WRCX-LP

New ownership and staff

Although the company's offices are located on Hillcrest Avenue in Dayton, the station continued to physically broadcast from WUCT's studios on Gettysburg Avenue, which housed the transmitter and was owned by WPTD, the local PBS station. The building serviced as studios, offices, and the transmitter facility for WRCX, WUCT and WPTD.

Ross replaced Program Director Walter Briggs, a local sports personality, with Michael Crook, who had been a master control operator at various television stations. Ross also employed the services of Fran Robinson, who at the time was an on-air personality at local station WDTN, although she was mostly on the production side, rarely appearing on-air. She mostly did voiceovers for commercials that the company did for the local Ross automobile dealerships, owned by Ross' cousin.

Programming

With supervision from Ross, Crook ensured that new programming was added constantly, including children's programming, such as Zebby's Zoo, and Blinky Bill. During this time of transition, sports programming was added, which consisted mostly of live coverage of black teams. The station added numerous musical specials.

When the September 11, 2001 attacks occurred, the station aired around the clock news coverage, thanks in large part to agreements with World Harvest Television, America One, and a special arrangement with CNN. WRCX was also one of the many stations nationwide who aired a live concert as a benefit for the victims' families.

For a time, the station aired Music and the Spoken Word, a program produced by the LDS Church, and aired by WRCX through an agreement with the church that was negotiated by Crook. This program was added upon Ross' learning that Gladys Knight is a member of the church. Another religious show, Singsations, which aired from Chicago. That show was removed from the lineup in 2001, due to a lack of new shows being produced.

Around this time, Ross was searching for a network that would provide programming and resources for WRCX. Ross wanted UPN, which was on the Miami Valley Channel, a cable-only channel operated by WHIO-TV, but did not receive the affiliation. Another network considered was Pax; at the time, Pax’s local affiliate was WBDT, which aired Pax's programming in the mornings and overnights; the idea was dropped when it was learned the network wanted a ten-year deal. WRCX-LP eventually became an affiliate of Black Family Channel, then known as MBC, a network that caters to black families.

Also added during this time was an agreement with the Cleveland Cavaliers. To this day, the station continues to broadcast their games.

Losing Channel 51

The station began to transition to facilities at the Hillcrest location, in preparation for the loss of their Channel 51 signal. WRCX began sending a signal directly to the cable company to ensure that they would remain available to most of their viewers while arrangements were made to broadcast on Channel 40.

In the Spring of 2002, fellow Dayton station WKEF officially took over the Channel 51 slot for its digital allocation, leaving WRCX without an over-the-air signal for a time, though it remained on Channel 22 for much of the area's Time Warner Cable subscribers.

WRCX today

WRCX gained approval to broadcast on Channel 40, and now that the license and ownership has been officially transferred to Ross Communications after years of appeals and battles with one of WUCT's former members, the station continues to broadcast original and syndicated programming to the Dayton area. WRCX TV-40 has become the #1 leader in High School Sports coverage in the Dayton/Miami Valley and an innovator in creating local shows for the market.

Black Family Channel and Ion

WRCX "ION 40" logo, briefly used in the Summer of 2008.

On April 24, 2007, BFC announced that they would cease as a cable channel, effective April 30, 2007, as part of a deal in which BFC's programming and subscriber base would be sold to the Gospel Music Channel.^[1] It was announced on June 3, 2008 that the station would become the newest affiliate of Ion Television, as announced on the home page of its website.^[2] However, as of June 25, 2008, the station does not appear in the station listings for Ion's website, and the deal was not announced until July 24.^[3] This returned Ion service to southwestern Ohio for the first time since the early 2000s, after the Ion network itself (then Paxson Communications) sold Channel 26 to ACME Communications to become the area's WB/CW affiliate as WBDT. Sometime in 2012, the station announced via its website that Ion Television had decided to no longer provide its programming to WRCX-LP. The station substituted other programming in place of Ion. WRCX became an affiliate of Soul of the South Network in October 2013. In 2016, the station switched to programming from AMGTV, Jewelry Television, and Entertainment Studios.

Digital television

In the summer of 2009, WRCX-LP began the transition to digital. It shut off its analog signal to install a new digital transmitter, but encountered technical problems resulting in its old analog transmitter being turned back on for the time being. WRCX-LP has an application filed with the FCC, as well as a construction permit to convert to digital. As part of the digital television transition in the United States, WRCX-LP must convert to digital operation by September 1, 2015, or close down the station.^[4] As of June 2018, it is unclear whether the station ever made the transition to digital, or if it is only available on cable. The FCC database lists WRCX-LP as a digital station, although with the "-LP" suffix and no virtual channel listed.^[5] Nonetheless, the station is scheduled to move to digital channel 9, as part of the FCC's spectrum reallocation process.^[6]