Randall Murphree
AFA Journal editor
June 1999 – Lowell “bud” Paxson may have been as surprised as everyone else was when his Home Shopping Network became one of the television sensations of the 1980s. Now he has every intention of creating another sensation with his PAX network, which went on the air last August with nightly reruns of Touched by an Angel as its flagship series.
In an April interview with The American Enterprise (TAE) magazine, PAX president Jeff Sagansky, explained the wisdom of paying $1 million per episode for shows already aired on CBS: “It has all the values that we’re looking for…Inspiration. Hope. Faith.”
Selling kitchen knives, painted glass, jewelry and gadgets made Paxson a wealthy man. However, he recently told TAE that he became so consumed with business that he lost sight of the most important things in life. After his marriage failed, he hit rock bottom; then in 1986, he became a Christian.
He sold the shopping network in 1990 and resolved to add a family-friendly network – not just a series or two, but a complete network, an alternative to the moral wasteland of the major networks. He began accumulating television stations, and now has full or partial ownership in 71, in addition to 45 affiliates. The PAX net is available to about 80% of the nation’s TV audience.
It was a good day’s work when Paxson hired TV and film veteran Jeff Sagansky as president of the network. Sagansky’s credentials include stints at NBC, Sony Pictures, and TriStar Pictures. He is also former president of CBS Entertainment where he developed Christy, Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman, and Touched by an Angel.
PAX net is already producing several original programs, including Animals are People Too, Little Men, and It’s a Miracle.
On the April 24 installment of Animals are People Too (one-hour), host Alan Thicke introduced ten segments, each recounting an intriguing tale of some remarkable animal(s). Stories covered a broad spectrum, e.g.: Henry the lizard-lover, who owns 30 of the reptiles as pets; Powder and Lily, avalanche search and rescue dogs in Squaw Valley; University of California at Davis Veterinary Teaching Hospital, where surgeons adapt hi-tech methods of human surgery to save animals’ lives; and Teresa and Carl Conrad, prosthetic technologists who fit animal amputees with artificial limbs.
The same night’s episode of Little Men was a captivating drama of human relationships. The series, inspired by the writings of Louisa May Alcott, follows the life of Jo Baher, young widow and mother, as she rears her sons.
On Sunday, April 25, host Richard Thomas (of The Waltons fame) introduced human interest stories and experiences on It’s a Miracle. The show recreates events in people’s lives that suggest divine intervention. Six stories told of persons who have had such incredible experiences – things that defy human explanation, or physical recoveries that doctors said were impossible.
On weeknights, PAX adds Dr. Quinn, Diagnosis Murder, and Highway to Heaven to the mix. Seventh Heaven and other family-friendly, morally-based series are to be added in the future.
When TAE asked Sagansky about a Hollywood agenda, the veteran replied, “Making money and getting ratings. Unfortunately, they feel that it’s easier to do that with many tasteless programs….good programs may not start off strong, but when given time, they all find an audience.”
Sagansky said that in Hollywood creative people are validated by their peers “for doing programs that have an edge and an attitude.” Subsequently, they steer clear of things considered “soft” or “sentimental.”
PAX is also breaking with tradition in areas other than programming. The network’s advertising policy says no to liquor, beer, tobacco, and psychics. "We're responding," says Paxson, "to research surveys that say 85% of all Americans have a spiritual life and believe there's too much sex and violence on TV." 
PAX
A dove and an olive branch appear on the PAX TV logo. The word pax in Latin means peace.
Paxson: "We want to provide a peaceful, kinder, and gentler kind of television. ...we put the dove there because the dove is the sign of the Holy Spirit. Here is television you can relax with. You can put your kids in front of it and trust it. That's the kind of peach we want to provide the viewer."
Sagansky: "I think we're trying to bring peace of mind to people's homes so that their values aren't assaulted when they turn on their television. The values in our shows are going to reflect their values."
