Pax is upon us, but where is it? Network owner prefers to refer to Channel 50 by name

The man responsible for the new Pax TV network will not be pausing for station identification. Lowell "Bud" Paxson, the former home-shopping king who started the family-friendly Pax TV network Aug. 31, has decided not to tell viewers to look for Channel 50 when looking for his network, but instead to look for the letters PAX in the bottom right-hand corner of their screens. Channel 50, of course, is how many people remember local Pax TV affiliate KPXE from its previous identity as religious station KYFC. And it's the most logical way for the one-third of Kansas Citians who don't have cable TV to find it. I bumped into Paxson at an industry panel discussion last week and asked him if he was ever planning to tell viewers that his network was airing on Channel 50. No need to, he said. "Just look for that red, white and blue bug in the bottom right corner," Paxson said. "That's all they need to do." Sounds simple, but TVKC has already received calls from readers who have seen the outdoor signs and ads in Star TV promoting shows on the network, such as "Touched by an Angel," but have no idea where to look. Paxson did say, however, that when Pax begins airing radio commercials, 10 seconds will be allotted for the radio station to supply a local tagline - which KPXE could use to mention the big five-oh. Last stand for public access? As recently reported, public access TV on Kansas City cable appears gone for good with the closing of TCI of Overland Park's community-TV station, Channel 15B. A spokesman for Time Warner Cable, which took over the TCI franchise, said that public access TV had been a fad, much like surfing the Web. Michael Henry thinks otherwise. He was the person who helped Salina, Kan., start up its highly successful public access facility five years ago, before moving to Kansas City. And he believes TV by the viewers and for the viewers is an idea whose time, in many ways, has not yet come. "Yes, it works in a small town because people there realize that it's their only media outlet," Henry told TVKC. "But if you think about it, that's true here as well. Does Kansas City, Kan., have local television? Overland Park? No. People occasionally realize that they are not represented on TV, that the things that happen in their cities do not appear on TV." And now that Time Warner Cable has 80 percent of the Kansas City metropolitan area's cable customers, public access shows could have unprecedented reach throughout dozens of communities - but only if customers demand it from Time Warner. To that end, Henry has been holding meetings around the area, trying to spark interest in reviving public access. The response, he said, hasn't been encouraging. Most remember the attempts by the Ku Klux Klan to put a show on American Cablevision in 1988, resulting in a City Council revolt that crippled public access. Some in the community have told Henry that viewers won't support the cost of public access, even if it adds just a dime a month to their cable bills. Besides, the political will needed to force Time Warner to rebuild public access would be enormous. Public access has been written out of most cable agreements. One exception is Kansas City, Kan., which can demand space for a channel at any time. But Henry said he'll press on - for one more meeting at least, to be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Johnson County Library branch at 87th and Farley streets in Overland Park. It is open to the public. StarTouch: 889-7827 and enter 8852 (TVKC). E-mail: writeme@tvbarn.com