KXVA

KXVA
Abilene, Texas
United States
Branding Fox 15 (general)
Fox News First (newscasts)
Channels Digital: 15 (UHF)
Virtual: 15 (PSIP)
Subchannels 15.1 Fox
15.2 MyNetworkTV
15.3 Cozi TV
Affiliations Fox
Owner Tegna, Inc.
(LSB Broadcasting, Inc.)
Founded June 29, 2000
First air date January 9, 2001 (2001-01-09)
Call letters' meaning XV = Roman numeral 15
Abilene
Sister station(s) KIDZ-LD, WFAA, KHOU, KVUE, KENS, KCEN-TV, KAGS-LD, KBMT, KIII, KIDY
Former channel number(s) Analog:
15 (UHF, 2001–2009)
Transmitter power 165 kW
Height 298.1 m
Facility ID 62293
Transmitter coordinates 32°16′31.9″N 99°35′25.4″W / 32.275528°N 99.590389°W / 32.275528; -99.590389
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS
Website www.fox15abilene.com

KXVA, virtual and UHF digital channel 15, is a Fox-affiliated television station located in Abilene, Texas, United States. The station is owned by Tegna, Inc., and is a sister station to MyNetworkTV affiliate KIDZ-LD (channel 42). KXVA maintains studio facilities located in the Bank of America Building on Chestnut Street in downtown Abilene; master control operations are housed at the studio facilities of sister station KIDY on Irving Street in southeast San Angelo; KXVA maintains transmitter facilities located in rural southwestern Callahan County.

History

On June 15, 2000, the Federal Communications Commission granted an original construction permit to founding owner Sage Broadcasting Company to build a full-power television station to serve the Abilene/Sweetwater/Brownwood market. The station was built quickly, with an estimated launch date set for September or October 2000, but inclement weather caused delays in constructing the transmitter tower.[1] Several months later than expected, the station first signed on the air on January 9, 2001, under Program Test Authority; it was the fourth full-power television station to sign on in the Abilene market and the first full-power network-affiliated station to sign on in the market since CBS affiliate KTAB (channel 32) debuted in October 1979. KXVA has been a Fox station since its debut, taking over the affiliation from KIDZ-LP (channel 42), which (along with its five translator stations) were also owned by Sage Broadcasting. The station obtained its initial broadcast license on February 13, 2002, more than a year after applying for the license to the FCC.

KXVA logo, used from 2006 to January 20, 2014.

In 2008, the station was purchased by Bayou City Broadcasting in a group deal for approximately $3 million. On September 27, 2012, Bayou City Broadcasting announced an agreement to sell KXVA and its seven other television stations to the Dallas-based London Broadcasting Company (the sale price initially was not disclosed). The sale marked a temporary exit from the broadcasting industry for the company's owner DuJuan McCoy, who planned on refocusing his company to acquire major network affiliates in mid-sized markets larger than San Angelo and Abilene.[2] The FCC granted its approval of the sale on November 14.[3] The sale was completed on December 31.[4]

On May 14, 2014, the Gannett Company announced that it would acquire KIDY and five other London Broadcasting stations for $215 million. Gannett CEO Gracia Martore touted that the acquisition would give the company a presence in several fast-growing markets, and opportunities for local advertisers to leverage its digital marketing platform.[5] Both KIDY and Abilene sister station KXVA will be the first Fox affiliates to be owned by Gannett outright; the company had acquired KMSB in Tucson from Belo (as part of a group deal that also included stations in four other Texas markets, Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio) in 2013 – however, KMSB is operated by Raycom Media (owner of that market's CBS affiliate KOLD-TV) under a shared services agreement that was established under Belo ownership, and Gannett could not directly own the station's license due to newspaper cross-ownership restrictions.[6][7] The sale was completed on July 8.[8] 13 months later, on June 29, 2015, the Gannett Company split in two, with one side specializing in print media and the other side specializing in broadcast and digital media. KXVA was retained by the latter company, named TEGNA.[9]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[10]
15.1 720p 16:9 KXVA-DT Main KXVA programming / Fox
15.2 480i 4:3 KIDZ Simulcast of KIDZ-LD
15.3 16:9 COZI Cozi TV

In 2011, KXVA began carrying MyNetworkTV-affiliated sister station KIDZ-LD on digital subchannel 15.2.

Analog-to-digital conversion

Because it was granted an original construction permit after the FCC finalized the digital television allotment plan on April 21, 1997,[11] the station did not receive a companion channel for a digital television signal. KXVA shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 15, on February 17, 2009, and "flash-cut" its digital signal into operation UHF channel 15.[12]

Programming

KXVA carries the entire Fox network schedule, airing all of the network's programming in pattern. Through Fox's national broadcast rights to the NFL, KXVA serves as the local broadcaster of for NFL games featuring the Dallas Cowboys, airing up to 14 of the team's 16 regular season games annually. Syndicated programs broadcast by KXVA include Springer, Live! with Kelly, The People's Court, The Big Bang Theory, White Collar and The Simpsons. KXVA shares the majority of its programming inventory with San Angelo sister station KIDY, with some programs airing in the same timeslots as those seen on that station; as such, KXVA essentially acts as a de facto semi-satellite of KIDY.

News operation

From 2009 to January 2014, KXVA aired a simulcast of Fox News at Nine, an hour-long evening newscast from San Antonio Fox affiliate KABB; the newscast aired every night at 9 p.m., except in the case of Fox programming overruns due to network sports coverage, and was rebroadcast nightly at 10 p.m. on a one-hour tape delay on sister station KIDZ-LD. From October 2010 to 2014, the station simulcastied KABB's four-hour morning newscast, Fox News First weekday mornings from 5:00 to 9:00 a.m. In addition to local news headline updates aired during Fox News at Nine and Fox News First, KXVA provided an hourly local news updates weekdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with headlines and news information provided by the Abilene Reporter News newspaper.

On January 20, 2014, KXVA debuted "Fox News First at Nine"—a half-hour primetime newscast at 9:00 p.m. on weeknights—which is produced by sister station KIDY at its studios in San Angelo. The KABB morning news simulcast has been replaced by other programming including The Texas Daily and The Broadcast, news and interview programs produced by its Dallas sister station KTXD-TV.

On August 2, 2016, KXVA re-launched its news operation, moving its 6:30 p.m. news to 6:00 and moving its primetime newscast to 10:00 p.m., and introducing a new studio, standalone website, and on-air branding as Fox 15.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Abilene’s new Fox affiliate, KXVA, expected to broadcast next week, Abilene Reporter-News, January 6, 2001.
  2. ↑ Temporary Exit With Fox Duo Sale by McCoy, TVNewsCheck, September 27, 2012.
  3. ↑ Extension of Consummation
  4. ↑ Consent to License Transfer Reassignment
  5. ↑ "Gannett Buys 6 London Broadcasting Stations". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  6. ↑ Hatfield, David (June 13, 2013). "Little change on Tucson TV expected from Belo's sale to Gannett". Inside Tucson Business. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  7. ↑ Brown, Lisa (June 13, 2013). "Gannett to buy TV station owner Belo for $1.5 billion". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  8. ↑ Gannett Completes London Broadcasting Buy, TVNewsCheck, Retrieved 8 July, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Separation of Gannett into two public companies completed | TEGNA". Tegna. Retrieved 2015-06-29.
  10. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KXVA
  11. ↑ FCC
  12. ↑ "DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and the Second Rounds" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-03-24.
  13. ↑ "UPDATE: KXVA, Fox 15, Relaunched in Abilene". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 21 August 2016.

External links

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