KFPH-DT (channel 13), branded as UniMás Arizona, is a
television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
licensed to
Flagstaff, Arizona
Flagstaff ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Coconino County, Arizona, Coconino County in northern Arizona, in the southwestern United States. In 2019, the city's estimated population was 75,038. Flagstaff's combined metropolitan area has ...
, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language
UniMás
UniMás (, stylized as ''UNIMÁS'', and originally known as TeleFutura from its launch on January 14, 2002, to January 6, 2013) is an American Spanish free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. The network's programming, which is ...
network to northern and central Arizona. It is
owned and operated
In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
by
TelevisaUnivision
TelevisaUnivision (formerly known as Univision Communications) is a Mexican-American mass media, media company headquartered in New York and Mexico City, which owns the American Spanish language broadcast network Univision. 45% of the company is ...
alongside
Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
-based
Univision
Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...
outlet
KTVW-DT
KTVW-DT (channel 33) is a television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, airing programming from the Spanish-language Univision network. It is owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision alongside Flagstaff-licensed UniMás outlet KFPH-DT ...
(channel 33). In Flagstaff, Univision maintains offices on Fourth Street, though most operations are run from its Phoenix studios. The KFPH-DT transmitter is located atop Mormon Mountain, about south of Flagstaff in the
Coconino National Forest
The Coconino National Forest is a 1.856-million acre (751,000 ha) United States National Forest located in northern Arizona in the vicinity of Flagstaff. Originally established in 1898 as the "San Francisco Mountains National Forest Reserve", th ...
.
In Phoenix, KFPH-DT is rebroadcast through
KFPH-CD
KFPH-CD (channel 35) is a low-power, Class A television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, airing programming from the Spanish-language UniMás network. It is a translator of Flagstaff-licensed KFPH-DT (channel 13) which is owned and ...
(channel 35). That station converted to an
ATSC 3.0
ATSC 3.0 is a major version of the ATSC standards for television broadcasting created by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC).
The standards are designed to offer support for newer technologies, including HEVC for video channels of u ...
station in 2018, though its subchannels were distributed onto other Phoenix stations for transmission. The UniMás subchannel is carried on KTVW-DT's transmitter.
Channel 13 in Flagstaff received a construction permit in October 1984, but seven years and a sale passed before the station began broadcasting as KKTM on December 31, 1991. KKTM operated as a local
independent station
An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...
for the Flagstaff area and became an affiliate of
The WB
The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...
in 1995 as KWBF. However, the sale of the station to an affiliate of
Paxson Communications Corporation in 1996 heralded its conversion to infomercial programming and, beginning in 1998, the company's new
Pax
Pax or PAX may refer to:
Peace
* Peace (Latin: ''pax'')
** Pax (goddess), the Roman goddess of peace
** Pax, a truce term
* Pax (liturgy), a salutation in Catholic and Lutheran religious services
* Pax (liturgical object), an object formerly kiss ...
television network as KBPX. KBPX was paired with a translator to provide the network in Phoenix until
KPPX-TV (channel 51) was completed in 1999. Two years later, Pax sold KBPX to
Equity Broadcasting Corporation
Equity Media Holdings Corporation was a broadcasting company based in Little Rock, Arkansas that owned and operated television stations across the United States. Prior to March 30, 2007, the company was known as Equity Broadcasting, a name later ...
, which briefly programmed home shopping programming until Univision purchased the station as part of its then-new Telefutura network, today's UniMás.
History
In 1984, two groups—Minority Television of Flagstaff and Ware Communications—filed for
construction permit
Planning permission or developmental approval refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. It is usually given in the form of a building perm ...
s to build a new television station on channel 13 in Flagstaff.
Minority Television was granted the construction permit on October 27, and the station took the call sign KKTM. A year later, Michael Gelfand, a doctor from
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which in ...
, acquired the construction permit from Minority Television principal Katherine T. Mansfield.
Construction work began in August 1991.
Meanwhile, to make way for KKTM to begin testing, a translator for Phoenix station
KTSP-TV moved to the UHF band.
Studio space was also secured in the Greenlaw Village shopping center on Fourth Street.
KKTM began broadcasting at half power from Mormon Mountain on December 31, 1991. Most of its programming came from two services primarily used by low-power stations,
Channel America
Channel America (CA), officially Channel America Network, Inc., was the first United States terrestrial broadcast television network to be intentionally assembled out of LPTV, or low-power television licensees. The network was founded by David P ...
and Main Street TV.
The station also produced several local programs, including a newscast and a country music show taped at Flagstaff's Redwood Inn.
The newscast ceased production in June 1994.
KKTM became a charter affiliate of
The WB
The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...
when it launched on January 11, 1995, and changed its call sign to KWBF.
However, Gelfand decided he did not have sufficient resources to support the station economically; in September, he agreed to sell KWBF for $1.4 million to Christian Network, Inc., an affiliated company to
Paxson Communications Corporation that had been co-founded by
Bud Paxson Lowell White "Bud" Paxson (April 17, 1935 – January 9, 2015) was an American media executive. In 1982, Paxson and his business partner, Roy Speer, co-founded the Home Shopping Club (now called the Home Shopping Network). He later established Pax T ...
.
Christian Network then transferred its stations to Paxson Communications in May 1996.
Paxson Communications launched its
Pax
Pax or PAX may refer to:
Peace
* Peace (Latin: ''pax'')
** Pax (goddess), the Roman goddess of peace
** Pax, a truce term
* Pax (liturgy), a salutation in Catholic and Lutheran religious services
* Pax (liturgical object), an object formerly kiss ...
network on August 31, 1998. The station began airing the new service and was given the new call sign of KBPX; the network's intended Phoenix station,
KPPX-TV, was not ready to launch.
However, a translator on channel 67 rebroadcast the station in Phoenix.
KPPX-TV ultimately debuted on February 15, 1999.
In March 2001, Paxson Communications sold two of its stations—KBPX and
WPXS
WPXS (channel 13) is a religious television station licensed to Mount Vernon, Illinois, United States (a city within the Paducah, Kentucky–Cape Girardeau, Missouri– Harrisburg, Illinois television market), but primarily serving the St. Loui ...
in
Mount Vernon, Illinois
Mount Vernon is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 14,600 at the 2020 census. Mount Vernon is the principal city of the Mount Vernon Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all o ...
—to
Equity Broadcasting Corporation
Equity Media Holdings Corporation was a broadcasting company based in Little Rock, Arkansas that owned and operated television stations across the United States. Prior to March 30, 2007, the company was known as Equity Broadcasting, a name later ...
of
Little Rock, Arkansas
(The Little Rock, The "Little Rock")
, government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager
, leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor
, leader_name = Frank Scott Jr.
, leader_ ...
, for $17.75 million; Paxson retained the KBPX call letters. The call sign was changed to KDUO on June 21, 2001, and the station switched to broadcasting the
home shopping Home shopping is the electronic retailing and home shopping channels industry, which includes such billion dollar television-based and e-commerce companies as Shop LC, HSN, Gemporia, TJC, QVC, eBay, ShopHQ, Buy.com and Amazon.com, as well as tradit ...
service America's Collectibles Network (now
Jewelry Television
Jewelry Television is an American television network specializing in the sale of jewelry for both men and women. On-air and online, the network is mainly branded by its jtv initials in lower-case letters. It has an estimated reach of more than ...
). Equity also owned KOND-LP (channel 35), a Phoenix low-power station that began broadcasting KDUO's programming. Nearly immediately, Equity sold KDUO along with
KBGF in
Douglas, Arizona
Douglas is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States that lies in the north-west to south-east running Sulpher Springs Valley. Douglas has a border crossing with Mexico at Agua Prieta and a history of mining.
The population was 16,531 in ...
, and three low-power TV stations to Univision for $19.1 million in August. The newly acquired stations became Telefutura's stations in Arizona, with KDUO changing call signs to KFPH.
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's digital signal is
multiplexed
In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...
:
Analog-to-digital conversion
KFPH-TV shut down its analog signal, over
VHF
Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter.
Frequencies immediately below VHF ...
channel 13, on September 18, 2008, citing a lack of space at its transmitter site to accommodate the analog transmitter, its digital channel 27 transmitter, and the new digital channel 13 transmitter; additionally, winter weather conditions rendered it impossible to perform work during the last 90 days before the conclusion of the digital transition.
The station's digital signal relocated from its pre-transition
UHF
Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...
channel 27 to VHF channel 13.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kfph-Dt
UniMás network affiliates
Ion Mystery affiliates
GetTV affiliates
Television channels and stations established in 1991
1991 establishments in Arizona
FPH-DT
FPH-DT