KUPX-TV

KUPX-TV is a full-power television station licensed to Provo, Utah, and serving the broader Salt Lake City television market. Although its license city is Provo, the station operates from facilities shared with Scripps-owned Fox affiliate KSTU in northwestern Salt Lake City, while its transmitter is located on Farnsworth Peak in the Oquirrh Mountains. The station’s main signal uses virtual channel 16 and reaches viewers across much of Utah through a network of translators. The station originated in a lengthy and complicated construction process. A construction permit for channel 16 was issued during the 1980s after several applicants reached a settlement rather than proceeding through a comparative Federal Communications Commission hearing. The permit holder, Royal Television of Utah, encountered repeated delays involving transmitter sites, extensions, and replacement permits. The project changed hands during the delay, including a planned sale to Roberts Broadcasting in the mid-1990s and later participation by ACME Communications, a company closely associated with The WB network. Channel 16 was initially intended to become a WB affiliate. That plan changed in 1998 through an agreement involving Roberts, ACME, and Paxson Communications Corporation. The transaction effectively exchanged the planned WB operation on channel 16 with Paxson’s operation on channel 30. The WB service launched as KUWB on channel 30, while channel 16 adopted the KUPX call sign and began carrying Paxson’s infomercial programming. When Pax Net launched later in 1998, KUPX became one of its affiliates. Pax was subsequently renamed i: Independent Television and then Ion Television, making KUPX a long-running Utah outlet for the national Ion schedule. The station added digital broadcasting in 2002 and completed the transition away from analog transmission in 2009. Ion Media and Ion Television were acquired by The E. W. Scripps Company in 2020, with the transaction closing in January 2021. Scripps retained KUPX and operated it alongside KSTU, creating a Utah station group under common ownership. A major programming change took effect on September 1, 2023. Ion Television programming moved to a digital subchannel, while the primary channel began carrying independently selected programming under the Utah 16 identity. The new schedule included sports programming, particularly non-national Vegas Golden Knights games and selected Arizona Coyotes games, under Scripps’s regional sports-rights arrangements. In April 2024, after the National Hockey League approved the establishment of a Utah franchise using the hockey assets of the deactivated Coyotes, KUPX-TV was announced as the local broadcast outlet for the new team. The franchise was initially known as the Utah Hockey Club and later adopted the Utah Mammoth name. KUPX therefore shifted from being primarily a network entertainment outlet to a broader independent local television service with a prominent sports role, while continuing to distribute Ion programming on a subchannel.

KUPX-TV’s history begins with the allocation of television channel 16 to Provo, Utah. In 1984, three groups sought authority from the Federal Communications Commission to construct a station. Rather than continue through a comparative hearing, the applicants settled their competing claims. San Joseph Broadcasting owner Jackson Dell Weaver and Morro Rock Resources joined to form Royal Television of Utah, while Skagit Valley Publishing withdrew after being reimbursed for expenses. Morro Rock held the dominant ownership position, and its president Ross Boyd described the proposed station as a needed additional independent outlet for Utah. The construction project was unusually protracted. Royal Television repeatedly sought changes to the proposed transmitter location, extensions of its construction authorization, and replacement permits after earlier authorizations expired. Weaver left the venture in 1987, and the station’s call sign was temporarily deleted before being restored. A replacement-permit application filed in 1990 was not approved until 1996. In October 1995, Roberts Broadcasting agreed to purchase the station from Royal Television for $200,000, although the project still had not reached the air. By 1997 and early 1998, ACME Communications became involved. ACME agreed to acquire a minority interest in the station and later obtain the remaining interest after the station launched. The company’s chairman and chief executive, Jamie Kellner, had helped found The WB, so the arrangement supported plans to make channel 16 a WB affiliate. Roberts proposed local programming oriented toward Utah County and sought studio space in the Provo area. It also planned to transmit from Lake Mountain and discussed a local news operation. The station was expected to restore programming such as Saturday Night Live to the Salt Lake market after the program had disappeared from the local schedule. The proposed WB affiliation was overtaken by a 1998 exchange with Paxson Communications Corporation. Paxson controlled the existing channel 30 facility, which it intended to use for its new Pax network, while Roberts and ACME controlled the channel 16 project intended for The WB. On April 20, 1998, the parties implemented local marketing arrangements and exchanged call signs and operational control while awaiting formal FCC approval. Channel 30 became KUWB, preserving the WB affiliation there, and channel 16 became KUPX, initially carrying Paxson’s infomercials. Pax Net began operation on August 31, 1998. The FCC approved the license exchange in March 1999, and the transaction closed later that year. KUPX added a digital transmission facility in 2002. Its analog service continued until the nationwide full-power digital transition ended on June 12, 2009. The station’s digital service used virtual channel 16, later becoming part of a multiplexed operation with multiple digital subchannels. Pax changed its identity to i: Independent Television in 2005 and adopted the Ion Television name in 2007. KUPX consequently became a Utah affiliate of Ion’s nationally distributed entertainment schedule. In 2020, The E. W. Scripps Company agreed to acquire Ion Media. The transaction closed on January 7, 2021. Although Scripps divested certain stations to address regulatory ownership limits, it retained KUPX-TV and operated it alongside KSTU, its Salt Lake City Fox affiliate. The stations share studio facilities on West Amelia Earhart Drive in Salt Lake City, while KUPX’s transmitter remains on Farnsworth Peak. The station’s role changed substantially in 2023. On September 1, Ion programming moved to a digital subchannel, identified in the station’s multiplex as 16.4, and the main signal began carrying a separately programmed schedule under the Utah 16 identity. Scripps used the channel for regional sports coverage, including non-national Vegas Golden Knights games and selected Arizona Coyotes games. In April 2024, the NHL approved a new Utah franchise based on the Coyotes’ hockey assets. KUPX-TV was announced as the franchise’s local broadcast outlet, and the team subsequently adopted the Utah Mammoth name. KUPX thus evolved from a delayed independent-station project into a Pax/Ion affiliate and, later, a Scripps-owned independent channel with a significant Utah sports identity.

• 2024

  Station becomes Utah NHL broadcast outlet

  [1]KUPX-TVen.wikipedia.org

  KUPX-TV was selected to carry games for Utah’s new NHL franchise, later named the Utah Mammoth.

• 2023

  Main channel becomes independently programmed Utah 16 service

  [1]KUPX-TVen.wikipedia.org

  Ion Television moved to a multicast subchannel and the primary channel began a new schedule under the Utah 16 branding.

• 2021

  Scripps ownership begins

  [1]KUPX-TVen.wikipedia.org

  The E. W. Scripps Company completed its acquisition of Ion Media and retained KUPX-TV.

• 2007

  Network becomes Ion Television

  [1]KUPX-TVen.wikipedia.org

  The network adopted the Ion Television name, which became KUPX’s principal network association for many years.

• 2005

  Pax adopts the i: Independent Television identity

  [1]KUPX-TVen.wikipedia.org

  The national network carried by KUPX changed its branding from Pax to i: Independent Television.

• 2002

  Digital transmission begins

  [1]KUPX-TVen.wikipedia.org

  KUPX launched a digital signal from Little Farnsworth Peak.

• 1998

  KUPX-TV launches after the channel exchange

  [1]KUPX-TVen.wikipedia.org

  Channel 16 signed on as KUPX after the WB operation moved to channel 30, initially carrying Paxson’s infomercial schedule.

• 1998

  Pax network begins operation

  [1]KUPX-TVen.wikipedia.org

  KUPX became an outlet for Pax after the network began broadcasting on August 31.

• 1995

  Roberts Broadcasting agrees to acquire the unbuilt station

  [1]KUPX-TVen.wikipedia.org

  Roberts Broadcasting reached an agreement to purchase channel 16 from Royal Television of Utah.

• 1984

  Channel 16 applicants settle construction-permit dispute

  [1]KUPX-TVen.wikipedia.org

  Three applicants for a Provo channel 16 construction permit reached a settlement that formed Royal Television of Utah as the permittee.

A Salt Lake City-area broadcast station combining independently programmed television and regional sports coverage on its main channel with Ion Television entertainment programming on a digital subchannel.

• Independent broadcast television service · 2023

  Utah 16

  The station’s primary-channel identity launched in September 2023 after Ion Television programming moved to a multicast subchannel. Utah 16 carries independently selected entertainment and sports programming for viewers in Utah, with a notable emphasis on local-market professional hockey coverage.

• Digital multicast network service · 1998

  Ion Television on KUPX

  KUPX has carried the national Pax, i: Independent Television, and Ion Television schedules since the station’s 1998 launch. Since 2023, Ion programming has occupied a digital subchannel rather than the primary channel.

• Sports broadcasting · 2024

  Utah Mammoth broadcasts

  KUPX-TV is the local broadcast outlet for the Utah NHL franchise, initially introduced as the Utah Hockey Club and later named the Utah Mammoth. The arrangement followed Scripps’s regional sports-rights relationship involving the former Arizona Coyotes assets.

• 2024

  Launch Utah NHL broadcast partnershipProduct launch

  Background

  The NHL approved a Utah-based franchise using the hockey assets of the deactivated Arizona Coyotes.

  Action taken

  KUPX-TV was designated the local broadcast outlet for the new franchise’s games.

  Aftermath

  The station gained a central sports property for its Utah 16 schedule; the team later adopted the Utah Mammoth name.

  Source

• 2023

  Move Ion Television to a multicast subchannelStrategy

  Background

  Scripps sought to use the primary KUPX signal for independently selected programming and regional sports content.

  Action taken

  Ion programming moved to subchannel 16.4, while the primary channel adopted the Utah 16 identity.

  Aftermath

  KUPX assumed a more locally differentiated role and became a vehicle for regional hockey broadcasts.

  Source

• 2020

  Acquire Ion MediaM&A

  Background

  The E. W. Scripps Company pursued Ion Media, whose station group included KUPX-TV.

  Action taken

  Scripps acquired Ion Media and retained KUPX-TV after making selected divestitures to address broadcast-ownership regulations.

  Aftermath

  KUPX became part of Scripps’s Utah station group and a sister station to KSTU.

  Source

• 1998

  Exchange channel 16 and channel 30 operationsM&A

  Background

  Roberts Broadcasting and ACME Communications planned a WB service on channel 16, while Paxson Communications wanted channel 30 for its new national network.

  Action taken

  The parties entered local marketing arrangements, exchanged call signs and operating control, and ultimately moved the WB affiliation to channel 30 while KUPX carried Pax programming on channel 16.

  Aftermath

  The transaction preserved a WB outlet in the Salt Lake market and established KUPX as a Pax, and later Ion, station.

  Source

1. 1KUPX-TVen.wikipedia.org