Originally launched as St. Joe NOW in January 2006[citation needed], News-Press 3 NOW was sold by News-Press & Gazette Company in April 2011, as part of the sale of NPG Cable, Inc., the company's cable television division that operated cable systems in Missouri, Arizona and California, to Suddenlink Communications for $350 million.[3] On March 5, 2012, News-Press & Gazette Company announced that it would re-acquire ownership of News-Press 3 NOW from Suddenlink; the purchase includes production equipment and other resources. All twelve employees were retained in the sale, which closed on May 1, 2012.[4]
With the repurchase of the channel and the launch of KNPN-LD, News-Press 3 NOW became News-Press NOW. The channel's format changed from a cable-only service that offered a mix of live newscasts and news rebroadcasts exclusive to the channel to one that simulcasts and re-airs KNPN-LD's, KNPG-LD's and KCJO-LD's weekday morning, noon and nightly newscasts, along with a simulcast of the Storm Tracker weather radar during overnight and weekend daytime hours.