KFTR-DT

KFTR-DT, virtual channel 46 (UHF digital channel 29), is a UniMás owned-and-operated television station serving Los Angeles, California, United States. Licensed to Ontario, California, it serves as the West Coast flagship station of the Spanish-language network. The station is owned by the Univision Local Media subsidiary of Univision Communications, as part of a duopoly with Los Angeles-licensed Univision West Coast flagship KMEX-DT (channel 34). The two stations share studios on Center Drive (near I-405) in West Los Angeles; KFTR's transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson. KFTR does not air any local newscasts of its own; however, the station does cross-promote sister station KMEX's local news programs.

KFTR-DT
Ontario/Los Angeles, California
United States
CityOntario, California
ChannelsDigital: 29 (UHF)
Virtual: 46 (PSIP)
BrandingUniMás 46 Los Angeles
Programming
Affiliations
Ownership
OwnerUnivision Communications
(UniMas Los Angeles LLC)
Sister stationsKLVE, KMEX-DT, KRCD, KSCA, KTNQ
History
First air dateFirst incarnation:
August 16, 1972 (1972-08-16) (48 years ago) as KBSA
Second incarnation:
April 21, 1984 (1984-04-21) (36 years ago) as KIHS-TV
Last air dateFirst incarnation:
1977 (1977)
Former call signs
  • KBSA (1972–1977)
  • KIHS-TV (1984–1987)
  • KHSC(-TV) (1987–2001)
  • KFTR(-TV) (2001–2009)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:
  • 46 (UHF, 1984–2009)
Former affiliations
  • Independent (1972–1977, 1984–1986)
  • TBN (1973–1974)
  • Dark (1977–1984)
  • HSN (1986–2002)
  • TeleFutura (2002–2013)
Call sign meaningK TeleFuTuRa
(former name for UniMás)
Technical information
Licensing authorityFCC
Facility ID60549
ERP370 kW
HAAT956 m (3,136 ft)
Transmitter coordinates34°13′36.1″N 118°4′2.3″W
Translator(s)KMEX-DT 34.2 (UHF) Los Angeles
K27NX-D 27 (UHF) Ridgecrest
Links
Public license informationProfile
LMS
WebsiteUniMás

History

KBSA

On December 18, 1962, Broadcasting Service of America filed an application for a construction permit to build a new TV station on channel 40 licensed to Guasti. The application was amended to specify channel 46 prior to being approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on October 14, 1964.[1] The permit took the call letters KBSA, for its ownership. William A. Myers, the principal of Broadcasting Service of America, was noted as concerned by the lack of local programming on television in a 1965 report on KBSA being authorized to locate atop Mount Wilson.[2] With little fanfare, channel 46 finally signed on August 16, 1972, five days after the FCC granted KBSA program test authority; it primarily broadcast in Spanish.[3] However, it then went silent from February 8 to June 7, 1973.[1] Paul Crouch and Jim Bakker purchased time on the station to launch their television ministry, known as the Trinity Broadcasting Network, for which KBSA served as the network's original home.

A year later, KBSA was sold, first in a minority stake and then entirely,[4] to the Berean Baptist Church; TBN would buy KLXA (channel 40) in Fontana and eventually renamed that station KTBN. Berean announced plans to telecast its own services over channel 46.[5] Another program on channel 46 in 1974 was a legal review show, three nights a week, for students preparing for state bar examinations.[6] In addition to programming from Berean, other churches aired regular programs on KBSA, including the First Christian Church of San Pedro.[7] Together with KHOF-TV and KLXA, KBSA was the third religious TV station in southern California.[8]

Berean entered into financial difficulties not long after acquiring channel 46, which escalated into a disagreement with Broadcasting Service of America. In an evident default, the KBSA transmission equipment was slated for public sale in August 1976.[9] The station went silent in April 1977.[1] The month before, Broadcasting Service of America entered into an agreement to sell the license for $1.8 million to Buena Vista Broadcasting Company, majority owned by Leon Crosby, who owned KEMO television in San Francisco.[10] Three months later, however, Berean announced it had sold the station to a different concern: Metropolitan Broadcasting Company, owned by Robert F. Beauchamp, in a proposed $1.55 million transaction.[11] The Buena Vista application was dismissed in 1978.[1]

Despite the silence, channel 46 would soon enter into a fight for its life. On March 15, 1979, the FCC designated KBSA's application to renew its license for hearing.[1] The move was made after the commission alleged that the station had broadcast false information about bond sales, diverted station operating funds, and carried out an unauthorized transfer of control.[12] Bondholders and other creditors of KBSA were owed a collective $1.5 million by a station that had no assets or equipment—not even a telephone.[13] A $2.2 million distress sale to a minority-owned group, Hispanic Broadcasters, Inc., was approved in March 1980.[14] The next year, Hispanic Broadcasters and Leon Crosby—whose Buena Vista bid had been dismissed three years prior—sold the channel 46 license for $3.7 million to HBI Acquisition, also Hispanic-owned.[15]

Catholic KIHS-TV

In preparation for returning to the air, on November 18, 1983, the call letters were changed to KIHS-TV; the seven-year silence was broken on April 21, 1984—the day before Easter Sunday.[16] With the de Rance Foundation, a large Catholic charity, as one of the stockholders in HBI Acquisition, channel 46's new programming was predominantly Catholic, with family movies and general entertainment shows filling out the schedule; the flagship program was a three-hour news magazine known as Heart of the Nation.[16]

KIHS-TV initially broadcast 24 hours a day until cutting back to 18 hours in February 1985.[17] Later in the year, it increased its secular output and began broadcasting more commercials, citing a need to improve its finances.[18] Further secularization was to come in the fall of 1986 when channel 46 picked up the Independent Network News syndicated national newscast, a syndicated package of college football from service academies, movies and home shopping under the name "Shopping Line".[19] Harry G. John, a major philanthropist involved with De Rance, had been dismissed after mismanagement of the foundation by spending millions on the television operations.[3]

Home shopping as KHSC

In September 1986, the Home Shopping Network acquired KIHS-TV for $35 million, putting an end to De Rance's plans to expand its Catholic programming nationwide.[3] Heart of the Nation had shrunk to a 30-minute talk show and moved to KDOC on December 1, 1986, as channel 46 prepared to go to full-time home shopping,[20] a switch that was made on December 8.[21] Upon the closing of the HSN acquisition in January 1987, channel 46 was renamed KHSC,[22] for the Home Shopping Club service.[23] The new HSC outlet was the second most-successful of HSN's broadcast stations in sales volume in 1988, only trailing its stations in New York.[23]

Sale to Univision

By 1998, HSN's owner USA Broadcasting had decided to switch all of its over-the-air HSN affiliates to a general entertainment independent format (in markets where the USA-owned station adopted the format such as Dallas and Miami, some locally produced programs were included along with syndicated shows). As part of the revamp, KHSC was to have become KLIK (meaning "click"). However, the conversion plans were immediately scrapped as USA decided to sell its stations due to financial troubles in late 2000 to early 2001. The Walt Disney Company was the leading candidate to buy the stations, which would have made channel 46 a sister to ABC's West Coast flagship KABC-TV (channel 7). However, Univision Communications bought the stations instead, and by 2002, had used channel 46 (whose call letters were changed to KFTR-TV) and most of the other stations to become charter affiliates for its new secondary network TeleFutura (the forerunner to UniMás).

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[24]
46.1720p16:9KFTR-DTMain KFTR-DT programming / UniMás
46.2480i4:3getTVgetTV
46.316:9ESCAPECourt TV Mystery
46.4GRITGrit
46.5QuestQuest

In January 2010, KFTR upgraded its digital signal to transmit network programming in HD, as part of a company-wide upgrade of Univision's stations to allow high definition broadcasts. On December 5, 2010, sister station KMEX-DT began Mobile DTV broadcasts of its own signal and of KFTR-DT. KMEX-DT has two Mobile DTV feeds, one of subchannel 34.1, labelled "KMEX-MH1", and of sister station KFTR-TV 46.1, labelled "KFTR-MH2", broadcasting at 3.67 Mbit/s. It is the highest bitrate of any Los Angeles television station's mobile feed.[25][26] In addition, the station is also simulcast over KMEX's second digital subchannel.

Analog-to-digital conversion

KFTR-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 46, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[27] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 29, using PSIP to display KFTR-TV's virtual channel as 46 on digital television receivers.

Programming

KFTR previously aired a one-hour extension of KMEX's weekday morning newscast at 7 a.m. This was later replaced with an entertainment program named Lanzaté. In addition, KFTR may also take on the responsibility of KMEX's newscasts in the event KMEX is unable due to special programming on Univision. One instance occurred during Univision's coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, when KFTR aired KMEX's weekday morning newscasts while KMEX was airing a live broadcast of Despierta America. Another instance occurs every December, when KFTR airs KMEX's evening newscasts during Univision's coverage of Teletón USA.

Los Angeles Rams

As of 2016, KFTR, along with KMEX, serve as the official Spanish-language broadcasters of Los Angeles Rams preseason games.

Los Angeles FC

As of 2018, the station serves as the official Spanish-language home of Major League Soccer franchise Los Angeles FC.

References
  1. FCC History Cards for KFTR-DT
  2. "TV Tower Bid Slated For Hearing". Pasadena Independent. December 28, 1965. p. 26. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  3. Groves, Martha (September 24, 1986). "TV Shopping Network to Buy KIHS". Los Angeles Times. p. 3. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  4. "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. November 11, 1974. p. 32. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  5. Chandler, Russell (June 13, 1974). "Pastor Builds Church Complex in Orange from a Nucleus of 12". Los Angeles Times. p. 10. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  6. "Cram course" (PDF). Broadcasting. May 13, 1974. p. 39. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  7. "Musical sermon at dedication". News-Pilot. November 23, 1974. p. A9. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  8. Chandler, Russell (March 23, 1975). "TV Putting Religion in Home". Los Angeles Times. p. 4. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  9. "Notice of Public Sale". Los Angeles Times. July 31, 1976. p. 2. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  10. "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 21, 1977. p. 38. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  11. "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. July 4, 1977. p. 29. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  12. "KBSA deal queered" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 25, 1979. p. 72. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  13. "Larger issues hinge on KBSA renewal" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 5, 1979. pp. 33–34. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  14. "In Brief" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 31, 1980. p. 28. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  15. "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 21, 1981. p. 64. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  16. Lundahl, Mark (April 21, 1984). "New TV station in Ontario will combine religion, entertainment". San Bernardino County Sun. pp. B-7, B-11. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  17. "KIHS cuts hours". San Bernardino County Sun. February 2, 1985. p. B-8. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  18. Stephens, Mike (September 21, 1985). "Religious radio station works to broaden its cast". San Bernardino County Sun. p. C-1, C-4. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  19. Torrez, P.G. (September 15, 1986). "Channel 46 format change targets advertisers, viewers". San Bernardino County Sun. p. B6. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  20. "Southern California File". Los Angeles Times. November 22, 1986. p. 10. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  21. "Discount merchandising selling to begin". San Bernardino County Sun. December 5, 1986. p. B8. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  22. "FCC approves KIHS change to KHSC". San Bernardino County Sun. January 14, 1987. p. B8. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  23. Torrez, P.G. (February 15, 1988). "Hard times for home shopping". San Bernardino County Sun. pp. E1, [E5 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/46710437/]. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  24. RabbitEars TV Query for KFTR
  25. http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?request=atscmph
  26. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-10-17. Retrieved 2011-04-29.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  27. List of Digital Full-Power Stations Archived 2013-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
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