KUBE-TV

KUBE-TV, virtual channel 57 (UHF digital channel 31), is an independent television station serving Houston, Texas, United States that is licensed to the suburb of Baytown. The station is owned by WRNN-TV Associates. KUBE-TV's studios are located on Fountain View Drive and Burgoyne Road on Houston's southwest side, and its transmitter is located near Missouri City, in unincorporated northeastern Fort Bend County.

KUBE-TV
Baytown/Houston, Texas
United States
CityBaytown, Texas
ChannelsDigital: 31 (UHF)
Virtual: 57 (PSIP)
BrandingKUBE-TV Houston
Programming
Affiliations57.1: Independent
57.2: Dabl[1]
57.3: SonLife
57.4: Cozi TV
57.5: RTVH
57.6: Mi Raza TV
57.7: This TV
57.8: Jewelry Television
57.9: [Blank]
57.10: CRTV
Ownership
OwnerWRNN-TV Associates[2][3]
(RNN National, LLC)
History
First air date
May 18, 1988 (1988-05-18)
Former call signs
KLTJ (1988–1989)
KRTW (1989–1994)
KVVV (1994–2000)
KAZH (2000–2010)
Former channel number(s)
Analog:
57 (UHF, 1988–2009)
Digital:
41 (UHF, 2002–2019)
Religious independent (1988–1994)
Valuevision (1994–2000)
FamilyNet (2000–2002)
Azteca América (2002–2007)
TuVisión (2007–2009)
VasalloVision (2009–2010)
DT4:
MeTV (until 2018)
Call sign meaning
From the KUBE branding
-or-
U. Bertram "Bert" Ellis Jr.
Technical information
Licensing authority
FCC
Facility ID70492
ERP1000 kW
600 kW (STA)
HAAT580 m (1,900 ft)
508 m (1,666.7 ft) (STA)
Transmitter coordinates29°34′16″N 95°30′38″W
Links
Public license information
Profile
LMS
Websitewww.kube57.com

History

Early history

The station first signed on the air on May 18, 1988 under the callsign KLTJ; it was founded by Eldred Thomas, who had earlier built radio station KVTT-FM (now KKXT) and television station KLTJ (now KSTR-TV) in Dallas. The station originally operated from studios located in Pasadena and a tower in Anahuac, and initially aired religious programs from a variety of sources, including the PTL Satellite Network, Christian Television Network and the Three Angels Broadcasting Network.[4] The low-power signal and distance from Houston led to reception issues in the northern and western portions of the city; as a result, on May 18, 1989, Thomas moved the KLTJ programming and call letters to channel 22 on a tower based in Alvin.[5] With the move of the KLTJ calls to channel 22, channel 57 changed its callsign to KRTW. It later changed its call letters to KVVV (a callsign formerly used on now-defunct channel 16 from 1968 to 1969) in 1994, when it switched to home shopping programming from Valuevision; it then became a FamilyNet affiliate as KAZH in 2000.

During its time as KAZH, the station was rebroadcast in Houston on translators KHMV-CA (channel 28) and KVVV-LP (channel 53); both of these translators were taken off the air in November 2007, due to owner Pappas Telecasting's ongoing financial problems (KHMV-CA was sold to Uniglobe Central America Network LLC on March 10, 2010, and currently broadcasts under the call sign KUGB-CD; KVVV-LP was spun off to a liquidation trust and returned to the air in digital format in January 2012).

As a Spanish-language station

In 2002, KAZH affiliated with Spanish-language network Azteca América. Early in 2007, then-owner Pappas Telecasting terminated KAZH's affiliation agreement with Azteca América, effective July 1.[6] Azteca América programming moved to a low-powered station, KUVM-CA; and later, to another full-powered station, KYAZ (channel 51) on date to June 30, 2007. KAZH then joined Pappas' independent Spanish-language network, TuVisión.

On May 10, 2008, thirteen of Pappas' stations, including KAZH, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Pappas cited "the extremely difficult business climate for television stations across the country" in papers filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. Pappas was later ordered on September 10, 2008 to sell off the affected stations by February 15, 2009.[7] In January 2009, the Pappas stations involved in the bankruptcy auction, including KAZH, were sold to New World TV Group, after the sale received bankruptcy court approval.[8] On October 22, 2009, KAZH became the first affiliate of VasalloVision, a new network founded by Carlos Vasallo and Miguel Banojian;[9] this followed the closure of TuVisión.

As an English-language independent station
First logo as "The KUBE", used from 2010 to 2015

Citing a larger advertising market, the station changed to an English-language general entertainment independent format on September 27, 2010.[10][11] The station's call sign changed to KUBE-TV on the same date.[12]

On January 18, 2013, NRJ TV announced that it would acquire KUBE-TV from New World TV Group for $19 million, as part of a two-station deal that also included San Francisco sister station KTNC-TV.[13]

Sale to RNN
Second logo, as "KUBE 57", from 2018 to 2020

On December 9, 2019, it was announced that WRNN-TV Associates, owner of New York City-based WRNN-TV, secured a deal to purchase seven full-power TV stations (including KUBE-TV) and one Class A station from NRJ.[2] The sale was approved by the FCC on January 23,[3] and was completed on February 4, 2020.[14]

Digital television

Digital channels

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Channel Video Aspect PSIP Short Name Programming[15]
57.1720p16:9KUBE-TVMain KUBE-TV programming
57.2480iDablDabl[1]
57.3SBNSonLife
57.4CoziCozi TV
57.54:3RTVHRTVH (in Spanish)
57.6Mi RazaMi Raza TV (in Spanish)
57.716:9ThisTVThis TV
57.84:3JTVJewelry Television
57.957.9[Blank]
57.1016:9CRTVCRTV

During the 2011 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, KUBE-TV added programming from PegasusTV on subchannel 57.4;[16] this was replaced by MeTV in 2012. Cozi TV was added to 57.4 on May 28, 2018.

Analog-to-digital conversion

KUBE-TV (as KAZH) discontinued regular programming on its analog signal, over UHF channel 57, on June 12, 2009, as part of the federally mandated transition from analog to digital television.[17] The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 41,[18][19] using PSIP to display KUBE-TV's virtual channel as 57 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.

Programming

Syndicated programming seen on KUBE-TV has included The Doctors, The Middle, The King of Queens, Everybody Loves Raymond, Seinfeld, Cougar Town, Hot Bench, Lauren Lake's Paternity Court, Judge Faith, Forensic Files, Justice with Judge Mablean, Bridezillas, Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen, Community, Family Guy, and Bob's Burgers. As of the 2017 season, KUBE is the home of the MLS club Houston Dynamo. Until 2019, the station carried NCAA college football and men's basketball games from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

References
  1. DABL (Where to Watch), August 24, 2019
  2. "RNN Reaches Agreement to Increase Permanent Distribution Platform to 28 Percent of the US With NRJ Purchase". Globe Newswire. December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  3. http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=1813384
  4. Duin, Julia (May 20, 1988). "New religious UHF station on the air". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
  5. Duin, Julia (March 30, 1989), "KLTJ to move to Channel 22", Houston Chronicle, Houston, Texas, p. 8, Houston section
  6. KAZH-TV to lose Azteca America affiliation, Houston Business Journal, April 3, 2007.
  7. Pappas Saga Turning Into Tragedy, TVNewsCheck, September 24, 2008.
  8. "New World Gets Pappas TVs for $260M". TVnewsday. January 16, 2009. Retrieved January 18, 2009.
  9. "'VasalloVision Network' in Las Vegas, Nevada" (Press release). VasalloVision Television Network. January 14, 2010. Retrieved January 15, 2010.
  10. Malone, Michael (September 13, 2010). "KAZH Houston Goes From Spanish to English". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved September 13, 2010.
  11. Barron, David (September 13, 2010). "Channel 57 switching from Spanish to English". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved September 13, 2010.
  12. "Petry Television Signs KUBE-TV Houston". Radio Business Report/Television Business Report. Archived from the original on 2010-10-06.
  13. NRJ Adds 2 Stations To Portfolio For $32.5M, TVNewsCheck, January 18, 2013.
  14. Consummation Notice
  15. RabbitEars TV Query for KUBE
  16. "PegasusTV to Provide Live Broadcasts of Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo". PegasusTV.org. March 1, 2011. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
  17. List of Digital Full-Power Stations Archived 2013-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
  18. CDBS Print
  19. Consumer Watch: Stations have more DTV work to do, Houston Chronicle, February 6, 2009.
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