Editing Bud Paxson

{{Short description|American businessman (1935–2015)}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Bud Paxson
| image         = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing [[brackets]] -->
| alt           = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption       = 
| birth_name    = Lowell White Paxson
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1935|04|17}}
| birth_place   = [[Rochester, New York]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|2015|01|09|1935|04|17}}
| death_place   = [[Kalispell, Montana]]
| nationality   = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
| other_names   = 
| occupation    = 
| years_active  = 
| known_for     = Co-founder of [[HSN|Home Shopping Club]]<br>Founder of [[Ion Television|Pax TV]]
| notable_works = 
}}
'''Lowell White''' "'''Bud'''" '''Paxson''' (April 17, 1935 – January 9, 2015) was an American media executive. In 1982, Paxson and his business partner, [[Roy Speer]], co-founded the [[HSN|Home Shopping Club]] (now called the Home Shopping Network). He established [[Ion Television|Pax TV]] in 1998, a [[television network]] focusing on family-friendly content.<ref name=wpost>{{cite news|first=Matt |last=Schudel |title=Lowell W. Paxson, Home Shopping Network co-founder and TV mogul, dies at 79 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/lowell-w-paxson-home-shopping-network-co-founder-and-tv-mogul-dies-at-79/2015/01/17/f65fc726-9dd3-11e4-96cc-e858eba91ced_story.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=January 18, 2015 |access-date=January 19, 2015}}</ref>

==Life and career==
Lowell White Paxson was born on April 17, 1935 in [[Rochester, New York]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B_X_xrmOlIAC&q=%22Paxson,+lowell%22+1934|title = Who's who in Finance and Industry|isbn = 9780837903262|publisher=[[Marquis Who's Who]] |date = December 1989}}</ref> Paxson began his career as an owner of [[WACK]] radio, a little 500-watt radio station in the village of [[Newark, New York]]. His next attempt at media ownership was radio station [[WKSN|WXYJ]] (AM 1340) and TV station [[WNYB|WNYP]] (channel 26) in [[Jamestown, New York]]. Paxson, who bought the stations in 1966, attempted to affiliate WNYP with the [[CTV Television Network]] out of Canada (a first for an American television station); by 1969, the TV station had failed.<ref name="1968info">{{cite news |url=http://www.davidgleason.com/Archive%20BC-YB/1968/Section%20A%20TV%20Broadcasting%20Yearbook%201968-9.pdf |title=1968 Broadcasting Yearbook |year=1968 |work=Broadcasting Publications |via=World Radio History |access-date=September 24, 2009 |page=A-38 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110206020552/http://www.davidgleason.com/Archive%20BC-YB/1968/Section%20A%20TV%20Broadcasting%20Yearbook%201968-9.pdf |archive-date=February 6, 2011}}</ref> Paxson later emerged as the owner of a small [[AM broadcasting|AM radio]] station, [[WMGG|WWQT]] (1470 AM), in [[Clearwater, Florida]].<ref>[http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=1566961 A Man. A Plan. A Can Opener.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310014517/http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=1566961 |date=2007-03-10 }} ClickZ Network</ref> There, in 1977, an advertiser had plenty of product to sell—avocado-green-colored can openers—but ran out of funds to purchase airtime. Paxson instructed talk-show host [[Bob Circosta]], who had a talk show from noon until 3:00&nbsp;p.m.,<ref>[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1223094538830947054&q=Circosta&hl=en HSN Pitchman Bob Circosta Nov 9, 2006] Tampa Bay's Media Talk video</ref> to sell the can openers live over the airwaves, and both men were stunned at the audience response. All 118 can openers were purchased within the hour on August 28, 1977. This started the Suncoast International Bargainers Club.<ref>[http://www.barternews.com/creative_barter_arrangement_launched_paxsons_home_shopping_network.htm Creative Barter Arrangement Launched Paxson’s Home Shopping Network] BarterNews</ref>

Sensing the sales potential of live, on-air product selling, Paxson and financier [[Roy Speer]] co-founded a local [[cable TV]] channel (channel 52 on Vision Cable) in 1982 that sold products directly to [[Florida]] viewers,  and then launched nationwide in 1985. The channel was the Home Shopping Club, later Home Shopping Network (currently known as [[Home Shopping Network|HSN]]), and Paxson's former radio man [[Bob Circosta]] was tapped as the network's first-ever host. HSN soon became a billion dollar juggernaut and began the home shopping / electronic retailing industry. In 1996, the two sold HSN to [[entertainment industry|Hollywood]] executive [[Barry Diller]].

Paxson then formed Paxson Communications Corporation and bought [[terrestrial radio|radio stations]], [[terrestrial television|TV stations]], and [[billboard (advertising)|billboards]], primarily in [[Florida]]. Eventually, he sold those and put the money into PAX TV (currently known as [[Ion Television]]), a new network of family-friendly TV shows.<ref>''Media and Publishing''. (2007). In ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved March 5, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://search.eb.com/eb/article-92259</ref> The channel also reflected Paxson's background as an [[Evangelicalism|evangelical Christian]] (since 1985), which he spoke of openly. PAX TV began on August 31, 1998.

During the time between the sale of HSN and the founding of PAX TV, Paxson moved his headquarters from [[Tampa]] to [[West Palm Beach, Florida|West Palm Beach]].

However, the network never received anywhere near the [[Nielsen ratings|ratings]] or [[advertising]] revenue of the other networks. In addition, PAX TV lost a few affiliates, such as when Paxson sold its [[Dayton, Ohio]], and [[Green Bay, Wisconsin]], stations to [[ACME Communications]] so that group could affiliate them with [[The WB Television Network|The WB]] (though PAX TV programming continued to air overnight on those stations for a few years), and the network was unable to offer their programming in some markets, like [[St. Louis, Missouri|St, Louis]], [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]] and [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]].

On July 1, 2005, PAX TV became "i: Independent Television". In November of that year, [[NBCUniversal]], which owned 22 percent of i, began a nine-month period during which it could buy the rest of the network.  Possibly sensing that NBCU would do so, and beset with lawsuits over the operation of i, Paxson resigned from the company he founded.

In addition, Paxson became Ion Media Networks, and NBCU executive [[R. Brandon Burgess]] became the [[chief executive officer]]. In time, i was rebranded to Ion Television, which since 2020 has been a subsidiary of the [[E. W. Scripps Company]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200924140409/https://deadline.com/2020/09/e-w-scripps-buys-ion-media-for-2-65b-with-berkshire-hathaway-investment-1234583423/ "E.W. Scripps Buys ION Media For $2.65B, With Berkshire Hathaway Investment"], ''Deadline Hollywood'', September 24, 2020, Retrieved September 24, 2020.</ref>

== Personal life ==
Paxson's first two marriages, to Jean Blauvelt and Barbara Chapman, ended in divorce.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/lowell-w-paxson-home-shopping-network-co-founder-and-tv-mogul-dies-at-79/2015/01/17/f65fc726-9dd3-11e4-96cc-e858eba91ced_story.html|title=The Washington Post article|last=|first=|date=|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150119203534/http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/lowell-w-paxson-home-shopping-network-co-founder-and-tv-mogul-dies-at-79/2015/01/17/f65fc726-9dd3-11e4-96cc-e858eba91ced_story.html|archive-date=2015-01-19|access-date=}}</ref>

Paxson became a [[born-again]] Christian on New Year's Eve 1986. In 1990, he married Marla Bright who survived him after their 25 years of marriage. Paxson had two sons and a daughter from his first marriage and a stepdaughter from his third marriage.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Weber">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/business/lowell-w-paxson-dies-at-79-started-home-shopping-network.html|title=Lowell W. Paxson Dies at 79, Started Home Shopping Network|last=Weber|first=Bruce|date=January 15, 2015|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=September 17, 2019 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He died in [[Kalispell, Montana]] in 2015 at the age of 79.<ref name="Weber"/>

==See also==
*[[Ion Television]]
*[[Ion Media]]
*[[Home Shopping Network]]
*[[The Worship Network]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*Eisenberg, Bryan (January 10, 2003). [https://web.archive.org/web/20070310014517/http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=1566961 "A Man. A Plan. A Can Opener."] ClickZ Network.
*[[Stephen Koepp|Koepp, Stephen]] (June 21, 2005). [https://web.archive.org/web/20070310101031/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1075220,00.html {{"'}}Can You Believe This Price?{{'"}}]. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''.
* Zucco, Thomas (July 30, 2002). [https://web.archive.org/web/20020808153752/http://www.sptimes.com/2002/07/30/Floridian/It_started_with_112_c.shtml "It started with 112 can openers"]. ''[[St. Petersburg Times]]''.
*{{C-SPAN|15105}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Paxson, Bud}}
[[Category:1935 births]]
[[Category:2015 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century evangelicals]]
[[Category:21st-century evangelicals]]
[[Category:American chief executives]]
[[Category:American evangelicals]]
[[Category:American television company founders]]
[[Category:American television executives]]
[[Category:New York (state) Republicans]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Tampa, Florida]]
[[Category:People from Newark, New York]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Rochester, New York]]
[[Category:Syracuse University alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]