughout this era by financial shortfalls and continuous Nielsen ratings issues, even with a move from channel 49 to channel 23 in 1967, and eventual Must-carry on cable systems. Becoming WAKC-TV in 1986 after WAKR was sold, the station remained in the hands of the Berk family until 1994, when it was sold to home-shopping broadcast chain ValueVision. Under ValueVision, the station retained local programming and its ABC affiliation. A subsequent sale to Paxson Communications resulted in all newscast production ceasing immediately upon consummation on February 28, 1996, and disaffiliation from ABC at years' end; these moves made Akron the largest city in Ohio without a traditional television network affiliate or commercial television newscast.
Renamed WVPX-TV, the station became an owned and operated station for Paxson's Pax TV network on August 31, 1998. When Paxson filed an application to replace WVPX's transmitter with one capable for high-definition television, Akron City Council demanded Paxson restore local news on the station or invest in a television news service for the city; the permit was granted after Paxson made a one-time payment to the city. As part of a larger partnership between Paxson and minority investor NBC, WKYC owner Gannett took over WVPX's operations in 2001 and began producing a daily half-hour Akron newscast. When NBC withdrew their involvement in Paxson in 2005, the newscast was moved to local cable and Paxson (later renamed Ion Media) resumed operating WVPX. Ion Media was sold to WEWS owner E. W. Scripps Company in 2021, resulting in WVPX and WDLI being spun off to Inyo Broadcast Holdings.
After the release of the FCC's Sixth Report and Order lifted the freeze in 1952, the Commission reassigned the proposed Akron license from a VHF signal to one of two potential UHF signals, as channel 11 was no longer available in order to protect what would become WTOL in Toledo and WIIC-TV (now WPXI) in Pittsburgh. Moreover, the Commission collapsed both Akron and Canton into the Cleveland market and now limited the combined market to three existing VHF signals—channels 3, 5 and 8 (changed from 4, 5 and 9). Summit Radio was awarded the permit for WAKR-TV on channel 49 by September 4, 1952; a coin flip determined the winning bid between Summit and WADC as the other frequency available, channel 65, was not considered operable at the time.
With WAKR already housed at the Huntington Tower in the city's downtown, a UHF mast was affixed to the top of the building to much fanfare, with onlookers watching from the ground level during the multi-day process, and pictures of the tower installation published on the front page of the Akron Beacon Journal several times. Test transmissions began on , that consisted solely of a Test card featuring the call sign and an illustration of the tower, while appliance stores in the city ran advertisements promoting either new television sets—or converter equipment to upgrade existing sets—concurrently promoting the station's upcoming launch. These signal tests continued on a regular set schedule until WAKR-TV formally signed on the air on .
In contrast to the tower construction, the studio operations at the First Central Tower were temporary, as Summit Radio had acquired the former Copley Theatre as a permanent home for the WAKR stations; the building operated as a theater between March 1947 and October 1952. As part of the renovations of the theater, a second floor was added solely for office space, while one of the two TV studios featured a large steel Revolving stage for set changing purposes; at the time, it was the only such turntable custom-built for a television studio. S. Bernard Berk's wife, Viola Berk, drafted the architectural plans for the new studios, scrapping plans drawn by a professional architect as being "pretty, but not practical". Formally opened that December as the "WAKR Television Center", the complex boasted an Modernism front lobby and interior designed by Viola Berk, and a second floor viewing room with windows where advertisers could watch programs being produced in the studios below.
Due to both the station's permanent studios still being under construction and ABC not yet programming on a full-time basis, WAKR-TV acquired a film package consisting of high-profile Republic Pictures and United Artists releases to fill airtime via a nightly "double-feature" showcase. WAKR-TV itself was able to join ABC officially on September 15, 1953, after Ohio Bell Telephone Company technicians completed the installation of receivers for the Bell System-operated relay network. An additional film package of 20th Century-Fox, Columbia Pictures and David O. Selznick releases was purchased by the station in 1956 and utilized in afternoons and prime time as an early form of counterprogramming against television network fare; owing to WAKR-TV's flexible schedule, these movies usually ran in complete form, with minimal edits for time. Milton F. Komito, a director for WMAL-TV in Washington, D.C., who also had produced and directed programs on NBC-TV and ABC-TV, was hired to direct all local productions for the station. Komito left in 1955 for a management role at WTAP-TV in Parkersburg, West Virginia, eventually returning to the WAKR stations in 1963 as sales manager. Robert I. Bostian, who replaced Komito as production director, was promoted to program director two months after having joined; Bostian would remain a part of WAKR-TV and Summit Radio management through the late 1980s as station vice president and once summed up the station's purpose by saying, "Our local programming is geared to giving Akron what it wants—news, advertising, announcements and local shows all about Akron."
the beginning, WAKR-TV eschewed the Cleveland market proper in favor of Akron and Canton, boasting the only television newscast that focused specifically on both cities, sharing resources with WAKR, which had earned the distinction of being one of the first radio stations in the United States to house an active news department at its 1940 establishment. WAKR personalities began appearing on the television side, including long-time radio staffers Jack Fitzgibbons, Bill Murphy and Bob Wylie; indeed, the first live programs over WAKR-TV were a local newscast anchored by Bill Murphy, followed by a Bob Wylie-headlined sportscast. Jack Fitzgibbons would become the station's lead anchorman and news director alongside his daily radio news reports, positions he held until leaving broadcasting in 1969 to become Akron's deputy mayor. Future progressive rock radio personality Scott Muni, who was WAKR's evening host from 1956 to 1958, presented the nightly weather report at 6:55 p.m. on WAKR-TV featuring a unique setup allowing him to write the forecast on a pane of glass, then reversed by a mirrored camera, this would directly lead in to his radio program that started at 7:15 pm. Long-time WAKR midday host Jack Ryan—despite having no background in meteorology—later served as WAKR-TV's lead weatherman throughout the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s.
Live events and sports coverage heard on WAKR would find itself shown on WAKR-TV. Six days after the station's launch, the station's first live telecast of an outdoor event occurred with coverage of Akron's Sesquicentennial Parade. The following week, the station broadcast film of the 1953 Beacon Journal Soap Box Derby and All-American Finals in prime time, with Bob Wylie providing play-by-play. Wylie in particular soon became known as the "Voice of the Zips", thanks to the station's broadcasts of Akron Zips football and basketball. WAKR-TV also touted itself as having broken news of the armistice agreement which formally suspended the Korean War well before any of the Cleveland market stations reported the news. Another alliance existed with the Akron Beacon Journal, as publisher Knight Newspapers—a forerunner of Knight Ridder—held a minority stake in Summit Radio from 1946 to 1977.
A weekly local music and dance program titled The Hop aired on the station beginning in 1957 with a succession of WAKR air talent as host; this included Scott Muni, Jack Ryan and Rick (Hudak) Shaw. Originally a cross-promotional vehicle for WAKR's Top 40 format, The Hop became popular with teenage viewers as a local version of American Bandstand, which WAKR-TV also carried; dropped from the schedule at the end of 1961, it was temporarily revived in 1962 thanks to viewer demand. WAKR-TV also launched Akron Tonight—a late-evening variety show featuring local musical acts and Akron news headlines—on March 30, 1959; the show was briefly reworked the following February into a weekly program presented by WAKR's Charlie Greer. Greer had previously hosted a limited-run dance program devoted to big band music over WAKR-TV in 1958. One of the more successful local shows on WAKR-TV was another early-evening children's television program hosted by Jack Boigegrain (known on air as Jack Bennett) under the "Professor Jack" persona, which debuted on February 25, 1963. Bennett also presented weather reports in the late evenings, billed as the "Weather Profit". The program ended on April 1, 1966, after Bennett was denied a raise by station management; this followed a potential hiring by WKYC as a replacement for Linn Sheldon falling through due to a subsequent court-ordered ownership change.
with the 1963–64 television season, WAKR-TV began carrying the entire ABC-TV lineup in pattern with occasional deviations for Amateur sports and Akron Zips sports coverage; this followed a change in FCC policy that also allowed affiliates to preempt or reschedule network shows at their discretion. Following this, much of the station's local productions were curtailed, with one of the last local prime time shows being Bob Lee Playhouse, a limited-run weekly variety show in the spring of 1963 hosted by WAKR's Bob Lee. Carrying the ABC lineup in pattern also resulted in WAKR-TV's broadcast schedule largely mirroring fellow ABC primary affiliate WEWS's schedule, although WEWS more freely preempted or rescheduled weaker offerings from the network. While WEWS had the larger measured audience by a commanding margin throughout, both stations would continue to fight for each other's viewership. One last attempt at a local variety/talk show occurred in the early 1970s with WAKR morning personality and WAKR-TV evening sportscaster Jerry Healey as host. The Jerry Healey Show launched on November 27, 1972, at 11 a.m. weekdays and aired until Healey left the stations at the end of 1973; Healey then hosted TGIF Party, a weekly WAKR-TV program on Friday nights throughout the summer of 1974.
Even with passage of the All-Channel Receiver Act, these problems which would not be totally resolved until Summit Radio successfully petitioned the FCC to amend channel allocations between Canton and Akron, allowing WAKR-TV to move to a reassigned channel 23 allocation at higher power. As part of the petition, Summit Radio disclosed that WAKR-TV had amassed a "seven-figure" operating deficit dating back to 1953. This was not exactly new: in a 1961 request to the FCC that Akron should be at the "highest priority" for future potential VHF allocations, Summit Radio declared that channel 49 had "suffered very substantial operating losses" from the beginning. The change from channels 49 to 23 took place on December 1, 1967. Despite the move, WAKR-TV still lost significant amounts of money for the majority of its existence, relying on profits from WAKR to remain solvent. The former channel 49 allocation would be reassigned for educational use as PBS member station WEAO, using the same transmitter equipment on top of the First Central Tower at their launch.
The changes at WAKR-TV were not just technical: founder S. Bernard Berk died on July 11, 1966, at age 69. His widow Viola Berk initially assumed control over Summit Radio then transferred control over in 1970 to son Roger G. Berk, who had been actively involved with the TV station since its establishment.
WAKR-TV's audience was often outranked by WEWS in Nielsen ratings diary reports, even in Summit County. Arbitron estimated in 1976 that one percent of all television sets in Summit County were tuned in to the station's 6 p.m. news. By 1991, the ratings service put the estimate at 3 percent for channel 23's 6 p.m. news, and 1 percent for their 11 p.m. news. Station management and ownership were frequently critical of how the surveys were set up, with Roger G. Berk stating that Arbitron never had given the station a fair share, while WAKR-TV never formally subscribed to the service, preventing Arbitron from more intently measuring the county; Roger's son Roger G. Berk, Jr. would refer to the ratings as "statistically invalid." Station manager Robert Bostian once raised the possibility of Akron viewers confusing WEWS for WAKR-TV based on informal phone surveys, and also claimed that ratings sampling procedures underestimated the station's overall audience; these allegations would persist into the 1990s.
legitimate geographical disadvantage existed for the station. Summit County accounted for 14 percent of the Cleveland area of dominant influence (ADI)—as defined by Arbitron in 1991—and Summit County and the surrounding four counties accounted for one-third of the Cleveland ADI. Later analysis by Beacon Journal columnist Bob Dyer suggested that the newspaper's five-county circulation area would have resulted in the 50th biggest television market in the country, and the Akron metropolitan statistical area itself could have been the 100th largest television market, on par with El Paso and Savannah's MSAs. The ratings issues for channel 23, in turn, were reflected in advertising rates for the newscasts that were a fraction of what Cleveland stations would charge for. In 1976, a typical commercial spot on channel 23 only cost $150 for an advertiser compared to $300 for the same spot load on a Cleveland station; by the mid-1990s, channel 23 charged $200 while the Cleveland stations charged anywhere between $1,500 to $2,000. Management referred to the revenue disparity that resulted as a "Catch-23," preventing the station from acquiring any high-profile syndicated programming and having to resort to less-desirable off-network reruns like McHale's Navy and I Dream of Jeannie.
The station successfully fought to be excluded from market limitations for syndicated programming in 1974 for two years, and after cable television was introduced to the Akron market in 1974, WAKR-TV was placed at the channel 4 position by Warner Cable, a move later attributed for helping the station turn a profit in 1977. When a report came out in late 1977 that FCC chairman Charles D. Ferris was reconsidering cable television network nonduplication rules if a significantly viewed station were to seek an exemption from blackouts, Roger G. Berk responded with a letter of concern, disclosing that Summit/Group One had invested more than $2 million into WAKR-TV and suffered losses of over $5 million. As the station approached its 25th anniversary in 1978, Robert Bostian told the Beacon Journal that the station would have ceased operations early on had the Berks not absorbed a significant amount of said losses.
Similar to the reputation WAKR developed in the 1940s and 1950s as a "stepping stone" for future famous radio and television announcers, WAKR-TV became a training ground for future broadcasters. Long-time anchorman Ted Henry began his career as a reporter for both WAKR and WAKR-TV in 1965, as did veteran Cleveland news anchor and reporter Dick Russ in 1976. Future CNN anchor Carol Costello, a Minerva native, got her start at the WAKR stations in 1984 as a reporter, covering the Akron police beat and multiple court trials. Sportscaster Jeff Phelps began his broadcast career in 1981 co-hosting a weekly program with Kent State Golden Flashes football coach Ed Chlebek on WAKR-TV, in addition to being a color commentator for Kent State football broadcasts on WAKR. Denny Schreiner was WAKR and WAKR-TV's sports director prior to joining ESPN as lead play-by-play voice for their PBA Tour coverage. Future WKYC meteorologist Mark Nolan and future WEWS chief meteorologist Mark Johnson worked together at the station, with Johnson training Nolan. Eventual lead anchor and news director Mark Williamson started his tenure with channel 23 in 1979; one of the first major stories he covered while doing helicopter-based traffic reports for the WAKR stations was the August 2, 1979, plane crash that killed Thurman Munson.
One bright spot for the TV station came when WAKR personality Billy Soule became a video jockey on WAKR-TV in 1984, first hosting 23 Nite Videos, a Saturday night music video program; this show eventually became 23 Music Magazine, a daily program that aired both in late afternoons via tape and was broadcast live in the prime time access hour of 7 p.m., itself compensating for the station's continued inability to acquire syndicated programming. The weeknight program ended in early 1989, but Soule continued hosting 23 Nite Videos on weekend overnights into the following decade, and won the 1993 Billboard Music Video Award for best pop/adult contemporary regional video program. A screenshot taken from a promo for 23 Music Magazine would later be used at the beginning and end of a music video for The Black Keys' 2019 single "Lo/Hi" in an apparent tribute to the show.
The terms of the radio station sale called for WAKR and WONE-FM to be moved out of the Copley Road studios, as Summit/Group One retained ownership of the building, both radio stations left the following year. A co-op agreement was also established between the radio stations and WAKC; one WAKR reporter was notably fired due to his displeasure over having to record a video segment for a public affairs program jointly aired on both radio and television. WAKR and WAKC also continued co-production of Civic Forum of the Air in coordination with the Jewish Community Center of Akron; this weekly public affairs program, which aired on Sunday mornings on WAKC throughout this time, debuted on both radio and television on June 4, 1961, and remains on the WAKR schedule to the present day as Forum 360. Staff were eventually separated, however. Tim Daugherty—who had been hired by Summit/Group One as part of WONE-FM's initial airstaff following its conversion from WAEZ on January 1, 1985—was retained by WAKC as their lead weatherman, despite minimal on-camera experience and, like Jack Ryan before him, no meteorological background. Meanwhile, Carol Costello briefly stayed with the radio stations after WAKC did not offer her a substantial on-air position, ultimately leaving the market altogether. While the Berks had initially invested the profits from the radio station divestitures into WAKC, the economic and financial struggles which had impacted the station throughout its existence never improved. WAKC attracted some negative attention for pre-recording their 11 p.m. newscast earlier in the evenings as a cost-saving measure, but that was reversed by 1990. The newscast production never evolved from its "no-frills" approach to journalism and began to be seen as an anachronism compared to flashy graphics, "happy talk" and tabloid journalism elements seen on the Cleveland stations, all of which regularly beat WAKC in the ratings in the Akron area by sizable margins. Some investments had been made, including for the studio cameras and an electronic weather map system, but these had already been put into use by the Cleveland stations years earlier. A June 17, 1991, incident later recounted in the Akron Beacon Journal detailed anchor Jim Kambrich—who himself would serve as an anchor at WNYT in Albany, New York, from 1994 to 2020—concluding his 11 p.m. newscast on set, only to find a reporter and two interns in the newsroom instead watching WJW's newscast, which focused on lead anchor Robin Swoboda's departure from that station.
By mid-December, two ValueVision representatives visited the station and made multiple pledges to the staff, including no reduction in newscast output, no layoffs, and that WAKC would not become a 24-hour home shopping channel; other promises even included the establishment of a news bureau in Washington, D.C. Despite the assurances, Beacon Journal TV columnist Bob Dyer questioned the company's motives based on their prospectus, suggesting that WAKC was bought to help get their home shopping programming on cable thanks to the FCC's "must-carry" regulations for full-power television stations that apply to all cable systems. One of those representatives, vice president of broadcast operations Mike Jones, took over as WAKC's vice president and general manager when the deal closed on April 18, 1994; concurrently, ValueVision and ABC came to an agreement on a new affiliate contract for WAKC, effectively keeping the home shopping programming off of the station entirely.
This sudden change again attracted the ire of Bob Dyer, who openly asked in his June 22, 1994, column why their initial plans for WAKC becoming a home shopping outlet of some sort—all of which were publicly announced to investors, the FCC and the Securities and Exchange Commission—had been abandoned with no explanation. It was later revealed that ABC automatically renewed the affiliation once ValueVision took over via a clause in the existing contract, leaving the new owners with little choice but to continue running the station as an ABC affiliate. The ownership change had one definitive casualty: 23 Nite Videos ended production in early June 1994 after ten years, and aired in reruns throughout the summer. Billy Soule later admitted that Nite Videos was cancelled because Mike Jones "did not want me on the air, period", and was reassigned to off-air duties that included public affairs. Likewise, Tim Daugherty left during the transition to return to WONE-FM and WAKR on a full-time basis.
As part of the promised revamp of the news operations, veteran broadcaster Bob Tayek was hired as vice president of news, while existing news director/lead anchor Mark Williamson was also appointed to head a new investigative reporting unit. Rebranded as "The NorthOhio NewsStation" despite retaining a focus on Akron and Canton, WAKC's 6 p.m. newscast was expanded to one hour on October 31, 1994. That change, however, took longer than expected to implement and came at the expense of their weekend 11 p.m. newscasts, which were canceled and never reinstated. Questions still persisted among the staff about the new owners' commitment to news, while Tayek had assumed most of Mark Williamson's administrative duties. Despite the changes, viewership remained minimal and the quality was uneven at best; general manager Mike Jones even sent a memo to the staff calling one August 1995 newscast he had viewed "the worst newscast ever produced in the history of broadcasting." Bob Dyer later likened Jones unfavorably to then-Cleveland Browns head coach Bill Belichick in his newspaper column, saying that Jones was "the perfect illustration of why people in places like Akron loathe most of what resides inside the Capital Beltway," owing to his weekend commutes to a Washington, D.C., residence.
Hours after the transaction closed on February 28, 1996, Paxson Communications president Dean Goodman entered the newsroom at 1:40 p.m. and tersely said to the staff, "News ceases at this moment." Anchor Mark Williamson and videographer Tim Coffey were at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Cuyahoga Falls preparing a series on Mormonism; Williamson called the station only to hear an after-hours voicemail greeting, and by the time they returned to the station, fellow employees notified him and Coffey, not the new management. Reporter Steve Litz, later with Dayton's WHIO-TV and Miami's WTVJ, was told by executives while in a hallway, "we're firing you and your co-workers. Go around the place and pass the word to your friends that we won't be needing you people anymore." Earlier in the day, Williamson admitted to attendees at a senior center that "the station was in turmoil" due to the pending ownership change. Dean Goodman later gave a brief interview to other media outlets in the station's lobby, while two armed security guards were already stationed at the entrance, preventing access to the building for any former employees. One videographer who was the station's current "employee of the month" was notified of his firing over the telephone as his 13-month-old daughter was at a hospital being treated for rheumatoid arthritis.
No public on-air notice was given, nor were any newscast promos or "NorthOhio News Station" station identifications removed, resulting in some viewers expressing surprise over the syndicated Today's Health airing in place of the 6 p.m. news. Williamson expressed regret over not being able to break the news of the news department's shutdown, saying, "I was looking at that ugly building with that awful decor and thinking how I've been there almost every day for 17 years. And I was just crying my eyes out because I knew I'd never see it like that again." Williamson's wife, Beacon Journal columnist Mary Ethridge, disclosed that he was one of several employees that was offered a severance package described as "decent" but not extended to all the fired staffers. Then-Akron mayor Don Plusquellic, who subsequently hired Williamson as the communications director for the Akron Public Schools, compared the shuttering of WAKC's news operations to the closure of the O'Neil's department store seven years earlier, musing "people said it was such a shame, and I asked, 'when was the last time you shopped there?'", alluding to the low ratings that had plagued the newscasts throughout. Akron's City Council, however, unanimously passed a resolution critical of the firings and the city's loss of local TV newscasts, with one councilman urging a boycott against channel 23.
The total number of WAKC's 70 employees who were dismissed varied significantly. Paxson management said it was as low as 15, while former staffers said it was between 50 and 60. Later accounts had estimated the firings at 30 on-air and news production people. Williamson claimed that the only people left were "the ones that plug the station in in the morning and make sure the batteries didn't die overnight". Among the fired staffers was operations manager Elwood Edwards, who ValueVision promptly rehired as general manager for KUBE-TV in Houston. Edwards' voice was coincidentally starting to become recognizable as the (then uncredited) "You've Got Mail" voice for America Online's email service. Ultimately, five staffers were retained by Paxson to keep the station operational and to continue with any remaining commercial and public affairs productions, with one staffer tasked to remove any signage relating to "WAKC" throughout the building. Billy Soule was also retained and returned to on-camera work fronting a nightly interview program titled Community News, but resigned on June 28, 1996, in order to meet a deadline Paxson had for remaining staffers that wanted a severance package. Soule said about his last day at the station, "After 18 years, there was no one there to say thanks... I felt I had so much more to offer, and nobody wanted it."
News of the station's move to Warrensville Heights upset residents and business owners in the West Akron neighborhood, with city officials worried about the building's vacancy potentially harming plans for the neighborhood's economic redevelopment. Indeed, the former studios were used as storage; a onetime employee broke in to the building several times throughout 1997 to steal $75,000 worth of equipment once used by the news department for resale, only to be discovered by former colleagues who managed a Tallmadge electronics store. The Good Shepherd Baptist Church purchased the building in 1998 after their prior sanctuary across the street was destroyed in a fire, but moved out in 2014 after prolonged flooding and water damage to the building. Vacant from that point until the building was demolished in April 2022, signage bearing the "WAKC" name was never fully removed and still graced the building's entrance. WAKC's news tape archive held a better fate: Schiller arranged for the remaining tapes to be loaned to NBC for conversion to digital, then donated to the Summit County Historical Society at no cost.
In the fall of 1996, the station began branding itself as "ABC 23" and added some additional, newly purchased syndicated programs to its schedule. Despite this, Paxson decided to end WAKC's affiliation at 12:01 a.m. on January 1, 1997, a decision that even surprised Schiller, who intended to continue operating WAKC as an ABC affiliate from the new Warrensville Heights facility even without local newscasts. The remainder of their general programming inventory was also dropped on December 31 in favor of Paxson's infomercial service inTV (or the Infomall Television Network). WEWS general manager Gary Robinson expressed relief at no longer having to compete against WAKC for the same audience, a distinction no other Cleveland station had even as WAKC's prime time ratings were minimal by comparison. Having become largely superfluous, Paxson sold off managerial control of WOAC to Global Broadcasting Services in April 1997 for $23 million, but the deal was delayed after Global entered bankruptcy and was purchased by Shop at Home Network, who completed the transaction, while WOAC's operations remained in Warrensville Heights.
Bolstered by a Supreme Court decision affirming the "must-carry" FCC regulations, Paxson began developing plans for a network anchored by their chain of UHF stations, including WAKC, announcing the creation of Ion Television on November 18, 1997, following the acquisition of multiple off-network rerun packages. Consequently, WAKC assumed its current WVPX-TV callsign on January 13, 1998, to reinforce the Pax TV branding, while it was also seen as a symbolic severing of the station's last remaining connection to Akron. Positioned as a "family-friendly" network consisting mostly of high-profile off-network reruns, Pax TV launched on August 31, 1998, with WVPX as a charter owned-and-operated station, carrying the network's entire schedule.
When Paxson submitted a zoning request to the Akron City Council on November 15, 1999, for a replacement high-definition television tower for WVPX—and several other FM stations that used an adjacent tower—the council used the request as leverage, and threatened to deny the permit unless news production was reinstated on the station or an investment would be made into a television news product. The existing transmitter for WVPX was nearing the end of its lifespan, with the station having suffered multiple over-the-air signal outages throughout December 1999 and January 2000, at one point having been off-the-air for three times in one week for prolonged periods. The council issued the permit after Paxson agreed to make a one-time only payment of $300,000 to the city for local news and public affairs productions. WVPX used this tower until the FCC's spectrum auction, when the station moved to the transmitter of WDLI-TV on September 26, 2018, following the purchase of WDLI-TV's license in a channel sharing agreement.
WKYC subsequently announced on March 28, 2001, the launch of a new newscast produced for WVPX by WKYC's news department but focused on Akron stories, and based at an expanded Akron bureau. Launched on June 13, 2001, under the Pax 23 News banner, the program was anchored by WKYC's Akron bureau chief Eric Mansfield, with sports and weather provided by Jim Donovan and Mark Nolan, respectively; both Mansfield and Nolan previously worked at WAKC in the early 1990s. The $300,000 payment provided by Paxson was envisioned by the city of Akron as potential "seed money" for a new television news operation; a seven-member board to manage the funds was considered by Akron mayor Don Plusquellic, but the positions were never filled. However, those funds—along with an additional $200,000 in taxpayer funds from both the city and county governments—were provided by the city of Akron to help finance construction of a new facility for WKYC and Pax 23 News at the United Building in the city's downtown. Former WAKC anchor Mark Williamson, in his position as a spokesperson for the city, likened his involvement on the WKYC alliance to "planning your ex-wife's next wedding." While ratings for the 6:30 p.m. broadcast were relatively small, production of a 10 p.m. newscast began in January 2003, and WKYC general manager Brooke Spectorsky made known at launch that the station was fully committed to Pax 23 News for the long-term.
Paxson formally withdrew the joint sales agreement between WKYC and WVPX on March 25, 2005, ending that June 30. This action came as NBC and Paxson were engaged in litigation against each other, NBC having filed for a redemption of what was now a $549 million investment in Paxson. Pax TV also had reportedly lost approximately $76 million in 2003, and rumors began to surface that the company could be sold. After negotiations between different groups, WKYC reached an agreement with Time Warner Cable to produce the newscasts for the cable company's public access channel, which coincidentally held the "23" position; Time Warner Cable also agreed to provide space for WKYC's WeatherPlus digital subchannel. What became Akron/Canton News aired on the cable system until May 30, 2008, when insufficient ad revenue and low ratings made the newscast cost-prohibitive.
Concurrent with the termination of the joint sales agreement with WKYC, Pax TV was rebranded as i, then as Ion Television the following year, with WVPX carrying the network schedule in pattern with no deviations.
Following the acquisition, Scripps announced the March 1, 2021, closure of several digital multicast networks operated by Ion Media—Ion Plus, Ion Shop and Qubo—in favor of existing Katz Broadcasting networks. On February 27, WVPX's 23.2 and 23.3 subchannels switched from Qubo and Ion Shop to Grit and Ion Mystery (the latter re-mapped to 23.4) and co-owned WDLI-TV concurrently switched from Ion Plus to Court TV; WVPX 23.5 changed from HSN to Defy TV on July 1.
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