Before being turned into ION there was PAX TV a unique channel that was geared to families. Like the former The Family Channel better known as Freeform PAX TV was a channel that had programming that appealed to families and was truly a great smart idea to develop programming to every member of the family. Some of the shows PAX TV aired were Eight Is Enough Highway To Heaven The Love Boat The Hogan Family and many others. Original programming and game shows later joined PAX TV including The Reel To Reel Picture Show Chicken Soup For The Soul Shop Till You Drop Family Feud Twenty-One Supermarket Sweep and It's A Miracle as well as the PAX Kids cartoon block that aired on weekends. PAX TV also had two slogans which were A Friend Of The Family to the most well known slogan Share It With Someone You Love and it seemed to suit the channel well. It's a shame that Paxson changed direction with PAX TV and renamed it I and there should be family oriented channels being made for cable because PAX TV was a smart channel and whoever created it was a genius
Bestie

Hi, Bestie! PAX was a good network. Is ION a christian network like PAX was? Just curious
DTK

I remembered some of PAX TV when growing up.

Mom and I learned about PAX TV by accident when we lived in one of our old houses and we came across The Hogan Family and Eight Is Enough and as we watched the shows we wondered what channel they came on and it was until we saw a red white and blue logo that said PAX pop up during a commercial break and we wondered if PAX was a new channel. And so after we did some research I learned that PAX was indeed a new channel and so we started watching PAX mainly just for the sitcoms but then Mom and I started watching PAX a lot more because every afternoon after we had watched Eight Is Enough Supermarket Sweep would come on after Eight Is Enough and it was such a great time and I never knew PAX was so interested in game shows after seeing that they had added Supermarket Sweep and then I realized that these were new Supermarket Sweep episodes and not reruns of the Lifetime version and that was thrilling for me. A second show that PAX seemed to promote a lot was It's A Miracle and Mom and saw it once and we liked it because it was a show about miracle stories and angels because Mom likes miracle stories a lot. I think PAX TV was gonna be a good channel that was gonna be as big as Odyssey Channel but just as better and while attracting the family and Christian audience by also having The Dove Awards shown every year and another thing PAX did was start showing their own original exclusive movies like the movie Jeremiah and many other movies and shows like the Chicken Soup For The Soul series that contained episodes that were based on the stories in the book series and it was a great series but had they not changed their image and became I and then ION PAX would still be a huge hit with families today. And family channels like PAX should be created for cable today and bring back family time once again
Bestie

While PAX TV initially started off with a lot of shows, it didn't keep that entertainment filled schedule that long. It was soon airing infomercials for a lot of the day time instead, and there was a long time where it was operated as such, before it got converted to ION Television.

There is now these channels with a mix of classic sitcoms and dramas.
Over the air:
-Antenna TV
-MeTV
-COZI
-getTV
-Decades
-RetroTV

Cable:
-FETV (Family Entertainment Television)
-INSP
-TV Land/Logo (Viacom)

PAX TV was a good network but one thing I had never figured out is why did PAX TV add reruns of Louie Anderson's Family Feud to their game show lineup in the afternoon? Was it because Louie Anderson's Family Feud was huge at the time and getting added to even more channels to gain a huge audience to the show? Another show PAX TV aired was a show called Destination Stardom that was hosted by a woman named Lisa Canning that was like Star Search and was a great show to watch. And if my memory serves correctly PAX TV tried to compete with ABC NBC and CBS and tried to broadcast sports like the 1998 Winter Olympics track and field meets and WNBA Basketball and it was a smart idea but it failed but had they not become ION Television PAX TV would still be huge today
Bestie

While PAX TV initially started off with a lot of shows, it didn't keep that entertainment filled schedule that long. It was soon airing infomercials for a lot of the day time instead, and there was a long time where it was operated as such, before it got converted to ION Television.

There is now these channels with a mix of classic sitcoms and dramas.
Over the air:
-Antenna TV
-MeTV
-COZI
-getTV
-Decades
-RetroTV

Cable:
-FETV (Family Entertainment Television)
-INSP
-TV Land/Logo (Viacom)

also THIS TV and STARZ/ENCORE WESTERNS

It was a shame when PAX TV became ION. ION is garbage dramas that I never watch.

And if my memory serves correctly PAX TV tried to compete with ABC NBC and CBS and tried to broadcast sports like the 1998 Winter Olympics track and field meets and WNBA Basketball and it was a smart idea but it failed but had they not become ION Television PAX TV would still be huge today
Bestie

It was an NBC PAX venture, not PAX competing against NBC, as NBC had a part ownership in PAX, for five years.

https://www.multichannel.com/news/pax-tv-gets-nbc-programming-131777

In many markets like Philadelphia, the NBC owned station would run a rebroadcast of the newscast on the PAX station as well. I vaguely recall NBC 10 news on PAX 61 here in the Philly market.

I think you are forgetting a time in history when PAX would just air programming from 6pm-midnight and ran infomercials the entire afternoon. wikipedia states it was 2002 forward. Let's face it, PAX TV would never be huge and it mostly sucked for existence. It had about one good year when it launched. ION isn't any better but at least it isn't running as many infomercials. For people who love binging on Law & Order SVU and NCIS or whatever, I guess it's good for them.

Oh, So that's why PAX aired reruns of NBC's game show Twenty-One along with the NBC News. I never knew that NBC and PAX aired each other's programming too. Because I know PAX also added other game shows such as On The Cover Hollywood Showdown with Todd Newton Balderdash and the remake of Beat The Clock. Mom and I used to like PAX TV when they would air reruns of sitcoms and Supermarket Sweep and we thought it was a great network. And then they had the drama show Little Men and Sue Thomas FBI and the show Doc that had country singer Billy Ray Cyrus as a doctor and Miley Cyrus guest starred on that show when she was little and Mom and I didn't know that Billy Ray Cyrus could act in dramas and so PAX scored a winner with fans
Bestie

I remember Pax used to air reruns of BONANZA; I watched it once then stopped because they crunched the credits.

I wanted to post in this thread, I read through it last week but it was tiringly busy so this is the first chance I’ve really had to write out a post here...

I certainly do remember PAX TV! When it started, it was surprisingly very good with lots of variety and all of the shows they aired were honest to goodness clean family TV. It got off to a really strong start, I thought they’d be able to run with the clean family TV concept for years! Then the shift to iON happened...ugh. Almost everything they had been airing either got drastically reduced airings or disappeared all together! Once they changed to infomercials airing during most of the day and airing only one or two shows-literally just one or two that’s where I checked out. I know for a little bit they were trying to improve the daytime schedule but gave up on it really quickly. When PAX started, at the very beginning they had a theme song “Share it With Someone You Love” to go along with the slogan which was the same. I liked that theme song a lot and have been trying to find a clean, very good quality perhaps a direct source copy of it for my music collection for quite a while but no luck! I know it’s a long shot but does anyone reading this thread have a good quality copy/capture of it? There was both a 30 second version of it and a much much more rare several minute long version of it, the longer extended version I’ve only heard one time-on the network’s launch day! If you’ve got either the 30 second or extended version of it reply here or send a PM!

PAX TV was especially big news here in Chicago before it launched because when the network got announced they were unsure where it would end up here. PAX kind of even said they were unsure if Chicago would get an affiliate! Around the same time, WCFC, which had been a Christian station for years, started to really have a difficult time due to the changing TV landscape. WCFC was a lot like PAX, they aired religious as well as some family friendly stuff and were beginning to lean more towards family friendly around when PAX got announced. WCFC started to....really get hit hard, they were having to do pledge drives and other things to stay above water. I guess things finally came to a head because Jerry Rose, the longtime Station Manager, had to get on and explain what the station’s future was look8g like. Keep in mind at this point there was still no affiliate lined up here yet for PAX. They ran a spot saying there would be a special 30 minute show to discuss the station’s future-literally said just that. I figured he was going to say one of a few things, I was intrigued so I tuned in when they said this would air...Good God I don’t think anyone could have predicted what he was gonna say! Mr. Rose started out talking about WCFC’s history and how he’d been involved since the beginning. He said he truly loved the station and always wanted what was best for it, I believed him, that much always showed. He went on to say that they’d been doing fine for years and were able to keep doing what they were for years but the TV landscape had begun to change in those last few years. He explained that the station had been trying to adapt with the times and was trying to mix in more family friendly stuff but even that was beginning to not be enough. The next part I still remember clearly like it was yesterday! He went on to say they were forced to make some very hard decisions and he choked up saying again he wanted what was best for the station. He said that over the next few years they’d have to make one of three decisions. One, change format and become a regular general independent on their own which would was against. Two, sell the station off, or three go completely dark. He then took a deep breath and started to talk about the whole PAX and them trying to find a Chicago affiliate. That’s where the bombshell hit. He said after a lot of meetings with Paxson, a lot of reflecting and praying he decided to sell the station to PAX-for over 100 million dollars! He felt that was the best choice for the station and would allow it to remain on the air. The last thing I remember him saying was they agreed the call letters should change which they did, to WCPX. After that airing...yeah I was definitely shocked! The sale worked out for everyone involved in the end. Despite not agreeing with the direction lax PAX ended up going in, iON’s current owners have been very good to WCPX and have given them all they’ve needed plus accommodations. It’s also let the station keep going. Mr. Rose now heads up the Total Living Network, which is on cable and they actually do some pretty interesting shows here and there! He keeps saying he hopes to return to Chicago TV and I hope be gets to, genuinely nice guy who cared about the station and his work.

The Bud Paxson story and how HSN started are really interesting, i didn’t know he was still alive up till he passed away just a few years ago!

What I think PAX TV could've done rather than change to I then ION was try to expand their lineup because had they added more interesting shows PAX TV would've stayed alive. But why they got Supermarket Sweep from Lifetime i'll never understand because when I first noticed that PAX TV had started carrying Supermarket Sweep I thought it was the Lifetime reruns but then I saw it was all-new episodes exclusively for PAX TV and I think airing Supermarket Sweep in it's new home on PAX TV meant that adding game shows to their lineup would score them top ratings. But the one game show that they ruined was Shop Til You Drop and when they saw how Supermarket Sweep was successful they added Shop Til You Drop reruns and then they ruined Shop Til You Drop by setting it in a Sam's Club like wherehouse store and christened it The All-New Shop Til You Drop and having JD Roberto replacing Pat Finn didn't help at all and that's why game show reruns such as Family Feud worked for PAX and it gave them ratings. But another thing I cannot figure out is why PAX TV chose to rename themselves I and have a new image? Because I is a weird name for a channel and when I was christened and made it's debut it was virtually the same channel lineup as PAX TV but with more game show reruns and new additions to the lineup with reruns of Growing Pains and so on this new image and name change didn't seem to agree to longtime PAX fans. But once PAX TV became I this was when they went downhill. But PAX TV had good original shows when it debuted like Little Men and It's A Miracle and I think they were trying to become like INSP Network but it wasn't meant to be

I also remember watching Touched by an Angel on PAX.

I remember watching Alice on PAX, and even before that, Mama's Family. Alice was heavily edited so they could air more commercials, and yes they crunched the credits.

This is the last Channel I saw eight is enough was on.

On some lateNights I remember The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet & I Married Joan.

I did some more research on PAX TV and I learned why they put game shows on PAX TV's lineup. And the story goes that PAX TV was very interested in expanding it's lineup to have more variety and they soon found out that game shows worked like magic to a network. And so they began searching for game show ideas that would draw fans to PAX TV. And it would take a favorite game show of mine that also is now on Tubi and that show was Supermarket Sweep and they said if it wasn't for Supermarket Sweep PAX TV would've not been able to survive and when Supermarket Sweep was brought to PAX with all-new at the time episodes PAX TV's ratings soared like a hawk and soon based on Supermarket Sweep's successful comeback they added Shop Til You Drop reruns and were happy with the addition of game shows to PAX. And soon they created their own original game shows like Hollywood Showdown with Todd Newton and On The Cover with Mark L. Walberg and it was a hit with fans everywhere. But the game show I don't know how in the world it was made or came on PAX was The Reel To Reel Picture Show and that game show seemed weird to me when I saw parts of it with Mom but PAX had an amazing remake of Beat The Clock and that version was so cool when I saw it with my cousins and it should've stayed around longer. But outside of game shows as I mentioned in my previous post once PAX became I that's when they were starting to go downhill because you could tell that a name change meant a new image. Because when I was researching info on PAX I found a big commercial announcing I's debut and you can see why the new I name changed PAX's image because gone was the Christian image and a new updated image began. But in my eyes PAX TV needed "as Jeremy Renner says" a little Rennervation and not changed names. I don't even know how ION TV is still surviving because this proved that PAX TV wanted to become different and they were wrong to change I to ION TV and make it a channel filled with dramas and variety could've worked better for ION TV when PAX TV changed from I

they also air public domain shows of I married Joan, My Little Margie, beverly hillbillies, Here Lucy

here some of other shows they air back in 2002


Pax shows
Bonanza
Candid Camera
Dave's World
Diagnosis Murder
Doc
Encounters W/The Unexplained
FLW Outdoors
It's a Miracle
Miracle Pets
Mysterious Ways
Next Big Star
The Ponderosa
Promised Land
Remington Steele
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Shop 'Til You Drop
Supermarket Sweep
Touched By An Angel
Twice in a Lifetime
Weakest Link

What could've also worked for PAX TV in order to stay alive was if they had developed a spin-off channel that had family-friendly movies and original programming and this spin-off channel would've worked perfectly if it would've existed. But I think as I mentioned in this thread the day PAX TV became known as I ruined them for good and when it became I it had apparent that with the new christened I name I think it meant that they were planning to expand their lineup by adding classic sitcom reruns develop new game shows and launch original drama series. The very first time I watched I was in Texas and the sitcoms that I aired was Growing Pains and in the game shows I carried was the Beat The Clock revival from PAX which I can't figure out why Beat The Clock was even revived because if you can find an episode on Youtube you can see why it's an unappealing show and I think the only reason why this version of Beat The Clock was destined to fail was because they thought that Gary Kroger who was the announcer of Whammy The All-New Press Your Luck would be a talented game show host and yet although he was good as a host he lacked the charm of the late Bud Collyer and then you had Julie-Linh Parker who was Gary's assistant on the Beat The Clock revival and she was trying to be like a new version of the late Roxanne from the original Beat The Clock but when I saw an episode of this Beat The Clock with my cousins I can see why it was cancelled. But if you look at ION Television after I failed you can see that it became the NCIS Law And Order and Psych channel because I think ION Television tried to attract a smarter audience but they could've used variety like adding Star Trek Deep Space Nine Smallville Walker Texas Ranger Renegade and Matlock and added sitcoms like Something Wilder and Hearts Afire and that could've been better for PAX TV to do indeed

While PAX TV had some TV shows & movies that I liked, I can understand the reasons why it didn't last.

Those reasons include financial issues, technical issues &, from what I've read somewhere, a possible legal issue as well!

The financial issues mostly came from PAX TV's owner (Paxson Communications) buying way too many over the air TV stations, a few of which they had to sell off almost 2 years after the network launched.

The technical issues included their over the air TV stations sometimes having substandard equipment & not being able to decently cover their broadcast areas, part of which had to do with Paxson Communications having to buy a TV station in an area that was more than 30 miles from the area that they were really wanting to serve (An example of this includes the former PAX TV station KPXM-TV, Ch. 41 in St. Cloud, MN & serves the Minneapolis\ St. Paul, MN area with a transmitter near Nowthen, MN.), along with occasional issues with their satellite feed that were usually caused by sunspots\solar flares, not to mention that most of the over the air PAX TV stations were formally low budget independent & sometimes even religious TV stations that also had low viewership.

One possible legal issue that remember reading about involved PAX TV airing a behind-the-scenes special on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman that CBS, the network that originally aired Dr. Quinn, wasn't too happy about.

To me it is somewhat surprising that it lasted as long as it did.

Here are a couple of those technical issues that I remember my local PAX TV station (KPXE-TV, Ch. 50 in Kansas City, MO.) having:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UOljUP5Vwc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CpttJfr6O8

-agXumfCPAA

Pax TV (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/IonTelevision) was a television channel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_Television) that launched (https://www.christianitytoday.com/1998/10/pax-tv-off-ground/) in the late 90s (https://radiodiscussions.com/threads/some-details-that-i-remember-about-the-launch-of-the-now-defunct-pax-tv-network-back-in-1998.747588/) and failed (http://platypuscomix.com/videos/finaldaysofpax.html).

I think we were already over saturated with cable networks by the time PAX went on the air. How many have debuted since 2000 and are thriving? With streaming video apps increasing in popularity, will there be a retrenchment in the number of cable networks?

-agXumfCPAA

VVpOiD3tFPU

Time Stamps:

00:00 Intro
01:23 Pax TV
09:27 Sleuth / Cloo
11:34 FearNet
17:07 Documentary Channel
20:18 MTV Desi / MTV Chi / MTV K
23:53 Fuel TV (USA)
30:42 Family Channel (Canada)
40:06 Outro


Explore seven more defunct TV channels! This fourth volume in the Discontinued Nostalgia series features the origins of HSN and PAX, plus deep dives into forgotten networks like FearNet and Fuel TV. Discover the surprising histories and ultimate fates of these channels.