KNSD (channel 39) 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 ...
in
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
, United States, airing programming from the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
network. 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 the network's
NBC Owned Television Stations
NBC Owned Television Stations (formerly NBC Local Media and NBC Television Stations Division (TVSD)) is the division of NBCUniversal Owned TV Stations (NBCUniversal), a subsidiary of Comcast that oversees the NBC owned-and-operated television s ...
alongside
Poway
Poway () is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. The unincorporated community became a city on December 1, 1980. Poway's rural roots influenced its motto "The City in the Country". The city has a population of 49,701 as of 2 ...
-licensed
Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language Terrestrial television, terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a divi ...
outlet
KUAN-LD
KUAN-LD (channel 48) is a television station licensed to Poway, California, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language Telemundo network to the San Diego area. It is owned and operated by NBCUniversal's Telemundo Station Group alongside N ...
(channel 48). KNSD and KUAN-LD share studios on Granite Ridge Drive in the
Serra Mesa section of San Diego; through a
channel sharing agreement, the two stations transmit using KNSD's spectrum from an
antenna
Antenna ( antennas or antennae) may refer to:
Science and engineering
* Antenna (radio), also known as an aerial, a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic (e.g., TV or radio) waves
* Antennae Galaxies, the name of two collid ...
southeast of
Spring Valley.
KNSD's
on-air branding, NBC 7 San Diego, is derived from its
cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
channel position in the market on
Charter Spectrum
Spectrum is a trade name of Charter Communications, used to market consumer and commercial cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the company.
The brand was first introduced in 2014; prior to that, these serv ...
,
Cox Communications
Cox Communications, Inc. (also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation, Dimension Cable Services and Times-Mirror Cable) is an American digital cable television provider, telecommunications and home automation services. It i ...
and
AT&T U-verse
U-verse TV is a DirecTV brand of IPTV service. Launched on June 26, 2006, U-verse included broadband Internet (now AT&T Internet or AT&T Fiber), VoIP, IP telephone (now AT&T Phone), and IPTV (U-verse TV) services in 48 states. . The station is also available on channel 39 on
satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
providers
DirecTV
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...
and
Dish Network
DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV. A ...
.
History
Early history
The station first signed on the air on November 14, 1965, as KAAR, owned by San Diego Telecasters. It was the first television station in the San Diego market to operate on the UHF band and was the market's first
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 ...
. The station originally operated from a building that was once occupied by the National Pen Company, located in the neighborhood of Kearny Mesa, northeast of downtown San Diego. Initially broadcasting from 12 noon to either midnight or 12:30 a.m. (based on the length of its late movie), the station aired a mix of local and first-run syndicated programming, both vintage and more recent films, and reruns of several 1950s dramatic series. However, in the summer of 1966, KAAR cut its operating hours significantly, with sign-on time moved up to 5 p.m., and by that fall, the station was only broadcasting on weeknights with a 15-minute 7 p.m. newscast, a travelogue and a single black-and-white movie (which ran for a week at a time).
A short time later, in January 1967, KAAR made an arrangement with
San Diego State College
San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...
to air programming produced by the San Diego Area Instructional Television Authority from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, which was followed by two hours of cartoons; this lasted until the sign-on of educational station
KEBS on June 12 of that year.
Channel 39 then went dark and was subsequently sold to Western Telecasters Inc., controlled by the
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
-based Bass family, and returned to the air on February 2, 1968, as KCST (standing for "California San Diego Television").
For a four-year period from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, Western Telecasters tried to take the
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
affiliation from
XETV
XETV-TDT (channels 6 and 16) is a television station located in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, broadcasting programs from Canal 5 and NU9VE. Its terrestrial signal also covers the San Diego, California area across the international border in ...
(channel 6)–a station licensed across the
Mexican
Mexican may refer to:
Mexico and its culture
*Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America
** People
*** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants
*** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
border
Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...
in
Tijuana
Tijuana ( ,["Tijuana"](_blank)
(US) and [< ...]
but which broadcast exclusively in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
, with a studio facility based in San Diego. XETV had been San Diego's ABC affiliate since 1956 under a special arrangement between the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
(FCC) and Mexican authorities, subject to renewal by the Commission every year. Upon the FCC granting its annual renewal to ABC/XETV in late 1968, Western Telecasters countered, claiming that the presence of KCST made it no longer necessary for an American television network to affiliate with a Mexican television station.
In May 1972, the FCC revoked XETV's permission to carry ABC programming. As the only commercial station in the market other than
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
affiliate
KFMB-TV
KFMB-TV (channel 8) is a television station in San Diego, San Diego, California, United States, affiliated with CBS, The CW, and MyNetworkTV. Owned by Tegna Inc., it has studios on Engineer Road in the Kearny Mesa, San Diego, Kearny Mesa section ...
(channel 8) and then-NBC affiliate
KGTV
KGTV (channel 10) is a television station in San Diego, California, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios are located on Air Way in the Riverview-Webster section of San Diego, and its ...
(channel 10), KCST took over the ABC affiliation in two stages: daytime programming moved to channel 39 in June 1973, followed by prime time programs and all other shows (including children's programs, network newscasts and sports) by July 1, 1973. Four months earlier in March, Western Telecasters agreed to sell KCST to
Storer Broadcasting
Storer Broadcasting, Inc. was an American company which owned several television and radio stations in the Northeastern United States. It was incorporated in Ohio 1927, and was broken up in 1986.
History 1920s–1940s
In 1927, George B. Storer ...
, which owned major network affiliates in the
Eastern
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
and
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
. The sale was completed on September 30, 1974; on January 1, 1975, Storer added a "-TV" suffix to the KCST callsign.
The switch and sale changed channel 39's fortunes, transforming the low-rated independent into a major player in the market. Riding on the heels of ABC's ascent to first place nationally during the
1975-76 season, KCST also out-rated its network-affiliated rivals locally. By 1976, KCST had actually become the highest-rated station in San Diego, displacing longtime leader KFMB-TV. XETV, meanwhile, operated as an independent station until October 1986, when it became a charter affiliate of the
Fox Broadcasting Company
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...
(the station is now an exclusive Spanish-language outlet for
Canal 5).
NBC affiliation
![KNSD Logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/KNSD_Logo.png)
On June 27, 1977, in the wake of its new success as the highest-rated television network in America, ABC moved its San Diego affiliation from KCST to KGTV, causing an affiliation swap that ended with KCST taking the NBC affiliation formerly held by KGTV. ABC expressed dissatisfaction with how it had been relegated to UHF in San Diego, and had preferred affiliating with VHF stations in markets of San Diego's size long before its national ratings success. Under the circumstances, KCST's ratings success was not enough to save the affiliation.
In 1985, the Storer stations were acquired by
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Two years later, KCST and the other Storer stations were sold to
Gillett Communications
George Nield Gillett Jr. (born October 22, 1938) is an American businessman. Originally from Wisconsin, he lives in Vail, Colorado.
Biography
Gillett graduated from Lake Forest Academy in 1956. He attended Amherst College and is a 1961 graduate ...
(former Storer flagship
WTVG
WTVG (channel 13) is a television station in Toledo, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC and The CW. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains studios on Dorr Street (Ohio State Route 246, SR 246) in Toledo, and its transmitter is loc ...
in
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...
, was the only station left out of the sale and was instead sold to a local employee/investor group). On September 16, 1988, the station changed its news brand to ''News San Diego'', and its call letters to KNSD to reflect the new name; it also adopted the on-air brand "Channel 7/39" (in respective reference to its cable and over-the-air channel positions). Gillett was restructured into SCI TV in 1991, after Gillett defaulted on some of his bond purchases. After SCI filed for
Chapter 11
Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
in 1992, the company's stations were sold in a group deal to
New World Communications
New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 197 ...
.
![KNSD 2011 Logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/KNSD_2011_Logo.png)
In May 1994, New World entered into a deal with
News Corporation
News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Ne ...
that would result in most of New World's television stations (which were primarily CBS affiliates, along with a few ABC and NBC stations) switching from their "
Big Three" network affiliations to join Fox, causing the network's affiliations in the affected markets relocating from UHF to
VHF stations. However, New World opted to exclude KNSD from the affiliation deal, since Fox's San Diego affiliation was already on the VHF band through XETV. Instead, KNSD was able to retain its NBC affiliation, and New World sold the station and
WVTM-TV
WVTM-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, affiliated with NBC. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios and transmitter facilities atop Red Mountain, between Vulcan Trail and Valley V ...
in
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
to NBC in May 1996; the sale was finalized that August. Following the sale's closure, in January 1997, KNSD modified its on-air branding to "NBC 7/39". In October 1997, NBC sold a 24% ownership interest in KNSD to
LIN Television; in exchange, NBC acquired majority control (76%) of its
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
–
Fort Worth
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
affiliate
KXAS-TV
KXAS-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas, United States, broadcasting NBC programming to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Televis ...
from LIN. The deal closed on March 2, 1998, marking the official launch of the new NBC/LIN
joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...
known as Station Venture Operations,
LP (which was controlled by NBC).
Under the traditional definition, KNSD is the only English-language owned-and-operated station of a major network in the San Diego market (however, several stations owned by
Grupo Televisa
Grupo Televisa is a Mexican multimedia mass media company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content.
In April 2021, Televisa and Univision Communications announce ...
on the Mexican side of the market are O&Os of that company's various networks). The station blamed its woes on its UHF status in the past, but as viewers migrated to
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
(San Diego has one of the highest cable penetration rates in the United States), along with the fact that most of the market's UHF stations brand by their cable channel placements or call letters rather than by their physical channel, along with former VHF analog stations operating their post-transition digital signals on the UHF band, the issues with the station's position on the UHF dial have been significantly reduced. KNSD had formerly owned
low-power station KNSD-LP (channel 62), which was leased to
Entravision Communications
Entravision Communications Corporation is an American media company based in Santa Monica, California. Entravision primarily caters to the Spanish-speaking Hispanic community and owns television and radio stations and outdoor media, in several of ...
to expand the coverage area of
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 ...
affiliate KTCD-CA (channel 17, now
KBNT-CD
KBNT-CD (channel 17) is a low-power, Class A television station in San Diego, California, United States, affiliated with the Spanish-language Univision network. It is owned by Entravision Communications alongside UniMás affiliate KDTF-LD (cha ...
).
In the spring of 2001, KNSD moved its operations into
225 Broadway, a high-rise office building in downtown San Diego that was redeveloped to serve as its studio and office facilities, which includes a glass-enclosed street-level news studio resembling that of the streetside studio at
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
used by NBC's ''
Today
Today (archaically to-day) may refer to:
* Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now''
* Current era, present
* The current calendar date
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...
''. In February 2013, LIN Media withdrew itself from the Station Venture Operations joint venture as part of a corporate reorganization. As a result, NBC regained full ownership in KNSD and assumed full ownership of KXAS.
KNSD shut down its analog signal, over
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 39, on June 12, 2009, as part of the
federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.
[List of Digital Full-Power Stations](_blank)
The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 40. Through the use of
PSIP
The Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) is the MPEG (a video and audio industry group) and privately defined program-specific information originally defined by General Instrument for the DigiCipher 2 system and later extended for the A ...
, digital television receivers display the station's
virtual channel
In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered via digits on a receiver's ...
as its former UHF analog channel 39.
NBC's three owned-and-operated stations in California (
KNBC
KNBC (channel 4) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Corona-licens ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
KNTV
KNTV (channel 11), branded as NBC Bay Area, is a television station licensed to San Jose, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's NBC network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Sta ...
in
San Jose/
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
and KNSD) collaborated to launch the only regional Nonstop channel, NBC California Nonstop, in January 2011.
On December 20, 2012, KNSD along with other NBC owned-and-operated stations began carrying
Cozi TV
Cozi TV (stylized on-air as COZI TV) is an American free-to-air television network owned by the NBC Owned Television Stations division of NBCUniversal. The network airs classic television series from the 1960s to the 2000s.
The network origina ...
, a rebranded Nonstop network focusing on classic television programming.
As part of the
SAFER Act
In cryptography, SAFER (Secure And Fast Encryption Routine) is the name of a family of block ciphers designed primarily by James Massey (one of the designers of IDEA) on behalf of Cylink Corporation. The early SAFER K and SAFER SK designs share ...
,
KNSD kept its analog signal on the air until June 26 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of
public service announcement
A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...
s from the
National Association of Broadcasters
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is a trade association and lobby group representing the interests of commercial and non-commercial over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the United States. The NAB represents more than ...
.
On January 9, 2014, KNSD announced that it would not renew its lease for the 225 Broadway studios when it expires in 2016. On June 23, the station announced the purchase of a two-story, building at the StoneCrest office complex on Granite Ridge Drive in the
Kearny Mesa
Kearny Mesa is a community in the central part of San Diego, California. It is bounded by State Route 52 to the north, Interstate 805 to the west, Aero Drive to the south, and Interstate 15 to the east. Adjacent communities include Serra Mesa, C ...
neighborhood for $9.6 million, which will be converted into a new facility for the station. The location was chosen due to its easy access to San Diego County's main thoroughfares, and no-cost parking for its employees. The studio opened on February 29, 2016.
On March 15, 2016, NBCUniversal's parent company Comcast pulled the signals of KNSD along with co-owned cable channels
USA Network
USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
,
Bravo
Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels
*Bravo (band), a Russian rock band
* Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984
*Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...
,
Syfy
Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...
,
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
and
CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
from
Dish Network
DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV. A ...
's lineup as a result of a dispute between NBC and Dish. Dish claimed NBCUniversal was demanding it
renew its carriage of 10 NBC-owned stations and 16 Telemundo-owned stations including those removed due to the dispute.
XHAS-TDT
XHAS-TDT (channel 33) is a television station in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, affiliated with LATV. It is owned by a Mexican company in which the largest single investor is Entravision Communications, a U.S.-based operator of radio and tel ...
, then a
Telemundo
Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language Terrestrial television, terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a divi ...
affiliate, was unaffected by the dispute. Three days later on March 18, 2016, the company announced it would continue to carry KNSD and five other cable channels for another 10 days while seeking arbitration by the FCC.
On July 1, 2017, KNSD launched the Telemundo network on its third subchannel (KNSD-D3 39.20) as Telemundo 20 San Diego. That September, NBC agreed to purchase
KUAN-LD
KUAN-LD (channel 48) is a television station licensed to Poway, California, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language Telemundo network to the San Diego area. It is owned and operated by NBCUniversal's Telemundo Station Group alongside N ...
of
Poway, California
Poway () is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. The unincorporated community became a city on December 1, 1980. Poway's rural roots influenced its motto "The City in the Country". The city has a population of 49,701 as of 2 ...
, from NRJ TV. By December 18, 2018, Telemundo 20 San Diego was being carried on KUAN.
KNSD switched its frequency channel to 17 on March 14, 2019 with KUAN sharing KNSD's channel, but continuing to be displayed as their prior channel numbers.
Programming
Local programming
Local lifestyle and infotainment program ''Streetside San Diego'' and Spanish-language newscast ''Noticias Mi San Diego'' (the latter of which was a holdover from KNSD's operation of KBOP-CA (channel 43, now
KSEX-CD
KSEX-CD, UHF Digital terrestrial television, digital channel 42, was a Low-powered broadcasting#Television, low-powered, Class A television service, Class A Home Shopping Network, HSN-Network affiliate, affiliated television station City of lic ...
)) were local programs previously produced by KNSD; these programs, along with the station's weekend morning newscasts (which were restored in December 2013 as part of a gradual newscast expansion resulting from a benefits package offered to the FCC upon the NBCUniversal-
Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
merger), were canceled on December 5, 2008, as a result of budget cuts at the station.
The station currently produces a late-night music and lifestyle program ''SoundDiego'' on Saturdays.
Syndicated programming
In addition to the NBC network schedule,
syndicated programs on KNSD include ''
Access Hollywood
''Access Hollywood'', formerly known as ''Access'' from 2017 to 2019, is an American weekday television entertainment news program that premiered on September 9, 1996. It covers events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was created ...
'' (and its
live counterpart), ''
The Kelly Clarkson Show
''The Kelly Clarkson Show'' is an American daytime television variety talk show hosted by American singer Kelly Clarkson. It is produced and distributed by NBCUniversal Syndication Studios and features Clarkson interviewing celebrities and seg ...
'', ''
Jeopardy!
''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given genera ...
'', and ''
Wheel of Fortune The Wheel of Fortune or ''Rota Fortunae'' has been a concept and metaphor since ancient times referring to the capricious nature of Fate. Wheel of Fortune may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Art
* ''The Wheel of Fortune'' (Burne-Jo ...
''. KNSD is the only NBC O&O to carry the latter two. As of September 2022, KNSD (along with its sister stations KNBC in Los Angeles, KNTV in San Francisco,
WNBC
WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo station WN ...
in New York,
WMAQ-TV
WMAQ-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Telemundo outlet WSNS-TV (chan ...
in Chicago,
WRC-TV
WRC-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Class A television se ...
in Washington D.C.,
WCAU
WCAU (channel 10) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Mount Laurel, New Jerse ...
in Philadelphia,
WTVJ
WTVJ (channel 6) is a television station in Miami, Florida, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Fort Lauderdale–licensed WSCV (ch ...
in Miami, KXAS-TV in Dallas and
WVIT
WVIT (channel 30) is a television station licensed to New Britain, Connecticut, United States, broadcasting NBC programming to the Hartford–New Haven market. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alo ...
in Hartford) is one of the nine NBC O&Os that carry and distribute programming either nationally or regionally.
Sports programming
When channel 39 switched to NBC in 1977, it became the default home station for the
NFL
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
's
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...
(by way of
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
's rights to air
AFC games), airing most games until the end of the
1997 season, when KFMB became the team's new station of record with the AFC broadcast rights moving over to
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
. From
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
to
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
, the station aired Chargers games when they played on ''
Sunday Night Football''; this still continues today despite the Chargers' return to Los Angeles after 2016. KNSD also provided local coverage of
Super Bowl XXXII
Super Bowl XXXII was an American football game played between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers (who were defending their Super Bowl XXXI championship) and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver B ...
, which was hosted at
Qualcomm Stadium
San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. The stadium opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium and was known as Jack Murphy Stadium from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 to 2017, the stadiu ...
.
The station was also the broadcast home of the
San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...
and
San Diego Mariners
The San Diego Mariners were an ice hockey team based in San Diego that played in the World Hockey Association from 1974 to 1977 at the San Diego Sports Arena. Previous to being in San Diego, the team was known as the New York Raiders, New York ...
. Padres games aired during two different periods, first in the
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
Ja ...
and
1972 seasons, and again from
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
to
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
; while the
WHA's Mariners broadcast games on the station during the entirety of the team's existence. The station also carried any games that were part of
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
's MLB coverage in
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
, then over to
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
's MLB broadcasts from
1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...
to
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
; this included the Padres' first World Series appearance in
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
; limited postseason games involving the Padres were aired from 1995 to 2000.
News operation
KNSD presently broadcasts 37½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 6½ hours each weekday and 2½ hours each on Saturdays and Sundays); however, during the NFL season, the Sunday edition of the 6 p.m. newscast is typically preempted due to ''Sunday Night Football'' coverage. In addition, the station produces the sports highlight program ''SportsWrap'', which is sponsored by local furniture store
Jerome's Furniture and airs Sundays after the 11 p.m. newscast.
As KCST, the station started its news department in 1973;
Harold Greene, who would later gain fame as an anchor in Los Angeles, served as its
news director
A news director is an individual at a broadcast station or network or a newspaper who is in charge of the news department. In local news, the news director is typically in charge of the entire news staff, including journalists, news presenters, ph ...
and lead news anchor. As a newcomer, channel 39's newscasts regularly placed third in the market, behind KFMB and KGTV, for many years. On October 28, 2005, KNSD began producing a nightly half-hour 10:00 p.m. newscast for
WB affiliate
KSWB-TV
KSWB-TV (channel 69) is a television station in San Diego, California, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios on Engineer Road in the city's Kearny Mesa section, and its tran ...
(channel 69, now a Fox affiliate), following owner
Tribune Broadcasting
Tribune Broadcasting Company, LLC was an American media company which operated as a subsidiary of Tribune Media, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. The group owned and operated television and radio stations throughout the United Sta ...
's decision to shut down KSWB's in-house news department (KSWB continued to produce local news updates during its simulcast of Los Angeles sister station
KTLA
KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is the seco ...
's
weekday morning newscast from the station's Kearny Mesa studios). KNSD's news outsourcing agreement with KSWB ended on July 31, 2008, when that station resumed in-house news operations upon switching its affiliation from
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
to Fox.
In June 2009, the station outsourced production of its evening weather forecast segments to Los Angeles sister station KNBC, using that station's on-air weather staff; as a result, KNSD became the only network-owned station in the United States and one of the few television stations in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
to outsource weather forecasts to a co-owned station. In October 2011, KNSD resumed in-house production of its forecast segments with the hiring of three weather anchors (including chief weather anchor
Dagmar Midcap
Dagmar Midcap (born Dagmar Gottschalk; March 12, 1969) is a Canadian-born American media personality, weathercaster and actor originally based in Vancouver, British Columbia. She has been the weekday evening weather anchor for KNSD-TV in San Dieg ...
, who joined the station from
WGCL-TV
WANF (channel 46) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is the flagship property of locally based Gray Television and is co-owned with independent station WPCH-TV (channel 17) and low-power, Cl ...
in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
) and the promotion of Jodi Kodesh from reporter to morning weather anchor. On December 13, 2010, KNSD unveiled a new HD-ready set for its newscasts, which mainly mirrors that of the "Window on the World" set used by ''Today''; this marked the first major renovations since KNSD moved into the NBC Building in 2001.
On January 29, 2011, KNSD became the fifth television station in the San Diego market, and the last NBC-owned station to begin broadcasting its local newscasts in
high definition; footage shot in-studio is broadcast in high definition, while all news video from on-remote locations was initially broadcast in
standard definition
Standard-definition television (SDTV, SD, often shortened to standard definition) is a television system which uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. "Standard" refers to it being the prevailing sp ...
. The station also implemented a new logo and on-air graphics package designed by NBC Artworks and the
advertising agency
An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...
Mother New York, which dropped the longtime "NBC 7/39" brand in favor of branding as simply "NBC San Diego". The "block" graphics and branding used in this period (which featured similarities to the design of the NBC Nonstop channels) were to be implemented by the remaining NBC O&Os (and were used by their websites during the same period); however, KNSD was the only O&O to use the scheme on-air before dropping it in July 2012, in favor of Artworks' new "Look F" standardized graphics that were first adopted by sister station KNTV (at which point, the station revised its branding to "NBC 7 San Diego"). On October 25, 2012, the station expanded its weekday morning newscast to 2½ hours, with the addition of a 4:30 a.m. half-hour.
On July 18, 2016, KNSD began using the new "Look N" standardized graphics. The graphics were first implemented by the NBC O&Os on the East Coast in Summer of that year; however, KNSD became the second NBC O&O on the West Coast to begin using the new graphics. Also, its theme music was also updated, by warp-speeding the
NBC chimes
The NBC chimes are a sequence of three tones played on National Broadcasting Company (NBC) broadcasts. Originally developed in 1927 as seven notes, they were standardized to the current three-note version by the early 1930s, and possibly as early ...
in the "LA Groove" theme in all of its opens, making the first NBC-owned station to warp-speed its musical signature in its theme music. Prior to the graphics change, KNSD along with sister stations KNBC and KNTV revamped their websites on July 1, 2016.
On January 3, 2017, KNSD expanded the 11 a.m. midday newscast to an hour, following rivals KGTV and KFMB-TV. As a result of this expansion, the station moved the entertainment newsmagazine program ''Access Hollywood'' to the overnight slot of 2:05 a.m., subsequently preempting the network's rebroadcast of the fourth hour of ''Today''. However, beginning on January 7, 2019, the newscast was cut back to a half-hour along with Los Angeles and San Francisco Bay Area sister stations KNBC and KNTV due to the premiere of the lifestyle show ''California Live'' which airs on all three NBC O&Os in California.
Notable current on-air staff
*
Mark Mullen Mark Edward Mullen (born 1961) is a television journalist and the anchorman for NBC affiliate KNSD-TV in San Diego. He joined the station in June, 2010 from ABC News, where he served as a Los Angeles-based correspondent. Prior to ABC, he was Chief A ...
– anchor
*
Dagmar Midcap
Dagmar Midcap (born Dagmar Gottschalk; March 12, 1969) is a Canadian-born American media personality, weathercaster and actor originally based in Vancouver, British Columbia. She has been the weekday evening weather anchor for KNSD-TV in San Dieg ...
– chief meteorologist
Notable former on-air staff
*
Emily Chang – reporter (later at
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
and
Bloomberg Television
Bloomberg Television (on-air as Bloomberg) is an American-based pay television network focusing on business and capital market programming, owned by Bloomberg L.P. It is distributed globally, reaching over 310 million homes worldwide. It is head ...
)
*
Fritz Coleman
Fritz Coleman (born May 27, 1948 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a retired weathercaster, who worked for NBC Channel 4 (KNBC) in Los Angeles, California from 1982 until 2020. He began hosting Media Path Podcast with Louise Palanker in 2020.
...
– weathercaster (2009–2011; was concurrent with his duties with
KNBC
KNBC (channel 4) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Corona-licens ...
; now retired)
*
Ron Fortner – anchor (previously with
XETV
XETV-TDT (channels 6 and 16) is a television station located in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, broadcasting programs from Canal 5 and NU9VE. Its terrestrial signal also covers the San Diego, California area across the international border in ...
, later at
KTVU
KTVU (channel 2) is a television station licensed to Oakland, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's Fox network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside San Jose ...
, deceased)
*
Courtney Friel
Courtney Friel (born April 22, 1980) is an anchor and reporter on television in the U.S. She currently works for KTLA in Los Angeles, California. She previously covered entertainment for Fox owned-and-operated station KTTV in Los Angeles as wel ...
(later at
KTTV
KTTV (channel 11) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV outle ...
in Los Angeles, now at
KTLA
KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is the seco ...
in Los Angeles)
*
Harold Greene – anchor (1973–1974; now retired)
*
Roger Hedgecock
Roger Allan Hedgecock (born May 2, 1946) is an American politician and conservative talk radio host, who served as 30th mayor of San Diego between May 1983 and December 1985. His show is syndicated by Radio America.
Early life
Hedgecock was bor ...
– anchor (1991–1992, now a radio host at
KOGO-AM)
*
Jim Laslavic
Jim "Laz" Laslavic ( ; born October 24, 1951) is a former American Football linebacker who played ten seasons in the National Football League. He is a retired sportscaster for KNSD in San Diego and a former radio announcer for KIOZ. He lives in Co ...
– sports director (1989–2019, recently retired)
*
Joe Lizura – weather/meteorologist (1990–2006, subsequently at KUSI)
*
Bill Ritter – Reporter (now at
WABC)
*
Rolland Smith
Rolland G. Smith (born December 6, 1941) is an American poet, retired television news reporter and anchor who was based in New York for most of his long career.
Broadcasting career
Smith's earliest broadcasting job was for Metromedia Televisi ...
– anchor (1993–1996, returned to New York)
*
Anne State
Anne M. State (born May 2, 1969) is a former American television news anchor, currently weeknight anchor for KGTV, the American Broadcasting Company, ABC station in San Diego, California. State was formerly at KOIN-TV, the CBS network affiliate, a ...
– anchor/reporter (2002–2008, later at
WBBM-TV
WBBM-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. Owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, the station maintains studios on West Washington Stre ...
in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
and
WITI
Witiness Chimoio João Quembo (born 26 August 1996), known as Witi, is a Mozambican professional footballer who plays for Portuguese club C.D. Nacional as a winger.
Club career
Born in Beira, Witi began his career with Sporting Club da Be ...
in
Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
, recently left
KOIN Koin or KOIN may refer to:
* KOIN, a TV station in Portland, Oregon
* Koin, Guinea
Koin, Guinea (Pular: 𞤂𞤫𞤧-𞤯𞤢𞤤𞤭𞥅𞤪𞤫 𞤑𞤮𞤴𞤭𞤲) is a town and sub-prefecture in the Tougué Prefecture in the Labé Regi ...
in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
, for San Diego rival
KGTV
KGTV (channel 10) is a television station in San Diego, California, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios are located on Air Way in the Riverview-Webster section of San Diego, and its ...
)
*
Lou Waters
Lou Waters (born July 7, 1938) was one of the original anchors of CNN, an American cable news channel when it first aired in the summer of 1980. He remained one of the network's primary anchors until September 2001, adding to a journalism career sp ...
–
news director
A news director is an individual at a broadcast station or network or a newspaper who is in charge of the news department. In local news, the news director is typically in charge of the entire news staff, including journalists, news presenters, ph ...
and anchor (subsequently an early and tenured
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
anchor)
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 ...
:
See also
*
Channel 7 branded TV stations in the United States The following television stations in the United States brand as channel 7 (though neither using virtual channel 7 nor broadcasting on physical RF channel 7):
* KNSD in San Diego, California
* KTGM in Tamuning, Guam
* WDAY-DT2 in Fargo, North Dakot ...
*
Channel 17 digital TV stations in the United States
*
Channel 39 virtual TV stations in the United States
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knsd
NBC Owned Television Stations
Cozi TV affiliates
NSD
In Internet computing, NSD (for "name server daemon") is an open-source Domain Name System (DNS) server. It was developed by NLnet Labs of Amsterdam in cooperation with the RIPE NCC, from scratch as an authoritative name server (i.e., not imple ...
Television channels and stations established in 1965
National Football League primary television stations
New World Communications television stations
1965 establishments in California
Former General Electric subsidiaries