KSNV

KSNV, virtual channel 3 (UHF digital channel 22), is an NBC-affiliated television station licensed to Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. The station is owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, as part of a duopoly with CW affiliate KVCW (channel 33). The two stations share studios on Foremaster Lane in Las Vegas (both KSNV and KVCW are the only major television stations whose operations are based inside the city limits); KSNV's transmitter is located on Black Mountain, near Henderson (southwest of I-515/US 93/US 95).

Not to be confused with KSNB-TV or KVBC-LP.
KSNV
Las Vegas, Nevada
United States
ChannelsDigital: 22 (UHF)
Virtual: 3 (PSIP)
BrandingChannel 3 (general)
News 3 (newscasts)
Programming
Affiliations3.1: NBC
3.2: Estrella TV
3.3: Charge! (O&O)
3.4: Stadium (O&O)
33.2: MyNetworkTV
Ownership
OwnerSinclair Broadcast Group
(KUPN Licensee, LLC)
Sister stationsKVCW
History
First air dateJanuary 23, 1955 (1955-01-23) (65 years ago) as KLRJ-TV
Former call signsKLRJ-TV (1955)
KORK-TV (1955–1979)
KVBC (1979–2009)
KVBC-DT (2009–2010)
KSNV-DT (2010–2014)
Former channel number(s)Analog:
2 (VHF, 1955–1967)
3 (VHF, 1967–2009)
Digital:
2 (VHF, 1999–2014)
Former affiliationsBoth secondary:
ABC (1955–1956)
NTA (1956–1961)
Call sign meaningSouthern NeVada
Technical information
Licensing authorityFCC
Facility ID10179
ERP1000 kW
HAAT382.9 m (1,256 ft)
Transmitter coordinates36°0′27.3″N 115°0′26.9″W
Translator(s)14 (UHF) Las Vegas (city)
(For others, see below)
Links
Public license informationProfile
LMS
Websitenews3lv.com

It was the flagship station of the Intermountain West Communications Company—which was founded by the late James E. Rogers—until the gradual sale of its remaining stations that began in 2013.

History

Early years

The station went on the air as KLRJ-TV on VHF channel 2 on January 23, 1955; it was originally licensed to Henderson and was owned by Southwestern Publishing Company along with the Las Vegas Review-Journal and KORK radio (920 AM, now KRLV; and 97.1 FM, now KXPT). In September 1955, it changed its calls to KORK-TV to match its radio sisters, and soon after moved its city of license and studio facilities to Las Vegas. It has always been an NBC affiliate, but shared ABC with KLAS-TV (channel 8) until KSHO-TV (channel 13, now KTNV-TV) signed on in 1956. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.[1] In 1960, the Donrey Media Group (later Stephens Media) bought the Review-Journal and the KORK stations.

In 1967, KORK-TV moved to channel 3 in order to operate from Potosi Mountain without being short-spaced to KNXT (now KCBS-TV) in Los Angeles, which also operated on channel 2;[2] this move would also allow KTVN in Reno to begin operations on channel 2 on June 4 of that year. In 1971, a group of local residents led by Las Vegas attorney Jim Rogers began an effort to take control of channel 3. Rogers' group gained more support when Donrey began to heavily preempt NBC programming in order to sell more local advertising in the late 1970s. NBC was far less tolerant of programming preemptions than the other networks at the time. The most notable of these preemptions was the 1978 World Series, angering both NBC and several Las Vegas area viewers, some of whom filed complaints to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Facing pressure from both NBC and the FCC, Donrey was forced to sell the station to the Rogers group's holding company, Valley Broadcasting Company, in 1979. Donrey retained KORK radio and as a result on October 1, 1979, the TV station changed its call letters to KVBC, reflecting the new ownership (the change was made due to a now-repealed FCC rule that forbade TV and radio stations in the same market, but with different ownership from sharing the same call letters).

In the late 1980s, KVBC's sign-on to sign-off ratings climbed to an all-time high, thanks in part to a strong primetime lineup by NBC.[3]

Two major "events" aided KVBC's rise to the top. In May 1988, an explosion and fire rocked the Pacific Engineering and Production Company (PEPCON) in Henderson. KVBC was knocked off the air for a few minutes, because its transmitter facilities atop Black Mountain were positioned just above the blast site. Once KVBC was back on the air, it was the first local station to continuously broadcast its breaking news coverage of the explosion. Later that year, CBS produced 48 Hours in Las Vegas, a feature about Las Vegas that portrayed the city as full of gamblers and riddled by crime. In response, KVBC produced a one-hour documentary entitled Las Vegas, Beyond 48 Hours, which painted a more realistic picture of "Sin City" and its residents.

KVBC was first to document The Mirage volcano explosion during its initial test in front of an unsuspecting nighttime audience.

With the digital transition completed, the station officially added the -DT suffix to its legal call sign on June 23, 2009.[4]

As KSNV
Former logo used from July 9, 2010 to April 18, 2015. The "3" had been used since 1986.

On June 18, 2010, KVBC filed an application with the FCC to change the station's call letters to KSNV-DT, reflecting the renaming of Valley Broadcasting Company (which by this time, was a subsidiary of Sunbelt Communications Company that held the station's license) to Southern Nevada Communications, as well as better reflecting the station's relationship with sister stations KRNV-DT in Reno and KENV-DT in Elko.[5] The change to KSNV-DT became official on July 9, 2010.[4][6]

Jim Rogers died of cancer on June 14, 2014, at the age of 75.[7]

Sale to Sinclair, license swap

On September 3, 2014, Intermountain West Communications announced that it would sell KSNV-DT to Sinclair Broadcast Group for $120 million. As Sinclair already owned a duopoly in Las Vegas, KVMY (channel 21) and KVCW (channel 33), the company planned to sell the license assets (though not the programming) of one of the three stations to comply with FCC ownership restrictions, with the divested station's programming being moved to the other stations.[8] 80–85% of proceeds from the sale will go toward the formation of the Rogers Educational Foundation, which will support students and educators in Southern Nevada.[9]

On November 1, 2014, KSNV began the process of swapping signals with KVMY; KVMY moved its MyNetworkTV programming to a subchannel of KVCW, which was replaced by a simulcast of KSNV-DT's programming. Additionally, the two stations swapped virtual channel numbers, which moved KVMY to channel 3, and KSNV to channel 21. On November 4, 2014, the call letters on KVMY's license were changed to KSNV, and the existing KSNV license changed its call letters to KVMY. These moves effectively put KSNV under Sinclair ownership, operating under the license for the former KVMY. Indeed, the licensee for KSNV still reads "KUPN Licensee, LLC"—reflecting KVMY's former call letters. The previous channel 3 license was later sold to Howard Stirk Holdings.[10][6] A similar swap occurred during Sinclair's acquisition of WCIV in Charleston, South Carolina, in which its ABC programming and call sign were moved to another Sinclair-owned signal, and the previous WCIV channel 4 license (renamed WMMP) was sold to Howard Stirk Holdings, though the PSIP channel number was not swapped.[11][12] Sinclair could not buy KSNV-DT outright because Las Vegas has only seven full-power stations—one too few to legally permit a duopoly. The FCC requires a market to have eight unique station owners after a duopoly is formed. With the sale's completion, Sinclair now controls half of those stations. It also created a situation in which a CW affiliate is the nominal senior partner in a duopoly involving an NBC affiliate and a "Big Four" station.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[13]
3.11080i16:9KSNV-3Main KSNV-DT programming / NBC
3.2720pESTRELLEstrella TV
3.3480iCharge!Charge!
3.4StadiumStadium
33.2720pMy_LVTVATSC 1.0 simulcast of KVCW-DT2 / MyNetworkTV

Analog-to-digital conversion

KSNV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 3, on June 12, 2009, the official date in which full-power television stations in the United States transitioned from analog to digital broadcasts under federal mandate. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition VHF channel 2.[14] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 3. As mentioned above, KSNV moved their signal on November 1, 2014 to the digital channel 21 formerly used by KVMY. KSNV was one of the few major network affiliates to utilize channel 2 for their digital broadcasts; low-VHF channels have been very prone to interference in the digital age, though the relatively flat terrain of southern Nevada and northern Arizona made this interference much less of a factor than areas with varied terrain.

News operation

KSNV presently broadcasts a total of 42½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 7½ hours each weekday and 2½ hours each on Saturdays and Sundays). The station also produces one local program: the sports highlight program (which airs on Sunday evenings after the 11:00 p.m. newscast at the 11:35 p.m. time slot.). A public affairs discussion program, which aired after the weekday noon newscast, was cancelled in November 2013.

KSNV debuted a 3 p.m. newscast, News 3 Live at 3, on August 19, 2013; to accommodate this newscast, the station dropped Days of Our Lives, which moved to KVCW.[15] On September 16, 2013, KSNV added an hour-long 7 p.m. newscast, after its contract to carry Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune expired; both game shows later moved to KLAS-TV. The station also dropped Dr. Phil in September 2014 which later moved to KLAS-TV; its two remaining syndicated programs, Rachael Ray and The Doctors, were to be dropped in the fall of 2015 and replaced with newscasts as well. These changes were part of an increased emphasis on KSNV's news department: under this plan, the station's weekday lineup outside of NBC prime time programming would consist entirely of local newscasts.[16][17] Due to these changes, anchor lineups would be shuffled.[18] However, with the station's fall 2014 sale to Sinclair, it is probable that these plans might not proceed further.

Access Hollywood was added to the schedule at 7:30 p.m. weeknights in September 2014 after the sale to Sinclair was announced. The discussion program Ralston Reports (6:30–7:00 p.m.) ended on December 12, 2014 and was replaced with an hour-long extension of the 6:00 p.m. newscast along with KRNV-DT on December 15, 2014. On December 29, 2014, Days of our Lives was reinstated on the station at 1:00 p.m. weekdays, after NBC objected to the change made by Jim Rogers. The hour-long 11:00 a.m. newscast and the discussion program What's Your Point? (12:30–1:00 p.m.) hosted by Jeff Gillan ended on December 26, 2014 and was replaced by Rachael Ray and an hour-long extension of the noon newscast on December 29, 2014, leaving KTNV-TV with the market's only hour-long 11:00 a.m. newscast. The hour-long 4:00 p.m. newscast ended on January 2, 2015 (leaving only KLAS-TV with an hour-long 4:00 p.m. newscast) and was replaced by Family Feud on January 5, 2015. The hour-long 3:00 p.m. newscast was not affected by the change and continued to compete with KTNV-TV. While Sinclair would not move the station to an all-news daytime format, as intended by Rogers, the station remained committed to substantial news content. Sinclair was considering to bring back the hour-long 11:00 a.m., 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. newscasts and What's Your Point? at 12:30 p.m.

The Doctors and Access Hollywood were dropped in September 2016 when they moved to KVCW (the latter now airs on KVCW's second digital subchannel). They were replaced in the schedule by Harry Connick Jr.'s talk show and Entertainment Tonight, only for the first show mentioned in the 2016 replacements to be replaced by reruns of Dateline NBC in September 2018, and only for Dateline NBC reruns to move to KVCW, and be replaced by Tamron Hall one year later.

Also in September 2018, Rachael Ray was dropped which later moved to KVCW, and was replaced by an hour of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, only for Rachael Ray to be reinstated on the station at 11:00 a.m. weekdays, when Millionaire was cancelled.

Since August 17, 2015, the station relaunched newscasts for sister station KVCW. Wake Up With The CW Las Vegas, aired at 7:00 a.m. as an extension to its morning newscast and The CW Las Vegas News at Ten, aired at 10:00 p.m. Both newscasts competed with KVVU's 7:00 a.m. segment of Fox 5 News This Morning and the 10:00 p.m. airing of Fox 5 News at Ten.

Notable current on-air staff
  • Reed Cowan – anchor (2012–present)
  • Jeff Gillan – political reporter, fill-in anchor and former host of What's Your Point? (2009–present)
  • Jim Snyder – anchor (1991–1994 and 1998–present)

Notable former on-air staff

Translators

KSNV's signal is rebroadcast across southern Nevada on the following translators:

City of license Callsign Channel
Caliente, NevadaK11CN-D11
Overton, NevadaK14ND-D14
Pahrump, NevadaK17CL-D17
K33MJ-D33

KSNV (as KVBC) also previously maintained two full-power satellite stations: KVNV (channel 3) in Ely served as a KVBC satellite from its sign-on in 2001 until it was sold to PMCM TV, LLC in 2008, while KMCC (channel 34) in Laughlin was a KVBC satellite from its sign-on in 2003 until it was sold to Cranston II, LLC in 2005. Additionally, the signal for KVBC was to have been relayed over KBMO-TV (channel 9) in Tonopah, Nevada, but construction of this station was not completed before the FCC construction permit expired in 2002.

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References
  1. "Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films", Boxoffice: 13, November 10, 1956, archived from the original on June 14, 2009
  2. "Rulemakings" (PDF). Broadcasting. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  3. Las Vegas Review-Journal, Dec 1989
  4. "Call Sign History". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
  5. Bornfeld, Steve (19 June 2010). "MEDIA: Channel 3 files request for change of call letters". Stephens Media. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  6. "Call Sign History (facility ID 69677)". CDBS Public Access. FCC. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  7. Koch, Ed (15 June 2014). "Media mogul remembered as 'fearless advocate' for education whose 'charity was unmatched'". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  8. "Sinclair Buying KSNV Las Vegas For $120M". TVNewsCheck. September 3, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  9. "KSNV Vegas Proceeds To Fund Education Foundation". Broadcasting & Cable. September 3, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  10. "Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. January 28, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
  11. "DESCRIPTION OF TRANSACTION AND UNIQUE SERVICE TO BE PROVIDED". Howard Stirk Holdings. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
  12. "Time to rescan for ABC News 4's new channel". ABCNews4.com. Sinclair Broadcast Group. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  13. "RabbitEars TV Query for KSNV". Rabbitears.info. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  14. "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2013-12-07.
  15. "KSNV To Debut One-Hour 3 P.M. News". TVNewsCheck. August 13, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  16. Sieroty, Chris (January 13, 2013). "Las Vegas Valley TV stations focus on local content, new delivery". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  17. Marzsalek, Diana (January 22, 2013). "Jim Rogers Betting Big On News At KSNV". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  18. KSNV To Debut 7 P.M. News In September, TVNewsCheck, June 5, 2013.
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