KFOX-TV is a Fox affiliated television station based in El Paso, Texas. It broadcasts its digital signal on channel 15. It is owned by Cox Enterprises. Its transmitter is located in El Paso and it is also aired on cable channel 8 and HD channel 870.

History[link]

The station debuted on the air in August 1979 as KCIK-TV, a non-profit Christian programming outlet. KCIK was El Paso's first UHF television station, and was founded by the late Pete E. Meryl Warren III, who subsequently started KJLF-TV (now KTFN) channel 65 in 1991. It was sold to new owners in 1982, and switched to commercial independent programming (while still airing some religious programming). By 1987 KCIK became a Fox network affiliate, and remains so to this day.

Pete Warren and Alex Blomerth had been involved in a church outreach using a leased cable TV channel 8. In 1979 they signed on over the air channel 14 using the studios and facilities of the cable channel. The studios were in an old church building at 3100 North Stanton Street.

The station signed on from an existing tower on a peak of the Franklin Mountains north of Comanche Peak (channel 4) and Ranger Peak (channel 9) that had been built in the early seventies for a planned expansion of channel 13 (then KELP-TV now KVIA-TV) but never used. The site was very high, in fact the highest in Texas at 6,880 feet above sea level but had no road access. A tramway was installed. KELP-TV and the unbuilt KCOS (TV) were to use the new site, as were some FM stations. TV didn't use the site. The local Two way radio jobber began to use the site for radio repeaters. KCIK-TV moved to the site in 1979 using a transmitter than had been used on a channel 30 station in Puerto Rico.

In August 1996 Cox acquired what had become KFOX-TV, and turned it into a major player in the El Paso TV market. KFOX was supposed to become an affiliate of the Retro Television Network on a digital subchannel, starting in late 2008. After a delay, for unknown reasons, KFOX launched RTN on its digital subchannel on January 15, 2009.

Digital television[link]

The station's digital channel is multiplexed:

Analog-to-digital conversion[link]

On Thursday May 21, 2009, at 6:25 a.m., 12:25 p.m. and 6:25 p.m., KFOX's analog signal was shut off for 2 minutes for a DTV test.^[1]

On June 12, 2009, at midnight MDT, KFOX-TV ceased analog programming, due to the mandated analog television shutdown and digital conversion. However, the station is participating in the analog nightlight service^[2] on its analog channel 14, informing viewers of their options and how to make the transition. The station remained on its pre-transition channel 15. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display KFOX-TV's virtual channel as 14.^[3]

News operation[link]

In September 1997, KFOX debuted El Paso's first prime time newscast, KFOX News at Nine. Since then the station has won nearly 300 awards for journalistic excellence, including Emmy's, Edward R. Murrow's and Katie Awards. In January 2004, KFOX launched its three-hour morning newscast, The KFOX Morning News. Additionally, on October 8, 2008, KFOX launched a 6 p.m. newscast, which moved to 5 p.m. on January 2, 2012 and expanded to one hour. The station is unusual among Fox stations as it has no sports department; Fox owned-and-operated station WOFL in Orlando, Florida is the only other Fox station in the country whose news operation does not include a sports department.

KFOX-TV was the first station in the El Paso market to transmit in Digital television (DTV).

News/station presentation[link]

Newscast titles[link]

• FOX News (1997–1999)
• KFOX News (1999–2008)
• KFOX 14 News (2008–present)

Station slogans[link]

• Good for you! (1982–1987)
• See the Difference (1997–2007)
• Coverage You Can Count On (2007–present)

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On-air staff[link]

Current on-air staff[link]

Anchors

• Stephanie Guadian - weekday mornings "KFOX Morning News" (5-8 a.m.)
• Erika Castillo - weeknights at 5 and 9 p.m.
• John Purvis - weeknights at 5 and 9 p.m.
• Bill Young - weekday mornings "KFOX Morning News" (5-8 a.m.)

KFOX Severe Weather Team

• Sandra Diaz (AMS Seal of Approval; NWA Member) - Chief Meteorologist; weeknights at 5 and 9 p.m.
• Brad Montgomery - Weather Anchor; weekday mornings "KFOX Morning News" (6-9 a.m.)
• Joshua Zuber Weekend Weather Anchor/General Assignment Reporter

Reporters

• Martina Valverde - General assignment reporter
• Kandolite Flores - Traffic Anchor /Reporter
• Lauren Rozyla - General Assignment Reporter/Weekend Anchor
• Ric Dupont - Gerneral Assignment Reporter
• Natalie Tripp - Morning News Reporter
• Samantha Manning - Las Cruces Bureau Reporter
• Veronica Macias - Morning Reporter

References[link]

External links[link]

• KFOX Website
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KFOX
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KFOX-TV