KXVA

KXVA, virtual and UHF digital channel 15, is a Fox-affiliated television station licensed to Abilene, Texas, United States. The station is owned by Tegna Inc. KXVA's studios are located in the Bank of America Building on Chestnut Street in downtown Abilene, and its transmitter is located in rural southwestern Callahan County. Master control and some internal operations are based at the studios of sister station and fellow Fox affiliate KIDY on South Chadbourne Street in San Angelo.

KXVA
Abilene, Texas
United States
BrandingFox 15 (general)
Fox West Texas News (newscasts)
My Abilene (on DT2)
ChannelsDigital: 15 (UHF)
Virtual: 15 (PSIP)
TranslatorsSee below
Affiliations15.1: Fox
15.2: MyNetworkTV
15.3: Cozi TV
OwnerTegna Inc.
LicenseeLSB Broadcasting, Inc.
FoundedJune 29, 2000
First air dateJanuary 9, 2001 (2001-01-09)
Call sign meaningXV = Roman numeral 15
Abilene
Sister station(s)WFAA, KHOU, KVUE, KENS, KCEN-TV, KAGS-LD, KBMT, KIII, KIDY, KWES-TV
Former channel number(s)Analog:
15 (UHF, 2001–2009)
Transmitter power31 kW
Height299 m (981 ft)
Facility ID62293
Transmitter coordinates32°16′31.6″N 99°35′24.6″W
Licensing authorityFCC
Public license informationProfile
CDBS
Websitewww.fox15abilene.com

History

On June 15, 2000, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted an original construction permit to founding owner Sage Broadcasting Company to build a full-power television station to serve the Abilene–Sweetwater–Brownwood market. The station was built quickly, with an estimated launch date set for September or October 2000, but inclement weather caused delays in constructing the transmitter tower.[1] Several months later than expected, the station first signed on the air on January 9, 2001, under Program Test Authority; it was the fourth full-power television station to sign on in the Abilene market and the first full-power network-affiliated station to sign on in the market since CBS affiliate KTAB (channel 32) debuted in October 1979. KXVA has been a Fox station since its debut, taking over the affiliation from KIDZ-LP (channel 42), which (along with its five translator stations) were also owned by Sage Broadcasting. The station obtained its initial broadcast license on February 13, 2002, more than a year after applying for the license to the FCC.

KXVA logo, used from 2006 to January 20, 2014.

In 2008, the station was purchased by Bayou City Broadcasting in a group deal for approximately $3 million. On September 27, 2012, Bayou City Broadcasting announced an agreement to sell KXVA and its seven other television stations to the Dallas-based London Broadcasting Company (the sale price initially was not disclosed). The sale marked a temporary exit from the broadcasting industry for the company's owner DuJuan McCoy, who planned on refocusing his company to acquire major network affiliates in mid-sized markets larger than San Angelo and Abilene.[2] The FCC granted its approval of the sale on November 14.[3] The sale was completed on December 31.[4]

On May 14, 2014, the Gannett Company announced that it would acquire KIDY and five other London Broadcasting stations for $215 million. Gannett CEO Gracia Martore touted that the acquisition would give the company a presence in several fast-growing markets, and opportunities for local advertisers to leverage its digital marketing platform.[5] Both KIDY and Abilene sister station KXVA will be the first Fox affiliates to be owned by Gannett outright; the company had acquired KMSB in Tucson from Belo (as part of a group deal that also included stations in four other Texas markets, Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio) in 2013—however, KMSB is operated by Gray Television (owner of that market's CBS affiliate KOLD-TV) under a shared services agreement that was established under Belo ownership, and Gannett could not directly own the station's license due to newspaper cross-ownership restrictions.[6][7] The sale was completed on July 8.[8] 13 months later, on June 29, 2015, the Gannett Company split in two, with one side specializing in print media and the other side specializing in broadcast and digital media. KXVA was retained by the latter company, named Tegna.[9]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[10]
15.1720p16:9KXVA-DTMain KXVA programming / Fox
15.2480i4:3KIDZMyNetworkTV
15.316:9COZICozi TV

Analog-to-digital conversion

Because it was granted an original construction permit after the FCC finalized the digital television allotment plan on April 21, 1997,[11] the station did not receive a companion channel for a digital television signal. KXVA shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 15, on February 17, 2009, and "flash-cut" its digital signal into operation UHF channel 15.[12]

Translators

KXVA's signal is relayed on the following translator stations:

Programming

KXVA carries the entire Fox network schedule, airing all of the network's programming in pattern. Through Fox's national broadcast rights to the NFL, KXVA serves as the local broadcaster of for NFL games featuring the Dallas Cowboys, airing up to 14 of the team's 16 regular season games annually.

Syndicated programs broadcast by KXVA include The Kelly Clarkson Show, Live with Kelly and Ryan, The People's Court, The Big Bang Theory and The Simpsons. Syndicated programming on KXVA-DT2 includes Divorce Court, Friends, How I Met Your Mother and Modern Family. KXVA shares the majority of its programming inventory with San Angelo sister station KIDY, with most programs airing in the same timeslots as those seen on that station; as such, KXVA essentially acts as a de facto semi-satellite of KIDY.

News operation

From 2009 to January 2014, KXVA aired a simulcast of Fox News at Nine, an hour-long evening newscast from San Antonio Fox affiliate KABB; the newscast aired every night at 9 p.m., except in the case of Fox programming overruns due to network sports coverage, and was rebroadcast nightly at 10 p.m. on a one-hour tape delay on KXVA-DT2. From October 2010 to 2014, the station simulcasted KABB's four-hour morning newscast, Fox News First weekday mornings from 5:00 to 9:00 a.m. In addition to local news headline updates aired during Fox News at Nine and Fox News First, KXVA provided an hourly local news updates weekdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with headlines and news information provided by the Abilene Reporter News newspaper.

On January 20, 2014, KXVA debuted Fox News First at Nine—a half-hour prime time newscast at 9:00 p.m. on weeknights—which is produced by sister station KIDY at its studios in San Angelo. The KABB morning news simulcast has been replaced by other programming including The Texas Daily and The Broadcast, news and interview programs produced by its Dallas sister station KTXD-TV.

On August 2, 2016, KXVA re-launched its news operation, moving its 6:30 p.m. news to 6:00 and moving its prime time newscast to 10:00 p.m., and introducing a new studio, standalone website, and on-air branding as "Fox 15."[13]

References
  1. Abilene’s new Fox affiliate, KXVA, expected to broadcast next week Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine, Abilene Reporter-News, January 6, 2001.
  2. Temporary Exit With Fox Duo Sale by McCoy, TVNewsCheck, September 27, 2012.
  3. Extension of Consummation
  4. Consent to License Transfer Reassignment
  5. "Gannett Buys 6 London Broadcasting Stations". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  6. Hatfield, David (June 13, 2013). "Little change on Tucson TV expected from Belo's sale to Gannett". Inside Tucson Business. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  7. Brown, Lisa (June 13, 2013). "Gannett to buy TV station owner Belo for $1.5 billion". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  8. Gannett Completes London Broadcasting Buy, TVNewsCheck, Retrieved 8 July, 2014.
  9. "Separation of Gannett into two public companies completed | TEGNA". Tegna. Retrieved 2015-06-29.
  10. RabbitEars TV Query for KXVA
  11. FCC
  12. "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.
  13. "Update: KXVA, Fox 15, Relaunched in Abilene". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
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