KMIR-TV

KMIR-TV, virtual channel 36 (UHF digital channel 26), is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Palm Springs, California, United States and serving the Coachella Valley in California's Inland Empire. Owned by Entravision Communications, it is a sister station to MyNetworkTV affiliate KPSE-LD (channel 50, also licensed to Palm Springs) and Indio-licensed Univision affiliate KVER-CD (channel 41) and UniMás affiliate KEVC-CD (channel 5). KMIR and KPSE share studios on Parkview Drive in Palm Desert; KEVC and KVER maintain separate facilities on Corporate Way, also in Palm Desert. KMIR's transmitter is located atop Edom Hill in Cathedral City.

KMIR-TV
Palm Springs, California
United States
ChannelsDigital: 26 (UHF)
Virtual: 36 (PSIP)
BrandingNBC Palm Springs (general)
NBC Palm Springs News (newscasts)
MeTV Palm Springs (on DT2)
Programming
Affiliations36.1: NBC
36.2: MeTV
36.3: Movies!
Ownership
OwnerEntravision Communications
(Entravision Holdings, LLC)
Sister stationsKEVC-CD, KLOB, KPSE-LD, KPST-FM, KVER-CD, KVES-LD
History
First air dateSeptember 15, 1968 (1968-09-15)
Former channel number(s)Analog:
36 (UHF, 1968–2009)
Digital:
46 (UHF, 2002–2019)
Call sign meaningEl MIRador Hotel
Technical information
Licensing authorityFCC
Facility ID16749
ClassDT
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT212.5 m (697 ft)
Transmitter coordinates33°52′0″N 116°26′2″W
Links
Public license informationProfile
LMS
Websitenbcpalmsprings.com

On cable, the station is available on Charter Spectrum channel 13 in both standard and high definition.[1]

History

The station was the first to broadcast in the Coachella Valley on September 15, 1968. Airing an analog signal on UHF channel 36, it has been an NBC affiliate from the start. Actor John Conte owned the station through the Desert Empire TV Corporation,[2] and was the proprietor of the El MIRador hotel in Palm Springs, from which the call letters were derived. Desert Regional Medical Center now occupies the site of the old hotel. Today, one can still see the El Mirador broadcasting tower standing in front of the hospital. This is where the station originally transmitted from. The current tower is a replica structure emulating the original, which was destroyed in a 1989 fire.

Journal Communications acquired KMIR from Conte in 1999 for $30 million. In 2008, the station celebrated its 40th anniversary. In October 2013, Journal reached a deal to sell KMIR to OTA Broadcasting for $17 million.[3][4] The sale was completed on January 1, 2014,[5] making KMIR the company's first station affiliated with one of the Big Four television networks.

KMIR logo with cable channel 6 branding

Along with the other major Coachella Valley stations, KMIR formerly identified itself on-air using its cable designation (at that time, channel 6) rather than its over-the-air digital channel position. This unusual practice (also common in the Fort Myers–Naples, Florida market, where KMIR's former sister station WFTX-TV serves as the market's Fox affiliate) stems in part from Palm Springs's exceptionally high cable penetration rate of 80.5%, which is one of the highest in the United States.[6] As of 2014, the station branded simply with its call letters.

KMIR logo after dropping the cable channel 6 branding, used until September 15, 2018

Due to its low-power status, KPSE-LP was pulled from Time Warner Cable systems at midnight on July 11, 2013 in a retransmission consent dispute with Time Warner; KMIR continued to air on the system for thirteen days after due to rules disallowing full-power stations from being pulled during a sweeps period.[7] KMIR, along with all Journal stations, was pulled at midnight on July 25, 2013 off Time Warner systems at the end of the sweeps period.[8] The station's evening newscasts were simulcast by KRET-CA on Time Warner channel 14 during the dispute.[9] On September 20, 2013, a deal was reached to return Journal's stations, including KMIR and KPSE, to Time Warner Cable; as part of the deal, KMIR's standard definition channel moved to channel 13, the former location for KPSE (which moved to channel 20). KMIR's previous position, cable channel 6, is now occupied by Game Show Network.[1] With the station no longer carried on channel 6 on any cable or satellite systems in the Coachella Valley, the station rebranded in late 2013, dropping the '6' from its logo.

On July 21, 2017, it was announced that Spanish-language broadcaster Entravision Communications (minority owned by Univision Communications) was acquiring KMIR and KPSE-LD for $21 million. The sale to Entravision made both stations sister to KEVC-CD, KVER-CD and KVES-LD.[10] The transaction was completed on November 1.[11]

On September 16, 2018, coinciding with the station's 50th anniversary, KMIR-TV rebranded as "NBC Palm Springs".[12]

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP short name Programming [13]
36.11080i16:9KMIR-HDMain KMIR-TV programming / NBC
36.2720pME-TVMeTV
36.3480iMOVIESMovies!

News operation

KMIR-TV presently broadcasts 25½ hours of news per week (with 4½ hours each weekday and 1½ hours each on Saturdays and Sundays).

The station's newscasts are produced in full 1080i High Definition, including all video from the field. In September 2014, the station launched a new 9 p.m. newscast on sister station KPSE. It also produces a 10 p.m. newscast on KPSE known as KMIR News at 10:00 on KPSE My TV. Former sister station KTNV-TV in Las Vegas provided the station's weather forecasts until the start of 2015, when the station hired former Connecticut-based meteorologist Geoff Fox, However, on August 4, 2015, KMIR announced that Ginger Jeffries (former meteorologist on KESQ-TV) was making the switch to KMIR;[14] replacing Geoff Fox due to his contract being "terminated". KMIR does not have a dedicated sports department, but its news department covers major sporting events and the station extensively covers high school football on Friday nights during football season.

KMIR newscasts focus heavily on the station's news brand "You Ask. We Investigate" with stories submitted by viewers. In May 2013, the station launched the franchise "The Eyesore Next Door" focusing on viewer reports of eyesore properties across the Coachella Valley.

Since 2012, the station's newscasts have seen an increase in viewership. In the May 2013 sweeps period, KMIR was top-rated at 5 and 6 p.m. in the coveted adults 25-54 demographic. The station's newscasts generally place 2nd in the Nielsen ratings in the Palm Springs market in households but win some newscast time periods in the adults 25-54 demographic.

In 2018, KMIR News received a Golden Mic for the "Best Newscast in Southern California" from the Radio and Television Association of Southern California.[15]

gollark: Check out my updates to Terra's asteroid base. The cabling makes sense now!
gollark: Or something like that.
gollark: Does yours have that?
gollark: <@161864335805644800> On my laptop there's a manual battery reset thing which you have to poke a paperclip into.
gollark: <@!202992030685724675> I have rethingied the asteroid station a lot.

See also

References
  1. Solinksy, Matt (September 20, 2013). "KMIR to rejoin Time Warner Cable lineup at different channel number later Friday". The Desert Sun. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  2. https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1977/B%20Section%20TV%20Broadcasting%20Yearbook%201977%20P-5.pdf
  3. "OTA Broadcasting Grabs Palm Springs Station Pair". Broadcasting & Cable. October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  4. Newkirk, Barrett (October 4, 2013). "KMIR and KPSE My 13 sold to OTA Broadcasting LLC". The Desert Sun. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  5. Consummation Notice, CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  6. http://tvb.org/rcentral/markettrack/Cable_and_ADS_Penetration_by_DMA.asp
  7. Atagi, Colin (11 July 2013). "KPSE TV pulled from Time Warner lineup". The Desert Sun. Archived from the original on 11 July 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  8. McCain, Marie (25 June 2013). "KMIR removed from Time Warner lineup; Coachella Valley NBC-affiliate still available on other distributors, TWC negotiations continuing". The Desert Sun. Archived from the original on 27 July 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
  9. McCain, Marie (26 July 2013). "KMIR newscasts airing on Time Warner Cable during dispute; KRET, Channel 14, to show newscasts while KMIR, Channel 6, is off local cable lineup". The Desert Sun. Archived from the original on 3 August 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  10. Entravision Buying 2 Palm Springs Stations - TvNewsCheck
  11. Consummation Notice - Federal Communications Commission
  12. Dolan, Casey (September 17, 2018). "KMIR is now NBC Palm Springs". Cactus Hugs. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  13. http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=station_search&callsign=KMIR#station
  14. Staff, KMIR News. "Ginger Jeffries Makes the Switch to KMIR News". Retrieved 2015-09-02.
  15. https://kmir.com/2018/07/08/entravision-palm-springs-wins-two-regional-emmy-awards/
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