KFTH-DT

KFTH-DT, virtual channel 67 (UHF digital channel 36), is a UniMás owned-and-operated television station serving Houston, Texas, United States that is licensed to Alvin. The station is owned by the Univision Local Media subsidiary of Univision Communications, as part of a duopoly with Rosenberg-licensed Univision owned-and-operated station KXLN-DT (channel 45). The two stations share studios near the Southwest Freeway (adjacent to the I-610/I-69 interchange) on Houston's southwest side; KFTH's transmitter is located near Missouri City, in unincorporated northeastern Fort Bend County.

KFTH-DT
Alvin/Houston, Texas
United States
CityAlvin, Texas
ChannelsDigital: 36 (UHF)
Virtual: 67 (PSIP)
BrandingUniMás 67
Programming
Affiliations67.1: UniMás (O&O)
67.2: getTV
67.3: Grit
67.4: HSN
67.5: Univision
Ownership
OwnerUnivision Communications
(UniMas Houston LLC)
TV: KXLN-DT
Radio: KAMA-FM, KLAT, KLTN, KOVE-FM, KQBU-FM
History
First air date
January 27, 1986 (1986-01-27)
Former call signs
  • KTHT (1986–1987)
  • KHSH (1987–1992)
  • KHSH-TV (1992–2002)
  • KFTH (2002–2003)
  • KFTH-TV (2004–2009)
Former channel number(s)
  • Analog:
  • 67 (UHF, 1986–2009)
Call sign meaning
TeleFuTura Houston
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID60537
ERP1,000 kW
HAAT579 m (1,900 ft)
Transmitter coordinates29°34′16″N 95°30′38″W
Translator(s)KXLN-DT 45.2 (30.2 UHF) Rosenberg
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
WebsiteUniMás
Univision building in Houston

In addition to its own digital signal, KFTH is simulcast in high definition on KXLN's second digital subchannel (UHF channel 30.2 or virtual channel 45.2 via PSIP) from a separate transmitter near Missouri City.

History

The station first signed on the air on January 27, 1986 as KTHT, under the ownership of 4 Star Broadcasting. Operating as an independent station, it programmed a general entertainment format consisting of off-network drama series, children's programming, classic movies, game shows, home shopping programming during the overnight hours, and network programs not cleared by ABC affiliate KTRK-TV (channel 13), NBC affiliate KPRC-TV (channel 2) or CBS affiliate KHOU (channel 11). It had also broadcast Vietnamese programs during the weekend.

Former logo, used from January 2002 to January 7, 2013.

The station was unprofitable, and was subsequently sold to Silver King Broadcasting, the broadcasting arm of the Home Shopping Network, in 1987. The station changed its call letters to KHSH in November of that year, and began airing home shopping programming 24 hours a day.

There were plans to revert KHSH into a general entertainment independent station by 2001, under the local programming-infused "City Vision" format developed by USA Broadcasting (which assumed control of the Silver King stations in the mid-1990s), in which the station would have mixed locally produced programming, alongside first-run and off-network syndicated programs (including those produced by USA Broadcasting sister company Studios USA) and had already been adopted by its stations in cities such as Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth and Miami. However those plans changed in 2000, when USA Broadcasting announced that it would sell off its television station group. The Walt Disney Company made a bid to acquire the group (which had it purchased the USA stations, would have created a duopoly locally between KHSH and KTRK-TV), but was outbid by Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Communications. Once the purchase was finalized in 2001, most of the former USA stations, including KHSH, were used as charter owned-and-operated stations of Univision's new secondary broadcast network, Telefutura (which rebranded as UniMás in January 2013) when it launched on January 14, 2002. On that date, the station changed its call letters to KFTH-TV.

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[1]
67.1720p16:9KFTH-DTMain KFTH-DT programming / UniMás
67.2480i4:3GetTVgetTV
67.3GRITGrit
67.4HSNHSN
67.5720p16:9KXLN-HDSimulcast of KXLN-DT / Univision

Analog-to-digital conversion

KFTH-TV discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 67, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[2] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 36,[3][4] using PSIP to display KFTH-TV's virtual channel as 67 on digital television receivers, which was among the high band UHF channels (52-69) that were removed from broadcasting use as a result of the transition.

Newscasts

On April 4, 2011, sister station KXLN debuted a weekday morning news program for KFTH, called Vive La Mañana. Like the newscasts on KXLN, it was broadcast in high definition, and was produced out of the station's current news set. Dallas–Fort Worth sister station KUVN-DT used the same brands for their newscasts that are simulcast on sister station KSTR-DT; Vive La Mañana featured a different graphics and music package that is shared by both stations. The program was canceled in March 2015; KFTH is expected to broadcast KXLN's newscasts should KXLN interrupt programming.

Current on-air staff[5]
Anchors
  • Luis Gómez - weekday mornings on Vive La Mañana (6:00-7:00 a.m.)
  • Lizzet Lopez - weekday mornings on Vive La Mañana (6:00-7:00 a.m.)
  • Arnaldo Rojas - weekday mornings on Vive La Mañana (6:00-7:00 a.m.)
Weather team
  • Lizzet Lopez - weather anchor; weekday mornings on Vive La Mañana (6:00-7:00 a.m.)
Reporters
  • Maria Corrales - general assignment reporter; also fill-in anchor
  • Raúl Peimbert - general assignment reporter
  • Mariana Pineda - general assignment reporter; also fill-in anchor
  • Fernando Pizarro - Washington, D.C. correspondent

References
  1. "RabbitEars TV Query for KFTH". Archived from the original on 2014-01-04. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
  2. List of Digital Full-Power Stations Archived 2013-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Consumer Watch: Stations have more DTV work to do Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine, Houston Chronicle, February 6, 2009.
  4. CDBS Print
  5. "Conductores". Archived from the original on 2014-01-04. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
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