KTXS-TV
 | |
| |
|---|---|
| City | Sweetwater, Texas |
| Channels | |
| Branding | KTXS (general) KTXS News (newscasts) (pronounced "K-Texas") The CW Abilene (on DT2) |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | 12.1: ABC (secondary until 1979) 12.2: CW+ 12.3: TBD |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
First air date | January 30, 1956 |
Former call signs | KPAR-TV (1956–1966) |
Former channel number(s) | Analog: 12 (VHF, 1956–2009) |
| CBS (1956–1979) | |
Call sign meaning | Texas -or- Texas Sweetwater |
| Technical information | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 308 |
| ERP | 530 kW 710 kW (CP) |
| HAAT | 402 m (1,319 ft) 439.3 m (1,441 ft) (CP) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 32°24′48.4″N 100°6′26.3″W / 32.413444°N 100.107306°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | ktxs |
| Satellite station | |
| KTXE-LD | |
 | |
| |
| Channels | |
| Branding | ABC 38 (general) KTXS News (newscasts) The CW San Angelo (on DT2) |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | 12.1: ABC 12.2: CW+ |
| Ownership | |
| Owner |
|
| History | |
| Founded | July 25, 1983 |
First air date | April 23, 2003 |
Former call signs | K55AA (until 1997) KTXE-LP (1997–2014) |
Former channel number(s) | Analog: 55 (UHF, until 1997) 38 (UHF, 1997–2014) Digital: 38 (UHF, 2014–2021) |
Call sign meaning | Disambiguation of KTXS |
| Technical information | |
| Facility ID | 309 |
| Class | LD |
| ERP | 15 kW |
| HAAT | 108.2 m (355 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 31°29′6″N 100°27′27″W / 31.48500°N 100.45750°W |
KTXS-TV (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Sweetwater, Texas, United States, serving the Abilene area as an affiliate of ABC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside low-power TBD owned-and-operated station KTES-LD (channel 40). Both stations share studios on North Clack Street in Abilene, while KTXS-TV's transmitter is located near Trent, Texas.
KTXE-LD (virtual channel 12; UHF digital channel 22) in San Angelo operates as a low-power satellite of KTXS-TV; this station's transmitter is located on West 26th Street in San Angelo.
History[edit]
The station signed on the air on January 30, 1956 as KPAR-TV. It was part of the West Texas Television Network, based at KDUB-TV (now KLBK-TV, channel 13) in Lubbock, and was a primary CBS affiliate with a secondary ABC affiliation. Due to the market not having a full-time ABC station at the time, viewers can watch full ABC programming via WFAA in Dallas. During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network.[1] The station's first studio was built on the eastern edge of Sweetwater; broadcasts from this location included a 6 p.m. newscast.
Grayson Enterprises bought the West Texas Television Network stations on October 12, 1961. Grayson opened a satellite studio in Abilene in the early 1960s and soon moved most of KPAR's operations there. This resulted in the first of many fines from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for violating "main studio" regulations. In 1966, the station moved most of its operations to a new studio in north Abilene, and the call letters were changed to KTXS.
Grayson nearly lost its stations, including KTXS, four times between 1968 and 1971 due to licensing issues. In 1977, their renewals were deferred pending a hearing. Grayson was accused of fraudulent billing, program, and transmitter log fabrication, main studio violations, failure to make required technical tests, and other problems.
The case was settled in what was then described as a "distress sale" where the stations were sold to a minority-controlled group (nowadays known as a historically underutilized group) at a reduced price. The company breakup helped define the parameters of such a sale. KLBK and KTXS were sold to Prima, Inc., which was granted a permanent waiver of the main studio rule. Sweetwater continues to be the FCC city of license with the KTXS Tower in nearby Trent.
In 1979, the station dropped CBS and became a full ABC affiliate after KTAB-TV (channel 32) signed on. Prima sold KTXS to Catclaw Communications in 1983. Catclaw, in turn, sold it to Southwest Multimedia in 1985. Southwest Multimedia then sold the station to Lamco Communications in 1986. Lamco sold KTXS including 4 of its stations—WCYB-TV in Bristol, Virginia, KRCR-TV in Redding, California, WCTI-TV in New Bern, North Carolina and KECI-TV in Missoula, Montana to Bluestone Television in 2004. In September 2006, KTXS started broadcasting The CW on digital subchannel 12.2. Bluestone Television sold its stations (including KTXS) to Bonten Media Group in December 2006 for $230 million.[2] The sale was completed on May 31, 2007.[3]
On April 21, 2017, Sinclair Broadcast Group announced its intent to purchase the Bonten stations for $240 million.[4] The sale was completed on September 1.[5]
Programming[edit]
Syndicated programming[edit]
Syndicated programming broadcast on KTXS includes Tamron Hall, The Jennifer Hudson Show, Dr. Phil, Extra, Texas Country Reporter, and Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.[6]
News operation[edit]
![[icon]](/web/20230623160854/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion with: further history before 2011 and after 2011. You can help by adding to it. (September 2014) |
KTXS-TV presently broadcasts 17 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with three hours each weekday and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays).
On August 10, 2011, KTXS began broadcasting its newscasts in 720p high definition with a new set and new graphics.
Technical information[edit]
Subchannels[edit]
The stations' digital signals are multiplexed:
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.1 | 720p | 16:9 | KTXS | Main KTXS-TV programming / ABC |
| 12.2 | CW | The CW Plus | ||
| 12.3 | 480i | TBD | TBD (KTES-LD) |
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.1 | 720p | 16:9 | KTXE | Main KTXE-LD programming / ABC |
| 12.2 | CW | The CW Plus |
Analog-to-digital conversion[edit]
KTXS-TV shut down its analog signal, over VHF channel 12, 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 20.[9] Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former VHF analog channel 12.
Coverage area[edit]
KTXS-TV serves as the ABC affiliate for 16 counties in West Central Texas that are part of the Abilene television market area (Brown, Callahan, Coke, Coleman, Eastland, Fisher, Haskell, Jones, Knox, Mitchell, Nolan, Runnels, Scurry, Shackelford, Stephens, Stonewall and Taylor). Through KTXE-LD, it also serves three counties in the San Angelo market (Concho, McCulloch and Tom Green).
KTXS also provides coverage for two other counties that are on the fringe of the actual assigned viewing market (Throckmorton in the Wichita Falls–Lawton market and Comanche in the Dallas–Fort Worth DMA. Throckmorton County was reassigned to the Wichita Falls–Lawton DMA from the Abilene DMA, as of September 2008.
References[edit]
- ^ "Require Prime Evening Time for NTA Films", Boxoffice: 13, November 10, 1956
- ^ Deals - Broadcasting & Cable
- ^ Application Search Details - Federal Communications Commission
- ^ "Sinclair Buying Bonten Stations For $240M". TVNewsCheck. 21 April 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
- ^ Consummation Notice, CDBS Public Access, Federal Communications Commission, Retrieved 6 September 2017.
- ^ "Abilene Schedule − News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News". 23 March 2023.
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for KTXS
- ^ RabbitEars TV Query for KTXE-LD
- ^ "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.
External links[edit]
- Official website
- The CW Abilene
- This TV Abilene
- Facility details for Facility ID 309 (KTXE-LD) in the FCC Licensing and Management System