Pollack-Belz ownership
The bankruptcy court received offers from Texas-based Delta Television and Pollack-Belz Communications of Memphis for the station.[20][21] William Pollack, the principal in Pollack-Belz, had learned of the bankruptcy a day before the hearing but had previously attempted to build out channel 41 in Alexandria. Finding that Delta was a shell corporation unable to finance the purchase, the bankruptcy judge selected the Pollack-Belz offer in February 1988.[22] The firm, consisting of William Pollack, his brother David, and his brother-in-law Marty Belz, promised to make the station competitive. It built a new tower for the station in Dry Prong, improving coverage.[23]
William Pollack promised to restart local news on the station as part of the purchase.[24] A month after Pollack-Belz took over, KLAX hired a news director, Max Tooker, who in previous posts had been successful at lifting the ratings of poorly-rated stations.[25] The newscasts, titled Cenla 31 First News and Cenla 31 News Tonight, debuted at 5 and 10 p.m. in October 1988; Tooker departed three months later.[26] By 1991, the station had gone through four news directors in the span of three years.[27] Between 1994 and 1998, it was the ABC affiliate of record on cable systems in the Monroe area after that city's former ABC affiliate, KARD, became a Fox affiliate.[28] The addition of the Monroe market to KLAX's viewing area increased its potential audience by more than 50 percent.[29]
KLAX rebranded as 31LAX in 1996, including an overhaul of news presentation which included a more contemporary style oriented toward younger viewers and the replacement of three of the station's four evening news personalities.[30] During this time, news ratings and revenue increased, but the station continued to lag Alexandria's long-established KALB-TV (channel 5). Catamount Broadcasting agreed to buy the station in 1999[31] but fell through.[32] Full-length newscasts were scrapped on March 1, 2001, and replaced with short Action News Updates on weekdays only.[33][34] In 2002, Pollack/Belz acquired "KCLA"—a low-power station that aired programming from UPN, America One, and Urban America Television—from Woody Jenkins. The deal gave KCLA cable carriage for the first time in its history.[35]
On February 5, 2007, the Independent News Network (INN) of Davenport, Iowa, began to produce weeknight and Sunday evening newscasts for KLAX. Reporters in central Louisiana filed stories for the programs, which were presented by INN's anchors. Station management cited the outsourcing model as providing the cost-effectiveness necessary to restore a local news presence.[38]
