KAZA-TV

KAZA-TV
Avalon/Los Angeles, California
United States
City Avalon, California
Branding MeTV Los Angeles
Channels Digital: 27 (UHF)
(shared with KHTV-CD; to move to 22 (UHF))
Virtual: 54 (PSIP)
Subchannels See Below
Affiliations 54.1: MeTV (O&O)
54.2: Decades
Owner Weigel Broadcasting
(KAZA-TV LLC)
First air date July 9, 2001 (2001-07-09)
Call letters' meaning K-AZteca America
(former affiliation)
Former channel number(s) Analog:
54 (UHF, 2001–2009)
Digital:
47 (UHF, until 2017)
Former affiliations Azteca América (2001–2018)
Transmitter power 8.1 kW
7.24 kW (CP)
Height 864 m (2,835 ft)
Facility ID 29234
Transmitter coordinates 34°12′47.9″N 118°3′44.3″W / 34.213306°N 118.062306°W / 34.213306; -118.062306Coordinates: 34°12′47.9″N 118°3′44.3″W / 34.213306°N 118.062306°W / 34.213306; -118.062306
Licensing authority FCC
Public license information: Profile
CDBS
Website metv.com/kaza

KAZA-TV is a MeTV owned-and-operated television station serving Los Angeles, California, United States that is licensed to Avalon. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 27 (or virtual channel 54 via PSIP) from a transmitter located atop Mount Harvard. Owned by Weigel Broadcasting, KAZA has studios on Grand Central Avenue in Glendale.

The station was previously an Azteca América owned-and-operated station from 2001 until 2018.

History

Former KAZA-TV logo.

The station first signed on the air on July 9, 2001, originally operating as an independent station, carrying a format of Spanish-language music videos. The station was founded by Visalia-based Pappas Telecasting (which initially held a 75% majority stake in the station, which expanded to 80% in 2014) and TV Azteca (which owned the remaining interest).

On November 30, 2006, NBC Universal (owner of rival KVEA, channel 52 and then-owner of KWHY, channel 22) filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deny KAZA's license renewal, on basis that TV Azteca controlled 51.6% of the station (above the FCC-designated 33% interest limit for foreign owned broadcasters) via loans and other interests.[1][2] According to the Los Angeles Times, it is believed to be the first challenge to a license renewal sent to the FCC since 1979 (notwithstanding the two-decade long RKO General license challenges including KHJ-TV that were not fully sorted until the late 1980s).

According to the filing,[3] NBC Universal accused TV Azteca of attempting to undermine its operations in Mexico. One example cited is the shutdown of production of the Telemundo program Quinceañera. NBC Universal accused TV Azteca of hiring undercover police officers to enforce the shutdown; the show's production was moved to Miami as a result. Two days later, Azteca chairman, Luis Echarte, insisted that the local marketing agreement is legitimate and called NBC Universal's allegations "ridiculous", citing that: "It's obviously a ploy to damage our image, given our strong performance in the U.S.," he says. "KAZA is owned by Pappas. We’ve been paying rent to Pappas to operate the station for three years." [4]

Former station logo as an Azteca América affiliate.

On September 8, 2017, Pappas Telecasting and TV Azteca announced they would sell KAZA to Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting for $9 million.[5] On January 1, 2018, KJLA (channel 57) replaced KAZA as the Azteca America affiliate for the Los Angeles market.[6][7] Weigel Broadcasting assumed operational responsibilities for KAZA as well as ownership of its license on January 3, 2018, and converted into an owned-and-operated station of Weigel-owned MeTV as "MeTV Los Angeles". Prior to the switch, the MeTV affiliation was split between the DT3 feed of Anaheim-based KDOC-TV (channel 56) and Bishop-based KVME-TV (channel 20). KVME became an affiliate of MeTV's sister network, Heroes & Icons on January 15, 2018.[8]

On August 31, 2018, Decades soft-launched on KAZA-DT2, ahead of it moving three days later officially from KCBS-DT2 to launch fellow Weigel network Start TV.

Digital television

Digital channels

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[9]
54.1720p16:9KAZA-TVMeTV
54.2480iKAZADecades

Analog-to-digital conversion

KAZA-TV shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 54, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[10] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 47, using PSIP to display KAZA-TV's virtual channel as 54 on digital television receivers, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition.

References

  1. ↑ NBC Universal Contests Pappas License - 2006-11-30 18:04:00 | Broadcasting & Cable
  2. ↑ Telemuno moves to block KAZA's license renewal - Entertainment News, TV News, Media - Variety
  3. ↑ Los Angeles Times, Dec. 1, 2006, page C1
  4. ↑ Azteca Fires Back at NBCU - 2006-12-01 09:37:00 | Broadcasting & Cable
  5. ↑ "Application for Consent to Assignment of Broadcast Station Construction Permit or License". Federal Communications Commission. September 8, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
  6. ↑ Mark K. Miller (January 4, 2018). "Azteca America Moving To KJLA Los Angeles". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  7. ↑ Veronica Villafañe (January 4, 2018). "Azteca América and LATV switch channels in LA". Media Movies. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  8. ↑ https://www.mediamoves.com/2018/01/azteca-america-latv-switch-channels-la.html
  9. ↑ RabbitEars TV Query for KAZA
  10. ↑ List of Digital Full-Power Stations Archived 2013-08-29 at the Wayback Machine.
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