KVCR-DT

KVCR-DT

San Bernardino/Riverside, California United States
City	San Bernardino, California
Branding	Empire PBS
Slogan	Bold. Diverse. Forward.
Channels	Digital: 5 (VHF) Virtual: 24 (PSIP)
Translators	KVCR-DT3: K09XW-D Palm Springs KJHP-LP 18 Morongo Valley
Affiliations	24.1: PBS 24.2: FNX 24.3: KVCR Desert Cities 24.4: Create
Owner	San Bernardino Community College District
First air date	September 11, 1962 (1962-09-11)
Call letters' meaning	Valley College Radio
Sister station(s)	KVCR
Former callsigns	KVCR-TV (1962–2009)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 24 (UHF, 1962–2009) Digital: 26 (UHF, until 2019)
Former affiliations	NET (1962–1970)
Transmitter power	25.8 kW
Height	540 m (1,772 ft)
Facility ID	58795
Transmitter coordinates	33°57′57.4″N 117°17′9.1″W
Licensing authority	FCC
Public license information	Profile CDBS
Website	www.empirenetwork.org

KVCR-DT, virtual channel 24 (VHF digital channel 5), is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member television station serving Los Angeles, California, United States that is licensed to San Bernardino. Owned by the San Bernardino Community College District, it is a sister station to National Public Radio (NPR) member KVCR (91.9 FM). The two stations share studios at the San Bernardino Valley College campus on North Mt. Vernon Avenue in San Bernardino; KVCR-DT's transmitter is located atop Box Springs Mountain.

In addition to its main programming, KVCR also programs an alternate feed specifically for the Coachella Valley area known as KVCR Desert Cities. This alternate feed is seen over-the-air in the Palm Springs area on low-power stations K09XW-D (channel 9) and KJHP-LP (channel 18), and is carried on KVCR's third digital subchannel.

History

KVCR-TV first signed on the air on September 11, 1962; it became the first successful UHF television station in the Inland Empire area. The station was also the first non-commercial public television station in Southern California—predating the launches of KCET (channel 28) by two years; KPBS in San Diego by five years; KOCE-TV (channel 50) in Huntington Beach by 10 years; and KLCS (channel 58) by 11 years—and the third in the entire state—preceded only by KQED in San Francisco and KVIE in Sacramento.

The station's transmitter was originally located on the campus of San Bernardino Valley College, where the channel 24 studios are still located. In the 1980s, KVCR's transmitter facilities were moved to Box Springs Mountain, overlooking Moreno Valley. The higher location along with increased effective radiated power greatly increased the station's grade A and grade B signal coverage. During the summers of 2005 and 2006, separate transmitter failures knocked both the KVCR television and radio stations off the air for extended periods.

Rebrand

In October 2017, Keith Birkfeld was named Interim General Manager at KVCR. KVCR has recently completed a rebrand of the station, becoming the "Empire Network PBS", in an effort to re-imagine KVCR in the digital age. An award-winning digital campaign launched the rebranding effort with the slogan "Bold. Diverse. Forward." Bold meaning the courage to be honest and objective in a polarized media environment, Diverse to profoundly reflect the variety of viewpoints and lifestyles in our region, and forward to honor the past at KVCR with a vision towards creating an inspirational path to the future.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel	Video	Aspect	PSIP Short Name	Programming
24.1	720p	16:9	KVCR-HD	Main KVCR-DT programming / PBS
24.2	480i		KVCRFNX	First Nations Experience
24.3			KVCR-DC	KVCR Desert Cities
24.4			KVCRCRE	Create

Analog-to-digital conversion

KVCR-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 24, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television. The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 26, using PSIP to display KVCR-TV's virtual channel as 24 on digital television receivers.

External links

• KVCR Rebrand to Empire Network
• Official Empire Network website
• R-VCR: all about KVCR in earlier years
• Query the FCC's TV station database for KVCR
  • Query the FCC's TV station database for K09XW-D
  • Query the FCC's TV station database for KJHP-LP
• BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on KVCR-DT