KTEL-CD, virtual channel 47 and

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 ...

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals ** Digital camera, which captures and stores digital ...

channel 15, is a low-power, Class A

Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by Comcast. It provides content nationally with pr ...

owned-and-operated

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 ea ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...

. Founded November 28, 1994; the station is owned by the Telemundo Station Group subsidiary of

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primar ...

. It also owns KRTN-LD (channel 39) a low-powered digital station licensed in Albuquerque, but also owns KRTN-TV in Durango, Colorado. Both stations are affiliated with the

MeTV MeTV, an acronym for Memorable Entertainment Television, is an American broadcast television network owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Marketed as "The Definitive Destination for Classic TV", the network airs a variety of classic television program ...

network. KTEL-TV (UHF digital channel 25) is the full-powered satellite station based in

Carlsbad, New Mexico Carlsbad ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Eddy County, New Mexico, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 32,238. Carlsbad is centered at the intersection of U.S. Routes 62/180 and 285, and is the principal city ...

broadcasting on digital channel 25.

Stations

KTEL-CD and KTEL-TV both broadcast in digital. KTEL-CD broadcasts on virtual and RF channel 15, while KTEL-TV broadcasts on channel 25.

Translator

History

KTEL-CD signed on in late 1997 on UHF channel 15 as an affiliate of Telemundo. Telemundo had previously aired in Albuquerque on K59DB (now

KTVS-LD KTVS-LD, virtual channel 36 (UHF digital channel 23), is a low-powered TheGrio TV- affiliated television station licensed to Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded on October 31, 1986, the station is owned by Alpha Omega Broadcasting ...

) channel 59 since about 1988. It moved to UHF channel 53 in early 1999 just before full-powered station KAPX (now KTFQ) signed on channel 14. The station transmitted on UHF channel 53 from 1999 to 2007. KTEL-LP changed frequencies and broadcasts to channel 47 since channel 53 was part of the UHF band (Ch. 52–69) that the FCC had auctioned off from television broadcasts following the digital TV transition. Transmission on channel 53 ceased in early December 2007. The station call letters had not changed. KTEL-LP changed its call sign to KTEL-CA on March 19, 2015, and again on May 7, 2015 to the current KTEL-CD. KTEL-TV in Carlsbad, New Mexico signed on in 2000 as a full-powered satellite for KTEL-LP. KTEL also had a full-powered satellite in Durango, Colorado from 2001 to 2011 on KTLL channel 33. That station is now KRTN-TV a satellite for KRTN-LD a MeTV affiliate and rebroadcasts KTEL on digital channel 47.1. Santa Fe was previously covered by translator K46GY on UHF channel 46 which broadcast at 150 kW from a directional antenna from atop Sandia Crest pointed towards the area. The translator was previously K52BS channel 52 from 1989 to 2003. In July 2016, Ramar purchased KASA-TV from

Media General Media General was an American media company based in Richmond, Virginia. The company's origins can be traced back to 1887 when Richmond attorney Joseph Bryan acquired ''The Richmond Daily Times'', which later became ''The Richmond Times-Dispatch ...

for $2.5 million. On January 18, 2017; Ramar moved Telemundo to channel 2.1 which gives the network a full-powered signal in Albuquerque and makes it more competitive with Univision affiliate

KLUZ KLUZ-TV (channel 14) is a television station in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language Univision network to most of the state. It is owned by TelevisaUnivision, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA ...

. KTEL-TV will remain a satellite of KASA. On July 30, 2021, NBCUniversal announced it was buying KASA and its repeater stations for $12.5 million. In the short term NBC announced it was entering a transitional services agreement

Gray Television Gray Television, Inc. is an American publicly traded television broadcasting company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1946 by James Harrison Gray as Gray Communications Systems, the company owns or operates 180 stations across the United St ...

, which had purchased Fox affiliate

KJTV-TV KJTV-TV (channel 34) is a television station in Lubbock, Texas, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by SagamoreHill Broadcasting alongside Wolfforth-licensed low-power, Class A news-formatted independent station KJ ...

and other Ramar television assets in

Lubbock Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northw ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

earlier in 2021. The deal will give NBCU Telemundo 31 stations and marks the end of 23 years of Ramar's ownership of the Telemundo affiliation in the city.

Digital television

The channel line-up for KTEL-CD are currently all duplicates of programming aired on other NBC Telemundo owned stations in the market. Virtual channels 47.1 (MeTV) and 47.2 (

Start TV Start TV is an American free-to-air television network owned as a joint venture between Weigel Broadcasting and the CBS News and Stations subsidiary of Paramount Global. Predominantly carried on the digital subchannels of its affiliated televisi ...

) are broadcast from the full-powered signal of KASA-TV,

KTEL-TV

Because it was granted an original

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 ...

after the

FCC 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 jurisdictio ...

finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997,Final Digital TV (DTV) Channel Plan
/ref> KTEL-TV did not receive a companion channel for digital

s. Instead, on or before June 12, 2009, which was the end of the digital TV conversion period for full-service stations, KTEL-TV was required to turn off its

analog signal An analog signal or analogue signal (see spelling differences) is any continuous signal representing some other quantity, i.e., ''analogous'' to another quantity. For example, in an analog audio signal, the instantaneous signal voltage varies ...

and turn on its

digital signal A digital signal is a signal that represents data as a sequence of discrete values; at any given time it can only take on, at most, one of a finite number of values. This contrasts with an analog signal, which represents continuous values; a ...

s (called a "

flash-cut A flash cut, also called a flash cutover, is an immediate change in a complex system, with no phase-in period. In the United States, some telephone area codes were split or overlaid immediately, rather than being phased in with a permissive d ...

"). KTEL-LP continued running in analog but had a construction permit to flash-cut to digital broadcasting on channel 47. On August 11, 2014 Ramar Communications was granted construction permits to build new stations to replace KTEL-LP on UHF channel 15 and Santa Fe translator K46GY on UHF channel 16. Analog broadcasts on both stations ceased on September 3, 2014. At the end of September both stations went on the air testing their digital signals. Both stations have antenna patterns to cover both the Albuquerque and Santa Fe areas. Channel 16 has changed to KUPT-LD and now adds a new station to the Albuquerque TV market as well as giving Ramar a third station to its local cluster alongside KTEL-LD and KRTN-LD. KRTN-LD has broadcast KTEL programming in digital from May 2009 until April 2017 displayed as channel 47.1.

References

External links

* *LyngSat page for

AMC-5 The AMC-5, originally called GE-5, was a geosynchronous direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) located at 79° West longitude, operated by SES Americom in the Ku-band. It was used by a variety of television customers, including being home to the CBS ...

satellit

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ktel-Cd MeTV affiliates TEL-CD Television channels and stations established in 1997 Mass media in Albuquerque, New Mexico