KVHP

KVHP, virtual channel 29 (UHF digital channel 18), is a dual Fox/ABC-affiliated television station licensed to Lake Charles, Louisiana, United States. Owned by American Spirit Media, it is operated under a shared services agreement (SSA) by Gray Television, making it a sister station to dual NBC/CW+ affiliate KPLC (channel 7). The two stations share studios on Division Street in downtown Lake Charles; KVHP's transmitter is located in rural northwestern Calcasieu Parish five miles (8 km) northwest of Edgerly (halfway between Lake Charles and Beaumont, Texas, allowing the station's signal to reach both markets).

KVHP
Lake Charles, Louisiana
United States
ChannelsDigital: 18 (UHF)
Virtual: 29 (PSIP)
BrandingKVHP Fox 29 (general)
Fox 29 Now @ 9 (newscasts)
SWLA ABC (DT2)
Programming
Affiliations29.1: Fox (1986–present)
29.2: ABC (2017–present)
29.3: Circle (2020–present)
29.4: Ion Television (2020–present)
Ownership
OwnerAmerican Spirit Media
(KVHP License Subsidiary, LLC)
OperatorGray Television
(via SSA)
Sister stationsKPLC
History
First air dateDecember 12, 1982 (1982-12-12)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:
  • 29 (UHF, 1982–2009)
  • Digital:
  • 30 (UHF, until 2018)
Former affiliations
Call sign meaningK
Hugh Van Eaton
Herschell Hardesty
Harold Protter
(original owners)
Technical information
Licensing authorityFCC
Facility ID35852
ERP400 kW
HAAT393 m (1,289 ft)
Transmitter coordinates30°17′27″N 93°34′36″W
Links
Public license informationProfile
LMS
Websitewatchfox29.revrocket.us

On cable, KVHP is available on Suddenlink channel 11, while KVHP-DT2 is carried on channel 12.

History

The station first signed on the air on December 12, 1982 as an independent station with the slogan "Make a U-Turn to KVHP, Channel 29," airing a mixture of religious and family programming. It signed on by Dr. Hugh Van Eaton, a local Baptist minister, and he entered a partnership with Dr. J. W. DiGiglia and Herschell Hardesty and Harold E. Protter (also a co-owner of independent station WNOL in New Orleans) in 1984, under the name Lake Charles Electronic Media. In 1986, New Orleans televangelist Marvin Gorman purchased the station out of receivership, and he, in turn, sold the station to a group of five businessmen, Gary Hardesty (son of Herschell Hardesty), Michael Dillon, Jon Kurtin, Sol Gerber, and Donald Muckenthaler operating as KVHP-TV Partners.[1] KVHP became a charter affiliate of the upstart Fox Broadcasting Company on October 9, 1986. In 1996, National Communications purchased KVHP from KVHP-TV Partners.

In 2003, KVHP established a low-power repeater station for the Beaumont area, KUIL-LP (channel 64), which served as the Fox affiliate for southeast Texas and held a secondary affiliation with UPN (KUIL-LP lost its Fox affiliation to KBTV-TV in January 2009 and became a MyNetworkTV affiliate).[2] KVHP also operated another Texas-based repeater, KVHP-LD (channel 44) in Jasper; in March 2011, KVHP-LD ceased to serve as a translator of KVHP and began relaying programming from Beaumont ABC affiliate KBMT.

On July 28, 2009, KVHP began carrying programming from The CW on digital subchannel 29.2 (which had simulcast the main channel's programming in standard-definition prior to joining the network), after KVHP owner National Communications assumed promotional and advertising control of cable-only CW Plus affiliate "WBLC" from Suddenlink Communications. This was moved to KPLC's second subchannel on August 31, 2017, so that KVHP could launch Lake Charles' first standalone ABC affiliate, under the branding SWLA ABC. Prior to this move, Lafayette's KATC served as Lake Charles' default ABC station, although some area cable and satellite providers also carried other nearby ABC affiliates, such as KBMT from Beaumont or KLAX-TV from Alexandria.[3] The new channel returns the network to the market 37 years after KPLC dropped its secondary ABC affiliation.

On March 10, 2016, National Communications, Inc. agreed to sell KVHP to KVHP License Subsidiary, LLC (a subsidiary of American Spirit Media) for $2 million.[4][5] American Spirit Media entered into a shared services agreement and studio lease agreement with Raycom Media (owner of local NBC affiliate KPLC) to operate KVHP when the acquisition was completed.[6] The application[7] was accepted for filing on March 18 by the Federal Communications Commission;[8] the sale was completed on August 15, 2016.[9]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[10]
29.1720p16:9KVHP-HDMain KVHP programming / Fox
29.2ABCSouthwest Louisiana ABC
29.3480iCircleCircle
29.4IONIon Television

Analog-to-digital conversion

KVHP shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 29, 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 UHF channel 30.[11] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 29. Effective December 11, 2018, KVHP was licensed to move from channel 30 to channel 18 for the spectrum reallocation.

Programming

Syndicated programming

Syndicated programming on KVHP include Judge Mathis, Judge Judy, Hot Bench, Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune, Rachael Ray, The Real, and Modern Family. KVHP is one of the eight Fox stations in the United States to air both Jeopardy! and Wheel; the others being located in Baltimore; Syracuse, New York; New Orleans; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Denver; Cincinnati and Mobile, Alabama.

Newscasts and local programming

KVHP aired news capsules and newscasts for a time during the late 1980s and early 1990s, before dropping them for a number of years. The station began airing local newscast once again in 1999, when it established an in-house news department and began producing a primetime newscast at 9 p.m. Within a year of the news department's launch, the station expanded its news programming and began producing a two-hour morning show and an hour-long 5 p.m. newscast. KVHP's newscasts were never considered a serious threat to the ratings dominance of NBC affiliate KPLC and by 2004, KVHP's news department was shut down with local news dropped from the station's lineup entirely.

Soon afterward, the station's only locally produced program consisted of a half-hour public affairs program called On the Air with Fox 29, which aired twice on Sundays and has since been cancelled. On April 27, 2009, KVHP began broadcasting a tape-delay of Baton Rouge ABC affiliate WBRZ's weeknight 6 p.m. newscast, under the repackaged title Fox 29 News from the Capital at 9 p.m. on Monday through Friday evenings; the WBRZ rebroadcast was dropped in 2011.

On May 7, 2012, KVHP reinstated an in-house news department with the launch of a half-hour midday newscast at noon on weekdays (currently titled Fox 29 News Express). On February 29, 2016, the station premiered a 30-minute evening newscast, Fox 29 News at 9, following Fox's primetime lineup. The standalone newscast was short lived, as KVHP's news operations were taken over by KPLC after American Spirit Media acquired the station in late 2016.

KVHP-DT2 did not simulcast any newscasts from either KPLC or KVHP during its time as a CW affiliate, but began simulcasting KPLC's morning, 5 pm, and 10 pm newscasts when it joined ABC on August 31, 2017. Then in October 2017, it began airing a KPLC-produced 6:30 pm newscast, which is exclusive to KVHP-DT2.

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References
  1. "Yearbook" (PDF). www.americanradiohistory.com. 1993. Retrieved 2019-06-10.
  2. Sanders, Ashley (December 18, 2008). "FOX 64 to drop affiliate in New Year". The Beaumont Enterprise. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
  3. Miller, Mark (23 August 2017). "KVHP Launching ABC Feed On Subchannel". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  4. Asset Purchase Agreement, part 1 - Federal Communications Commission
  5. Asset Purchase Agreement, part 2 - Federal Communications Commission
  6. "Shared Services Agreement and Leases - Federal Communications Commission".
  7. "Application View ... Redirecting". licensing.fcc.gov.
  8. "Application Search Details". licensing.fcc.gov.
  9. "Consummation Notice". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. August 16, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  10. "RabbitEars TV Query for KVHP". www.rabbitears.info.
  11. "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-29. Retrieved 2012-03-24.
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