KNCT (TV)

KNCT, virtual channel 46 (UHF digital channel 17), is a CW-affiliated television station licensed to Belton, Texas, United States and serving the Waco–Killeen–Temple television market. The station is owned by Gray Television, as part of a duopoly with Waco-licensed CBS affiliate KWTX-TV (channel 10); it is also sister to Bryan-licensed CBS affiliate KBTX-TV (channel 3), a semi-satellite of KWTX-TV. KNCT and KWTX-TV share studios on American Plaza in Waco and transmitter facilities near Moody, Texas. There is no separate website for KNCT; instead, it is integrated with that of sister station KWTX-TV.

KNCT
Belton/Killeen/Temple/Waco, Texas
United States
CityBelton, Texas
BrandingThe CW 12 Central Texas (general)
CW12 News at 9 (newscasts)
ChannelsDigital: 17 (UHF)
Virtual: 46 (PSIP)
Affiliations
OwnerGray Television
LicenseeGray Television Licensee, LLC
First air dateNovember 23, 1970 (1970-11-23)
Call sign meaningNorth Central Texas
Sister station(s)KWTX-TV, KBTX-TV
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:
  • 46 (UHF, 1970–2009)
  • Digital:
  • 38 (UHF, 2001–2009)
  • 46 (UHF, 2009–2019)
Former affiliations
  • Analog/DT1:
  • PBS (1970–2018)
  • Silent (2018–2019)
  • DT2:
  • Pentagon Channel (2010–2015)
  • World (2015–2017)
  • PBS Kids (2017–2018)
  • MeTV (2019–2020)
  • DT3:
  • Create (2010–2018)
Transmitter power1,000 kW[1]
Height505.7 m (1,659 ft)[1]
Facility ID9754
Transmitter coordinates31°19′19.2″N 97°19′3″W[1]
Licensing authorityFCC
Public license informationProfile
CDBS
Websitewww.kwtx.com/cw12tv/

KNCT is branded as CW 12, in reference to its channel location on most cable providers in the market.

Until August 31, 2018, KNCT served as the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member station for the Waco market, owned by Central Texas College, with studios located at the CTC campus in Killeen.

History

When KNCT signed on in November 1970, it was the sole PBS station for the western portion of the market, with the eastern portion served by Texas A&M's KAMU-TV, which signed on in February 1970. In 1978, KNCT set up a low-powered translator in Waco. The main KNCT signal barely covered Waco, while KAMU's signal just missed it. In 1989, it was upgraded to a full-fledged station, KCTF, which was spun off as a separate station in 1994 and ultimately taken over by Baylor University in 2000 as KWBU-TV. However, in July 2010, KWBU-TV began winding down operations and dropped all PBS programming prior to going off the air entirely on July 31 (it would later become KDYW, whose license was voluntarily canceled in 2012 following a failed attempt to sell the station to Daystar).[2] This left KNCT, once again, as the sole PBS station for the western side of the market. On July 1, KNCT took over KWBU's cable slots on Time Warner Cable (now Charter Spectrum) and Grande Communications, and became available on DirecTV.

Last logo as a PBS member.

As part of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s spectrum repacking, KNCT would have been required to move from RF channel 46 to RF channel 17 for testing starting in January 2020, with completion by March 13, 2020.[3] However, on February 27, 2018, the Central Texas College Board of Trustees voted to close down KNCT due to budgetary concerns relating to the repacking. Central Texas College would have been responsible for 40 percent of the expenses related to the repacking, which would have amounted to $1.6 million in expenses for the college. Combined with the need to replace the station's transmitter, which had been in use since the station signed on, the trustees concluded that it no longer made sense to keep the station on the air. KNCT general manager Max Rudolph said that area cable systems could replace KNCT with KERA-TV from Dallas or KLRU from Austin. Sister radio station KNCT-FM (which was launched the same day as the television station), as well as the college's radio and television broadcasting courses, were not affected by the closure of KNCT television.[4][5][6]

On June 22, the board voted to shut down the station at midnight on August 31, 2018.[7]

On August 28, 2018, it was reported that the Central Texas College Board of Trustees had voted to assign KNCT's broadcast license to Gray Television, which would create a duopoly with KWTX-TV.[8] This was possible because KNCT broadcasts on a channel not reserved for non-commercial broadcasting.[9] The sale was approved by the FCC on December 12, and it was completed on December 17.[10][11]

When KNCT went dark three days later, KAMU became the sole PBS member station in the Waco–Temple–Bryan market. Most cable systems on the western side of the market replaced KNCT with Austin's KLRU.[8]

On December 31, 2018, Gray filed an application to move KNCT's transmitter to KWTX's tower outside Moody, Texas.[1][12] Two days later, on January 2, 2019, Gray Television formally assumed operations of KNCT and transferred the group's local affiliation rights for The CW – which had been held by KWTX-DT2 since the network launched in September 2006 – to the station's main channel.[13][14]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[15][13]
46.1720p16:9KNCT-CWMain KNCT programming / The CW
46.2CircleCircle
46.3480iStartTVStart TV
46.4DABLDabl

KNCT added Create to 46.3 in July 2010, after the closedown of KWBU-TV. However, KNCT did not offer the Spanish-language V-me network, which was seen on KWBU until that station's closedown.[16]

In coincidence with the station's conversion into a commercial station, on January 2, 2019, KNCT began carrying programming from MeTV on its DT2 subchannel (with a simulcast on KWTX-DT3, which was concurrently established with the relaunch of KNCT) and Start TV on its DT3 subchannel.[13]

Analog-to-digital conversion

KNCT shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 46, 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 relocated from its pre-transition UHF channel 38 to channel 46 for post-transition operation.[17]

See also

References
  1. "Modification of a DTV Station Construction Permit Application". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission. December 31, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
  2. Harding, Kevin R. (September 27, 2012). "In Re: BLCDT-20060622AAS…" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  3. FCC TV spectrum Phase Assignment Table, FCC Incentive Auction Television Transition Data Files, April 13, 2017.
  4. Angeline, Jillian (February 28, 2018). "Local PBS station KNCT going dark soon". KCEN. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  5. Hoover, Carl (March 3, 2018). "Killeen-Temple public television station KNCT to end broadcasts". Waco Tribune-Herald. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  6. Ferraro, Julie A. (March 3, 2018). "Eventual closure of KNCT a tough decision". Killeen Daily Herald. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  7. Payne, Matt (June 22, 2018). "Local PBS station KNCT-TV to cease broadcasting Aug. 31". Harker Heights Herald. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  8. Carroll, John (August 28, 2018). "CTC Approves sale of KNCT-TV to Gray Television and KWTX-TV". KWTX.com. Gray Television. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  9. "47 CFR 73.622 - Digital television table of allotments". Code of Federal Regulations. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  10. "Broadcast Actions" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. December 18, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  11. "Consummation Notice". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2018.
  12. "Rescan your channels today to receive KNCT (CW12, MeTV, and Start TV)". KWTX.com. Gray Television. October 15, 2019. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  13. "Time to Rescan! New KWTX Channels Coming in 2019". KWTX.com. Gray Television. December 27, 2018. Archived from the original on January 1, 2019. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  14. "New year sees shift in some local TV channel positions". Waco Tribune-Herald. January 5, 2019. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  15. RabbitEars TV Query for KNCT
  16. Teeter, Bill (June 30, 2010). "Killeen station will replace KWBU on TV in Waco at midnight". Waco Tribune-Herald. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
  17. "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.
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