citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . october 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message ion media networks inc. type private industry broadcast founded 1991 as paxson communications corporation headquarters west palm beach florida key people r. brandon burgess chairman & ceo products ion media television 1 ion television network produced programming through ion media entertainment 2 ion life qubo revenue us 415 million 2014 3 owner media holdco l.p. black diamond capital majority 85 % 3 senior lenders from previous rounds of financing minority 15 % number of employees 433 2005 website www.ionmedianetworks.com ion media networks inc. formerly known as paxson communications corporation is an american broadcasting company that owns and operates over 60 television stations in most major american markets as well as a digital sub channel through that group & a major commercial television network . it is now a privately owned company . contents 1 history 1.1 as paxson communications corporation 1.2 as ion media networks 2 see also 3 references 4 sources 5 external links history edit as paxson communications corporation edit this section needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . july 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message the company was founded in 1988 by lowell w. bud paxson in florida . the company purchased radio stations and a couple television stations eventually becoming florida s largest radio group . the radio stations ranged from rock to contemporary hit radio to adult contemporary to news and talk . the television stations were network affiliates of abc and nbc . in 1993 the company began to purchase stations on the outer fringes of large television markets . citation needed the company divested itself of both the radio group and major network affiliated television stations in 1998 focusing on building its own independent tv network pax tv . the company focused on acquiring uhf television stations . some of these stations are out of market stations such as wpxd in ann arbor michigan 45 miles 72 km from detroit kxli in st. cloud minnesota 60 miles 97 km from minneapolis wtlk in rome georgia 45 miles 72 km from atlanta wpxj in pavilion new york 45 miles 72 km from both buffalo new york and rochester new york and wayk in melbourne florida 60 miles 97 km from orlando . still in some markets the company bought low rated stations that had the same type of signals as established stations with medium to high ratings . these stations included wcfc in chicago religious wtgi in wilmington delaware brokered wakc in akron ohio cleveland s secondary abc affiliate and channel 35 in miami shopping among others . in the fall of 1997 a tentative lineup was announced and it included a family entertainment lineup of drama shows movies first run shows wildlife shows sitcoms and talk shows . the most expensive station acquisition was wbis in new york city . the city government had sold this station to dow jones and itt in 1996 for nearly us 200 million . in january 1997 dow jones launched a business format called s during the day and a sports channel after 7 pm and on weekends . dow jones itt lost money on the operation sold the station for about 225 million in may 1997 and shut down s that june in favor of bloomberg business news fox sports net and a block previewing new networks introtv . channel 31 was renamed wpxn with plans to be the flagship station of pax tv in the fall of 1998 . citation needed in pittsburgh pennsylvania the company wanted to buy wpcb channel 40 from cornerstone television and move the license to channel 16 which was and still is occupied by winp tv with channel 40 used for educational purposes . the two agreed on a purchase price but the federal communications commission had too many questions about the deal most relating to the type of broadcast license to be operated on each channel and it fell through . citation needed the pax network was launched in 1998 with family dramas such as life goes on touched by an angel dr. quinn medicine woman highway to heaven and bonanza a game show titled the reel to reel picture show sitcoms dave s world here s lucy and the hogan family and some movies . the network ran weekdays from noon until 1 am . 4 due to low ratings and mounting financial costs pax tv soon reduced its hours . in 1999 they were reduced to between 3 pm and midnight and in 2002 they were reduced again to 6 pm to midnight . citation needed in september 1999 nbc bought a 32 % stake in paxson . 5 on december 4 2001 it was announced that paxson had filed with the fcc an arbitration to block nbc s acquisition of telemundo . 6 in september 2002 it was announced that paxson s arbitration against nbc was denied . 7 on november 13 c nbc requested a redemption of its investment in paxson of 549.2 million . 8 9 in august 2004 nbc universal filed a lawsuit against paxson . 10 in november 7 2005 to settle several lawsuits between the company and nbc universal lowell paxson granted nbcu an 18 month transferrable option to purchase his shares of the company in an agreement which if activated would also trigger a sale of the rest of the company . if mr. paxson s shares of the company weren t sold in the option window the company was obligated to buy them back from mr. paxson . concurrent with this deal mr. paxson left the company and was succeeded by r. brandon burgess in the role of president and ceo . 11 12 as ion media networks edit in 2006 the company adopted its current name . 13 14 in may 2007 ion nbc universal and citadel llc reached an agreement for the recapitalization of ion . citadel has acquired the public common stock of the company as part of the plan to take the company private . in addition citadel invested 100 million of new capital into the company to further support management s plan to revitalize the tv network . 15 16 in november 2007 ion media networks was taken to trial having been sued in federal court by positive ions inc for trademark infringement of the use of the word ion 17 resulting in a 1.7 million settlement awarded to positive ions inc. 18 in 2008 ion media networks and comcast reached an agreement to not only continue to carry ion television but also introduced two new digital networks qubo and ion life . 19 in april 2009 it was announced that ion media networks was once again facing balance sheet problems . the company disclosed that it was in discussions with lenders on a comprehensive recapitalization of its balance sheet . that translates to an effort to restructure its considerable debt which stands at 2.7 billion as of april 2009 according to the wall street journal . on may 19 2009 ion media networks filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection putting the ion network under bankruptcy for the second time saying it had reached an agreement with holders of 60 % of its first lien secured debt that would extinguish all of its 2.7 billion in legacy debt and preferred stock and recapitalize the company with a 150 million new funding commitment . 20 it emerged from bankruptcy in december under the ownership of its bondholders & secured lenders first lien holders wiping out citadel s ownership . 21 in late 2009 a trio of private equity companies black diamond avenue & trilogy capital purchased a 62.5 % controlling stake in ion media networks from the ion media liquidating trust the legal entity selling the stake through their partnership media holdco l.p. 43.7 % owned by black diamond via its bd ion media gp holdings subsidiary ; 15.8 % by trilogy via its trilogy ion llc subsidiary ; & 40.5 % by avenue via its avenue ion holdings lp subsidiary . the remaining 37.5 % of ion media networks remained with the company s senior investors from previous rounds of financing . 22 23 24 ion media networks signed carriage agreements in may 2010 with advanced cable communications and comcast colorado springs for qubo and ion life and with blue ridge cable for qubo . 25 by 2012 media holdco s stake in ion media networks was at 87 % 26 with the company s senior investors from previous rounds of financing holding 13 % . sometime in 2013 ion media networks has inked a deal with liberty media to bring the qvc network to most of its ion television o & o stations throughout the country on digital subchannel x. 5 . in december 2013 the united states bankruptcy court approved a plan by creditors of roberts broadcasting to transfer east st. louis based wrbu and its sister stations wzrb in columbia south carolina and waze lp in evansville indiana to a trust with ion media networks a creditor in roberts chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings which it filed for in 2011 as its beneficiary with roberts attorney subsequently stating that ion media networks would purchase the three stations . 27 28 the deal is complete in february 10 2014 and both wzrb and wrbu became ion stations . also in december 2013 black diamond purchased avenue & trilogy s stakes in media holdco placing black diamond as media holdco s sole shareholder . 29 as of november 2014 media holdco s majority equity stake in ion media networks is at 85 % 3 leaving the company s senior investors from previous rounds of financing with a minority stake of 15 % . see also edit ion media television ion television mynetworktv list of ion television affiliates references edit corporate website sources edit ion media television inc. private company information businessweek . www.bloomberg.com . retrieved 28 august 2016 . company overview of ion media entertainment inc. . bloomberg businessweek . businessweek.com . retrieved 30 january 2014 . a b c moody s affirms ion media s b1 cfr and b1 rating on first lien debt . moodys.com . moody s investors service . retrieved 10 november 2014 . elber lynn august 30 1998 . pax tv new network promises x family fare . williamson daily news . retrieved 2012 10 15 . carter bill september 17 1999 . the media business ; nbc completes acquisition of 32 % stake in paxson . new york times . retrieved 2012 10 15 . carter bill december 5 2001 . paxson communications moves to bar nbc bid for telemundo . new york times . retrieved 2012 10 15 . paxson loses arbitration against nbc . south florida business journal . september 23 2002 . retrieved 2012 10 15 . carter bill november 14 2003 . the media business advertising ; nbc moves to break up relationship with paxson . new york times . retrieved 2012 10 15 . londner robin november 13 2003 . nbc asks paxson for 549.2 m . south florida business journal . retrieved 2012 10 15 . carter bill august 23 2004 . media ; nbc universal and paxson an odd dance to a divorce . new york times . retrieved 2012 10 15 . carter bill november 8 2005 . deal brings an end to nbc paxson feud . new york times . retrieved 2012 10 15 . bud paxson departs paxson nbc may buy out or sell out . south florida business journal . november 7 2005 . retrieved 2012 10 15 . name change paxson becomes ion media networks . south florida