KNLC chose to take on a part-time affiliation with UPN in May 1999. It was the first time UPN programs had been seen in St. Louis in 16 months after KDNL-TV dropped its secondary affiliation with the network in January 1998. However, Channel 24 refused to clear as much as 75 percent of UPN's output because of views by management that felt the network's programs and advertisements were offensive. UPN eventually chose to move its programming to WB affiliate KPLR-TV in September 2000; KPLR-TV carried its entire prime time schedule in late night hours. (The network would not have a full-time affiliate in St. Louis until April 2003, when WRBU's home shopping contract ran out.) KNLC also turned down an offer by Paxson Communications to affiliate KNLC with Pax TV (now Ion Television), after KUMO-LP (channel 51) and its full-power parent station in Mount Vernon, Illinois, WPXS (channel 13), disaffiliated from the network in 2004 (the network would return to KUMO and WPXS in 2005, however it would not be available over-the-air in the market from 2008 to 2013, when Ion affiliated with WRBU following that station's transfer into an Ion-controlled trust company.) On September 7, 2017, it was announced that KNLC was being sold to Weigel Broadcasting for $3.75 million; Weigel would convert KNLC to a secular independent station. The sale was completed on December 14, 2017. New Life retains control of one subchannel to carry their programming, on KNLC-DT2, known as "NLEC TV." On February 1, 2018, MeTV moved from KMOV 4.2 to KNLC 24.1. This provided an HD feed over the air and also brought MeTV to satellite providers Dish Network and DirecTV for the first time in the St. Louis market. KNLC-DT2 KNLC launched a digital subchannel on virtual channel 24.2 on February 4, 2009, when it began carrying Renewable Energy Satellite (RES), a 24-hour channel consisting of programs discussing various renewable energy methods. The subchannel was operated by Missouri Renewable Energy (MORE), a non-profit environmental advocacy group associated with the New Life Evangelistic Center. Programming Prior to Weigel's purchase, KNLC's programming schedule had consisted mostly of religious shows produced for local broadcast and syndication and provided by the Here's Help Network (such as Ed Hindson), along with a mix of public domain classic television shows and movies. As ownership transitioned, NLEC programming moved from 24.1 and displaced Renewable Energy Satellite on 24.2 (RES programming continues